You want to gain maximum muscle mass as quickly as possible.
That was before you read a bunch of articles on the subject, which talk about completely different ways. But now you’re completely confused about the best way to get pumped up fast. Read on, and I’ll tell you the way to gain muscle mass at the maximum pace, limited only by your genetics.
Training programs for fast muscle growth
Option one is to train the whole body 3 times a week every other day. This is usually on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is also possible to train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, or on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
- Monday: full body
- Tuesday: day off
- Wednesday: full body
- Thursday: day off
- Friday: full body
- Saturday: day off
- Sunday: day off
Option two is to train 4 times a week on a top/bottom basis. You train your upper body on Monday, your lower body on Tuesday, and rest on Wednesday. You train your upper body on Thursday, your lower body on Friday, and rest on the weekend. Each muscle group trains twice a week.
- Monday: upper body
- Tuesday: lower body
- Wednesday: day off
- Thursday: upper body
- Friday: lower body
- Saturday: day off
- Sunday: day off
The third option is a “pull-push + legs” split workout. You work out 3 or 4 times a week, doing push ups (chest, shoulders, triceps) on Monday and pull ups (back, biceps) on Tuesday. You rest on Wednesday so you can do a leg workout on Thursday. Friday you rest again. On Saturday, you start the split all over again, doing the bench press exercises.
- Day 1: chest, shoulders, triceps
- Day 2: back, biceps
- Day 3: day off
- Day 4: legs
- Day 5: day off
So you train 2 days, rest 1 day, train another day, and rest 1 day. Each muscle group is trained every 5th day. Due to the fact that you train on different days of the week, you must have a very flexible schedule to follow this program.
You can also use the up/down spit to work on each muscle group 3 times over 7 days. This way you work out for 2 days, then rest for 1 day, and just keep repeating this process.
- Day 1: lower body
- Day 2: upper body
- Day 3: day off
- Day 4: lower body
- Day 5: upper body
- Day 6: day off
A high training frequency has a good effect if you are able to recover from 5 workouts a week for 2 weeks. Not everyone can do this, so be careful.
Although there are literally thousands of different programs, among them are those that will allow you to build maximum muscle mass in the shortest possible time.
But if the training program and diet are designed correctly, beginners can still achieve good results on split programs that include 4-5 workouts per week. In one study conducted by Baylor University, a group of beginners gained 5.5 kg of muscle mass in 10 weeks using a 4-day split. Another 12-week study, this time with untrained beginners, showed that by training on a 5-day split and using milk as a post-workout supplement, these guys gained almost 4 kg of muscle and not a drop of fat.
Most often in the same way that beginners can achieve results using split programs, anyone who has already gone through the initial stage of training can build a substantial amount of muscle mass by training their whole body 3 times a week. For example, researchers at the University of Alabama found that men who had performed strength training for several years gained nearly 4.5 kg of muscle in 3 months by doing a full-body workout 3 times a week.
The best exercises for fast muscle growth
I don’t know how to build up muscles quickly if you train on machines. It is better to choose basic exercises that allow you to work with a lot of weight. Here are the best ones in each category:
- Horizontal bench presses (barbell press on a horizontal or 30° inclined bench, dumbbell press on a horizontal or 30° inclined bench, push-ups).
- Horizontal deadlifts (deadlift to waist, dumbbell deadlift, pull-up lying on low bar). Vertical deadlifts (pulling up, pulling the upper block to chest with narrow reverse grip).
- Vertical bench presses (standing barbell press, dumbbell bench press, seated dumbbell bench press).
- Lower body with an emphasis on the quadriceps (squats, split squats, leg presses).
- For the lower body with emphasis on the posterior thigh muscles (regular deadlift, Romanian deadlift, leg curls).
There are many different views on the number of sets and reps you can use to build muscle mass. One of them is to build up the working weight to an approach that is close to your limits. You may think you can do one more rep, but do it only if your technique will not suffer.
By building up, I mean doing progressively heavier approaches until you reach your maximum weight with which you can do 5-8 repetitions. Once you’ve done those approaches, rest for 1-2 minutes. Reduce the weight by 10-20% and perform another approach. Repeat the same and move on to the next exercise.
Combine these approaches with high repetition approaches for the same muscle groups, and you’ll give your muscles the boost they need to grow mass and strength.
