If you're on this page, that means you're not trying to tone, tighten or finesse nuthin'. You wanna get jakked and massive -- period. The only way to do that is with old-school iron. As the saying goes, "Go heavy or go home." Pain really does equal progress. Allow me to show you the way.
Elsewhere on this site, I talked about some of the mental aspects that fueled my personal transformation from Weasel to Diesel. Here I'd like to share with you some of the nuts-and-bolts physical details of that transformation - the specific actions that packed on slaughterhouse slabs of beef for me, and that will help you, too.
1) Establish your vision, and set it high. A few years back I resolved (yet again) to get big, really big, without drugs and without bloating up like a pregnant yak. But this time I cut out a magazine picture of my favorite pro bodybuilder, Kevin Levrone, and taped my head onto his body. I taped this onto a dry-erase "vision board" that I also used to record my workout progress.
2) Set individual targets, i.e,, goals; Make them a little absurd - on the high side. I then proceeded to list on the dry-erase board the metrics I'd need to hit in order to see muscular responses anywhere close to Levrone's: 100 dips. Incline bench presses north of 300 pounds. 225-lb. bench press for 25 reps. Squat 625 for reps. Shoulder shrug 750. To me these had to seem like fantastical numbers but also contain a grain of plausibility, given enough time to reach them.
3) Set an end date to reach the goals, then fill in the space between now and then with all the milestones you'll have to reach to get there - remember, with lifting weights your progress is almost never linear - the overall magnitude of your gains will decrease with time, so take that into consideration. Example, you might gain so much strength from the start that you're able to slap 30 pounds onto your bench in the first month of serious training, but the next month you might only manage 20 additional pounds, then 10, then 5…
4) Do It. Or as they say in the corporate world, "execute." I must confess, I did not always execute perfectly. Work obligations, my obsession at the time with a particular car, and other time intrusions blurred my focus so that I only nailed 90 percent of the goals.
But guess what? Whenever I showed up at the beach the following summer, no strangers ever shook their head disappointingly and said, "Only got up to 395 on the bench, huh?" No, invariably, the response was along the lines of "daaammn…" I wasn't going to run away with the Mr. Olympia obviously. But I did quite often get the nicest backhanded compliment a natural bodybuilder can receive: "So c'mon, tell me what you're on."
As for diet, well to be quite honest I ate whatever the hell I wanted during the approximately 6-month period of this massive mass-building routine. But more often than not, "what I wanted" tended to be things that were good for me anyway. Lots of oatmeal, non-fatty proteins, general avoidance of things that clog the arteries or intestines. The notable exception was Sundays, when the ex- and I would pilgrimage to Old Country Buffet for an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. But usually after seeing the cavalcade of morbidly obese people there, literally eating themselves to death, I would get sad, lose my appetite and be ready to leave after one serving.
It's worth noting that during the bulk-up period I was no food nazi; by eating sensibly most days, I could indulge in the frequent sweet or red meat with more impunity than less active peers. Nor did I swill large quantities of protein potions and magic elixirs. Those things are fine, but I felt no need at that point to gulp them down. I did take a couple of creatine supplements to get my muscles volumized. My favorite was a product called Swole, and I'd estimate I had about a 15-percent performance gain when I regularly used it, versus not using it. Unlike other creatine products, I almost never felt grotesque gastrointestinal side effects, like stomach cramping and the farts. I still use Swole today and notice a distinct fullness and roundness to my muscles when I'm "on" it, compared to a much flatter look when I haven't been using it.
OK, you clicked here because you wanted specifics. Here is one specific goal framework I successfully used for several years to get monster huge, naturally. You'll see my starting lifts, my goal lifts and in bold, how far I actually got within six months. I'm 5'9 and started out about 180 pounds doing this. I gained 15 pounds of lean mass, which is saying a lot because I'm a "hard gainer." Your circumstances, and therefore results, may vary.
Goal target: BOLD
actually achieved - ITALIC
Bench Press
(Starting 10/02 and ending 03/03)
225 lbs - 17 reps; 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
315 lbs - 2 reps; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Every other week I would get a partner to assist me with negative reps - first 350, then 375, 385, 395, 405, and finally 425. The result was that my max bench shot from 320 to 395. If I did not have a 50+ hour a week job I'm sure it could have been much higher.
Incline Bench
Dumbbell Presses, 45-degree incline
80s - 8 reps, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
105s - 6, 8, 10, 12
120s - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
130s - 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Dips
30, 40, 55, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105Alternating bicep curls (Dumbbells)
Warm up with assorted lighter weights and higher reps…6 reps per arm with: 55s, 60s, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100 (it was satisfying to learn at this weight that I was stronger than most of my gym's juicers, who were much larger than me).
Squats
Warm up with other leg exercises, then light weights (VERY IMPORTANT) 6 reps with: 225, 255, 290, 315, 355, 385, 405, 495, 505, 525, 550Deadlift/Stiff-legged Deadlift
Warm up with assorted lighter weights and higher reps…6 reps: 225, 235, 255, 285, 315, 345, 395, 405, 425, 450
Shoulder Shrugs (very strong straps required)
Warm up with assorted lighter weights and higher reps…6 reps: 315, 345, 395, 425, 490, 515, 535, 565, 595, 615, 635, 665, 685,700 (goal weight), 725
…I'll spare you the numbers on pinky lifts and other minor "shaping" exercises. But I hope you understand the point I'm getting at, which is this: On the big, compound exercises that get most of the body into the act, you gotta use big weight and overwhelming force. If, that is, your goal is to get big.
Had I known back then what I do now about the mental game, I'm sure I could have far exceeded the goals I set for myself. So who knows - maybe I'll invite you along next time I take up another Mouse-to-Massive personal challenge.
