Setting Up Mass Gain Routines

...You and another coach have told me that do 2 or three exercises for every (major muscle group). But you did not tell me that how many sets I should do? (from Z.K.)

That's a great question and it's true that you often see people giving out a list of exercises but never addressing the reps and sets that should be done.

The short answer to your question is that there is no one answer to your question.

There are many theories and recommendations on the exact amount of sets and reps one trying to gain mass should do. Usually, 1-4 sets and 1-12 reps.

Two things to keep in mind is that your routines should be changing every 4-8 weeks and that the actual "best" set and rep scheme for you will be very individualistic (based on your muscle distribution, genetics).

So, fretting and worrying about whether or not you should be doing 2 sets or 3 sets, 5 reps or 10 reps, isn't really going to be productive time spent. More important is that you are working heavy and intense. Your first heavy work set will be the most important set you do. If you make an effort to track your weight gain program then you will someday have a better idea of what best makes you grow.

One thing that is an important consideration when deciding your reps and sets is the length of your workout. With the knowledge that studies have shown that an intense weight training workout exceeding an hour can be counterproductive for most (protein loss in the muscles), time becomes an over-riding factor in determining the amount of reps and sets to be done.

A great way to determine how many sets and reps to do is by using the method below to design your routines...

Let's say you have decided to do a routine that is split into three weekly workouts. You are going to work each major muscle group once per week, focus on compound exercises and training heavy (as you should be doing for mass gain).

On paper, plan your workout to the second. For example, on Monday you are due to work your chest, arms and abs. So, write out your mass gain routine as follows...

Chest
Exercise	Set/Rest	Reps	Tempo	Time (secs
Bench Press	warm-up	10	1/0/1	20
	rest	-	-	60
	warm-up	10	1/0/1	20
	rest	-	-	60
	work	10	4/0/2	60
	rest	-	-	180
	work	7	4/0/2	42
	rest	-	-	180
	work	4	4/0/2	24
	rest	-	-	180
Dumbbell Flyes	warm-up	10	1/0/1	20
	rest	-	-	60
	work	10	4/0/2	60
	rest	-	-	180
	work	10	4/0/2	60
	rest	-	-	180

Total time = 23 minutes, 10 seconds (1386 secs/60)

So now you know the precise amount of time it will take to work your chest, and therefore the amount of time you have to spend on your arms and abs.

In the above chest workout, you could make changes to tempo, work sets, reps, and rest between sets to incorporate more exercises. Or you could lessen the amount of time you spend on your chest to allow more time spent on your arms/abs. You can also change your splits. Etc., etc. (see Changing Weight Training Routines).

Go here for more on Designing Mass Gain Weight Training Programs.

JP Clifford