5 Shortcuts to Muscle Growth This Week
Posted on 8 September 2008
If you have some time to spare in the Gym this week I have a 1 week plan of action for maximal muscle growth for the week. Its basically a training/tip guide of what I would do for the week in order to gain muscle. After the week is done go back to your regular training program but this is a nice routine to shock the body into some hypetropy.
1-Volumize your Training
I normally do full body workouts once or twice a week in the gym and do the rest of my training outdoors and with body weight. Occasionally though I suggest a week of Volume training, go about his by splitting your body into something like this:
-Back and Shoulders
-Legs and Triceps
-Chest and Biceps
All you need to do is annihilate each one of these body parts once in the week. I would suggest spending 20-30 MInutes of the larger body parts (Legs, Back, Chest) and 10 minutes on the smaller one’s (Biceps and Triceps). Split this workout into alternate days if you can so either Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat.
2- Start Heavy then go Lighter
In order to get the most of this I would suggest starting each body part with a large compound exercise and do 5×5 (five sets of five reps) after this volumize the muscle with more isolation exercises for higher reps; for instance 3×12 for Lateral Raises.
Make sure you really work each muscle group in order to get maximum effect, really burn each one out and focus on working the muscle and generating tension when doing the sets….. (See Fitness Black Book for more…..)
3- Cod Liver Oil
For the week make sure you keep your intake of good fats high especially Cod Liver Oil. This is mainly due to its outstanding anti-inflammatory properties which will help deal with some of the soreness you will encounter. As well as this Cod Liver Oil is an amazing source of VItamin A which is an essential vitamin for our bodies production of anabolic hormones which will help repair the muscles.
‘Reduced inflammation from physical training’.- Charles Poliquin
Try and have a Tablespoon a day ideally with your first meal after your workout.
Also check out this article: Vitamin A: Bodybuilding’s Forgotten Nutrient…..
4- Keep Active On Off Days
As this plans reccomends training 3 days a week, you will have plenty of free time. Keep active on your off days by walking lots, taking bike ride’s and stretching sore muscles. Don’t do too much though as your body will need to conserve energy in order to repair the muscle’s and hypertrophy them from the weeks training.
I personally would recommend a few long walks or some yoga, but if you don’t have time or can only make it to a gym (office jobs) then by all means go to the gym and do 20 minutes on a cross trainer. As it will help flush your system of toxins and flush fresh blood into your muscles facilitating repair and recovery.
5- Let Hunger Dictate your Eating
This is something very important when gaining muscle. I am convinced that you cannot force feed yourself in order to gain muscle (unless you want to gain excess fat) therefore I suggest listening to your appetite, if your ravenously hungry after a workout then eat that way. If on the other hand you have no appetite one lunch time and feel light and energetic then for go lunch and get on with your day. Maybe picking up a light snack, eat a proper meal when your hunger comes around.
Our bodies are largely self regulating and they will naturally push your hunger and appetite up this week to repair the damaged muscles and gain you some size. Just Make sure you eat good foods I like Art De Vany’s nutritional guidelines……
Bonus Tips
- Don’t eat for 2-3 hours before sleeping
- Get Loads of Sleep (Simple guide to great sleep)
- Eat a Good amount of Healthy Fat
- Steak and Eggs will be your keys to growth
Also see my previous post on Muscle Building While Staying Lean for some more tips.
All Out Attack
See this method as something you should throw in a few times a year, maybe before a holiday or just for fun when you feel like changing things up. It should be an all out attack on each muscle group to trigger new growth, remember your body is fooled by randomness….
8 comments so far
People who linked here
Post a Comment
Twitter Me
Comment by Methuselah
8 September 2008
Chris – good post. By coincidence I am hitting myself with a routine very close to that this week after 2 weeks of that 300 workout I mentioned. You can’t beat a bit of volume for waking up the next day with that satisfying muscular stifness.
Couple of thoughts
- what are your views on post-workout nutrition? You mention Devany’s guidelines and he is someone who advocates waiting at least 60 mins before eating to allow GH release to continue anf avoiding things like protein shakes with simple carbs. I have been waiting 90 mins or more and have certainly not lost muscle as you would expect if you listen to the shake-guzzling muscle-heads. Following Devany’s guidelines is also a good way to ensure natural hunger can be followed, as higher carb diets tend to disrupt hunger mechanisms.
- cod liver oil’s high vitamin A content can actually be a threat if your diet already contains lots of fruit and veg, since vit A is one of the few vitamins where long term over-consumption can cause problems. From memory, I think it affects the bones. I always use ‘fish oil’ since reading about that – same levels of essential fatty acids but no vit A.
Comment by Chris
8 September 2008
As for Post Workout nutrition my view is that unless you are a hard gainer (naturally very skinny) its not worth it, as from my experience it leads to fat gain and guzzling pure sugar can’t be good for insulin sensitivity. I would suggest having a Banana and a Whey Protein shake if anything as a post workout drink, otherwise wait 60 minutes then eat.
If you haven’t read it this article @ the NYT is great and it explains how are bodies repair around the clocks not in the magical “post workout window” see here: http://tinyurl.com/6nu65r
For Vitamin A, fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A from Beta-Carotene which is not the same as the type yu get from FIsh Oil. The way I see it even eating a large amount of Carrots and Pumpkin (high in Beta Carotene Vit A) plus 1TBSP of Cod Liver Oil won’t lead to Toxicity, only benefits, plus the Vitamin D will do us good in the coming months…. See this article on Weston A Price: http://tinyurl.com/2mhsy6
Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by, your last Blog post was great BTW…
Comment by Keith Norris
8 September 2008
I met Arnold when I was a kid, back in the mid-70’s. He was promoting the opening of a new sporting goods store in San Antonio, Texas (Oshman’s, I think it was). Franco Columbo was there as well. Both of them were very cordial, down to earth guys. The funny thing is, is how unknown Arnold was at that time and how few people were there. But even as a kid (I was 11 or 12 or so)I remember thinking that, along with being the biggest human being I had ever seen, he had an unmistakable charisma about him. Women just fawned over him, and it wasn’t just because of his build, either (although I’m sure that didn’t hurt). For lack of a better word, he just had “it” — a certain,vibe or magnetism.
Keith
Comment by Chris
8 September 2008
@ Keith. Thats awesome thanks for sharing, I love digging up the old school pictures of him in his prime….. His Charisma is up for all of us to see in the epic “Pumping Iron” definitely a DVD for everyone’s collection…..
Comment by Methuselah - Pay Now Live Later
8 September 2008
Thanks Chris – good links – I’ll look into the vit A side in more depth as it would be good to be able to debunk the toxicity thing next time I encounter it. Sounds like vit A from supplements remains a threat though, although it seems like a no brainer that you’d drop the supplements, stick with the cod liver oil and just eat plenty of fruit and veg.
Comment by Dan
8 September 2008
Good post Chris! Now that I am cutting down on my time in the gym and getting out more I will definitely try this routine sometime in the next few months.
On the opposite side of things, how often do you think that a week off of weight training is necessary, if at all? Perhaps this is a topic for another post
Comment by Chris
8 September 2008
@ Dan: Glad you enjoyed it!! For weeks of training, I perosnally never take total weeks off, I will usually get some kind of physical activity every week.
As for time of hard weight training that is another matter; if you have been doing volume work consistently I would recommend a week off volume training every 4-8 weeks in which you do more lifestyle stuff like run, play sports, go for long walks, some high rep push-ups etc…. Definitely a good topic for a blog post, maybe sometime later this week I will do one on the topic and delve in deeper. Thanks Dan….