Ezine #144

A pound of solid muscle every week

Q: I'm a hardgainer. Last winter I used the Size Surge program and quickly gained five pounds of muscle the first month. I was amazed. Because of my limited recovery ability, I did not do deadlifts on Wednesday, so I only trained legs twice a week. I'm ready to use SS again this winter. My question is, should I make the changes you've suggested to train all muscle three times a week, including keeping the deadlifts? The study appears to say that training muscles three days a week is best for mass.

First, here is the original Size Surge split, the first five-week routine of the 10-week program Jonathan used to pack on 20 pounds of muscle…

Monday: legs, chest, back, delts
Wednesday: deadlifts, calves, arms, abs
Friday: legs, chest, back, delts

You mentioned that because of your hardgainer status with limited recovery ability, you did not do the deadlifts on Wednesday--and you made great gains. Should you try it again with the deadlifts? Why not? Try it as outlined and see how you feel after the first week. If it drains you, drop the deads.

Keep in mind that the study by Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., only compared training muscles three days a week with training them once a week. The volume was the same for both: four sets three times a week or 12 sets once a week for each muscle.

While the three-days-per-week group made the best mass and strength gains, that does NOT mean training muscles only twice a week would be inferior. In fact, two hits per week could produce even better mass gains, especially for someone like you.

The bottom line is there is no one prefect program for everyone. It takes experimentation for ultimate mass creation.

Note: For variations as well as the original program Jonathan used to pack on 20 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks, grab a copy of The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout 2.0--and prepare for hyper-growth this winter. Only $9 (a $20 value) for a limited time HERE.