Mass Attack

I’m going to take this opportunity to say that my time with DC changed how I approach training, both my own training and that of my clients. Many people confuse the message that in order to become the biggest you, you need to become the strongest you. Nowhere in there am I talking about improving your 1–3 rep max, nor am I suggesting that you need to focus on “meat and potatoes training” with the big three to get there. What that message is suggesting is that you need to focus on progression. That’s it. Nothing mystical or magical about that. Progressively overloading your body with more weight over time (consistency), provided that you're in a calorie surplus, and you will grow.

Many people stray from this fact because they assume that muscle gain is somewhat linear, that if they continue increasing the weight on every exercise week in and week out while putting time in at the kitchen table, they should be putting on two to three pounds per week or something is wrong with their training program. Nothing can be further from the truth, especially the more advanced you become. If your genetic blueprint only allows for so much growth, what do you think? That you can get the two to three pounds per week on the dot for every week until you reach your limit? Sounds a bit far-fetched, right? Well, that’s exactly the way most people look at progress.

In my case—and I’m being completely honest here—gains came in spurts. Two to three pounds for a week or two, then a dry spell for a few weeks, and then magically boom—three more pounds. The trainees who pay too much attention to the scale are the ones who will eventually hold themselves back. In my case, what was the one thing that I was always doing? Moving forward, progressing to heavier weight, trying to somehow beat the logbook from last time whether it was with extra sets, extra reps, or hell—even a decrease in rest periods. The progression was there! That’s the only true thing you can rely on—progressive overload.

For the trainees who don't gain for a week or perhaps even two, what’s the first solution? Typically, the solution involves one of two extremes—either throw more volume at the problem or throw more frequency. If you have any problems with your body parts or training program, the first solution is to throw volume at the problem. Quads still being stubborn? Let’s do a reverse pyramid with leg extensions, add in some 20-rep sets of hack squats, and then grab a pair of 20s and do lunges for a few laps around the gym. The other half goes the frequency route and decides to do 5 x 20 leg extensions before every training session five days per week. Compare both of those “solutions” against a trainee who busts his ass bringing his squat up from 225 x 15 to 365 x 10 while on a high protein/high calorie diet. Listen, no one ever said building hard quality mass was easy, did they?

Most of the time, it’s a royal pain in the ass to constantly fit the meals down your gullet or constantly increase your numbers from last time. Once you get to a certain level, it honestly isn’t that fun. But then again, definitions of fun will vary. The most successful trainees will define fun as achieving results. The unsuccessful with bounce around listlessly through every rendition of split that Flex Magazine has to offer. Attaining a wicked pump is just as fun as avoiding the need to add more weight to the bar. Thus, they must be shaping or sculpting!

Here are some examples of what I mean...Instead of adding a slew of different variations of exercises that all work the same muscle in a routine, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that everyone would get results much faster sticking to a small handful of the best exercises per body part (for them) and getting brutally strong with them over time. You don't need to be DC training in order to heed this advice. This holds true with any program. One of the most prevalent things I've seen online is the less experienced crowd doing pull-ups, lat pull-downs, hammer pull-downs, reverse grip pull-downs, pull-overs, barbell rows, t-bar rows, and dumbbell rows for back day. Good grief.

Instead of half stepping through that entire gamut or ending your workout on a “high note” using 40s for your dumbbell rowing, why not pick three to four of the best exercises you can progress the fastest on and just focus on getting brutally strong with them? The revised list now includes deadlifts, a heavy vertical pull exercise, a heavy rowing exercise, and perhaps a weak point exercise that’s holding you back (e.g. rear deltoids or perhaps more trap/neck work). If you love volume, look at it from my perspective. You’re already at the station, already warmed up with that exercise, and have already dialed in your mind muscle connection. All that’s left is to get to SFW. If you like volume, instead of three sets, try five or six sets in either a static or pyramid fashion. It isn't any joke either. Doing over five sets of 6–15 reps as heavy as possible of any exercise is challenging. There’s your volume. Now instead of hoping the next exercise is free, you can pitch a tent and seriously get down to brass tacks.

Over the course of time, everyone will eventually top off. Now what? First, let’s consider changing the volume around. If you’re topped off doing a couple sets of ten reps, why not drop the reps down and continue building your strength? Remember, you already have the best exercise you know that produces the best results. Don’t dump it because you fell in love with sets of ten. Drop the reps down a bit and continue on and I guarantee you’ll eventually fight tooth and nail and climb back up to where you left off at a heavier weight. Still stalled? Rotate in your next best exercise and continue getting as strong as humanly possible with it. Same exact concept. If weighted dips give you tremendous chest muscle growth versus the flat bench, stick to the dips and do everything in your power to end up hanging 75 pounds off your waist for three to four sets of ten or whatever you choose to use.

The only recommendation I have is that you should never dump a program that is working for you. I don’t care if you’re a rank beginner working a four-day conjugate method. If you’re getting results, what the hell is there to change? There isn't any better way. My advice is to stay on course and change only what is necessary to continue progression.

In dealing with intermediates and above in particular, you should know what works from what doesn’t at this point. When you do find something that works, there's your framework. Head in that direction when programming your routine and you’ll put yourself in the best position possible for results. If you’ve tried the frequency route and it didn’t work as well as a split, c’mon man! Use some deductive reasoning here. If everyone tells you that frequency is the best thing going, but your results suggest otherwise, who are you going to listen to—them or your results?

Generally speaking, everyone wants to be spoon fed. I get that. They read this post about a third of the way down and then start skimming for the routine, the solution to all their problems that ties everything I said into a tight little package they can cut and paste. If I did that, I bet 60 percent of everyone reading this would do quite well on it. Why? Everyone is different.

Different needs and different experience levels equals different results.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons I've learned over the years is that there isn't any one size fits all. Case in point, I remember back to one of my many conversations with a friend over the phone discussing the merits of different programming. Somehow we started discussing German volume training. I told him I really had no opinion on it because I had never tried it. He said that there’s a good percentage that do so well on it that they actually increased their 1RM after it was over! He assured me he wasn’t kidding me and that really opened up my thought process a bit more. Every time I think I have everything completely figured out in black and white, boom! Here comes another revelation that there are a million shades of gray in this business.

So what is the only black and white? Load. Get stronger at whatever rep range suits your needs. Everything else is just details. That accurately sums up everything you need to know to gain muscle mass (excluding nutrition). Don’t continuously post threads asking for the merits of split training versus full body. There isn't any one size fits all. Just pick the one you believe in the most and run it for twelve weeks focusing on progression. Didn’t work? Try something else and focus on progressively getting stronger. Once you find something that works, keep the framework and start readjusting from there.