gaining 10lbs of muscle in 4 weeks

Gaining 10Lbs of Muscle in 4 Weeks

There is only one way for building new lean muscle – hit the gym and start lifting weights. However, if you want quick visible results, you need a strategy in both training and nutrition. We offer you a month-long training program, which will help you in achieving this.

STARTING THE PROGRAM

We’ve set an ambitious goal. Gaining 10 pounds (5kg) of muscle in just four weeks. At first sight the idea to gain 10lbs of muscle in 4 weeks seems impossible. Yet, people who’ve tried this program managed in reaching this goal, with average mass gain on 2-3 pounds a week. 

Naturally, this kind of muscle gain is very aggressive, and can’t go on indefinitely. But, by pushing up your training and drawing a good nutrition strategy, it can be achieved.

Notice how we always give special attention to the nutrition aspect, and for a good reason. It is just as important as hard training. Without good nutrition packed with adequate calories and macronutrients, you’ll never achieve the wanted muscle mass no matter how hard you work out.

The timing and quality of your food is crucial in achieving good results. Because of that, in addition to our work-out plan, you’ll need to also follow an aggressive diet plan, which will help you to bulk up in no time.

However, here we’ll focus on the training program.

How to gain 10lbs of muscle in 4 weeks

This two-phase program aims at building muscles by combining mass building exercises with balanced volumes and intensity-boosting techniques. Start today, and enjoy your 10 pounds in just one month.

Weeks 1-2: Heavy Hitter

The first two weeks are focused on heavy lifting in combination with compound exercises for bulking up. The sets for all the muscles except the abs and calves are designed to have 6-8 reps.

So, if you’re accustomed to doing 8-12 reps per set, you’ll have to get used to lifting heavier weights than usual. This phase includes just a few isolation exercises for chest, back, shoulder and legs. This is due to putting the focus on lifting greater weights in order to add strength and increase size.

The volume is moderate. This phase includes 11 sets for large muscle groups, except for the shoulders, which require 15 sets. Each part of the body is trained once a week.

The reason for this is that your muscles need enough time for recovery in order to grow. When you do sets without end, your body can go in a catabolic state.

Your lean tissues start to break down instead of building up. In order to gain 10 pounds in such a short period, you need the right balance of adequate training volume, much needed rest and recovery.

The four days split pairs in each workout the larger muscles groups with the smaller ones like biceps, triceps, traps, calves. This way you preserve your muscles fresh for the heaviest compound exercises.

Weeks 3-4: Intensity Boost

The second two weeks of the program are focused on maximizing the size, by slightly increasing the reps and putting emphasis on intensity. In most exercises you’ll do 10-12 reps, which is thought as best in promoting muscle growth.

During these weeks, the overall volumes mark just a slight increase. This is due to including isolation exercises, which are performed before the compound exercises focused on large muscle groups.

This is known as a pre-exhaustion technique, and drastically boosts the intensity of workouts. The isolation exercise first exhausts the main targeted muscle, and while in this state of fatigue, you do a compound exercise that leads to failure of main muscle before the secondary muscles  collapse.

This phase also employs the four-day split. Yet, the pairing of body parts is different. For example, you train the chest and back on the same day, the biceps and triceps on the other.

This way, you provide your muscles with added incentive for new muscle growth. Drop sets are included in each workout. However, you do only one set for each part of the body, thus avoiding overgrazing.

As a conclusion, we’ll once again stress out that best results are achieved only with consistency and focus. It’s not enough just to visit the gym for two hours each day.

You need intensive and fast-paced workouts. Having this in mind, try following the program we’ve offered. We can’t promise easy results, yet you’ll soon find that they were worth every drop of sweat. In the end, there are 10lbs of muscle to look forward to in just 4 weeks.

 

Week 1: Heavy Hitter

 

Day 1: Chest & Triceps

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
bench press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Weighted Dip 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Dumbbell Lying Triceps Extension 3 sets 6 – 8 reps

Day 2: Legs, Calves & Abs:

Barbell Squat 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Leg Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Hack Squat 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Romanian Deadlift 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets 20 reps
Hanging Leg Raise 3 sets 20 reps
Cable Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 3: Shoulders & Traps

Overhead Dumbbell Press 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Arnold Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Upright Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Bent-Over Lateral Raise 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Shrugs 3 sets 6 – 8 reps

Day 4: Back, Biceps & Abs

Barbell Deadlift 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Bent-Over Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
T-Bar Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Biceps Curl 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Biceps Curl 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Crunch 2 sets 20 reps
Reverse Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: Rest

 

Week 2: Heavy Hitter

 

Day 8: Chest & Triceps

Incline Barbell Bench Press 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Weighted Dip 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Lying Triceps Extension 3 sets 6 – 8 reps

Day 9: Legs, Calves & Abs:

Smith Machine Squat 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Leg Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Hack Squat 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Romanian Deadlift 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Hanging Leg Raise 2 sets 20 reps
Cable Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 10: Shoulders & Traps

Overhead Dumbbell Press 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Arnold Press 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Upright Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Bent-Over Lateral Raise 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Dumbbell Shrug 3 sets 6 – 8 reps

Day 11: Back, Biceps & Abs

Barbell Deadlift 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Bent-Over Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
T-Bar Row 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Biceps Curl 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Biceps Curl 4 sets 6 – 8 reps
Barbell Preacher Curl 3 sets 6 – 8 reps
Crunch 2 sets 20 reps
Reverse Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 12: Rest

Day 13: Rest

Day 14: Rest

 

Week 3: Intensity Boost

 

Day 15: Chest & Back

Dumbbell Flye 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Bench Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Cable Crossover 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Rack Pull 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Lat Pulldown 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Single-Arm Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps

Day 16: Legs, Calves & Abs:

Leg Extension 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Squat 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Leg Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Hack Squat 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Romanian Deadlift 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Lying Leg Curl 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Donkey Calf Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse Crunch 2 sets 12 reps
Hanging Knee Raise 2 sets 12 reps
Double Crunch 2 sets -To Failure-

Day 17: Shoulders & Traps

Cable Lateral Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Arnold Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Smith Machine Overhead Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse Pec Deck Flye 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Dumbbell Shrug 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Shrug 3 sets 10 – 12 reps

Day 18: Triceps, Biceps & Abs

Lying Barbell Extension 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Weighted Bench Dip 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse-Grip Pressdown 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Close-Grip EZ-Bar Biceps Curl 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Preacher Curl with Cable 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Hanging Leg Raise 2 sets 20 reps
Double Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 19: Rest

Day 20: Rest

Day 21: Rest

 

Week 4: Intensity Boost

 

Day 22: Chest & Back

Dumbbell Flye 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Bench Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Cable Crossover 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Rack Pull 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Lat Pulldown 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Single-Arm Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps

Day 23: Legs, Calves & Abs:

Leg Extension 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Squat 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Leg Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Barbell Hack Squat 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Romanian Deadlift 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Lying Leg Curl 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Seated Calf Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Donkey Calf Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse Crunch 2 sets 12 reps
Hanging Knee Raise 2 sets 12 reps
Double Crunch 2 sets -To Failure-

Day 24: Shoulders & Traps

Cable Lateral Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Arnold Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Smith Machine Overhead Press 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse Pec Deck Flye 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Dumbbell Shrug 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Shrug 3 sets 10 – 12 reps

Day 25: Triceps, Biceps & Abs

Lying Barbell Extension 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Weighted Bench Dip 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Reverse-Grip Pressdown 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Close-Grip EZ-Bar Biceps Curl 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Preacher Curl with Cable 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Hammer Curl 3 sets 10 – 12 reps
Hanging Leg Raise 2 sets 20 reps
Double Crunch 2 sets 20 reps

Day 26: Rest

Day 27: Rest

Day 28: Rest

Final words

Gaining 10lbs of muscle in just 4 weeks seems impossible, and it often is for the average Joe. However, genetically gifted individuals that follow the above program and eat enough to fuel their body and the intense workouts, gaining this weight can really happen.

The average lifter might not gain 10lbs in 4 weeks, but following the above protocol, we’re sure that they will gain a few lbs of muscle as well and change their appearance.  

Photo credit : Bony to Beastly


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6 Comments

  1. Shane
    • F&P Admin
  2. Shane Barker
  3. Dan
    • F&P Admin

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