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The other day my post Fat Loss Made Simple sparked a fair bit if discussion and created a lot of traffic on the site so I’m going to assume that you guys enjoyed this type of post.  As a result I’d like to share with you the three cardinal rules I follow when designing a muscle hypertrophy program.

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1.  Sufficient Calories

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While is is within the realm of possible to lose fat and gain a substantial amount of muscle at the same time (mostly for beginners), most people will find that gaining muscle mass is far easier if they are in a calorie surplus.  In other words,  to gain muscle at a decent rate you need to need to consume more calories than you burn.

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However, the surplus doesn’t need to be on the side of eating thousands of extra calories each day (which will basically just get you fat).  If you want to gain muscle a surplus of as little as 500 calories per day above maintenance will do the trick.  The key to note is that a natural trainee can’t gain muscle at the same rate they can lose fat.  If you’re gaining 1-2 pounds per week, it is probably fat.  Always measure your waist regularly on a mass gaining protocol.

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2.  Resistance Training

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I think it pretty much goes without saying that if you want to gain muscle you need to lift weights.  However, I think the common contention is to do more work while you’re dieting and less when you’re putting on mass.  I tend to do things the other way around as I like to have clients do more load, volume, and frequency when they have the calories to support it.  If you’re going to train 3,4, or 5 days per week at any point during your training year, do it when you’re trying to gain muscle.

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If possible – with natural trainees I like to have them hit each muscle group (especially those that are lagging) two times per week.

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3.  Adequate Protein

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If you haven’t noticed, this list is starting to look a lot like my previous list for fat loss except for the notion that calories should be higher during a muscle gain phase and that training volume should follow calorie intake.  Protein, on the other hand, is one thing I think that you can afford to actually reduce when your calories are higher.

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Basically, when you are in a calorie deficit (i.e., losing fat) I believe you have a slightly greater protein requirement then when you have a calorie surplus.  When you’re putting on muscle I think you can easily let go of some of the stress you might have about consuming really high protein and stick with the 0.8-1.0 gram per pound.  And if your muscle mass is climbing, you’re on target.

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This is most certainly not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t consume higher amounts of protein in a muscle gaining phase.  I’m just saying there is little (if any) additional benefit.

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In Summary

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To gain muscle eat slightly above maintanence, resistance train frequently, and consume enough protein (but don’t stress if it isn’t “where it should be” if muscle is going up).  Oh…and monitor your waist measurement.

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Every so often I get the question “Mark, how is it that you are such a genius and are  also so incredibly good looking?  It is so damn unfair.”  Okay…I think the question goes more like “What are you reading these days that you think is worth sharing?”

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As you can see, these two questions are almost exactly the same.  In any case, below are a few things I think you should definitely check out.

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1.  Categories of Weight Training

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If you’ve not been following Lyle McDonald’s latest series on types of weight trainining (from depletion, to hypertrophy, to maximum strength) you are absolutely missing out.  Do your self a favor and start HERE to read part 1 and then click your way on through the entire series.  Included in this series is possibly one of the best summaries on training for hypertrophy I’ve seen in a long while and almost completely in line with my own thoughts.

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2.  Hypertrophy Specialist Interview

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Along the same lines, I think you should definitely check out this great article by Bret Contreras where he interviews Brad Schoenfeld about his recent review on hypertrophy in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.  I still don’t agree with the assertion Brad made in his interview about the impact of acute hormone changes on muscle growth, but the rest of the interview is pretty solid.

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3.  Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies to Increase the Adherence to Exercise in the Management of Obesity

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At first glance the title of this article probably makes it look like a snooze-fest, but it is actually one of the best review articles I’ve read on weight loss in a long time.  It comes from the Journal of Obesity (where the articles are free by the way) and it talks about many things relating to success with weight loss and maintenance.

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Trust me when I tell you that if you are trying to lose body fat or help others do so then this article will teach you something.  I personally grabbed a bunch of studies from the references too that I’ll be reading in the near future.

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The big picture though, is that this article reinforces my belief that long term fat loss has less to do with what type of exercise and nutrition plan you use and more to do with the psychosocial factors that help or hinder your consistency in executing whichever plan it is you choose to follow.  If you address these you’re more likely to be successful than if you buy the next fat loss product that comes up on Twitter (which should occur in the next 3.5 seconds).

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4.  Best NEW blog in my RSS Feed

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 Ben Bruno is really smart and his blog always contains some great vids of people training hard and getting it done.   Moreover, this is a great example for young guys just gettting started in this field on blogging of how it is done. 

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If you’re a young coach or trainer start blogging now and build your readership as you learn.  You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to pretend to know everything.  Just be humble and share your thoughts as you learn.  Acknowledge when you’re wrong and updating your ideas.

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I waited far too long to launch this blog and feel like I’m finally coming into my own over 10 years into my career.  Don’t do that.  Read Ben’s blog, enjoy the content, then get to work.

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5.  Interview with Tony Gentilcore

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This is a great interview with the funniest man in fitness where he talks at great length about many of the things that make a good trainer…and other things that make trainers like Jillian Michaels suck.  Perhaps more importantly (or at least MY favorite part of the article), Tony mentions me as one of the fitness professionals that people should take notice of.  You hear that Men’s Health?  Huh?  Huh?

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In all seriousness, when guys like Tony take time out to mention me I feel flattered and it is great to know that my work is starting to be appreciated by some of the bigger names in this industry as well.  I almost cried a little tear of excitement.  Almost.

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And that’s it for good reads.  Before you go make sure to drop a comment on yesterday’s post to score yourself some FREE protein.

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Oh…and since I’ll be giving away tons of free stuff over the next couple of months make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter on the left, my RSS feed, Facebook, and Twitter so you don’t miss out.  You snooze, you lose.

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The common assertion in strength training literature (I use that term loosely) is that compound movements must be done (and short rest intervals used) to maximize the growth hormone output associated with training to accentuate muscle hypertrophy.

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Today my good friend Bret Contreras posted a guest blog by a really brilliant guy (guess who) investigating this very notion.  You can check it out HERE.

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On a side note, ever since I sent Bret the initial article he keeps sending me emails saying something about how Jamie Eason affects his “Growth Hormone”.  Not really sure what he’s getting at, but I wish he’d keep it to himself. 

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A couple weeks ago I was reading some stuff on Lyle McDonald’s website when I stumbled across an article that I thought may be of interest for anyone who has ever trained to put on a little muscle (or a lot of muscle for that matter).

In light of the frequent marketing based reports of gaining 20 pounds of lean mass in 12 weeks with one program or another, I think this post gives great insight into what is realistic for beginner, intermediate, and advanced trainees.

What is your genetic muscular potential?

Read Lyle’s article HERE for summaries of a few models for predicting your maximum hugeness factor.

If you’re not in the mood to read the whole article, you can go straight to a muscle mass potential calculator mentioned in the article created by a guy named Casey Butt.  Check it out HERE.

And in case you were wondering about the effect of anabolic steroids on muscle gain using well controlled scientific studies (as opposed to the anecdotal reports you’ll hear from some random meathead the gym) here is a quote from Alan Aragon.

“…the norms for drug-enhanced gains in the short term (within 10 weeks) are 2-5 kg (4.4-11 lbs), and roughly 12.7 kg (27.9 lbs) over 2 years. The latter two figures collectively average out to a monthly gain of 0.9-1.1 lbs.”

Give the article a read and let me know what you think in the comments section below.  Agree or disagree?