16 Week Mass Building Workout Program
Looking to build size, gain strength, and add some serious mass to your frame?
Then, you’re in the place to learn about muscle gain workouts!
We’ve designed a comprehensive 16 week mass building program focused primarily on hypertrophy, or muscle growth.
Make no mistake, you’ll gain strength over the course of this program (provided you put in the work in the gym and kitchen), but the main focus is to add mass.
At the end of these 16 weeks, you’ll be bigger and badder than ever.
Get ready folks because the next 16 weeks are going to be grueling, but the results and confidence you build will be well worth it in the end.
Let’s GO!
16 Week Mass Building Workout Program Pointers
Building muscle is no easy feat. It’s simple enough in theory -- lift heavy weights for a sufficient amount of volume while pushing for progressive overload and eat enough calories.
Yet, very few people who actually walk into the gym ever get the results they hope for.
Here are some tips to help the next 16 weeks be your most successful mass building phase ever!
Progressive Overload
No surprise here.
Progressive overload is at the very heart of muscle building.
Simply put, progressive overload is about forcing your muscles to do more than they previously have.
Now, this can be executed in a number of different ways.
Progressive overload can mean:
- Doing more reps
- Doing more sets
- Lifting more weight
- Increasing range of motion
- Reducing rest times
- Increasing time under tension
If you want to grow, you’re going to have to force your muscles (and mind) to enter into uncomfortable territory. Strive for one more rep. Add weight to the bar when you can. Maximize every rep.
Which brings us to the next pointer...
Make Every Set Count
Far too many people simply execute their workouts like they’re punching a clock at some job they hate. They are in the gym physically, but mentally they’re somewhere else. This results in half-hearted execution and effort of your workout, which is another reason so many people don’t get results from their training, despite “working out” several days per week.
Not anymore.
Making every set count is really simple -- push each set for as many quality reps as possible.
Stop the set when your form starts to break down, or when you feel like you might fail on the next rep.
Training this way ensures that you’re pushing your muscles to the brink and getting the most muscle building bang for every set you perform during your training session.
Quality Before Quantity
When you’re trying to improve on your performance from one workout to the next (beating the log book), it can be tempting to try to cheat a rep or two for the sake of getting to scribble down a bigger number in your training journal.
While your ego might get a boost from writing down a bigger number, your muscles aren’t really getting any more stimulus.
When you cheat reps (reduce range of motion, use body english, etc.), you’re actually decreasing how much work the muscles are doing, which ultimately undermines your efforts to build muscle.
Yes, you do need to strive for progressive overload in your training session, but only if those reps are completed with good form.
A bunch of sloppy, jerky reps do little to help build muscle, but they can do a lot to increase risk of injury.
As such, own each rep and make sure each and every one is quality.
Sleep
When it comes to building muscle, so often we tend to focus on training hard and eating right, but there’s a third equally important piece of the puzzle -- getting enough sleep.
Sleep is when the body does the majority of its repair, recovery, and growth. It’s also when levels of anabolic hormones are at their highest.
In other words, if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re severely limiting your performance in the gym as well as your ability to effectively recover and grow.
As such, make it a goal to sleep 7-9 hours each and every night.
If you have trouble sleeping, try the following:
- Establish a set bedtime
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the hours before bed
- Limit blue light exposure (TV, laptop, smartphone, tablets, etc.) two hours before bed
- Limit stressors (work email, social media, news outlets, texts)
- Make your room cool and dark
- Wear loose, comfortable clothing
You can also look into a nighttime relaxation aid, such as EAA Sleep, which contains ingredients like L-Theanine, 5-HTP, and melatonin, that help reduce feelings of stress and promote a sense of calm relaxation.
16 Week Muscle Mass Workout Plan
For the next 16 weeks, you’ll be performing a 5-day split. Here’s what an example week of training could look like on the program:
- Day 1 -- Upper Body
- Day 2 – Lower Body
- Day 3 - REST
- Day 4 – Push
- Day 5 – Pull
- Day 6 – Legs
- Day 7 - REST
*Note: 30-40 minutes of low intensity cardio (active recovery) or yoga may be done as a form of active recovery to offset any soreness.
Upper Body Workout
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Bench Press |
4 |
6-8 |
|
Barbell Row |
4 |
6-8 |
|
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Pull Ups (opt. sub lat pulldowns) |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Barbell Curl |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Skullcrushers |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Face Pulls |
3 |
15 |
Lower Body Workout
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Seated Leg Curl |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Barbell Squat |
4 |
6-8 |
|
Leg press |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Romanian Deadlift |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Seated Calf Raise |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Hanging Leg Raises |
3 |
10-12 |
Push Workout
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Bench Press |
4 |
8-10 |
|
Arnold Press |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Incline Dumbbell Press |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Cable Crossover (or pec dec) |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Lateral Raises |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Tricep Pushdowns |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Overhead Tricep Extension |
3 |
12-15 |
Pull Workout
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Chest-Supported Row |
4 |
8-10 |
|
Chin Ups (*weighted if necessary) |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Cable Row |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Neutral Grip Pulldown |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Straight-Arm Pulldown |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Hammer Curls |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Incline Dumbbell Curls |
3 |
12-15 |
Leg Workout
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Lying Leg Curl |
4 |
8-10 |
|
Trap Bar Deadlift |
4 |
6-8 |
|
Hack Squat |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Deficit Reverse Lunge |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Leg Press Calf Raise |
3 |
12-15 |
|
Cable Crunches |
3 |
10-12 |
Recommended Mass Gaining Supplements
The foundation of building muscle and gaining strength is training hard, eating right, and getting ample rest. Without those things, no amount of muscle building supplements will make you achieve your goals and make your mass building workouts effective.
However, if you have your training and work ethic dialed in (i.e. pushing for progressive overload in your workouts whenever possible), and you’re also eating to support your goal of muscle growth (i.e. you’re eating enough protein as well as a small surplus of calories), then adding supplements on top of that may help improve your performance and recovery, resulting in better muscle growth!
When it comes to optimizing muscle growth, some of our favorite products to use are:
Protein Powder
Consuming enough protein (as well as calories) is paramount if your goal is to build muscle. Based on the current body of research, it’s recommended that individuals seeking to optimize muscle growth consume between 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
It’s entirely possible to consume enough protein from foods like beef, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, and dairy, but having a protein powder on hand can make the task of consuming enough protein each day that much simpler.
Plus, there’s only so much chicken and steak you can pound back before your palate is in the mood for something different.
Primeval Labs offers two delicious-tasting protein powders is ISOLIT and WHEY.
Protein powder can be consumed anytime of day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc.), but we like to use it especially post workout. Having a post workout shake ensures that you halt the catabolic process of intense exercise and kickstart the repair, recovery, and growth process.
Creatine
When it comes to building mass, or improving just about any other athletic goal, creatine is a no-brainer.
Simply put, creatine is the most successful and effective supplement in the history of sports nutrition.
It’s been shown to not only be effective, but safe.
Creatine has been extensively researched and found to:
- Increase in muscle mass
- Increase in maximal strength
- Improve power production
- Increase anaerobic threshold
- Increase single and repetitive sprint performance
Creatine is also extremely affordable and well-tolerated.
Primeval Labs Creatine supplies a full 5 grams of pure creatine monohydrate (the most well-studied form of creatine) per serving.
Ape Sh*t Untamed
Hard training is at the very foundation of the muscle building process. But, there are those times when you’re just not “feeling it.”
Having a pre workout supplement at the ready to help you beat back fatigue and push your muscles harder can make all the difference between a crappy workout and a PR-breaking one.
Ape Sh*t Untamed is a premium-quality, all-in-one pre workout supplement formulated to deliver intense energy, increased focus, and greater performance (and pumps!).
Every serving of Ape Sh*t Untamed packs quality doses of research-backed ingredients including L-Citrulline, Beta Alanine, and Taurine to improve athletic performance and delay the onset of fatigue.
EAA Max
Optimizing recovery is an important part of the muscle building process as your ability to induce overload in your training sessions (and as a result, grow) is directly tied to your ability to recover.
Inadequate intake of calories and essential amino acids are two limiting factors that can severely hamper recovery.
In addition to protein powder, it may also be useful to consume additional essential amino acids throughout the day, so that your muscles have a steady supply of the required building blocks it needs to repair and build muscle tissue.
EAA Max is our top-rated amino acid supplement that supplies a full spectrum of essential amino acids the body needs to support protein synthesis and resist protein breakdown (catabolism).
EAA Max can be consumed anytime of day, but we’re partial to using it as an intra workout.
