Routine for Gaining Muscle Mass

by Joe

It ALWAYS amazes me when people tote Mike Mentzer as the high intensity routine specialist but they always neglect to mention that when he first started out lifting weights he did the typical 2-3 days per week full body routines and made great muscle gains for years.

Mentzer didn't use high intensity training until AFTER years of weight lifting and having had already packed on a lot of muscle size.

Why do i bring this up??? Because this high intensity training does NOT work for beginners and they are just wasting their time with it until they have at least 1 year worth of regular training under their belt to sufficiently develop the neuromuscular efficiency for such a routine to be effective.

I have over 15 years of training notched into my lifting belt and have tried every possible routine over the years, so i speak from hard-earned experience. One all-out work set of, say, barbell curls with 50 lbs will NOT produce the same muscle growth as 3 work sets of 8-12 reps for a beginner. THAT'S why beginners can workout more frequently than other weight lifters because they recover MUCH sooner from the lack of poundage they can handle when lifting.

If you're reading this and you're a beginner looking for mass then stick to working out 3 days a week alternating these 2 workouts every other workout day (1-2-1-2-1-2, M-W-F-M-W-F):

1.
(3-4 work sets of 8-12 reps for all exercises, rest 2-3 minutes in between work sets)
Barbell Squat
Bench Press
Military Press

2.
Barbell Deadlift
Chin-Ups
Barbell Curls


There isn't a magic routine for gaining muscle mass, as anyone with any lifting experience can tell you. Hit the weights for a couple of hard work sets 2-3 times per week, eat a lot of good food and protein, get plenty of rest, and you WILL grow. Stop looking for some "fad" miracle routine, just man up and lift.