Down and Up Mass Program Overview

Down And Up Mass Program

More muscle, more strength, and even less fat Jan 04, 2014 add to favorites The Down and Up Mass Program is a perfect program for maximizing lean muscle mass and strength gains… or even dropping body fat, while you gain muscle and strength.

Split The Difference Down and Up can be done by training four days each week for a total of 10 weeks, or it can be done by training six days per week for a total of seven weeks. The program is a 4-day split. That means it takes four workouts to train all the major muscle groups in the body. So there are four separate workouts. Workout 1 trains chest, triceps and abs. Workout 2 trains back, biceps, forearms and calves, as well as deadlifts (which are technically a leg workout but also involve some back). Workout 3 trains shoulders, traps, and abs. And workout 4 hits legs and calves. So if

you train four days per week then you train each muscle group once per week or once every seven days. If you can squeeze in two more workouts in each week and train 6 days per week then you will hit each muscle group every 4 or 5 days, depending on when you take your rest day. If you train four days per week then ideally your split should look like this each week: Day Monday

Workout Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Wednesday

Activen rest day

Thursday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Friday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Saturday

Active rest day

Sunday

Active rest day

The above split is ideal because it provides your body a rest from resistance training after every two workouts. This helps to maximize your recovery. However, it is not 100% essential that you train on these precise days each week. Any four days of the week that fits your schedule will work. If you need to train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off as your active rest days, then that is fine. Any four days will work. And it doesn't have to be the same exact four days of the week every week. Lets say you are following the 4-day split as I outline above in the table, but on Thursday your college buddy is in town. So instead of training after work you were going to meet up with him and have dinner and hang out all night. No biggie. Enjoy your life. You can train and still have a life. All you need to do now is bump workout 3 to Friday and Workout 4 to Saturday or even Sunday. Whatever works. To train six days per week, the ideal split would like this and would vary each week: Week 1

2

Day Monday

Workout Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Wednesday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Friday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

3

4

5

6

Tuesday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Wednesday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Friday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Wednesday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Friday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Wednesday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Friday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Wednesday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Friday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Wednesday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Thursday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

7

Friday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

Saturday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

Sunday

Active rest day

Monday

Workout 1 (chest, triceps, abs)

Tuesday

Workout 2 (deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, claves)

Wednesday

Workout 3 (shoulders, traps, abs)

*Thursday

Workout 4 (legs and calves)

*The program is complete after this workout. How do you decide which split to follow? The major deciding factor should be your schedule. If you honestly can't commit to six days per week then stick with the 4-day spilt. Both programs will provide pretty similar results. In addition to your schedule, your training experience and previous program should also influence the split you choose. If you have less than six months of consistent weight training under your belt then I would suggest you go with the 4-day split. If you are brand new to weight training, stop reading this right now and go start my Beginner To Advanced ProgramOr do my Beginner Cardioacceleration program Once you completed at least one of these programs then you can come back and consider Down And Up. For those who have just completed my Shortcut To Size/ Micro Muscle program, I highly encourage you to try and do Down and Up as a 6-day split. Just like with rep ranges and exercises used, you also need to change up your training frequency. Since Shortcut To Size trains each muscle group every 7 days, it would be a good idea to switch to training each muscle group more frequently… as long as your schedule allows. If not, then stick with training four days each week. If you have just completed one or both of my Superman programs, or my Shortcut To Shred/1-2-3 Lean, or my Super Shredded 8, or HIIT 100's than either training four days per week or 6 days per week will give your body a change in training frequency. So the choice is up to you. If maximizing fat loss while also building muscle and strength is your main goal, then I would suggest that you try to stick with the 6-day split. Or if you prefer hitting the weights only four days per week I would highly recommend doing some serious HIIT training on at least two of the three active rest days. Of course, you could also do the Down and Up workouts five days per week or even seven days per week if you're the kind of person who hates rest days. It's really up to you and your schedule.

Exercise Order As I already mentioned, the Down and Up program is a four-day split. Workout 1 hits chest, triceps, and abs. Workout 2 focuses on deadlifts, back, biceps, forearms, and claves. Workout 3 targets shoulders, traps, and abs. And workout 4 trains legs and calves. While the four workouts you do each and every week will be those four workouts, the actual workouts vary every other week. That means that the four workouts done in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will be different from the four workouts done in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Each of the four workouts will still hit the same muscle groups in the same order, but the exercises and the exercise order will be different for maximal variety. I will refer to the four workouts done in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 as the "heavy workouts" because the rep ranges vary from 3-5 reps per set to 9-11 reps per set. I will refer to the four workouts in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 as the "light workouts" because the rep ranges vary from 12-15 reps per set to 21-30 reps per set. In weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, or the heavy workouts, the exercises for each major muscle group progress in a normal fashion of multijoint exercises first followed by single joint exercise. For example, during chest workouts during these weeks you will first do the bench press, followed by the reverse-grip bench press and then the incline dumbbell press. So the first three exercises are all multijoint exercises, which allow you to maximize the amount of weight that you use while you are fresh and strong. Then you follow those exercises with the dumbbell flye and the cable crossover, which are two single-joint exercises that better isolate the pecs. In weeks 2, 4, 6,8, and 10, or the light workouts, the order reverses and you are starting with single joint exercises first and then finishing the workout with mutlijoint exercises. For chest again, you start these workouts with the cable crossover, then the low-pulley cable crossover, followed by the incline dumbbell flye. So the first three exercises are single joint exercises that focus directly on the pecs. Then you finish the workout with the dumbbell bench press and finally the bench press at the very end. This technique is known as pre-exhaust. By exhausting the pecs before you do the bench presses, you can be assured that when you reach muscle failure on the bench press it's because you fully fatigued the pecs and not because the triceps or shoulders were fatigued. On a lot of multijoint exercises such as the bench press, people hit muscle failure when the smaller and weaker triceps or deltoids have reached fatigue. And the pecs are left wanting more. This is bad news for building bigger pecs since they weren't fully stimulated on the bench press. I employed pre-exhaust every other week so that you get the best of both worlds. On the heavy workouts you work on increasing your bench press strength, but on the light workouts you focus on building the pecs. The systems work very nicely together.

Periodization Aplenty When you look at this program from one week to the next you will see that the pattern is all over the place. Each week the weight and reps change drastically from

the week before but not in a linear pattern. The pattern appears to be more random and in exercise science circles this is known as undulating periodization. The Down And Up program actually involves four types of periodization schemes: 1.) Linear, 2.) Reverse Linear, 3.) Undulating and 4.) Pendulum. Linear periodization is a plan that increases the weight each stage while the number of reps drop. A good example is my Shortcut to Size program. Reverse Linear is simply the reverse of Linear Periodization. With the reverse, in each stage the weight gets lighter and the number of reps per set increase. Undulating means that there is no pattern and the weight and reps rollercoaster up and down over the whole program. Pendulum means that in one part of the program the weights and reps change in a linear fashion in one direction and then in the second part of the program the weight and reps change in the opposite but linear fashion. ` Upon first look at the program you notice that it is an undulating plan, i.e. it rollercoasters in weight and rep ranges from week to week. But if you dissect the program a bit more you will discover that it actually blends both Linear Periodization and Reverse Linear Periodization to form an Undulating Periodization plan from week to week. Using the 4-day per week training spilt as an example (and this holds true for the 6-day per week split too, since it just compresses the program so that in week 1 you do the four workouts in week 1, plus the first two workouts from week two and follow from there), If you look at weeks 1, 3, and 5 (the heavy workouts) by themselves you will notice that they increase in weight and decrease in rep ranges in a Linear Periodized manner (week 1 = 9-11 reps/set, week 3 = 6-8 reps/set, week 5 = 3-5 reps/set). If you look at weeks 2, 4, and 6 (the light workouts) by themselves you will notice that the weight decreases each workout and the reps increase in a Reverse Linear Periodized manner (week 2 = 12-15 reps/set, week 4 = 16-20 reps/set, and week 6 = 21-30 reps per set). When you mash these periodized schemes together it creates the Undulating Periodized plan (week 1 = 9-11 reps/set, week 2 = 12-15 reps/set, week 3 = 6-8 reps/set, week 4 = 16-20 reps/set, week 5 = 3-5 reps/set, and week 6 = 21-30 reps per set. Yet you are also training with a Linear Periodized plan for the heavy workouts and a Reverse Linear Periodized plan for the light workouts. So you get the best of all the periodized programs, which can really help to build muscle size and muscle strength. Then the progression of the program changes yet again in weeks 5-10. If you then look at weeks 5, 7, and 9 (the heavy workouts) by themselves you will notice that now those workouts that were once progressing in a Linear Periodized manner are now moving in a Reverse Linear Periodized manner (week 5 = 3-5 reps/set, week 7 = 6-8 reps/set and week 9 = 9-11 reps/set). And when you look at weeks 6, 8, and 10 (the light workouts) by themselves you notice that those workouts have now swapped to a Linear Periodized scheme (week 6 = 21-30 reps/set, week 8 = 16-20 reps/set, and week 10 = 12-15 reps/set. This method of increasing in one direction with weight and reps for a few weeks and then reversing the direction for a few weeks is known as a Pendulum Periodized schemes. But again, when you blend them together as I have done here, you are also still doing an Undulating Periodized plan. This program is yet another one of my plans that gives you all of the best training schemes in one program. learn more on Periodization

High Reps Build Muscle In some weeks of the Down and Up Program you will be doing reps as high as 21-30 reps per set. But before you think that these high rep sets are going to cause you to lose your muscle and strength, just hold up for a minute and hear me out. Recent research has shown that when subjects train with a weight that allows them to complete 21-30 reps per set, but they take each set to muscle failure they actually gain slightly more muscle mass then those training with reps in the 8-10 rep range! This is due to the fact that those higher rep sets when taken to failure appear to boost muscle protein synthesis even better than doing lower rep sets. The difference is only slight, but the bottom line is that as long as the sets are taken to muscle failure high rep sets build as much muscle… and maybe even slightly more than lower rep sets. So the take-home point is why not use high rep sets?! And in this program I give you the perfect way to incorporate these high rep sets - the weekly microcycle. Each week your weight and rep range changes drastically from higher reps and lighter weight to lower reps and heavier weight. This way you keep your strength gains and your muscle growth gains and the program keeps your muscles guessing so that they never stagnate and they just keep progressing and getting bigger and stronger. For more on the research regarding high rep training to lower rep training, click on the link below to read my article, "Lighten Up": more on the research regarding high rep training to lower rep training

Don't Pump Up The Volume In weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 (the heavy workouts) you will be doing just 2 sets per exercise and about 5 exercises for most major muscle groups for a total of 10 sets per muscle group. Now you might think that doing 2 sets per exercise and 10 sets total per major muscle group is not enough total sets for you. But hold up before you go adding an extra set or two to any of the exercises. On the second set of each exercise after you reach muscle failure you will first do a rest-pause set, which involves putting the weight down and resting 15-20 seconds and then picking the weight back up and doing as many reps as you can until reaching muscle failure again. Then immediately after that rest-pause set you will do a drop set, which consists of dropping the weight by 20-30% and continuing to do as many reps as you can until reaching muscle failure yet again. Adding those two intensity techniques technically bumps those 2 sets up to 4 sets per exercise! And with 5 exercises per muscle group that is essentially 20 sets per muscle group. Trust me when I tell you that there is plenty of volume for you on this program. Even with my 30+ years of training, I use this program as is. I use just two sets per exercise on the heavy workouts because it allows you to better maintain the rep range prescribed while keeping the weight the same. In weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 (the light workouts) total sets will be bumping up the volume to 12-15 sets per major muscle group. During these weeks you will be training with lighter weight but for more volume. You will not use any intensity techniques, other than taking each set to muscle failure. That will be enough. Your muscle could use the break from the heavy weight and intensity techniques used in the previous week.

Rest Periods Rest anywhere from about 1-3 minutes between sets depending on your goals. If fat loss is your goal, keep the rest periods to one minute. And consider adding cardioacceleration to that minute (see below). If muscle mass is your goal, then 1-2 minutes of rest will suffice. And if maximizing your strength is your goal, then you may want to rest a good 3 minutes between sets to complete as many reps as possible each set.

What kind of cardio should be done with the Down And Up Program? Well that all depends. Because this program does not use supersets and does not decrease the rest time between sets, cardioacceleration works great with this program. Regardless of your goal, I highly recommend this form of cardio. Even if your goal is gaining more muscle mass and strength, adding in 30-60 seconds of cardioacceleration between sets and then resting a minute or two until your next set can actually aid recovery and help you grow bigger and stronger while getting leaner. more on cardioacceleration Of course, any form of HIIT will also work well with Down And Up. You could do standard HIIT or Tabata HIIT at the end of the workout and/or on active rest days. You could also add in Tabata or some regular HIIT in between muscle groups, much like my Super Shredded 8 program.

Active Rest Days The rest days I have incorporated, which are will be 1 or 3 days depending on how many days per week you are going to do the workouts, are not the rest days where you lie around and do nothing. If that's what happens on some days then that's completely fine. We all need those days where we do little. But most of those rest days should be "active rest days". Active rest day means that you should be doing some physical activity. It could be as little as cleaning your house or yard work. It could be a walk, a hike, swimming, or a bike ride. It could be basketball, tennis, or volleyball. It could be a HIIT session or even a CrossFit workout. You pick.

Diet Of course, diet is a critical factor for your results. Unless you provide your body the proper amounts of the right nutrients at the right times, your body won't be able to recover optimally from the training and grow bigger and stronger. If your goal is to maximize your gains in muscle mass and/or strength, then just eating as much food as you possibly can will not net you the proper gains. It will help you gain plenty of body fat though. And haphazardly eating here and there will also undermine your gains in quality muscle mass and strength.

learn the basics of how to eat and supplement for maximizing muscle and strength gains Then use the following sample meal plan as an example of a basic diet to start with and modify based on the recommendations from my Updated Muscle-Building Nutrition Rules.

Breakfast 

20-30 g protein of a mixed



protein powder (Whey/Casein)



3 whole eggs



3 egg whites



1 Tbsp Olive oil



1 slice low-fat/reduced fat cheese



(scramble eggs cook in olive oil and add cheese to melt)



2 cups cooked Oatmeal (1 cup dry oats before cooking)



1 Tbsp honey



(mix honey in oatmeal)

Late morning snack 

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese



1 cup sliced pineapple



(mix pineapple in cottage cheese)

Lunch 

1 can albacore tuna



2 slices whole-wheat (or Ezekiel) bread



1 Tbsp light mayonnaise



1 large piece of fruit (apple, orange, banana, etc.)

Afternoon Snack 

20-30 g protein of a mixed



protein powder (Whey/Casein)



1Tbsp Peanut butter



1 Tbsp Jam



2 slices whole-wheat (or Ezekiel) bread



(make PB sandwich to eat with shake)

Dinner 

8 oz. New York Strip Steak



(or salmon or other fish, or chicken or other poultry, or pork)



1 medium sweet potato (or cup of brown rice or cup of beans)



2 cups mixed green Salad



2 Tbsp salad dressing (olive oil n vinegar)

Before Bed Snack 

20-30 g protein from a mixed protein powder (Whey/Casein)



or 1 cup cottage cheese or 1



cup Greek yogurt (with 1 teaspoon honey)



1 Tbsp Peanut butter (can add to shake or Greek yogurt or eat separate)

Totals: 3100 calories, 265 g protein, 260 g carbs, 110 g fat (for the 180 pound person = 17 cals/pound, 1.5 g protein, 1.5 g/carbs and 0.5 g fat per pound)

On Workout Days add these Meals (or combine the pre and postworkout protein shakes into one large Pre/During/Postworkout Protein Shake and drink about 1/3 within 30 minutes before the workout, another 1/3 during the workout, and the final 1/3 at the end of the workout):

Preworkout Meal (Take 15-30 min. before workout)

 

1 scoop Mixed Protein (whey/casein blend*) 1 scoop Pre JYM ( http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/jym/pre-jym.html)

Or in place of Pre JYM: 

200-300 mg caffeine



6 g citrulline malate or 2-4 g L-citrulline



5-10 g BCAAs



2-5 g creatine



1.5-2 g beta-alanine



1 g taurine

Postworkout Meal (Take immediately after workout)  

2 scoops Mixed Protein (whey/casein blend*) 1 packet each of Post JYM ( http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/jym/postjym.html

or in place of Post JYM: 

30 g Fast-digesting carbs



5-10 g BCAAs



2-5 g creatine



1.5-2 g beta-alanine



2-5 g glutamine



2 g L-carnitine



1 g taurine

*in addition to whey and casein, can also include egg, soy, or milk protein This will bring up the Totals to: 3700 calories, 335 g protein, 340 g carbs, and fat stays at 110 grams (for the 180 pounder that = 21 cals/pound, about 1.8 grams of protein per pound, just shy of 2 grams of carbs per pound, and fat stays at about .5 grams per pound of body weight)

Modifying the Diet One of the more frequent questions I get about my diets and supplement programs is what to do if you lift first thing in the morning or late at night. The answer to both is quite simple. If you wake up and pretty much head to the gym within an hour of waking or so, do this: Take your Preworkout supplements when you wake up. Then you follow the

workout with your postworkout supplements and then 30-60 minutes later have breakfast and follow the diet from there. If you train at night within an hour or two before bed then do the following: Your last meal should have been dinner, so you will take your preworkout supplements about 30 minutes before the workout. Follow the workout with your postworkout supplements. And YES, you can have the fast-digesting/high GI carbs at this time, no matter how late it is. You just trained and need to replenish that glycogen. The carbs at this time, regardless of how late it is, will NOT cause fat gain. Follow the postworkout supplements with your Before Bed Snack as close to bed time as possible.