The ultimate training program for more muscle

12 Workouts per week

Want more muscle and less fat? Train 2x a day and 6 days a week. You don't have to go crazy yet. I know you're probably not a genetic monster on stimulants. The program I'm going to present to you today is manageable.

One workout a day at the gym. That's the hard part. The other one can be done at home with a few light one-armed dumbbells or rubber bands.
By the end of the week, you will have completed 12 workouts (and a long recovery walk on your day off).

Fastest results

To get your physique changing as quickly as possible, you need to increase the frequency of your workouts. Frequency, or the frequency with which you repeat training each muscle or muscle group, is a crucial variable for building muscle and burning fat.

The more you train, the more you create an energy deficit and the more you give your body the opportunity to trigger proteosynthesis - muscle growth.

But beware. For most athletes, the biggest problem is too much volume. It hinders their progress. We can define it as the total number of sets and reps in a workout.

Today, we're going to cover exactly how to go about increasing the frequency that will bring about incredible changes in your appearance.

Think of your workout as a meal

When people increase the frequency of their workouts, they make the mistake of still treating every workout like Christmas Eve dinner. This is counterproductive. Too many hard workouts will eventually tire you out so much that you won't be able to recover. You'll end up needing a longer layoff.

Think of training like this:

• Eating will be a heavy workout, such as leg workouts where you practice deadlifts and squats.
• A snack will be a light arm or shoulder workout.

When the training frequency is high, you have to sacrifice either the volume of work or the intensity with which you train. We sacrifice volume. We'll do short, intense workouts 6 times a week and supplement them with much lighter units that won't affect nervous system recovery.

If you do it right, you won't be overtrained, and your body proportions will change the fastest you've ever seen. And it will be good for your morale too, because the worst thing is when you give training your best and don't see results.

Questions and Answers

You can find a sample program below, but I'm sure you already have questions. So let's get rid of them.

1 - What if I can't go to the gym 2 times a day?

You don't have to. Get yourself some lightweight unibars (up to 10 kg) and good quality elastics and do small (snack) workouts at home. I get through practically all my evening workouts this way.

2 - How is it divided into lots?

You will have 6 big workouts per week and you will work each part 2 times per week (legs, chest and back).

In the evenings you'll work small lots, more reps and pump. Then you'll take a 15 minute brisk walk.

Once a week you will go for a longer walk, ideally in the countryside. Walking in nature is definitely better for recovery than walking around Baltimore, Afghanistan, or heaven forbid the treadmill at the gym.

3 - How hard should I work out?

Train hard enough to feel it, but not so hard that you're completely wiped out the next day. When you walk out of the gym after a hard workout, you should feel better than when you went in.

The first week will be a test. Don't overdo it. Hit the gas a little bit the second week and see how you feel. Increase as needed.

If you feel bad, take a little less. You've got plenty of workouts, so there's no need to freak out if one of them doesn't go well. That's a good way to see how much work your body can take.

4 - What if I feel great? I can add work

No. If you feel like someone added cocaine to your pre-workout cocktail, it means you're handling recovery. You should feel good, and it means you're not standing on the gas too hard and stressing your nervous system too much. If you overdo it, the rest of the week might not be worth it. When it comes to intensity, be smart.

5 - What about the warm-up?

Do as many warm-up sets as you need. After them, do all the work series listed below. Get to your target rep counts ideally so that you still have 1 or 2 reps to spare. Don't go into complete failure.

6 - What about food around the workouts?

You should have a minimum of 2 quality meals between workouts of the day. Both should contain protein and the majority of your daily carbohydrate intake. I recommend 80% of your daily carbohydrate intake in these 2 meals.

Program

Day 1 - Legs (quadriceps)

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 2 - Chest in the morning, Shoulders in the evening

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 3 - Morning back, Evening arms

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 4 - Legs (hamstrings and glutes)

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 5 - Chest in the morning, Shoulders in the evening

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 6 - Morning back, Evening arms

Morning

Afternoon/Evening

Day 7 - 45 Minute walk

ideally in nature

How the body structure changes

If you want to lose weight and add or maintain muscle, you need to be in a hypocaloric state (more calories going out than coming in) and you need to give your body a reason to hold onto those hard-built muscles.

The truth is, building muscle in a caloric deficit is nearly impossible. I mean, for beginners it's actually pretty easy, but if you've already done some, your only option is to increase the frequency of your workouts. Assuming, of course, that you are not in such a deficit that sucks all the life out of you besides muscle.

A moderate calorie deficit (say body weight x 12-15, with 2.5g of protein per kilo of weight) will be good, as you will be training a lot.

Another reason why it's possible to build muscle even from a caloric deficit is that frequent workouts will keep protein synthesis high for a much longer period of time than simply training 3 times a week. This is especially true for naturals. If you add to that a quality diet, you might be surprised how much new muscle is waiting for you under the removed fat.

If you follow the conditions described above, at a minimum you will be on a high level of muscle preservation and fat oxidation. And that's exactly what changing your physique is all about.

About the author:
Paul Carter specializes in hypertrophy and body composition changes. He trains professional bodybuilders, top strength athletes and works with the most knowledgeable people in the sports world. Paul is also the author of the Super Soldier Protocol workout.

Source: www.t-nation.com - The Ultimate Program for Body Comp Improvement
Author.