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Oh, I know, everyone is an expert on weight gain. The Internet is flooded with 145 pound skinny-fat experts. Here's a summary of their mass-gaining methods: Stick a bunch of big words together in a row, or pull out a thesaurus and just jam synonyms into every sentence. Bam! Your audience will instantly grow bigger. Recently at a workshop I was held hostage by a guy arguing that back squats are superior to front squats because of hamstring recruitment. The problem was that this guy, I was later told, had never done a squat in his life. Another expert. Actually, I'm a fairly good example of actual bulking. In a four-month period, without steroids (always a caveat), I put on forty pounds, going from 162 to 202. What's interesting about my four-month, forty-pound gain was what I was doing before I started to gain size. Why? Well, it's probably what you're doing now. At a bodyweight of 162 pounds, I benched heavy and hard nearly every day. At a bodyweight of 162 pounds, I did lat pulldowns, a variety of curls, lots of ab work, and I moved from machine to machine quickly. Then I met Dick Notmeyer and the scale began to move. At Dick's place, there was a bar on the floor and a squat rack. Three days a week I walked over to the bar on the floor and moved it overhead a bunch of different ways. Two days a week I squatted the bar. Soon, I was always hungry, so much so that I famously ate sandwiches just before dinner so I wouldn't be hungry while I was eating. Dick had me weigh in every day, and it was shocking to watch the numbers go up daily. I came home one day after working out and my brother, who hadn't seen me in a few weeks, looked up from the table and said, 'Holy shit!" Folks, that's a bulking program. If you miss seeing someone for a few weeks and they don't recognize you, well, you have dialed it in. If, in two months, you find yourself smaller than when you started: welcome to the club. Most people who want to 'bulk" fail. Why? Because: 1) They do too much of the things that get them tired, but not big. 2) They do too little of the things that get them big and really tired. Read on and I'll explain.
2. The other part of the formula is as old as the rack. You need to do some serious squatting. In the March 1980 edition of Ironman, Jack Kirwan offered a short article: 'A Seminar by Tom Platz." The honesty and candor of Platz was always his hallmark, and, if you didn't notice, the size of his thighs. His answer to small arms, small chest or whatever was simply to load the body up by squatting. To repeat: The answer is squatting. 3. Finally, you literally need to spend more time on the bar. No, I didn't say "at the bar." Bourbon and squats don't mix. I've tried that workout. Trust me on this. No, the single best way I know to get more time with a bar in your hands is to use complexes. As you've read about in recent T NATION articles, complexes involve cycling through a series of exercises without putting the bar down, performing all the reps on one exercise before moving to the next. It's tough. You'll whimper. Then you'll want to do it again. (But not right away.)
Day Two: Deadlift and military press. It takes about fifteen minutes or so for the athlete to get in some light warm-ups then do the three serious sets of each exercise. The last set is 'as many" and that's the only number we record. If your reps are moving up on a weight then you're getting stronger (the word 'duh" can be used now), but, for whatever reason, people miss this simple point. If you're doing something else (and there are dozens of basic strength programs) that's fine, but double check the amount of time you're taking to get the work done. Basic movements and basic training can be done much more efficiently. I had great success years ago training only two days a week with simple movements.
So, it could be something as simple as this: Week One Day One: Warm-up 185 x 10 205 x 10 225 x 10 275 x 5 315 x 5 Day Two: Warm-up 185 x 5 205 x 5 225 x 20 x 15 Week Two Day One: Warm-up 185 x 10 225 x 10 275 x 5 315 x 5 335 x 3 Day Two: Warm-up 185 x 5 205 x 5 225 x 25 x 20 So, there's no secret to bulking. You have to load the iron and squat down. Then, come back up. Give yourself about four weeks after the break-in period to focus on the high rep squats. Then, stop. For clarity, two weeks to break in, four weeks to push the weights and the reps up, then, move on.
1. Press the kettlebells eight times 2. Clean the kettlebells eight times 3. Double front squat the kettlebells eight times 4. Deadlift them eight times I suggest you use complexes to be your general warm-up two days a week. For example: Day One Complex D Upright Row Clean Grip Snatch Back Squat Behind Neck Press Good Mornings Row Do this complex for 3 sets of 8 with a light weight. 'Big Two" Front Squat Bench Press Utilize the 5/3/1 Program High Rep Back Squat: One set of 30 with 95 pounds Consume food. Day Two Complex A Row Clean Front Squat Military Press Back Squat Good Mornings Again, do three sets of eight. 'Big Two" Deadlift Military Press Utilize the 5/3/1 Program High Rep Back Squat Program Two sets of 30 with 95 pounds Consume food.
Wrap-Up
Bulking is basic. Remember that. If you try to do too much or get too clever during the six weeks, you're not going to make the kind of progress that I've typically seen. Honestly, you can expect a surge during the first two weeks that'll convince you that the simple combination of strength training, high rep squats, and complexes actually works better than something more exotic and sexy. Remember, I didn't say it was easy, just simple.