What has he been doing in training recently?
Does he have any past/recent injuries or limitations in flexibility?


Hypothetical speaking lets say you are a personal trainer. You are working with a 24 year old male. 165lbs about 5' 11". He has been training for a bout 2 years. Has solid form on all exercises. He wants to gain about 20lbs of lean muscle mass. What type of training program would you design for someone like this? Please include days per week, reps, sets, include cardio, bodyparts the whole shabang. Without it being to lengthy.
"A child does not learn to squat from the top down -- in other words, he does not suddenly make a conscious decision one day to squat. Actually, he is squatting one day and makes the conscious decision to stand." - Gray Cook


What has he been doing in training recently?
Does he have any past/recent injuries or limitations in flexibility?
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This may hurt a little... - Training Journal 2012
Disclaimer: All health, fitness, diet, nutrition, anabolic steroid & supplement information posted here is intended for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for proper medical advice from a medical doctor. We do not condone the use of anabolic steroids (AAS), all information about AAS is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you choose to use AAS it's your responsibility to know the laws of the country that you live in. Consult your physician or health care professional before performing any of the exercises, or following any diet, nutrition or supplement advice described on this website.
First, I'd have to see what his last 10 workouts look like. Also, you can't be depended upon to put 20lbs of muscle on the guy. If he eats like a horse its one thing, but if he doesn't eat, your going to look dumb no matter what you have him do.


He has had 0 injuries in the past. Lets say he is eating properly. 1gram of protein per lb of BW and about 1000 more calories a day.
His past workouts looked like this:
leg day:
squats 3 x 10, 8, 6
lunges 3 x 10, 8, 8
calf raises 3 x 10
chest/triceps/shoulders
bench press 3 x 10, 8, 6
skull crushers 3 x 10, 8, 6
DB shoulder press 3 x 10, 8, 6
Back/biceps
Deadlifts 3 x 8, 6, 4
bent over rows 3 x 10, 8, 6
pull ups 3 x 10 @ BW
an ab exercise everyday
cardio includes 2 days of HIT on the treadmill/elliptical or running outside @ 20mins.
"A child does not learn to squat from the top down -- in other words, he does not suddenly make a conscious decision one day to squat. Actually, he is squatting one day and makes the conscious decision to stand." - Gray Cook

change out the chest routine. add decline and incline bench. as for triceps depends on current development. axe ab exercises on the daily. they should be done no more than three days a week. change back routine out for more like pulldowns, tbar rows, face pulls, arnies. all things change with how much time the person has to devote to the gym. also what kind of supps are they taking. next i would increase protien intake to 1.5 per lbs to bulk. with out knowing a bit more about the person it would be hard to develope a full program.
i bet in the world you live in every one is a pony, eats rainbows, and craps butterflys.
there is no damn justice in the world.

yup basic simple movements for mass. sounds odd but for building up your chest i have found that the basics still work the best.
i bet in the world you live in every one is a pony, eats rainbows, and craps butterflys.
there is no damn justice in the world.


I'd put him on a 2x a week Full Body set up something like this:
Mon - Workout A
Wed - Cardio
Fri - Workout B
All other days are rest.
Workout A:
Front Squats
Unsupported Dumbell Rows
Split Squats
Dips
Curl Variation
Farmer's Walks
Workout B:
Romanian Deadlifts
Weighted Pushups
Single Leg Hyperextensions
Chin Ups
Single Legged Calve Raises
Monkey Hangs
No cardio on either of those days, but with some form of lower body HIIT followed by upper body steady state (or vice versa - alternate each week) on the day in between those two workouts in the week.
Periodization (Doesnt apply to Isolation/Grip stuff):
Week 1 = Both workouts are 2x20.
Week 2 = Workout A is 3x12, Workout B is 4x8.
Week 3 = Workout A is 4x8, Workout B is 3x12.
Week 4 = Workout A is 3x14, Workout B is 4x6.
Week 5 = Workout A is 4x6, Workout B is 3x14.
Week 6 = Both workouts are 3x4.
Week 7 = Unload.
Core work can stay the same frequency, will be sure to make a point of mixing stability work like planks if he hasnt been doing them up untill now.
Reasons for this program set up:
Used to do a 3 day split with 3 movements, took a day out and increased the volume per day by quite a bit.
Movements are different variations from what he was doing before. Wasn't doing a lot of unilateral work in his last program so i thought he could do with some.
Split is fullbody, totally different to what he was doing previously, hopefully should prove to be pretty tiring. Mwuaha.
Periodization attempts to mix both higher volume and higher intensity rep ranges throughout the week, both of which stimulate hypertrophy. Combination of both should provide a varied stimulus.
Cardio switches back and forth between low and high intensity for upper and lower body, again - a bit different from before.
***
Voila.
http://www.getlifting.info
This may hurt a little... - Training Journal 2012
Disclaimer: All health, fitness, diet, nutrition, anabolic steroid & supplement information posted here is intended for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for proper medical advice from a medical doctor. We do not condone the use of anabolic steroids (AAS), all information about AAS is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you choose to use AAS it's your responsibility to know the laws of the country that you live in. Consult your physician or health care professional before performing any of the exercises, or following any diet, nutrition or supplement advice described on this website.
I'd ask this 'hypothetical' trainer why he doesn't know how to train the easiest client imaginable...
Volume.
If sense were common, everyone would have it.
4/2007-Current 75th Ranked most popular image 1 spot behind Prince's bulge...

i bet in the world you live in every one is a pony, eats rainbows, and craps butterflys.
there is no damn justice in the world.


http://www.getlifting.info
This may hurt a little... - Training Journal 2012
Disclaimer: All health, fitness, diet, nutrition, anabolic steroid & supplement information posted here is intended for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for proper medical advice from a medical doctor. We do not condone the use of anabolic steroids (AAS), all information about AAS is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you choose to use AAS it's your responsibility to know the laws of the country that you live in. Consult your physician or health care professional before performing any of the exercises, or following any diet, nutrition or supplement advice described on this website.
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