Workout Plan To Gain 10 Pounds Of Muscle

Workout Plan To Gain 10 Pounds Of Muscle
How To Gain 10 Pounds Of Muscle In Just 12 Weeks Forget Botox or growing a mullet. The most dramatic thing a guy can do to change his appearance is to “quickly” gain ten pounds of muscle. Yes, gain some high-quality weight. A guy can drop ten pounds of fat and most people won’t even notice — unless he works as a lifeguard or swimsuit model. But add ten pounds of beef to his frame and suddenly his co-workers start saying things like “someone’s been working out” or “what the heck is he taking?” If you’re skeptical, next time you’re at the supermarket, put ten pounds of extra-lean beef in your cart. Now picture all that protein goodness spread across your shoulders, chest, legs, and arms. Even your near-sighted landlady would check you out. Of course, telling someone to go gain ten pounds of muscle is a lot like telling them to just work hard until they become millionaires. It’s easy to say, but not so easy to do — especially in a tight, 12-week time frame. But if you’re not already near your genetic limits and are ready to put in the work, it can be done. The workout plan below will help you achieve maximum gains in a short amount of time. RELATED: How To Gain Muscle For Skinny Guys But first, here are a few facts: You can never gain only muscle, and especially not in a relatively short time frame. To build muscle, a lot of excess calories are required, and some fat will always tag along. In other words, “gain ten pounds of muscle in 12 weeks” might more realistically translate to “gain ten pounds of muscle along with ten to fifteen pounds of body fat.” Not ideal, but a worthwhile tradeoff nonetheless — additional body fat can be dieted off relatively quickly, revealing all that new muscle in all its glory. Diet Let’s start with the amount of food you will need to eat, which is the most important part: Building muscle requires a significant calorie surplus — roughly 25% on top of your regular maintenance intake is a safe place to start. To figure out what your maintenance caloric intake is, keep it simple. Write down everything you eat over the course of three days (ideally include two week days and one weekend day), figure out the total calories you consumed during each day, add them up and divide them by three – that’s your average daily caloric intake. Multiply that number by 1.25 and you have your new daily caloric goal. When gaining weight, the macro guidelines don’t need to be complicated either. When it comes to figuring out the ideal protein intake, aim to eat as many grams of protein per day as the number that represents your target body weight. Limit calories coming from fat to about 20 % of your intake. Carbs make up the rest. Just remember, these numbers are moving targets. Shoot to gain around a pound of weight every week. Much more or less and you’ll need to adjust calories accordingly. Training Gaining serious weight quickly requires some key programming elements. Favor compound exercises These are movements that involve the largest muscle groups and allow you to lift heavier weights, resulting in greater hypertrophy. Think bench presses, squats, and deadlifts. Isolation moves like lateral raises, triceps kickbacks, and leg extensions are still important, but the big lifts drive the muscle-building bus. Frequency The sweet spot for size and strength gains consists of hitting a muscle group every 48-72 hours or so. For most, the right frequency is to train every body part twice a week. Progression You need to progress during every workout: Try to lift five additional pounds or add an additional rep per set every time you exercise. This won’t always be possible, but the effort should be there. Volume Another great way to add size fast is to systematically add volume to your training (which translates to doing more sets). Fitness expert Brad Schoenfeld has a neat system to achieve this: Volume is set at a conservative level during the first month (say, doing 14 to 16 sets per muscle group every week), increases to around 20 sets in the second month, and then increases to over 24 sets per muscle group on a weekly basis during month three. You would then “unload” to around 10-15 sets in the fourth month. Putting It All Together Month 1 Monday - Upper Body (Horizontal Push-Pull) Warm-up drill: DB Squeeze Press A) Incline Barbell Bench Press Week 1: 3 sets of 8 Week 2: 4 sets of 6 Week 3: 5 sets of 4 Week 4: 3 sets of 5 (unload) B) Chest Supported Row – 3 x 8-10 C1) Flat DB Press – 2 x 10-12 C2) Seated Rope Row to Neck – 2 x 10-12 D1) DB Hammer Curl – 2 x 10-12 D2) Triceps Rope Pressdown – 2 x 12-15 Tuesday: Lower Body (Quad-Dominant) Warm-up drill: Sliding Leg Curl A) Barbell Squat Week 1: 3 sets of 8 Week 2: 4 sets of 6 Week 3: 5 sets of 4 Week 4: 3 sets of 5 (unload) B) DB Drop Lunge – 3 x 8/leg C) Lying Leg Curl – 2 x 10-12 D1) Standing Calf Raise – 2 x 10-15 D2) Swiss Ball Crunch – 2 x 10-12 Thursday: Upper Body (Vertical Push-Pull) Warm-up drill: Scapular Wall Slide A) DB Shoulder Press, Neutral Grip (palms facing each other) Week 1: 3 sets of 8 Week 2: 4 sets of 6 Week 3: 5 sets of 4 Week 4: 3 sets of 5 (unload) B) Wide Grip Pull Ups – 3 x 8 C1) Lateral Raise – 2 x 10-12 C2) Seated Rope Row to Neck – 2 x 10-12 D1) Incline DB Curl – 2 x 8-10 D2) Overhead DB Triceps Extension – 2 x 8-10 Friday: Lower-Body (Hamstring-Dominant) Warm-up drill: Superman Back Extension A) Barbell Deadlift Week 1: 3 sets of 8 Week 2: 4 sets of 6 Week 3: 5 sets of 4 Week 4: 3 sets of 5 (unload) B) Leg Press – 3 x 15-20 C) Leg Extension – 2 x 20 D1) Seated Calf Raise – 2 x 20 D2) Reverse Crunch – 2 x 10-12 For months 2 and 3, keep the “A” lift the same but add a set per week while shifting the target reps down. For example: Month 2 Week 5: 4 sets of 7 Week 6: 5 sets of 5 Week 7: 6 sets of 3 Week 8: 3 sets of 5 (unload) Month 3 Week 9: 5 sets of 6 Week 10: 6 sets of 4 Week 11: 7 sets of 2 Week 12: 3 sets of 5 (unload) As for the remaining exercises, just add another set per exercise every month. However, if you’re stuck in a lift and unable to add more reps, keep your body guessing by making a subtle tweak like swapping lying leg curls for seated leg curls. Ten pounds in three months is no joke. But if you apply the diet and training principles above, you just might surprise yourself. And your coworkers. Bryan Krahn, CSCS, is a personal trainer, online coach, and fitness writer. He helps ordinary guys get what they really want from their fitness programs — to build muscle, lose fat, and feel great. He blogs about muscle, manhood, and lifestyle at bryankrahn.com . You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 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