Are you ready for your biggest month ever? Here’s your blueprint for size gains. If you follow this plan, you’re going to get the results you always dreamed of!
Muscle hypertrophy (growth) is something that most people who train are hoping to achieve. But, oftentimes they are left with little gains each month.
The reason for this is because their nutrition and fitness programs have some flaws.
The most common reason from a nutrition standpoint is not enough calorie consumption. They are also eating foods low in nutrients. Muscle gains are based off of 70% nutrition and only 30% of training.
But, your fitness program significantly changes everything. Why? Because you need to overload your muscles with resistance in order to stimulate muscle growth through the repair cycle. You need a proper training program to achieve this. And, you’re going to find that with the 28 days program provided right here. Try it and you won’t be disappointed!
Time Put Your Fitness Training Cap On!
The starting point for any training program is accepting that you are going to make the commitment to take part in it. For the next 28 days, you need to focus on three things. First, focus on doing the exercise. Second, you must eat properly. Third, give your muscles time to rest and recover. Only then can you expect to gain 10 pounds of muscle.
The muscle gained is not exactly all lean, but you will be more muscular and stronger with the extra 10 pounds of muscle.
Only 28 days may not sound like a long training program. But, a lot of people fail at this because they are not focused on achieving their desired goals. You want muscle? Then you have to work hard for it. Time to earn the reason to go up a shirt size.
The Importance of Frequency and Volume When Gaining Muscle
Frequency and volume are going to make or break your ability to boost muscle mass. Muscle growth can’t take place without enough sets and reps, which is volume. It also can’t take place without enough training frequency, which is performing enough days of exercise.
This can become a little confusing because some training programs consist of a frequency of only three training days, while others can be four or five. This all depends on what exercises are being used together in any given training day.
For example, three training days usually means a full body workout. The reason for this is because a 24-hour period of rest is needed for muscle groups trained.
Four or five day training day frequencies are generally based on doing muscle training within one region of your body, so no rest days are needed for the whole body until towards the end of the week. However, the 24-hour recovery for that particular muscle region is required.
For example, if you target your chest muscles, then they need this minimum amount of rest. But, you can focus on your legs, back, abs or shoulders the following day. You could train your chest muscles three days a week if you were performing specialized training, but the fact still remains that a rest day goes between each training day. Let’s take a further look into rest days and their importance for muscle growth.
Rest and Recovery…
During the 24-hour process of not targeting a muscle region, your body begins to allow this area to repair itself from what you put it through. Resistance causes your muscle fibers to tear microscopically. This is what accounts for the muscle soreness we often feel the next day following a workout.
Your body senses these injuries and sends nutrients to help the muscle fibers repair properly. Once the fibers have repaired, the cells become larger in size. This is the reason why our muscles appear larger as a result of training them. But, this is only accomplished by allowing your muscles the time they need to heal.
Now, overtraining is not something that’s easy to do. You would have to push your body far beyond its limits with little attention to progressive training and insufficient nutrient consumption. But, if you were to reach this point, muscle atrophy, also known as the loss of muscle tissue, may occur.
Volume and Muscle Growth
Your muscles need progressive overloads placed upon them for stimulation to take place. What exactly is progressive overload? This is when you progressively increase the amount of resistance placed on your muscles over time. People often make the mistake to jump right into heavy weight settings and maintain this amount for months. That’s not a great idea.
This hinders muscle growth and causes a growth plateau. To overcome this, we progressively advance our muscles into increasing resistance to allow growth possibilities.
Then you have the other side of the spectrum where the volume is a lot of reps with low weight and sets. You can’t build larger muscles through this method because you’re only working on muscular endurance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing unless your goal is to gain muscle. Don’t be scared to increase the weight and fail at some point during an exercise. This is actually a good thing that inhibits growth and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
No Muscles Left Behind!
Every muscle group will be focused on during this training program. To gain muscle mass, you have to have a well-rounded physique. Skipping legs day is common for some reason. But, it becomes quite noticeable as time passes. Ever see those guys with the large upper bodies and twigs for legs? They’ve skipped leg days. Don’t be that guy!
Appearance is not the only bad result. Squats, lunges and leg presses are a part of the exercises that allow increased release of testosterone and growth hormones. This means you are going to gain muscle faster and boost the intensity of your workouts.
Training Days for the Program Will Be in the Following Order:
Chest and Triceps
Legs, Glutes and Abs
Shoulders and Triceps
Back, Biceps and Abs
Rest (or extra abs training)
Rest
Rest
These training days shouldn’t be interchanged. Chest starts off the week. Legs follow to give your shoulders time for rest. Shoulder training is before back training because you don’t want to wear out your shoulders before performing a specific training day for them. The choice of performing abs on the first rest day is yours, but it’ll be bodyweight training only.
Equipment is needed for this training program. And, a gym might be the best place to go because they have all the equipment that will be used.
Gain 10 Pounds Of Muscle In One Month Of Training Program
This is week #1.
DAY #1 is for chest and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Barbell Flat Bench Press 5 6-8
Barbell Incline Press 5 6-8
Forward Weighted Dips 5 8-10
Dumbbell Flyes 4 8-10
Close-Grips Barbell Bench Press 4 6-8
Flat Bench Ez-Bar Skull Crushers 4 8-10
DAY #2 is for legs, glutes and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Squats 5 6-8
Lunges 5 6-8
Leg Curls 4 8-10
Leg Extensions 4 8-10
Calf Raises 5 10-12
Crunches 3 50
Leg Raises 3 25
Flutter Kicks 3 25
DAY #3 is for shoulders and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Military Press 5 6-8
Seated Arnold Shoulder Press 5 6-8
Wide-Grip Upright Rows 5 6-8
Single-Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 8-10
Standing Overhead Triceps Extensions 5 6-8
Cable Rope Pull Downs 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 10-12
DAY #4 is for back, biceps and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Conventional Deadlifts 5 6-8
Barbell Bent Over Rows 5 6-8
Lat Pull Downs 4 8-10
T-Rows 5 6-8
Barbell Biceps Curls 5 6-8
EZ-Bar Preacher Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Curls 4 8-10
V-Crunches 5 20
DAY #5 is for rest or bodyweight abs training.
DAY #6 is for rest. No training allowed.
DAY #7 is for rest. No training allowed.
This is week #2.
DAY #8 is for chest and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Dumbbell Incline Press 5 6-8
Dumbbell Flat Bench Pullovers 5 6-8
Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press 5 6-8
Decline Barbell Bench Press 4 8-10
Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 8-10
DAY #9 is for legs, glutes and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Front Squats 5 6-8
Leg Presses 5 6-8
Leg Curls 4 8-10
Leg Extensions 4 8-10
Calf Raises 5 10-12
Russian Twists 3 25
Oblique Crunches 3 25
Hello Dollys 3 25
DAY #10 is for shoulders and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Overhead Dumbbell Press 5 6-8
Barbell Shrugs 5 6-8
Narrow-Grip Upright Rows 5 6-8
Dumbbell Front Raise 4 8-10
Kneeling Triceps Kickbacks 5 8-10
Cable Rope Overhead Pull 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 10-12
DAY #11 is for back, biceps and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Sumo Deadlifts 5 6-8
Kneeling Single-Arm Rows 5 6-8
Seated Rows 4 8-10
Reverse Dumbbell Flyes 5 8-10
Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5 6-8
Arnold Isolation Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Single-Arm Cable Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Crunches 5 20
Weighted Decline Sit-ups 5 20
DAY #12 is for rest or bodyweight abs training.
DAY #13 is for rest. No training allowed.
DAY #14 is for rest. No training allowed.
This is week #3.
DAY #15 is for chest and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Barbell Flat Bench Press 5 6-8
Barbell Incline Press 5 6-8
Forward Weighted Dips 5 8-10
Dumbbell Flyes 4 8-10
Close-Grips Barbell Bench Press 4 6-8
Flat Bench Ez-Bar Skull Crushers 4 8-10
DAY #16 is for legs, glutes and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Squats 5 6-8
Lunges 5 6-8
Leg Curls 4 8-10
Leg Extensions 4 8-10
Calf Raises 5 10-12
Crunches 3 50
Leg Raises 3 25
Flutter Kicks 3 25
DAY #17 is for shoulders and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Military Press 5 6-8
Seated Arnold Shoulder Press 5 6-8
Wide-Grip Upright Rows 5 6-8
Single-Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 8-10
Standing Overhead Triceps Extensions 5 6-8
Cable Rope Pull Downs 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 10-12
DAY #18 is for back, biceps and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Conventional Deadlifts 5 6-8
Barbell Bent Over Rows 5 6-8
Lat Pull Downs 4 8-10
T-Rows 5 6-8
Barbell Biceps Curls 5 6-8
EZ-Bar Preacher Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Curls 4 8-10
V-Crunches 5 20
DAY #19 is for rest or bodyweight abs training.
DAY #20 is for rest. No training allowed.
DAY #21 is for rest. No training allowed.
This is week #4.
DAY #22 is for chest and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Dumbbell Incline Press 5 6-8
Dumbbell Flat Bench Pullovers 5 6-8
Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press 5 6-8
Decline Barbell Bench Press 4 8-10
Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 8-10
DAY #23 is for legs, glutes and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Front Squats 5 6-8
Leg Presses 5 6-8
Leg Curls 4 8-10
Leg Extensions 4 8-10
Calf Raises 5 10-12
Russian Twists 3 25
Oblique Crunches 3 25
Hello Dollys 3 25
DAY #24 is for shoulders and triceps.
Exercise Sets Reps
Overhead Dumbbell Press 5 6-8
Barbell Shrugs 5 6-8
Narrow-Grip Upright Rows 5 6-8
Dumbbell Front Raise 4 8-10
Kneeling Triceps Kickbacks 5 8-10
Cable Rope Overhead Pull 4 8-10
Vertical Dips 4 10-12
DAY #25 is for back, biceps and abs.
Exercise Sets Reps
Sumo Deadlifts 5 6-8
Kneeling Single-Arm Rows 5 6-8
Seated Rows 4 8-10
Reverse Dumbbell Flyes 5 8-10
Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5 6-8
Arnold Isolation Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Single-Arm Cable Curls 4 8-10
Reverse Crunches 5 20
Weighted Decline Sit-ups 5 20
DAY #26 is for rest or bodyweight abs training.
DAY #27 is for rest. No training allowed.
DAY #28 is for rest. No training allowed.
Conclusion
This 28 day training program is guaranteed to put some serious muscle mass on your body if performed correctly. But, it requires a high nutrient intake to support such mass. Every person will need a different caloric intake. Those figures are based on age, gender, activity level, height and weight.
Don’t forget: If you don’t eat enough foods high in nutrients, then your muscles can’t grow. Eat right. Get your rest. Follow the exercises in the 28-day plan. Do these things and you’ll gain 10 pounds of muscle mass.
– By Brian Pankau, CPT
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[…] By Terry Asher […]
Comment:can this work for skinny guys??
Hey Peter,
It sure can, if you need any more guidance you’re more than welcome to email us [email protected]
-Terry Asher