The Three Best Ways to Gain Muscle
Do you have a picture in your mind of your "dream"
body?
Perhaps all you want is a few inches of new muscle on your chest,
shoulders and arms... maybe you'd like to give your physique a
complete overhaul and gain 20 or 30 pounds of mass in a hurry.
Whatever it is, if you want to turn that dream into reality, you'll
need to apply one simple principle
to your training program. Anyone who's ever made the transition
from weak and puny to big and strong has used it.
And if you want to "get
big,"
you'll need to use it to...
According to popular legend, Milo of Crotona began carrying a
young calf on his shoulders each day. The story goes that he would
pick the calf up on a daily basis and walk around a large stadium.
As the animal grew, Milo also grew stronger. Eventually, he was
able to carry a fully-grown bull.
And so the concept of gradual progressive overload was
born. It refers to the idea that you need to increase the demands
you impose upon your body in order to make it bigger, stronger,
or leaner.
Like most biological systems faced with a challenge, muscle will
modify itself to meet similar challenges in the future.
Once the system has adapted to that demand or load, increases in
strength and size are no longer needed and will eventually stop...
a situation you'll need to avoid if you want to keep growing.
Now more than ever, you and I are bombarded with so many conflicting and confusing opinions about the "right" way to gain muscle size and strength.
Truth is, it's actually a lot simpler than most people think.
Within certain limits, a muscle will grow in direct proportion
to the amount of work it's
required to do. And while there are many ways to increase muscular work over time, these are the three that
I think will give you the best results.
Method #1: Resistance
Probably the most obvious (and effective) method of progressive
overload involves adding weight while keeping the number of repetitions
per set the same. For example:
Workout #1: 8 repetitions with 100 pounds
Workout #2: 8 repetitions with 105 pounds
Workout #3: 8 repetitions with 110 pounds
When using this method, aim to increase the resistance
in small increments. A good rule of thumb is to add 5% or 5 pounds,
whichever is the smallest.
It's also important to remember that the resistance used needs
to be over and above a certain threshold, otherwise gains in muscle
size will be limited.
For example, let's say that your maximum
in the bench press is 200 pounds for 3 sets of 6 repetitions. But
when you train, you use just 100 pounds. If you were to add 5 pounds
to the bar every workout, then you could argue that you're adding
weight to the bar while keeping the number of repetitions the same.
Does this count as progressive overload?
Well... not really. It's certainly not going to deliver much in
the way of meaningful results, because the weight you're using
is below the threshold required to stimulate growth. It's a challenge
your body has already adapted to.
Although reducing the load can be useful when it forms part
of a program of fluctuating progressive overload (more
about this later), it's not going to deliver substantial gains
in strength and size.
Method #2: Repetitions
Another effective form of progressive overload involves
trying to perform more repetitions with the same weight. For example:
Workout #1: 6 repetitions with 100 pounds
Workout #2: 7 repetitions with 100 pounds
Workout #3: 8 repetitions with 100 pounds
Like adding resistance, increasing the number of repetitions per
set is a simple method of progression. There are, however, two
major problems.
Firstly, it's hard to maintain for extended periods. Let's say
that you can lift 100 pounds for 5 repetitions. Adding just 1 extra
repetition constitutes a 20% improvement in performance. Such a
large rate of improvement isn't uncommon in the early stages of
a training program, but you won't be able to keep it going forever.
In contrast, adding 5 pounds to a 100-pound load represents only
a 5% improvement in performance, and is far more sustainable over
the long term.
The second problem is that increasing the number of
repetitions per set will eventually change the adaptation stimulus
imposed on your body.
Your muscles will respond to a program of long distance running,
for example, by creating muscle protein geared towards endurance
activity. A training "signal" of heavy weight training will trigger
an increase in the "strength and size" proteins. And a mixture
of different "signals" will lead to mixed results (a balance of
strength, size, and endurance).
Gains in muscle strength and size are generally greater with the
use of low repetitions (3-12) and high loads. As you increase the
number of repetitions, you'll develop some muscular endurance along
with strength and size.
Using the example above, if you were to progress from 100 pounds
for 6 repetitions to 100 pounds for 8 repetitions, you're still
in the right repetition range for building size and strength.
However, if you just keep on adding repetitions and work up to
100 pounds for 15 repetitions, you're now getting a mix of strength,
size and endurance. So, even though your performance has improved,
the stimulus for muscle growth is reduced.
Method #3: Volume
Another way to increase the difficulty of a workout
is to increase training volume. Volume is a measure of the total
amount of work performed over a given period of time, such as
per set, per workout, or per week of training. The precise way
to determine training volume per repetition is to multiply the
weight by the vertical distance the weight is lifted.
Although adding both weight and repetitions will increase
training volume to some degree, probably the most popular way to
increase volume is to perform more sets for each muscle group.
For example:
Workout #1: 5 sets per muscle group
Workout #2: 6 sets per muscle group
Workout #3: 7 sets per muscle group
It's not a good idea to keep adding sets forever.
If there were a perfect linear relationship between the number
of sets per workout and subsequent muscular gains, then adding
strength and size would simply be a case of increasing the number
of sets you do.
Obviously, this isn't the case. You can't just keep adding sets ad
infinitum and expect to grow. Eight sets per muscle group might
be better than four, but it doesn't necessarily follow that 16 sets
will work better than eight.
In fact,
recent research shows that a "moderate" training
volume works better to boost strength than either a "low" or
a "high" volume
[1]. In other words, there's an optimal training volume,
above and below which gains in muscular strength and size will
be compromised.
You can also increase training volume by taking a shorter rest
period between sets while keeping the weight and repetitions in
each set the same (you might also see this referred to as an increase
in training density). For example:
Workout #1: 90-second rest intervals
Workout #2: 75-second rest intervals
Workout #3: 60-second rest intervals
As with the previous forms of progression, this also has its limitations.
If you keep reducing rest periods, multiple sets will eventually
become one set, and the amount of weight you're able to lift will
drop dramatically. Cutting rest intervals beyond a certain point
will also reduce the amount of weight you're able to lift in subsequent
sets.
When you're using heavy weights (e.g. 3-5 RM), I think it's best
to focus on other forms of progressive overload, such as increasing
the resistance or number of repetitions, rather than increasing
training density.
What do you do when your progress stalls?
The major limitation with all forms of progressive overload
is that the performance curve will eventually flatten out.
In theory, all you need to do is pick an exercise, and
choose a resistance you can lift for a certain number of repetitions.
Then, you add a few pounds of weight to the bar at regular intervals.
For instance, you might be able to squat 200 pounds for a maximum
of 10 repetitions. Add five pounds of weight to the bar each month,
and you'd be squatting with 260 pounds just one year from now.
Continue the process for the next five years, and the weight you're
using will have risen to 500 pounds.
If you've been working out for some time, you've probably realized
that you can only keep adding weight for so long before your gains
slow down. In short, you won't keep progressing at the same rate
forever.
That's why it's a good idea to follow a program based on fluctuating
progressive overload — also known as non-monotonic training.
Unlike monotonic training (which means a continual increase without
any decrease), non-monotonic training involves regular phases of
lighter loading, which help to facilitate recovery and growth.
Although the curve of muscular work increases and decreases in
a wave-like pattern in the short-term, it gradually increases over
time.
While there are many different ways to incorporate fluctuating
progressive overload into your program, a simple
way to do it is to take a week off for every 3-6 weeks of hard
training.
An "off" week
(sometimes called a deload or unload) doesn't mean
doing no exercise at all. Rather, you just reduce the number of
sets by 50% while maintaining the weight and number of repetitions
used in the previous week.
Theory + practice = results
All of this sounds good in theory. But how do you put it all together?
Here's the system that I use with all the major compound exercises (deadlift, squat, bench press and chin-up) in my program. It's a very simple but highly effective way to get bigger and stronger in a hurry.
Phase 1
Week 1: 3 sets of 8 reps with 90kg
Total training volume = 3 x 8 x 90 = 2160kg
Week 2: 4 sets of 6 reps with 100kg
Total training volume = 4 x 6 x 100 = 2400kg
Week 3: 5 sets of 5 reps with 110kg
Total training volume = 5 x 5 x 110 = 2750kg
Week 4: 2 sets of 5 reps with 110kg (DELOAD)
Total training volume = 2 x 5 x 110 = 1100kg
As you can see, I'm increasing both the resistance and volume on a weekly basis in weeks 1-3. Then, I'll deload in week 4 by reducing the volume.
After the deload, I go back to 3 sets of 8 repetitions. But this time I'll use a slightly heavier weight than before. A good rule of thumb is to add 5% or 5 pounds (2.5 kilograms), whichever is the smallest.
Phase 2
Week 5: 3 sets of 8 reps with 92.5kg
Total training volume = 3 x 8 x 92.5 = 2220kg
Week 6: 4 sets of 6 reps with 102.5kg
Total training volume = 4 x 6 x 102.5 = 2460kg
Week 7: 5 sets of 5 reps with 112.5kg
Total training volume = 5 x 5 x 112.5 = 2812.5kg
Week 8: 2 sets of 5 reps with 112.5kg (DELOAD)
Total training volume = 2 x 5 x 112.5 = 1125kg
As you can see, the total training volume (the amount of work your muscles are doing) is increasing over time, which is the real key to gaining strength and size.
Unless your goals lie in the higher end of competitive athletics, this is a system you could probably use indefinitely. At the very least, it's something you can keep coming back to after a few months of training for another goal (e.g. fat loss), or after you've been using a completely different system of progression (e.g. Charles Staley's Escalating Density Training).
There are, of course, many ways
to skin the proverbial cat, and there's no one program
that will work equally well for all people all of the time. But
no matter what type of routine you follow, your body will grow
bigger and stronger ONLY when you apply the principle of gradual
progressive overload to your workouts.
About The Author
 Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.
If you're stuck
in a rut with your current exercise and diet plan... fed up with
only losing a pound here and there... or still skinny after months
(or even years) of trying to build muscle and gain weight... click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.
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Reference
1.
Gonzalez-Badillo, J.J., Gorostiaga, E.M., Arellano, R., & Izquierdo, M.
(2005). Moderate resistance training volume produces more favorable strength
gains than high or low volumes during a short-term training cycle. Journal
of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19, 689-697
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