4-Week Fast Track to MAXIMUM MASS

4-Week Fast Track to MAXIMUM MASS

By: Luke Leaman, Poliquin Group

Reprinted from Muscle Media Magazine

If you want to pack on maximum mass in a hurry and you’re willing to take on a lot of hard work, read on! This workout builds muscle lots of muscle! (Although this program will help you reduce body fat, there are other workout systems that are more effective for getting you lean.) My clients and I have used this fast-track program when we’ve wanted to bulk up. At my biggest, I had 21-inch arms and weighed 270 pounds while carrying 12 percent body fat. The program also works well for anybody who wants to pack on some beef quickly. This workout is designed to be used for one month. You train by just four days a week to ensure sufficient recovery. The body part splits are arranged as follows:
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Back and Biceps
Wednesday: Active Rest
Thursday: Chest and Triceps
Friday: Delts and Calves
Saturday: Active Rest
Sunday: Active Rest

On rest days you can do just about any activity to keep you moving, such as walking and
other forms of light cardio. For each of the lifts in this workout, I include a tempo prescription to ensure you give your muscles a precise training stimulus. In prescribing tempo, four numbers are used, such as 4210. The first number indicates the seconds it should take to complete the eccentric (or down) motion; the second number indicates the pause before the concentric (or up) motion, which is the third number; and the fourth number indicates the pause before the next repetition. As an example, using a 4210
tempo in the bench press, you take 4 seconds to lower the weight to your chest, pause there for 2 seconds, then rapidly push the weight up in 1 second, and immediately begin the next rep (zero seconds of rest). This workout uses a lot of tri-sets, which I believe is a great training protocol to stimulate the muscles into serious growth. Here you go!

4-Week Fast Track to MAXIMUM MASS
Monday (Legs) Sets Reps Tempo Rest
A. Leg Extension 4 0-12 3011 90 seconds
B. Leg Press 4 15-20 2010 75 seconds
C1. Leg Extension 4 10-12 4010 10 seconds
C2. Machine Hack Squat 4 10-12 2020 10 seconds
C3. Back Squat 4 10-12 4010 90 seconds
D. Lying Leg Curl 8 8-10 5010 45 seconds

Tuesday (Back and Biceps) Sets Reps Tempo Rest
A. Hammer Strength Lat Pulldown 4 8-10 3011 90 seconds
B. Wide-Grip Pulldown* 4 10-12 3210 75 seconds
C1. Seated Cable Row to Waist 4 10-12 2011 10 seconds
C2. Machine Pullover 4 10-12 3210 10 seconds
C3. Standing Face Pull 4 10-12 4010 90 seconds
D. Standing Cable Curl 8 8-10 5010 45 seconds

Wednesday (Active Rest)

Thursday (Chest and Triceps) Sets Reps Tempo Rest
A. Hammer Strength Incline Press 4 8-10 3012 90 seconds
B. Incline Barbell Press* 4 10-12 3210 75 seconds
C1. Dips 4 6-8 2020 10 seconds
C2. Flat Dumbbell Hex Press 4 6-8 2020 10 seconds
C3. Flat Dumbbell Flye, Hand Pronated 4 10-12 3110 90 seconds
D. Triceps Pressdown with Rope 8 10-12 4010 45 seconds

Friday (Delts and Calves) Sets Reps Tempo Rest
A. Hammer Strength Shoulder Press** 4 8-10 2012 90 seconds
B. Upright Row* 4 10-12 3210 75 seconds
C1. Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 10-12 3011 10 seconds
C2. Dumbbell L-Lateral Raise 4 10-12 3011 10 seconds
C3. Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 4 15-20 3010 90 seconds
D. Standing Calf Raise 8 10-12 4010 45 seconds

Saturday (Active Rest)

Sunday (Re-feed and Rest!)
*During the eccentric phase stop and hold the bar 2 inches above the chest for 2 seconds
**Use bands if you have them

During this workout I recommend three different macronutrient ratios, as follows:

On Training Days:

Calories per pound of body weight, 13.5

Protein, 40%

Carbs, 40%

Fat 20%

On Non-Training Days:

Calories per pound of body weight, 10.5

Protein, 50%

Carbs, 40%

Fat 30%

On Sunday Re-Feed:

Calories per pound of body weight, 16

Protein, 30%

Carbs, 50%

Fat 20%

For supplements, I consider these the foundation: high-quality multivitamin (no iron for men unless they are anemic), elemental magnesium, zinc, fish oil, probiotic and digestive enzymes. To increase insulin sensitivity and activation of anabolism, I also recommend alpha lipoic acid, micro PQQ, cinnamon extract, green tea extract, chromium polynicotinate, and a creatine/beta alanine combo. I don’t feel comfortable assigning dosages in an article; the best course of action is to get a blood test to determine how well your current diet is serving your needs, then adjust supplement dosages accordingly.

After this four-week cycle, I suggest using a program that focuses primarily on fat loss, such as a German Body Comp protocol that uses high reps and short rest intervals. Simply changing the exercises in this workout and repeating would not produce the same results – and may even result in overtraining. Keep in mind that your body needs variety to continue growing.

I realize I’ve thrown a lot at you, but if you’re serious about adding a lot of lean muscle fast, this is the best program I’ve found to get you on the fast track to physical superiority.

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