Muscle Toughness

How To Gain 10 Pounds In Just 30 Days?

AbidineFit

Gaining 10 pounds in 30 days is a toughie, tough but not impossible. For a hardgainer, 10 pounds is something they can only fantasize about – well wake up because your fantasy is about to become reality.

Before you go giddy with excitement realize the truth, this will be hard and you’ll have to ensure you do everything right for the entire forty-three thousand two hundred minutes that comprise your thirty days of physical transformation.

Obviously the results you will see from the following recommendations will vary depending on factors such as training age, genetics, how hard you push yourself and how closely you follow the plan. Neither the less, come thirty days time you will be bigger and stronger.

How To Gain 10 Pounds In Just 30 DaysObviously the program is aimed at those who are ‘hardainers’ and no where near there genetic ceiling, so if you’re a genetic freak who already weighs two hundred and fifty pounds lean, don’t come complaining to me when you only gain a couple of pounds from the program.

A large amount of the weight gained will be fluid within the muscle (intracellular) as the program aims to maximally saturate the muscle with glycogen, creatine and all the other substrates that will pump your muscles up, but don’t fret there will be some ‘proper’ muscle gained as well. Anyway, 10 pounds of added volume gives the same impression whether its intracellular fluid or actual protein – in other words, they won’t notice the difference on the beach.

The next thirty days will feel like a roller coaster ride, especially when it comes to your training. Basically the next thirty days will be split into three phases:

Phase one and three will aim to either optimize or derive the benefits of the training in phase two.

For simplicity sake, I have tried to lay everything out in a step by step approach for each day, eat when I say eat, sleep when I say sleep or don’t bother at all.

Phase 1: Building A Base

Days 1-3

Rise from bed whenever you naturally wake up, if you need an alarm you probably haven’t had enough sleep. Try to go to bed earlier if your schedule forces you up at a certain time so you start to wake naturally around that time.

Breakfast

The first meal of the day is vital and should contain twenty five percent of your days calories, any less and you’re going to play catch up all day long. This large dose of food will also be used more effectively due to the eight to ten hour fast.

To determine your daily (base) needs to use the chart provided (table below) and read off from your bodyweight to your daily activity level (light is office based work, medium is active and heavy is strenuous labor).

Body weight kg (lbs) Light Moderate Heavy
60 (133) 2383 kcals 2701 kcals 2860 kcals
65 (145) 2496 kcals 2828 kcals 2995 kcals
70 (154) 2782 kcals 2956 kcals 3130 kcals
75 (167) 2902 kcals 3083 kcals 3265 kcals
80 (176) 3022 kcals 3211 kcals 3400 kcals
85 (189) 3142 kcals 3338 kcals 3535 kcals
90 (199) 3262 kcals 3466kcals 3670 kcals
95 (210) 3382 kcals 3593 kcals 3805 kcals
100 (220) 3502 kcals 3721 kcals 3940 kcals

The exercise levels of days one to three has been included. During these three days, your energy expenditure and consumption should balance and your bodyweight should remain stable. If it changes during these days up or lower your calorie intake by a few hundred calories and use that as your base calories.

The nutrient ratios will be sixty percent carbohydrates, twenty percent protein and twenty percent fat (emphasizing omega 3’s and 6’s)

For the simplicity sake of this article, the examples will use a seventy kilogram (one hundred and fifty five-pound) individual with a medium activity level requiring 2956 calories a day. Obviously adjust to your own needs.

Breakfast will be a combination of carbohydrates and protein. An example would be:

Normally I feel creatine does not need loading but considering that there is only thirty days maximal saturation is required.

Pre-Workout Meal (3 hours later)

Example meal 2 (12% daily calories):

The reason fats and protein are consumed is in order to avoid a dip in energy levels related to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) that may occur from eating carbohydrates. Another reason is to avoid the slow of digestion of later meals if the majority of the day’s fats are eaten now.

This allows carbs eaten later to enter the system quicker and restore glycogen (muscles stored sugars) quicker, as well as avoiding heightened satiety when digestion is slowed. Considering that you are trying to gain weight you need to be able to eat enough calories without feeling full.

Base Training Session (1 1/2 hours later)

Warm-up

Pushups

Bodyweight squats

Crunches

Back extensions

Perform the exercises back to back with no rest until all are completed. Rest for ninety seconds and repeat. Perform three circuits of the base training on day one, four on day two and five circuits on day three.

Post Workout (Meal 3; 25% daily calories)

Post-workout nutrition should be absorbed as quickly as possible; therefore an isotonic solution is required (six percent carbs). For this example, the above drink would need to be 2250ml (two and a quarter liters). This equates to 150ml per ten grams carbs.

Meal 5 (3 hours later)

Light Cardio (2 hours later)

20-30 minutes light cardio (light but breathless level). This should be the whole body (i.e. swimming, rowing, etc).

Both the base training and cardio should aid in developing the support networks throughout the muscle (namely blood vessel density and energy systems). This will help you tolerate the workloads in phase two.

Post Cardio

Meal 7 (3 hours later)

The combination of fiber, slow-digesting proteins and fat will ensure the nutrients digest slowly and provide a constant trickle throughout the night. Some individuals propose waking during the night in order to have another feed but the disruption in sleep counteracts any benefits of the food.

Rest DayDay 4

Whole food substitutes:

Also include some form of vegetables to increase the fiber and therefore slow the rate of digestion.

Phase 2: Serious OverTraining

This is the make or break section. Hard training, hard eating and the correct mental fortitude is a must. Phase two is split into four training cycles. (termed microcycles)

The calories consumed in this phase will be one hundred and twenty-five percent of phase one levels (3695kcals for our 70kg example individual). This will be achieved by consuming more around and during the workout period. All other meals stay the same as the amounts in phase one.

Day 5 (training day): Start Of Microcycle 1

Breakfast

3 hours later

Pre-Workout (1 1/2 hours later)

Training Session (upper body 1)

Standing Military Press

Pullups/Lat Pulldown (alternated set by set with standing military press)

Lateral Raises

Decline Pullovers (alternated set to set with lateral raises)

* Tempo – (eccentric, midpoint isometric and concentric speed in seconds), an example would be the military press performed with a two-second lift, a single second pause at the top and three seconds to lower back down. Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)

Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

During the workout consume a 3% carbohydrate solution

Post Workout

This feed will have to be a hypertonic drink due to the sheer volume of carbs consumed. As such consume an 8-10% solution (around 100ml for every ten grams of carbs).

Meal 5 (3 hours later)

20 Minutes Sleep (post-meal 5)

Base Training (2 hours later, 1 circuit)

The base training should not be a maximal session rather it is just to flush the muscles with blood and nutrients and to make the muscle more receptive to the consumed extra calories rather than it being stored as fat.

PostBase Training

Meal 7 (3 hours later)

Day 6

Everything the same as training day (day 5) except for the weight training session.

Training Session For Day 6 (lower body 1)

Back Squats

Romanian Deadlifts (alternated set by set with back squats)

Calf Raises

Leg Extensions (alternated set to set with calf raises)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 7

Rest Day

A whole-body massage is advised to increase blood flow and workout tight muscles

Same schedule as training day (day five) except the weight training.

Day 8

Training Session For Day 8 (upper body 2)

5-minute warm-up

Wide-Grip Dips (do press-ups if not strong enough on latter sets)

45 Degree Bent Over Rows (alternated set by set with dips)

Dumbbell Fly

Bent Over Laterals (alternated set to set with flyes)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 9

Same schedule as training days. Except for weights session.

Training Session For Day 9 (upper body 2)

Bent Legged Deadlifts

Front Squats (alternated set by set with deadlifts)

Leg Curl

Seated Calf Raises (alternated set by set with leg curl)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 10

Rest Day

Day 11: Start Of Microcycle 2

Same as training day schedule (day 5). Except for weights session.

Training Session For Day 11 (upper body 1)

Standing Military Press

Pullups/Lat Pulldown (alternated set by set with standing military press)

Lateral Raises

Decline Pullovers (alternated set to set with lateral raises)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 12

Training Session For Day 12 (lower body 1)

Back Squats

Romanian Deadlifts (alternated set by set with back squats)

Calf Raises

Leg Extensions (alternated set to set with calf raises)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 13

Rest Day

Day 14

Same schedule as training day (day five) except weights session.

Training Session For Day 14 (upper body 2)

Wide-Grip Dips (do press-ups if not strong enough on latter sets)

45 Degree Bent Over Rows (alternated set by set with dips)

Dumbell Fly

Bent Over Laterals (alternated set to set with flyes)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 15

Same schedule as training day (day five) except weights session.

Training Session For Day 15 (upper body 2)

Bent Legged Deadlifts

Front Squats (alternated set by set with deadlifts)

Leg Curl

Seated Calf Raises (alternated set by set with leg curl)

Stretching of the worked areas (holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds)
Ice treatment (hold ice pack to worked muscles for ten minutes)

Day 16

Rest Day

Conclusion For The Half Way Point

Follow the program listed above and in part two you will receive the concluding section to your physical transformation. At points, this will be hard going and occasionally you will be drained from the sheer volume of work performed, but stick with it as this forms the basis for your transformation and will pay dividends within the third phase.

To help you stick with the program I have compiled a shortlist of helpful hints:

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