14 weeks to add as much muscle as you can - what do you do?

[Ricky93]

Don't overthink it. Just pick up shit and put it down.
15-25 sets per muscle per week
2 exercises per "big" muscle per workout (chest, back, legs for u)
2 workouts per body part per week
6-12 reps

Don't hit the same one 2 days in a row or when u still sore. 8+ hrs of sleep.
If u're recovering "too fast" or can't get enough sets go to failure. Volume vs Intensity.
PPL or Upper/Lower works fine for 95% of people

 

[Ryu82]

PPL or Upper/Lower works fine for 95% of people

This is very true, and everyone is going to respond different for both genetic and work ethic reasons (both in the gym and outside).

Personally, I have seen the most growth running a Push, Legs, Pull, Legs, Touchup Day type program I picked up from and old RP excel file.

Keep in mind I was running a carb cycling diet and 1.2g gear +5iu GH.

 

[xrayphoton13]

Context

Check out the split I’ve been given!

Research shows that this split can be effective, but there are more effective training methods available.

Sources -

Mike Israetel (PHD)
Jeff Nippard
Dr Mike Tuchscherer
Menno Henselmans
Revive Stronger
Eric Helms
Alpha Destiny
Omar Isus

Most of your sources are garbage YouTubers so that's your biggest problem here. They constantly reinvent the wheel for clicks and views and likes and subs.

You want to grow big as a beginner/intermediate look up Lyle McDonald's generic bulking routine. It's a 4 day per week upper/lower split. Someone was kind enough to piece together a PDF of most of the details of you search for it since Lyle never released a book on it. You can get the rest from his website articles or his Facebook group. He has some updates to it there if you search. He's done some YouTube interviews about it as well years ago

Borge Fagerli's myoreps is great if you are short on time. Dante trudel's doggcrapp is excellent too. But forget israetel, menno, and nippard. They just want your money. I don't know the others other than Alex and he does work his ass off as a natty from what I can see

But if you are serious and want to take the guesswork out of it just hire @Type-IIx . I can vouch that he will push you hard to make the progress, and he knows exactly what he's doing with every aspect of training. I've never looked as good as I did with him as my coach

 

[ackmack78]

I am a man of science myself, but "the evidence" when it comes to lifting is not something I trust.

When a scientist does an experiment to demonstrate something, like for example gravity, the strength of a particular piece of steel or a beam of concrete. Those essays or studies take a great deal of effort in controlling all variables possible.

When it comes to lifting studies, they control 3 or 4 variables, and measure results. There are a ton of factors that come into play. Genetic variations, whether a subject has been training for 2 years or for 20, most aspects of their diets, their own estimations of RIR or Failure, whether they work shifts and sleep like shit or not, 500mg of gear vs 4 grams, etc.

But in the end, observation of the results that others get, shows us that training very hard consistently, allowing for the right recovery, and having the diet dialed in and correct amounts of gear will make you grow. So do that and find a method of training that you enjoy and can stick to for 20 years.

I saw a video of Mike Israetel saying that if Dorian Yates wpuld have used his method of training he would have looked a lot better. Load of bollocks by somebody that wants to sell something in my opinion.

Another one of his claims that got a laugh on fouads show was if Ronnie Coleman squatted deeper he would have had better legs.

 

[cloudrift]

Why shouldn't you exceed 15-20 sets per week per muscle group? There are diminishing returns, but as long as you can still recover, we have quite a lot of evidence that gains continue basically for as long as you can keep throwing volume at them.

Recovery is key but if you are properly managing your workload we've seen in some studies gains continue up to 40 sets per week - and it wasn't like we stopped seeing gains after that, the studies just didn't go beyond them.

doing 40 sets is really just dumb lmao

 

[cloudrift]

Context

Check out the split I’ve been given!

Research shows that this split can be effective, but there are more effective training methods available.

Sources -

Mike Israetel (PHD)
Jeff Nippard
Dr Mike Tuchscherer
Menno Henselmans
Revive Stronger
Eric Helms
Alpha Destiny
Omar Isus

Issues

Issue 1 - Training most body parts once a week
Issue 2 - Lack of of volume

Goal

To add as much lean tissue as I can in 14 weeks. Specifically legs!

Cycle

Test 500mg.

My question

If you had 14 weeks to put on as much lean tissue as possible on cycle, are you following this plan or doing push pull legs twice a week?

Plan

Shoulders & Triceps

1: OHP:

2: Side Lat Raise:

3: Cable Lat:

4: Rear Delt Machine:

5: Dips:

6: Skullcrusher:

7: Tricep Pushdown

Back & Biceps

1: Single arm row:

2: Seated cable row:

3: Lat bar push down:

4: Bent over smith machine:

5: Ez bar

6: Preacher curl:

7: Chin ups:

Chest & Abs

1: Machine Fly

2: Cable Press

3: Incline Smith

4: Pec Deck

5: Push Up

6: Cable Crunch

7: Decline Sit Up

Legs

1: Back Squat

2: Leg Press

3: Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

4: Leg Curl

5: Leg Extension

6: Smith Machine Lean

7: Standing Calf Raise

Arms

1: Incline DB Curl

2: Cable Bar Curl

3: Rope Drag Curl

4: Tricep Pushdown

5: Skullcrusher

6: Dips

7: Hammer Curls

Bro, citing Mike Israetel here like he's a top source, lol. Most of what he does is just regurgitate science articles without really understanding how it applies in the real world. If you want real insights, check out the work of Chris Beardsley instead.

 

[cloudrift]

Context

Check out the split I’ve been given!

Research shows that this split can be effective, but there are more effective training methods available.

Sources -

Mike Israetel (PHD)
Jeff Nippard
Dr Mike Tuchscherer
Menno Henselmans
Revive Stronger
Eric Helms
Alpha Destiny
Omar Isus

Issues

Issue 1 - Training most body parts once a week
Issue 2 - Lack of of volume

Goal

To add as much lean tissue as I can in 14 weeks. Specifically legs!

Cycle

Test 500mg.

My question

If you had 14 weeks to put on as much lean tissue as possible on cycle, are you following this plan or doing push pull legs twice a week?

Plan

Shoulders & Triceps

1: OHP:

2: Side Lat Raise:

3: Cable Lat:

4: Rear Delt Machine:

5: Dips:

6: Skullcrusher:

7: Tricep Pushdown

Back & Biceps

1: Single arm row:

2: Seated cable row:

3: Lat bar push down:

4: Bent over smith machine:

5: Ez bar

6: Preacher curl:

7: Chin ups:

Chest & Abs

1: Machine Fly

2: Cable Press

3: Incline Smith

4: Pec Deck

5: Push Up

6: Cable Crunch

7: Decline Sit Up

Legs

1: Back Squat

2: Leg Press

3: Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

4: Leg Curl

5: Leg Extension

6: Smith Machine Lean

7: Standing Calf Raise

Arms

1: Incline DB Curl

2: Cable Bar Curl

3: Rope Drag Curl

4: Tricep Pushdown

5: Skullcrusher

6: Dips

7: Hammer Curls

OP, here’s the sauce: pick a split that lets you train each muscle at least 2x a week. Upper/Lower or Full Body 3x a week or every other day is the go to. Choose the muscles you want to prioritize and train them first in your session. Hit each muscle with around 3–10 sets per week. Train close to failure (1–0 RIR). From there, just focus on progressing your lifts. Remember to standardize your form and rest periods. Progressive overload isn’t something you chase — it happens naturally as your muscles and nervous system adapt. Stay consistent, focus on getting stronger with proper form and rest, and you’ll grow. High intensity and high frequency is the goat. You can't train with high intensity and high volume — unless you’re just playing around with the weights and calling a 5 RIR sets zero RIR.

 

[bananafeet]

I've seen good progress running a Starting Strength NLP as a novice then switching to an Intensity/Volume split. I only do barbel compound lifts. Obviously progressive overload with deloads when you get to triples or doubles.

 

[dinfar1337]

Bro, citing Mike Israetel here like he's a top source, lol. Most of what he does is just regurgitate science articles without really understanding how it applies in the real world. If you want real insights, check out the work of Chris Beardsley instead.

Chris Beardsley research is for naturals. Not his fault, its hard to source people on steriods who wanna be subjects for stupid studies risking their gains. We just have limited quality research on training in general, and even less on enhanced people. All of chris beardsleys studies are hyper focused on low reps, recovery etc. all acoounting for natty numbers. dont focus so much on this tiktok research and go hit the gym

 

[cloudrift]

Chris Beardsley research is for naturals. Not his fault, its hard to source people on steriods who wanna be subjects for stupid studies risking their gains. We just have limited quality research on training in general, and even less on enhanced people. All of chris beardsleys studies are hyper focused on low reps, recovery etc. all acoounting for natty numbers. dont focus so much on this tiktok research and go hit the gym

Yeah, I get where you are coming from. His research is definitely focused on naturals, but honestly, what works for naturals also tends to work just as well, if not better, for enhanced lifters. I am proof of that. I wasted years training with super high volume, constantly deloading and barely progressing. Once I switched to low volume, high intensity, and high frequency training with smart programming, I finally started seeing real gains. I have not had to deload since.
At the end of the day, it is about finding what works for you. If you are progressing, that is what matters. Just do not make the mistake of thinking that because you are on gear, you can smash 30 plus sets and recover perfectly. Recovery is still individual.
Starting with a lower volume baseline and adjusting up is way smarter. Chris’s work is actually a good reference point for understanding volume and frequency, because again, what works for naturals often works even better when you are enhanced.

 

[dinfar1337]

Yeah, I get where you are coming from. His research is definitely focused on naturals, but honestly, what works for naturals also tends to work just as well, if not better, for enhanced lifters. I am proof of that. I wasted years training with super high volume, constantly deloading and barely progressing. Once I switched to low volume, high intensity, and high frequency training with smart programming, I finally started seeing real gains. I have not had to deload since.
At the end of the day, it is about finding what works for you. If you are progressing, that is what matters. Just do not make the mistake of thinking that because you are on gear, you can smash 30 plus sets and recover perfectly. Recovery is still individual.
Starting with a lower volume baseline and adjusting up is way smarter. Chris’s work is actually a good reference point for understanding volume and frequency, because again, what works for naturals often works even better when you are enhanced.

if it works for you great. it works for me aswell although im just smashing 12 sets a week now with bro split. frequency is defiently one thing you should take for granted in his studies. we as enhanced lifters have way longer durations of muscle protein synthesis after a workout.

 

[knucklesamich]

For legs, I always wonder if what you see in the following video is true. I'm trying it. I can't even imagine getting to 100 reps though, 50 maybe, but I'd have to come down to more than 10%


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/S8NLPc5P0Ho?si=eXP9yDGWEIHSvgHb

 

[kaizoku]

This is very true, and everyone is going to respond different for both genetic and work ethic reasons (both in the gym and outside).

Personally, I have seen the most growth running a Push, Legs, Pull, Legs, Touchup Day type program I picked up from and old RP excel file.

Keep in mind I was running a carb cycling diet and 1.2g gear +5iu GH.

What did your two leg days look like?

Lately I’ve been doing something similar while dealing with a shoulder injury and so far it’s been great. Looking for ways to turn it up a notch.

 

[eery]

Why shouldn't you exceed 15-20 sets per week per muscle group? There are diminishing returns, but as long as you can still recover, we have quite a lot of evidence that gains continue basically for as long as you can keep throwing volume at them.

Recovery is key but if you are properly managing your workload we've seen in some studies gains continue up to 40 sets per week - and it wasn't like we stopped seeing gains after that, the studies just didn't go beyond them.

i agree that you cant throw at blanket statements like "you shouldnt do XX amount of sets per week" but 90% of people wouldnt be able to survive 40-50 hard worksets a week, be it locally or systemically if they know how to actually train with standardized technique and an effort level of <2RIR. Maybe if you made it into a short rest metabolic kind of routine, but that would basically make every workset a lot less effective so 40 sets would equate to more like 20-25.since they would be limited by all the fatigue and limited motor recruitment from the short rest.

You are probably refering to that study where they did up to 52 worksets a week for legs only and nobody in the bodybuiling, fitness or strength and conditioning research would take that study seriously and think theres any practical use to copy such a routine. What it basically showed is that you can cram a ton of volume into one bodypart and see gains, like a concept of proof for bodypart specializtion cycles for example. They also ramped that volume up over several weeks so they didnt work out at that volume for the whole study period.


But prove us wrong, follow a program with 40-60 sets on all bodyparts or a 2-3 at <0-3RIR, >2min rest and come back after 16-20 weeks and show us how it went.

 

[Evom1]

Push Pull Legs Rest, Upper, Lower Rest and feel great. I hit everything twice a week and get 20 sets on lagging muscles.

Too much volume. The split is good, but people way over do it on volume. If you're truly training with the intensity you need to grow, pull that volume back and you will grow more

 

[DugPrime]

Lot of test, HGH, insulin, and I lift heavy only (5-6 reps for all sets) no 4x12 bullshits. I increase weight or reps every weeks, focus on recovery and eat in a surplus (300 calories over maintenance is more than enough) with at least 200-220g of animal proteins.

Yep, it's that easy.

 

[explodingHeart]

Successful competitive bodybuilders (at the start of their career) can only add like 5-10 of actual stage tissue in a year.

 

[inconsistencies]

Context

Check out the split I’ve been given!

Research shows that this split can be effective, but there are more effective training methods available.

Sources -

Mike Israetel (PHD)
Jeff Nippard
Dr Mike Tuchscherer
Menno Henselmans
Revive Stronger
Eric Helms
Alpha Destiny
Omar Isus

Issues

Issue 1 - Training most body parts once a week
Issue 2 - Lack of of volume

Goal

To add as much lean tissue as I can in 14 weeks. Specifically legs!

Cycle

Test 500mg.

My question

If you had 14 weeks to put on as much lean tissue as possible on cycle, are you following this plan or doing push pull legs twice a week?

Plan

Shoulders & Triceps

1: OHP:

2: Side Lat Raise:

3: Cable Lat:

4: Rear Delt Machine:

5: Dips:

6: Skullcrusher:

7: Tricep Pushdown

Back & Biceps

1: Single arm row:

2: Seated cable row:

3: Lat bar push down:

4: Bent over smith machine:

5: Ez bar

6: Preacher curl:

7: Chin ups:

Chest & Abs

1: Machine Fly

2: Cable Press

3: Incline Smith

4: Pec Deck

5: Push Up

6: Cable Crunch

7: Decline Sit Up

Legs

1: Back Squat

2: Leg Press

3: Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

4: Leg Curl

5: Leg Extension

6: Smith Machine Lean

7: Standing Calf Raise

Arms

1: Incline DB Curl

2: Cable Bar Curl

3: Rope Drag Curl

4: Tricep Pushdown

5: Skullcrusher

6: Dips

7: Hammer Curls

Frequency is king. Lower the amount of exercises/sets you do per muscle group and hit each group more times a week -> UL or FB splits tend to be good with this. For you I'd stick with UL because prioritizing muscles is difficult on FB, but as always whatever split is most enjoyable and allows you to be consistent while giving you gains will be best. Lowering fatigue should be your biggest priority when doing high frequency (don't go to failure a lot, dont do dumb shit like dropsets or ridiculously high rep sets).

 

[Ryu82]

What did your two leg days look like?

Lately I’ve been doing something similar while dealing with a shoulder injury and so far it’s been great. Looking for ways to turn it up a notch.

Here is pretty much the exact split. I would change things up depending on how my knee or shoulder felt as well as how busy the gym was. Sets do not include warm ups and are also progressive in number. These are week 4-5 set counts. Week 1-3 would be 1 or 2 less depending on your work capacity. Post week 5 was a de-load.

Exercise	Sets	Weight	Rep Goal	Rep Results
Day 1:
Incline Machine Bench Press	4	0	12	0
Machine Chest Flye	3	0	12	0
Pushup	3	0	20	0
Flat Machine Bench Press	2	0	12	0
Row Machine	3	0	20	0
Dumbbell Upright Row	3	0	15	0
Exercise	Sets	Weight	Rep Goal	Rep Results
Day 2:
Leg Press	4	0	15	0
Machine Feet Forward Squat	4	0	15	0
Seated Leg Curl	4	0	15	0
Calves on Leg Press	6	0	15	0
Exercise	Sets	Weight	Rep Goal	Rep Results
Day 3:
Parallel Pullup	4	0	20	0
Wide Grip Pullup	4	0	20	0
Row Machine	3	0	20	0
Pushup	3	0	Fail	0
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise	3	0	15	0
Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise	3	0	15	0
Exercise	Sets	Weight	Rep Goal	Rep Results
Day 4:
Barbell Walking Lunge	4	0	15	0
Hex Bar Deadlift	4	0	15	0
Stiff-Legged Deadlift	4	0	15	0
Leg Press	4	0	15	0
Calves on Leg Press	6	0	15	0
Exercise	Sets	Weight	Rep Goal	Rep Results
Day 5:
Hammer Curl	4	0	15	0
Incline Dumbbell Curl	4	0	15	0
Skullcrusher	4	0	20	0
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press	4	0	20	0
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press	4	0	12	0
Barbell Shrug	4	0	20	0
Underhand Pullup	3	0	20	0
Incline Wide Grip Bench Press	3	0	15	0

 

[Ryu82]

Added notes:

Day 1, the flye and deficit pushups are a superset.
Day 3, the lateral shoulder movements are a superset and I prefer cables here.
Day 5, the hammer and incline DB curls are a superset and the skull crusher and BB shoulder press are a superset.