Mass Building Workout Programs

Hit the Weights

• A major part of a mass-building program involves (not surprisingly) lifting some serious weight. The body does not want to add additional muscle for no good reason, because muscle burns extra energy and adds cumbersome weight that makes biological processes more difficult. To that end, to override your body's inhibitions against adding extra muscle, you will have to teach your body that the additional muscle is necessary to survival by lifting progressively heavier weights. Gaining size and strength must go hand in hand to ensure that a majority of your gains are muscle mass (as opposed to fat). A simple workout is best, focusing on exercises that allow you to lift large amounts of weight.

  Following are exercises that will help build muscle mass. For each exercise, begin with a weight that is comfortable to avoid injury, but that also causes you to work hard. Each additional week you should strive to either perform more reps with the same weight (up to the recommended repetition number given in the exercise plan). When you can perform all recommended repetitions, then add more weight to the bar, even if it is only an extra 5 lbs.

  Monday (legs):
  Front Squat: Perform the four sets of five repetitions, then a single heavier set of three.
  Back Squat: Perform one set of 20 repetitions.
  Barbell Lunges: Perform four sets of five repetitions, per leg.
  Weighted Sit-ups: Perform three sets of eight repetitions.
  Wednesday (back):
  Rack Pull Dead Lifts: Perform four sets of five, then one set of three.
  Trap Bar Dead Lifts: Perform four sets of five.
  Chin-ups: Perform three sets of eight.
  Dumbbell Bicep Curls: Perform two sets of eight.
  Friday (chest):
  Incline Barbell Bench Press: Perform four sets of five, then one set of three.
  Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: Perform three sets of 10.
  Dips: Perform three sets of eight.

  Explanations for all of these exercises can be found by clicking the attached links and searching for the specific exercise.

Hit the Kitchen

• Gaining weight is all about eating enough. Gaining muscle is all about eating enough of the proper foods. 3,000 calories from ice cream is not the same as 3,000 calories from lean meat, fruit and vegetables. To that end, make sure you are eating enough to grow (even if it is the occasional pizza), but make sure most of your food sources are from natural unprocessed foods. The scale should be moving up constantly: 1 to 2 lbs. a week is the goal. But also keep an eye on the mirror. Some fat gain is inevitable when gaining muscle, but too much growth around the waistline means you need to increase your cardiovascular exercises or reevaluate your food choices.

  Additionally, some people believe that supplements are necessary to gaining a large amount of mass. Protein powder is helpful if you do not have ample time to prepare full meals, but other than that, one should be able to build an appreciable amount of mass without spending money on the latest trends from the supplement industry.

Hit the Treadmill

• Adding in at least three extra cardiovascular sessions a week should be sufficient to keep fat gain down to a minimum. Incline treadmill walking for around 45 minutes to an hour will suffice. This is just a general recommendation though, and individuals will vary. If you find you are gaining too much fat at three sessions a week, increase their duration or add in a fourth session. If you find it too difficult to gain weight with three cardiovascular workouts, cut back to two. Use common sense and do not let your desire for additional muscle mass blind you to out-of-control fat gains.