Simple Guide to Mass Building1

Simple Guide to Mass Building By Chad Wesley Smith

An Expert In Mass Gain At Juggernaut, I have the great opportunity to work with athletes from junior high through the pros and one of the most common goals shared by my younger athletes is, I need to gain weight. I consider myself to be an expert mass gainer, at the age of 14, a freshman in high school, I played football at 5-8 175 pounds; at 17, my senior year, I played at 6-0 270; currently at 25, I stand 6-1 325. On a nearly daily basis, I hear from some skinny high school kid how they can’t gain weight and my response is always the same, “eat more”, which is normally met with “I eat so much”. Well their understanding of ‘so much’ usually means a bowl of cereal and piece of fruit for breakfast, sandwich and chips for lunch and whatever mom makes for dinner, with their whole day maybe coming in at a whopping 1500-2000 calories. That just isn’t going to cut it for a high metabolism kid who practices 2 hours a day 5-6x per week and trains another 3-5x per week.

This 5-8 175 pound 14 year old version of myself had yet to realize the tremendous benefits of lots of quality, whole foods and simple, heavy and consistent training.

Eleven years, 5 inches and 150 pounds later; the performance benefits of basic training and quality nutrition, have manifested themselves into a number of notable athletic and strength accomplishments.

Keeping It Simple The other pitfall that many young athletes fall into when they are trying to put on muscle is a lack of attention to the big exercises. They get on YouTube and see bodybuilders doing isolation movements and don’t realize that those physiques were built with a foundation of complex barbell lifts and the isolation movements are just the icing on the cake. Put the bar on your back and in your hands if you want to get big. Currently I have a group of several high school freshmen football/ lacrosse players that just began training with us after the finish of their lacrosse season. These guys are a talented group of athletes and play for some very prominent programs but face many of the same issues many 15 year olds do, mainly they are skinny and don’t eat enough. These guys are all ranging from 5-10 to 6-2 and 155 to 180 pounds and are looking to put on 10+ pounds in the next 9 weeks that they have off between the end of their lacrosse seasons and the start of their school’s summer football program.

From a strength standpoint they all bench 165-205 pounds and squat 185 to 245; when you are dealing with athletes who have low preparation levels like this it is of paramount importance that they train with high frequency so they can learn proper movement patterns. Also, they haven’t been exposed to any solid programming before and have never done any true speed work (only conditioning that their coaches think is speed work). Here is an overview of the 9 weeks of training they will be doing with me and the dietary guidelines we will try to adhere to.

9 Week Training Program

Day 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Sled Sprints Various Jumping Drills Front Squat

10x10/15/20yds 4x3 each

3x6x20yds 5x3 each

4x4x20yds 6x3 each

8x5 at 60%-45 sec rest

Floor Press

8x5 at 60%-45 sec rest

RDLs Blast Strap Rows

5x15 5x15

8x3 at 3x5 at 50-60% 67.5%-75 sec rest 8x3 at 3x5 at 50-60% 67.5%-75 sec rest 5x12 5x10 5x12 5x10

Situp and Press BB Twists

3x20 3x15/15

3x15 3x12/12

3x12 3x10/10

Explosive Medball 2x10 each Throws Upper Back3x15/3x10 Shoulders/Hip Mobility Biceps/Hip 3x15/3x10 Mobility Traps/Hip Mobility 3x15/3x10

2x8 each

2x6 each

3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10

3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10

3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10

Triceps/Hip 3x15/3x10 Mobility Neck/Hip Mobility 3x20/3x10

3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10

3x20/3x10

3x20/3x10

Prowler Tempo Circuit

2x8 rounds

2x10 rounds

Day 2/4

2x6 rounds

More Abs

30 sec on/30 sec off 30/30x8 rds x6 rounds

30/30x10rds

Sled Sprints Various Jumping Drills Back Squat

10x10/15/20yds 4x5 each

4x4x20yds 6x5 each

Back Extensions

5x15

5x12

5x10

Ab Wheel DB Side Bends

3x10 3x15/15

3x12 3x12/12

3x15 3x10/10

10x10/15/20yds 4x4 each

3x6x20yds 5x4 each

4x4x20yds 6x4 each

Day 3 3x6x20yds 5x5 each

10x5 at 60%-45 sec 10x3 at 75%xAMAP rest 67.5%-75 sec rest Board Press 6x5 at 60%-45 sec 6x3 at 3x5 at 50% rest 67.5%-75 sec rest Neutral Grip Chins 5x6-8 5x8-10 5x10-12

Day 5 Sled Sprints Various Jumping Drills Bench Press

Box Squat

Chest Supported Rows Reverse Hypers Situp and Press BB Twists

10x5 at 60%-45 sec 10x3 at 75%xAMAP rest 67.5%-75 sec rest 6x5 at 60%-45 sec 6x3 at 3x5 at 50% rest 67.5%-75 sec rest 5x15 5x12 5x10 5x15 3x20 3x15/15

5x12 3x15 3x12/12

5x10 3x12 3x10/10

Notes: -Sled Sprints are all done with full recovery. The sprinting these weeks will be pretty high volume and aimed at giving them enough reps to begin to correct their technical errors and increase their capacity to do high intensity speed work. -Our primary lift (bench/squat variations) are based on the Inverted Juggernaut Method but will utilize slightly shorter rest periods since the athletes are using such light weights at this point.

-Prowler Tempo Circuits are used to increase the athletes aerobic capacity and are key to improving their fitness, promoting recovery and eventually increasing their alactic capacity. These circuits are also a great way to get them more volume in on basic movements. To do a prowler tempo circuit the guys will push an unweighted prowler down and back 20yds each way and then perform either 10 pushups or 20-30 abs. These first 3 weeks will do a great job of building up the athlete’s work capacity, putting on some muscle and hone their technique on our foundational movements. Over the next 3 weeks, we will increase the intensity of all their work (sprints, jumps, throws, primary lifts) as they will now be capable of higher outputs. Since recovery will come at a greater premium now that intensities increase, the floor/board presses and front/box squats will become more supplementary in nature.

Day 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Free Sprints Reactive Jumps for Distance Drop Pushups Bench Press

3x6x20 yds 4x3

4x4x20 yds 5x3

5x3x20yds 6x3

Box Squat RDLs Blast Strap Rows Situp and Press BB Twists

4x2 5x2 6x2 5x5+ at 55-75% 5x3+ at 60-80% 65%x5, 70%x4, 75%x3, 80%x2, 85%x1+ 3x5 at 55-75% 3x3 at 60-80% 65%x5, 75%x3, 85%x1 4x12 4x10 4x8 4x12 4x10 4x8 3x12 3x10 3x8 3x12/12 3x10/10 3x8/8

Day 2/4 Explosive Medball x10 each Throws Upper Back3x15/3x10 Shoulders/Hip Mobility Biceps/Hip Mobility 3x15/3x10 Traps/Hip Mobility 3x15/3x10 Triceps/Hip Mobility 3x15/3x10

x8 each

x6 each

3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10

3x12/3x10 3x12/3x10 3x12/3x10

3x10/3x10 3x10/3x10 3x10/3x10

Neck/Hip Mobility Prowler Tempo Circuit More Abs

3x20/3x10 2x10 rounds

3x20/3x10 2x10 rounds

3x20/3x10 2x10 rounds

30 sec on/30 sec off x10 rounds

30/30x12 rds

30/30x14rds

20 reps total

15 reps total

10 reps total

4x3

5x3

6x3

Day 3 Reactive Change of Direction Drills Reactive Jumps for Distance Drop Pushups Front Squat Floor Press Neutral Grip Chins Back Extensions Ab Wheel DB Side Bends

4x2 5x2 6x2 3x5 at 55-75% 3x3 at 60-80% 65%x5, 75%x3, 85%x1 3x5 at 55-75% 3x3 at 60-80% 65%x5, 75%x3, 85%x1 4x10 4x8 4x6 4x10 4x8 4x6 3x10 3x10 3x10 3x12/12 3x10/12 3x8/8

Day 5 Free Sprints Reactive Jumps for Distance Drop Pushups Squat

Board Press Chest Supported Rows Reverse Hypers Situp and Press BB Twists

Notes:

3x6x20 yds 4x3

4x4x20 yds 5x3

5x3x20yds 6x3

4x2 5x2 6x2 5x5+ at 55-75% 5x3+ at 60-80% 65%x5, 70%x4, 75%x3, 80%x2, 85%x1+ 3x5 at 55-75% 3x3 at 60-80% 65%x5, 75%x3, 85%x1 4x12 4x10 4x8 4x12 3x12 3x12/12

4x10 3x10 3x10/10

4x8 3x8 3x8/8

-Free sprints are much more taxing to the body because of the higher velocities being achieved so we will only perform them 2x per week. -As the intensities of the primary lifts increase we must reduce the volume of the assistance work because the body can only handle so much work. Through these 3 weeks of training the athletes will experience tremendous increases in their alactic power, maximal strength and inter/intramusclular coordination. They are now 3 weeks away from the start of the school’s summer camp where they will be doing football drills, 7 on 7, scrimmaging and a great volume of running. To prepare them for that we will now shift our focus from alactic power development to alactic capacity. Since the athletes are still relatively weak, they can continue lifting at a high intensity without risk of overtaxing their system, we will however move the board/floor press and front/box squat to an even more supplementary role, but will still include them as frequent exposure to compound movements will still greatly benefit young athletes like this.

Day 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Positional Start Sprints

2x4x15-35yds depending on position 2x4 reps

2x5x15-35yds depending on position 2x5 reps

2x6x15-35yds depending on position 2x6 reps

Reactive Change of Direction Drills Prowler Push +Sprint Prowler Explosions Reactive Jumps for Distance Explosive MB Throws Bench Press

2x4x5+10-15yds 2x5x5+10-15yds 2x6x5+10-15yds 2x4x3 pushes

2x5x3 pushes

2x6x3 pushes

2x4x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

2x5x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

2x6x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

Up to 3x5 at 75-85% Front Squat 2x6-Submaximal Any Type of Row/ 3x12 Pullups

Up to 2x2 at Up to 1rm 85-92.5% 2x5-Submaximal 2x4-Submaximal 3x10 3x8

Any Type of Hip Extension Situp and Press BB Twists

3x10

3x8

3x6

2x12 2x12/12

2x10 2x10/10

2x8 2x8/8

2x10 rounds

2x10 rounds

2x10 rounds

2x4x15-35yds depending on position 2x4 reps

2x5x15-35yds depending on position 2x5 reps

2x6x15-35yds depending on position 2x6 reps

Day 2/4 Prowler Tempo Circuit

Day 3 Positional Start Sprints Reactive Change of Direction Drills Prowler Push +Sprint Prowler Explosions Reactive Jumps for Distance Explosive MB Throws Floor Press Box Squat Traps Shoulders Arms Neck Ab Wheel DB Side Bends

2x4x5+10-15yds 2x5x5+10-15yds 2x6x5+10-15yds 2x4x3 pushes

2x5x3 pushes

2x6x3 pushes

2x4x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

2x5x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

2x6x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

3x6-Submaximal 2x6-Submaximal 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2x12 2x12/12

3x5-Submaximal 2x5-Submaximal 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2x10 2x10/10

3x4-Submaximal 2x4-Submaximal 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2-3x8-12 2x8 2x8/8

2x4x15-35yds depending on position 2x4 reps

2x5x15-35yds depending on position 2x5 reps

2x6x15-35yds depending on position 2x6 reps

Day 5 Positional Start Sprints

Reactive Change of Direction Drills Prowler Push 2x4x5+10-15yds 2x5x5+10-15yds 2x6x5+10-15yds +Sprint Prowler 2x4x3 pushes 2x5x3 pushes 2x6x3 pushes Explosions

Reactive Jumps for Distance Explosive MB Throws Squat

2x4x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

Up to 3x5 at 75-85% Board Press 3x6-Submaximal Any Type of Row/ 3x12 Pullups Any Type of Hip 3x10 Extension Situp and Press 2x12 BB Twists 2x12/12

2x5x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

2x6x2-4 jumps depending on position X5 each

Up to 2x2 at Up to 1rm 85-92.5% 3x5-Submaximal 3x4-Submaximal 3x10 3x8 3x8

3x6

2x10 2x10/10

2x8 2x8/8

Now that we have laid out the training, basic and full of compound movements and bodybuilding accessory work, that will help these young athletes grow bigger, stronger and faster, let’s take a look at what will really help them put on the pounds: nutrition.

Juggernaut’s 2012 college bound football class, which includes some of the top players in the nation, are a testament to the effectiveness of this type of training and diet. As a group they have averaged an increase of 13 pounds of lean body mass, 63 pounds in the bench press, 109 pounds in the squat and reduced their 40 yd dash times by .27 seconds.

Nutrition Young athletes face a number of issues when trying to follow a nutrition plan that older ones usually do not. 1) They are at school all day and wont have access to things like microwaves, 2) They don’t drive/have any money so picking up food is mostly out of the question, 3) They, for the most part, are pretty limited in their cooking abilities, so things need to be basic. To overcome these issues we need to provide them with dietary guidelines that can accommodate their schedule cause while it may be good in theory to have a 15 year old high school football player eating 10 oz of grilled fish and 2 cups of steamed veggies for lunch, it isn’t realistic, and if the plan can’t be effectively executed, it won’t be followed. While these guys have pretty significant weight they are trying to gain, we want it to be as clean as possible so we will follow a carb cycling routine with them but won’t be overly concerned with keeping things too strict. The schedule will be Days 1/3/5-High, Days 2/4-Medium, Days 6/7-Low. Let’s look at a breakdown for each day…

High Carb Day Meal Number Foods/Quantities 1 3 Whole Eggs scrambled with spinach and cheese, 2 Pieces of Toast with Jam, 2 Packets of Instant Oatmeal, 1 Glass of Milk 2 Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula mixed with water, 1 Piece of Fruit 3 2 Turkey Sandwiches on Quinoa Bread, 1 Piece of Fruit, 2 Cartons of Milk 4 (Pre 2 Slices of Quinoa Bread with Honey or Jam Training) 5 (Post Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, 1 Piece of Fruit, drink Training) the shake first

6

7

10-16oz of lean meat (chicken, fish, steak), 1-2 cups of rice/pasta/potatoes, large serving of green veggies, 1 Glass of Milk Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula blended with chocolate milk, oats, and banana

Medium Carb Day Meal Number Foods/Quantities 1 4 Whole Eggs scrambled with spinach and cheese, 2-4 strips of turkey bacon, 1 Glass of Milk 2 Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula mixed with water, 1 Handful of trail mix 3 1 Large Spinach Salad with 6-8oz Turkey or Chicken, 1 Handful of Trail Mix, Olive Oil Dressing 4 (Pre 2 Slices of Quinoa Bread with Honey or Jam Training) 5 (Post Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula, 1 Piece of Fruit, drink Training) the shake first 6 10-16oz of lean meat (chicken, fish, steak), 1-2 cups of rice/pasta/potatoes, large serving of green veggies, 1 Glass of Milk 7 Juggernaut Muscle Growth Formula blended with chocolate milk, oats, and banana

Low Carb Day-These will occur on the weekends so they will have more flexibility in what they can eat Meal Number Food/Quantities 1 4 Whole Eggs scrambled with spinach and cheese, 2-4 strips of turkey bacon, 1 Glass of Milk 2 Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula mixed with water, 1 Handful of trail mix 3 10-16oz of lean meat, large serving of green veggies, 1 glass of milk 4 Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula, 1 Handful of Trail Mix 5 Same as Meal 3 6 Juggernaut Anytime Shake mixed with milk and 2 tbsp of Peanut Butter

Gaining quality lean muscle mass is simple, notice that there is a BIG difference between something being simple and being easy. This plan isn’t complex or fancy, hence it is simple, but it will require great dedication, planning and hard work, so it isn’t easy. Follow this plan or create a similar one for your athletes and watch them grow and improve.