Kolumne 37 | Training für die Massephase - Demo-Frey-Nutrition

Column 37 | Training for the mass phase

HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE EFFECTIVELY WITH A SO-CALLED FOUR-SPLIT SYSTEM.

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Column 37 - Training for the mass phase
I am 22 years old, 1.86 meters tall and weigh 81 kilos with 6.5 percent body fat. Now I plan to do a mass phase. I have already visited a doctor who confirmed that I can do the corresponding training. I have also bought and read through some literature. Now I have found what I was looking for in the chapter "Anabolic Acceleration" in "IRONMAN'S Mass Training". According to their plan (see below), you should do a full-body workout twice a week. Now the question arises whether it would be more effective if I split this workout up and train four days a week? And if so, what should the training plan look like?

Monday and Thursday

Quadriceps
Breathing squats 1 x 20 reps
immediately followed by dumbbell pullovers 1 x 15-20 reps

Calves
Bent over calf raises 1 x 15-20 reps

Hamstrings
Deadlift with straight legs 1 x 15 reps

Breast
Bench press 1 x 8-10 reps
Incline flyes 1 x 8-10 reps

Back
Bent-over rowing 1 x 8-10 reps
Pull-ups to chest 1 x 8-10 reps

Shoulders
Neck press 1 x 8-10 reps

Triceps
Close grip bench press 1 x 8-10 reps

biceps
Barbell curls 1x 8-10 reps

Belly
Abdominal press 1 x 15-20 WH

ANSWER

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Andreas Frey answers
The answer to your question is yes! I think training on four days is much more effective, both for building muscle and for motivation. On the other hand, training your whole body twice a week can put a lot of strain on your entire organism - especially if you use heavy weights.

The training principles must always be adhered to
In addition, this strategy all too often results in training sessions that are too long, as you have to warm up sufficiently for each muscle group, which in turn promotes catabolic processes.

When training your legs, you can keep the 15 to 20 repetitions. For the other muscle groups, you should go from the specified eight to ten to eight to twelve repetitions. If you manage the twelfth repetition of an exercise, you can increase the weight next time. Otherwise, the following should apply:

  • 1. Heavy and intensive training until muscle failure
  • 2. for large muscle groups a maximum of ten sets
  • 3. For small muscle groups, a maximum of six sets
  • 4. Training time maximum 60 minutes
  • 5. Rest time between sets about two minutes
  • 6. Clean and controlled repetitions
Next, you need to choose a good training split. It makes sense to train related muscles in one session. In terms of a three-way split, this would be the following constellation, for example:
  • Day 1: Chest, shoulder, triceps
  • Day 2: Legs, calves, stomach
  • Day 3: Back, biceps
For a four-way split, I recommend this distribution:
  • Monday: Chest
  • Tuesday: legs, calves, stomach
  • Wednesday: Rest or cardio
  • Thursday: Shoulder, Triceps
  • Friday: Back, biceps
  • Saturday: Rest or cardio
  • Sunday: Rest or cardio
A training plan should be changed every 8 weeks
Cardio training uses up a lot of energy, so you shouldn't do it too extensively, as your primary goal is to build mass. Twice 15 to 20 minutes per week, each time with a pulse of around 150 beats per minute, should be enough to strengthen your heart and not lose too much energy for the intensive weight training.

My recommended training plan is shown below. In addition to the work sets, you can add a pump set that can include up to 30 repetitions. Alternatively, you can also do this pump set as a decreasing set to increase the intensity even further. The muscles are properly supplied with blood again. This promotes recovery, as metabolic waste products are excreted more quickly. And faster recovery promotes faster muscle building, as the body only begins the building processes once the recovery phase is over.

Change the plan every eight weeks or so. You should only replace the basic exercises with basic exercises. The same applies to the isolation exercises. By changing the exercises, you ensure regular changes in stimulus; your muscles will not be able to get used to the training and will constantly be stimulated to initiate muscle building processes. But remember, despite these changes, never give up on the training guidelines I have mentioned!

TRAINING PLAN

MONDAY: BREAST

  • Incline bench press 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Incline or flat bench press with dumbbells 2 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Covers 3 sets of 8-12 WH
  • Cross cable pulls 2 sets of 8-12 WH

TUESDAY: LEGS, CALVES, BELLY

  • Leg presses 3 sets of 15-20 reps
  • Leg extensions 2 sets of 15-20 reps
  • Leg curls 2 sets of 15-20 reps
  • Standing calf raises 2 sets of 15-20 reps
  • Seated calf raises 2 sets of 15-20 reps
  • Crunches 3 sets of 15-20 reps

THURSDAY: SHOULDER, TRICEPS

  • Front presses 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Neck press 2 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Lateral raises 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • reverse flyes on the butterfly machine 2 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Triceps press on the cable 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • one-arm tricep press on the cable 2 sets of 8-12 reps

FRIDAY: BACK, BICEPS

  • Pull-ups 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Front pull with underhand grip 2 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Rowing with free weights or on the machine 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • One-arm rowing on the cable 2 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Biceps curls with free weights 3 sets of 8-12 reps
  • Biceps curls on the cable 2 sets of 8-12 reps
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