One of the reasons I gave up training in 1993 was that I couldn't get any bigger. 6'2", 11 stone and my pb of 34.70m with the 2kg discus seemed to be my absolute limit. I'd tried weightlifting (the 3 sets of ten myth), didn't work, thought about drugs, didn't do them, "You'll fill out eventually" I was told, "When GAA players want to get heavier they drink Guinness" was another one. Looked at Mento and thought "No matter how good I get he'll always beat me on brute force alone". I only wish I knew then what I know now. You see I did "fill out" eventually, maybe the fact that I started drinking when I was 21 had something to do with it. I don't know. Now I over 16 stone, 2-3 times as strong as I was at 17 and I can't throw any further. Why? I started back in 2001 and I haven't done much throwing, I have to learn how to throw again.

Anyway, for those of you who struggle to get bigger here's how I put on 6kg lean muscle mass in 6 weeks (October - November 2002)

1) The program - German Volume Training by Charles Poliquin. In this case we're using the program to gain muscle mass, if you want to lose fat you can use the same program, just don't eat as much. One word of warning, you have to cycle with strength and power program, it slows you down, my standing long jump went from 2.45 to 2.20 in six weeks.

2) The diet - one pound of muscle is equivalent ot 3,500 calories. So to gain one pound you have to eat at least 3,500 calories above your normal diet. 1g fat = 9 calories, 1g protein = 4 calories, 1g carbohydrate = 4 calories. Use the Massive Eating calculator from The Essential Berardi to figure out how many clories you need. Your body can't use more than 2g protein per kg of lean body mass, keep your fats down to 10-20% of your diet, and the rest is carbohydrate. Eat 6-7 times a day (see Chanko) to keep your body chemistry constant. Eat before you go to bed to prevent muscle wasting (Understand the Catabolic state)

Best of luck with the program. Once you're bigger it's time to get Stronger and Faster.

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