Dear Friend,
I have a confession
to make...
I have been
on a two-month "forced" layoff from training.
I won't bore
you with the details. Life happens.
So I started
back to the gym recently and wanted to get back on track with
a proven training program that will build muscle mass quickly.
And to be
quite honest, juggling all these different projects I'm involved
in, I don't have time for these four or five day split routines.
I need to get in the gym, do what's required to build muscle and
get out as quickly as possible.
So the obvious
choice for building muscle mass and strength is full body training.
It's
the best training routine for
building muscle mass as quickly as possible.
See, before
anabolic steroids really took hold in bodybuilding, almost all
of the famous physique stars of the past (Steve Reeves, Reg Park,
George Eiferman, etc.) recommended and performed whole body training
for building muscle mass.
Many of the
old timers never did anything but full body routines their entire
training careers! And many had physiques that would still be the
envy of most bodybuilders today.
A full body
routine is usually performed three days a week with at least one
day of rest in between. For example... Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
That allows enough time for recuperation, one of the most important
factors in muscle growth.
But in the
case of some hard gainers, training only twice a week on a full
body routine produces faster muscle gains due to the increased
recuperation time.
Arthur Jones
(the genius inventor of Nautilus machines) used to recommend a
full body routine done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Several
years later, after much trial and error on thousands of test subjects,
he said that one can gain muscle faster training on a full body
routine only twice per week.
Think I'm
full of crap to recommend such a simple, no-frills routine for
gaining muscle? Well I'm not the only one who recommends it.
Mick Hart
is a well known bodybuilding/steroid guru from England. (God bless
the British. They are extraordinary people... and probably the
most polite people on the planet.)
Mick coaches
people on how to make maximum muscle mass gains while using anabolic
steroids.
Do you want
to know what he says is the absolute BEST routine for gaining
muscle mass... whether taking steroids or not? A full body training
routine done three times per week.
And
Mick Hart recommends that routine as the very BEST for gaining
muscle mass... for beginners, intermediates... and even advanced
trainers!
Any time I'm
in a slump I always think back to when I made my best gains over
my twenty-plus years of pumping iron. Each and every time I have
dedicated myself to working hard on a three-times-a-week full
body training routine I have made extraordinary gains. The most
notable was a 18 lb. gain of muscle mass in a little more than
eight weeks.
Look, the
muscles of the human body work as a unit. What kind of work in
the real world is similar to leg extensions? Nothing that I know
of! But squatting with a heavy weight is a movement you would
do when brute strength is needed to move or lift something.
And another
thing... doing heavy basic movements like squats, deadlifts and
bench presses works ALL muscles of the body and triggers full
body anabolism.
Your body
won't produce much of a metabolic response from leg extensions
and concentration curls. Sure, you'll get a pump, but it's highly
unlikely you'll get much growth stimulation.
But a workout
with a couple heavy sets of squats, bench presses, dips, and chins
will stimulate muscle growth like crazy. And not just localized
growth in a few muscles. Your body will respond metabolically
with overall muscle growth.
When I see
these 120 lb. teenagers doing concentration curls and rear delt
laterals with 10 lb. dumbbells I just shake my head. They're never
going to pack on any mass that way.
Look, I don't
want to explain any more details or try to justify why this works.
It's proven. Just have a little faith in old DD and try it, OK?
Here's a sample
workout done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You should be able
to get this done in an hour or less.
* Overhead
Dumbbell or Barbell Press: 2 sets of 8 to 10 reps
* Squats: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
* Barbell or Dumbbell Flat Bench Press : 3 sets of 8 reps
* Chins or Bent Over Barbell Rows: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
* Dips or Close Grip Bench Press : 1 to 2 sets of 8 reps
* Barbell or Dumbbell Curls: 1 to 2 sets of 8 reps
* Standing or Donkey Calf Raises: 2 to 3 sets of 12 to
20 reps
You should
do a couple lighter warm up sets prior to your work sets. All
work sets should be worked very hard. In other words, the very
last rep should be the last one you are capable of doing. Increase
the weight used in small increments as often as possible.
If you find
you are not making gains on this routine, try cutting back to
only two times per week... say Monday and Friday, or Tuesday and
Saturday.
Now for the
anal retentive types, please don't ask me... "What about
my serratus and rear delts? There's no direct exercises for those
muscles."
Look, I HIGHLY
doubt you are at the level where you have all the muscle mass
you want... so don't worry about your serratus, rear delts, intercostals
or whatever. This routine works EVERYTHING and causes growth and
strength in ALL your muscle groups.
These exercises
work many groups of muscle groups at the same time. This is how
the body is designed to perform.
The
program also causes massive release of testosterone and growth
hormone in response to the demands placed on the nervous and metabolic
systems.
Leg extensions
and triceps kickbacks will NEVER cause that kind of anabolic response.
Reg Park,
one of the most massively muscled bodybuilders of the B.S. (before
steroids) era, always specialized on heavy leg and back work with
basic exercises when he wanted to increase muscle mass. Many times
Reg wouldn't even do any direct arm exercises. The stimulation
from bench presses and back work was enough to cause muscle growth
in his arms. And this guy had a massive pair of arms!
NO routine
works for everybody all the time. But for 95% of bodybuilders,
this is the very best routine you can do to build muscle mass
quickly.
If you work
really hard on this routine for eight weeks... and eat a lot of
the right foods to support muscle growth... you're going to make
some really kick ass muscle size and strength gains.
Give it a
try and let me know how it goes for you.
All the best,
Doberman
Dan
