It’s Fall, and that means It’s Time To Gain Some Size with our Fall/Winter Mass-Gaining Plan. In this 3-Part Series, we provide a routine that would make Rich smile, plus general nutrition suggestions, and 5% Nutrition supplement guidelines. If you’re looking to pack on some size during the colder weather, look no further than this plan right here.

The 6-Day Split Routine

Part 1 breaks down the first day of this routine - a brutal leg workout - and gives you a much-needed rest day on Day # 2. The beauty of this 6-day routine is it can be adjusted to fit your experience and your lifestyle. You can move a day if you need to, in fact, if your lifestyle demands it, make it a 6-day done over 8 or 9 days.

Day #1 - Legs/Calves

On all exercises, use the rep tempo presented in the Performance Notes at the end of this routine unless noted otherwise.

Lying Leg Curls - 5 sets - 30, 25, 20, 16-18, 10-12 reps.

Seated Leg Curls - 3 sets - 20 reps each set.

If you do not have this machine, use what your gym has, or do 1-legged standing leg curls. 

Squats - 5 sets - 20, 16, 12, 10, 10 reps.

Rich used to say if you’re going to squat, then do full, butt to ankles squats. None of this halfway-down stuff. If there are any issues with squats, you can do leg presses instead. Otherwise, If you’re doing squats, go up and down like a piston, but keep rep speed a little slow so momentum doesn’t take over. Remember, it’s not a race to see how fast you can do these. 

Leg Extensions - 5 sets x 15 reps.

Use a moderate weight on these and go for the pump.

Standing Calf Raises - 6 sets - 25, 20, 15, 10, 8, 8 reps

Performance Notes

Unless otherwise noted, use a 2-3-4 tempo on all reps. That’s a 2-second concentric, a 3-second pause just shy of lockout, and a 4-second eccentric to emphasize the negative. Of course, make sure you are making every rep count. Don’t stop at a predetermined rep number if you could easily do another 4-5 reps. Do the reps and add weight next time. Focus on form, no sloppy movements just to get the weight up. 

Rest 30-45 seconds between sets. Your progression can be in adding weight consistently, adding a couple of reps, reducing rest time, or adding intensity techniques such as longer pauses near lockout, a slower eccentric, or adding burns at the end of a set. 

If you need to, take an extra rest day. Who says you have to work with a 7-day week? Make it an 8-day week if needed. If this workout is too much work for your experience level, drop the workload of each day by 20-30% with the goal of working up to the full routine.

Finally, keep a training journal.

Day # 2 - Rest

What About Cardio?

Limit cardio to 4 days a week, 30 minutes per session. 

What About Feeders?

Rich swore by these, and you’re encouraged to use them. Do them at night before you go to bed. Go with arms or shoulders, whichever area needs the most work. For arms, superset hammer curls and 2-arm dumbbell extensions, for shoulders superset side and rear laterals. Do 2 super sets of 50 reps for each exercise. 

Nutrition Suggestions

The goal here is to gain mass with little fat gain. That means you should consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Make sure you choose lean protein sources. For carbs, focus on primarily complex carbohydrates, except in the hours around your workouts. Consume 50% of your carbs during that time frame, and have some sugary carbs. 

As far as total carbs, begin with 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight. You can adjust this up or down based on training energy and whether you’re seeing your waistline expand. Beyond enjoying a few handfuls of nuts during the day, don’t worry about fat, it tends to take care of itself. The key is to avoid high-fat foods, such as fatty meats, whole-fat milk, and junk or processed foods.

5% Nutrition Supplement Suggestions

As noted above, we laid out protein and carbohydrate guidelines. To reach those goals, you’ll need Shake Time and Real Carbs, or Real Carbs + Protein.  Regardless of which ones you choose, they are all sourced from real food. Of course, from there you’ll want a pre-workout arsenal to power you through your workouts and offset catabolism caused by the stress of training. That means the 5% pre-workout of your choice and All Day You May, which will provide you with critical amino acids. 

From there, it makes sense to pick up Hydrate Stk to make sure you stay hydrated. Also, it makes sense to pick up a creatine and natural muscle builder. Also, don’t forget your post-workout shake with Real Carbs and Shake Time - Rich drank his as soon as he ended his last set, and that makes sense. Top it off with Digestive Defender to make sure you’re getting the most from your food and 5% Nutrition supplements. 

Recap

It’s Time To Gain Some Size! Our Fall/Winter Mass Gaining Plan for 2023-2024 has you covered right through until spring! Get ready for Part 2 and get ready to look bigger than ever!