By Eric Minkwitz

During the late 1980s, supplement manufacturers promoted the use of mass-gaining powders to assist athletes and bodybuilders in their quest to pack on pounds of mass in a short time frame. These products sold en masse (no pun intended) under the assumption that drastically increasing one's caloric intake, coupled with a heavy weight-training program, would quickly add pounds of muscle mass.

The formulators of these products made one fatal error: They failed to distinguish muscle mass from fat mass. Neglecting to test their products adequately in human performance labs, they paid no attention to macronutrient ratios and rolled out products that were overloaded with low-nutrient, highly processed fillers and simple sugars.

Fast forward to 2005, when mass-building strategies have evolved into a sophisticated science. Knowledge of nutrition and supplementation has progressed, as has data supporting nutrient timing and knowledge of periodizing training programs to maximize gains. Unlike the pudgy weight lifters of 1989, today's elite athletes and bodybuilders know that to gain lean mass in a short period of time, they need to pay special attention to three key variables:

• constructing a two-month periodized training program, using multi-joint exercises, power lifting, and core strengthening techniques;
• timing macronutrient intake to maximize the body's changing daily needs; and
• planning and creating nutrient-dense, mass-building meals and snacks that are easy, delicious, and portable.

Step 1: Create a Two-Month Strength Training Regimen
When you want to gain the most mass in the shortest time frame possible, you need to focus on a two-month window that coincides with your sport's off-season. An avid downhill skier, for example, should focus on August and September to tackle these goals. (If you're a simple fitness buff, try picking a less-busy period when you can focus a lot of your energy on strength training and food intake). Your emphasis during these months should be directed towards strict lifting technique, power lifting, core strength, flexibility, and of course nutrition strategies. Why the off-season? Because closer to the start of the season, you will need focus less on mass and strength, and more on sports specificity, metabolic conditioning, endurance, injury prevention, and power endurance.

First, choose your weights carefully, since exercise selection is of primary importance to building muscle. To build lean muscle fast, you want to utilize multiple, large muscle groups and recruit large motor units. Excellent strength-training exercises for this eight-week period include squats, dead lifts, bench press, push press, Romanian dead lifts, strict curls, barbell rows, weighted chins, weighted dips, dumbbell work on the physioball, and so on.

Next, break out your workouts into four intense workout days. To avoid overtraining muscle groups, choose muscles by groups that work in tandem rather than by individual muscle. Below is a sample four-day workout plan:

• Day 1: back and biceps
• Day 2: chest and triceps
• Day 3: no weights; cardio and flexibility training
• Day 4: explosive training, legs
• Day 5: shoulders, traps, rotator cuff complex
• Day 6: no weights; cardio and flexibility training
• Day 7: no weights; cardio and flexibility training

Finally, follow this eight-week schedule to get the most muscle out of each workout. The eight-week weight training regimen is comprised of two back-to-back, four-week phases of weight training characterized by increased intensity over each four-week period.:

• Week 1—Hypertrophy (muscle growth): For the first week of exercise, you should focus on higher reps at lower intensity. Lifting at an average of 65 to 75 percent of your one-rep max (1RM), do three sets of 12 reps of your strength training regimen with a short 60 seconds rest between sets.
• Week 2—Strength: For your second week, increase your intensity to 75 to 85 percent of your 1RM and reduce your regimen to three sets of eight reps. Increase your rest period to 90 seconds rest between sets.
• Week 3—Strength with increased intensity: For week three, increase your intensity to 85 to 90 percent of your 1RM and reduce your strength training regimen to three sets of six reps. Increase your rest period further to two minutes rest between sets.
• Week 4—Power: Feeling the burn yet? Increase your intensity to 95 percent of your 1RM and reduce your strength training regimen to four sets of five, four, three and two reps, respectively. Allow yourself three minutes of rest between sets (you'll need it).
• Week 5—Hypertrophy: Repeat Week 1, with newly established 1RM for each lift
• Week 6—Strength: Repeat Week 2
• Week 7—Strength with increased intensity: Repeat Week 3
• Week 8—Power: Repeat Week 4

Step 2: Time Your Macronutrient Intake
During these intense training phases, your system will be taxed as a result of the weekly four intense weight-training days. You will naturally crave more calories as your immune system gets taxed, glycogen stores get depleted, and muscle fiber is stressed. The key is to deliver ample doses of macronutrients to your body at planned intervals throughout the day to ensure the following:

• your body is consistently loaded with slow release, nutrient-laden, low-glycemic carbohydrates in the morning and also prior to working out. Foods that meet these criteria include oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, grains, nuts, legumes, fruits, and vegetables;
• your body has a steady flow of protein from a variety of sources (salmon, halibut, turkey, lean beef, eggs, soy, lean dairy products, and chicken) to ensure that your system remains in an anabolic state; and
• your body is replenished with high-glycemic carbohydrates (juice, cereals, pastas, sweet potatoes) and rapidly assimilated protein (whey protein isolate, lean animal protein) within the first hour following each training session. This strategy will take advantage of the bodies natural high levels of human growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor, which tend to peak 45 to 60 minutes after training commences.

The nutritional science community is still debating the total amount of protein athletes can safely consume per day to meet their increased protein needs and reduce stress on their kidneys and other organs. Most experts believe an athlete involved in a rigorous weight-training program should consume 0.7 grams to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight per day. Massive amounts of protein will not build more lean tissue, since the structural components of your muscle can only utilize so much at once, and the byproducts of protein breakdown can be harmful. For example, research has indicated that long-term over-usage of protein may lead to such disabilities as gout, kidney stones, and osteoporosis.

You should space your protein consumption evenly throughout the day to ensure a positive nitrogen balance and to allow your body to easily assimilate the amino acids. For example, a 200-pound male will aim for 140 to 160 grams per day, divided evenly among five meals (28 to 32 grams per meal).

Step 3: Plan Your Meals and Snacks
The old adage, "nobody ever plans to fail, they just fail to plan," certainly holds true when it comes to crafting a nutritional program for mass building. People with busy lifestyles need to remember to plan, shop for, cook, and pack portable mass building meals. Failure to prepare is one of the primary reasons that wannabe mass builders never get the gains they want.

When following this program, you should consume a solid meal once every three to four hours, making sure you space your protein consumption evenly throughout the day. Additionally, fluid intake is important, and you should consume 100 ounces of liquid (either water or a half-water, half-sports drink mix); drink the liquid slowly and evenly over a two-hour period that includes before, during, and after each training session.

Examples of healthful fast and portable snacks that can help you meet your protein intake goals include the following:

• Trail Mix: 100 percent oats, raisins, almonds, soy nuts, high protein, and soy cereal
• Carrot Sticks, whole grain crackers, and hummus
• Yogurt with fruit (low sugar)
• Cottage cheese with fruit
• Light string cheeses
• Protein smoothies with soy milk, frozen berries, and flax seed oil

As your off-season approaches and you plan to ramp up for some serious mass building, you need to prepare for some rigorous sessions in the gym coupled with mass-building shopping and recipe lists. The above two-month plan will supply you with necessary tools to achieve your mass-building goals. Remember, the body is remarkably adaptable to changing stressors (strength training) and will respond to the training effect when supplied with properly timed macronutrients.

Eric Minkwitz is a former professional football player for the Hamburg Blue Devils and the founder of Mink Training Systems, a sports performance clinic specializing in physical training, joint rehab, and nutrition for athletes. Minkwitz has written analytical reports on the pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplement industries, as well as a range of articles in the areas of sports training and rehab, nutrition, and training theory and practice.

Zenith71 wrote:

hi guys can anyone help me out.. a proper diet plan and workout plan as i m 62 kg at the moment and 175cm . i will be glad if any one of you will reply to me........

Feb 14 12:18 PM

Zedar wrote:

I'm getting real resigned to my situation. At 100kgs, I'm 15kgs over the normal weight of 85kgs. It's been like that for two years even though I have an average daily calorie deficit of 20% (and rarely go as far over my daily calorie requirements by 5%). I exercise in the gym daily for one to on-and-a-half hours, staying in the aerobic zone and using high reps and low resistence. Every third day I replace that with an hour on the weight machines (increasing weights or reps with every session - and minimal resting time). The result: still 33% body fat (though a lot of visceral fat is gone), noticably more muscle, a thickening waist (though no change on the scales). I've a 48" chest, 42" waist and 45" inch hips. My BMI is slightly over 29 and my hip-to-waist ratio is .93 (just within the acceptable range).

So, what does all this mean? I'm no underwear model, but people make way for me in the gym and I get a interested looks all around campus - regardless of gender or age. Actually, just to finish the picture - I'm a baby-faced 44-year-old and 5'10" tall. I overheard a remark made between two guys on Oceanside's boardwalk last year when one commented that I was muscular but carrying fat. Fair enough. On the other hand, there was the woman at San Francisco's Pier 38 who went WOW! when she saw me. That was funny. When I turned round she was staring and her friend was shushing her and glaring at me.

Aug 22 10:46 PM

Jacquez wrote:

SportsmanMark69. Losing weight and building muscle at the same time is very difficult. It not only takes massive amounts of determination (which you probably have since you were able to quit smoking), but it also takes precision in diet planning. My suggestion is that you start by doing cardio and weight training regularly. It's always easier to build muscle first and then burn off the fat later. Maintaining your new muscle will cause your body to burn more calories. And in the end, when losing weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume each day. So, while its never easy to lose fat, the more muscle mass you have, the more you can eat and still lose weight. Just know that when you eventually do focus on losing fat, you will probably lose a little muscle as well, so make sure you have a little extra that you don't mind losing before you start to really cut the fat.

Jul 17 6:17 PM

rippedbody wrote:

glswimfan.
if you are very sure that its not your eating problem,then try taking weight gaining supplements with protein then start taking weights starting with those that you can take for 10 rep without exhausting yourself too much.
push yourself more and more each week by addung 1 kg or so but dont overdo it.
when you at at a weight that you find satisfying,start to do 'cutting' that will make your body more defined.
p.s.i am a swimmer and my coach says that a swimmer must NOT have too much weight on him as it will slow him down.
i guess you know that right?haha.

Jul 05 11:30 AM

rippedbody wrote:

sportsman.
of you want to look good,i suggest that you start by jogging and having a good diet.
after you lost more body fat then you start doing weights.
i am quite expereinced in bb and i hav seen many people with a beer belly taking heavy weights and they dont look good at all.

Jul 05 11:25 AM

joeman72 wrote:

34 yo and I have been lifting for about ten years, great aricle! I'm going to try to follow this schedule as best possible.

Apr 01 11:43 AM

musclestew wrote:

i am 23 years old and i just started to bodybuilding i am trying to add about 15kg onto my body wiegh which is 60 at the moment i am 5 foot 6 inches tall 165cm i am taking some protein supplyments to help me along as well u started seem to get more defination in my muscles but not put on actual wieght it self i am doning 45 mins in the gym every second day constrating mostly on my upper chest abs and back groups i do have a high matablism as well can any can any one sugust and ideads to help my to gain wieght as well would very much appreciate it guys thanks stewart

Mar 16 3:34 AM

glswimfan123 wrote:

im an 18 year old swimmer looking to build more muscle. it seems like the more i eat, the more i lose weight? im 6'0" and 155 lbs, and i lose weight like crazy cause i have a fast matablism. im just wondering what i should do to gain muscle and mass. im not that strong but im fast in the water purely on technique. and i need to start weight training but have never been shown how.
thanks
Marc

Feb 12 8:27 PM

sportsmanmark69 wrote:

Im 250 lbs and I want to start working out i'm 6'1" kind of stocky what should i do first to 1. lose weight and 2. build up my upper chest and biceips while tighting up my stomach.

Mark Richards P.S. I'm 47 years old and I just quit smoking

Nov 16 5:00 AM