Monster Mass: Build The Perfect Beast

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Monster mass: build the perfect beast with this maniacal nutrition and supplement formula, created for monstrous muscle gains
by Chris Aceto, Steve Stiefel

A creeping darkness envelops the stage while an anxious throng of people await, transfixed on the precipice before them. Moments pass and time stretches ever thinner, pulled inexorably apart by the tightening grip of anticipation.

Suddenly, almost imperceptibly, a stirring echoes faintly from the emptiness. From far above, a light pierces through the black like a lightning bolt, illuminating a shrouded figure that has come to a stop, front and center.

At first glance, the vision seems impossible. It has arms, legs, a head, a torso, but could it be human? How? Every muscle bulges in staggering detail, each blown up to grotesque proportion. Thick bands of sinew and tendon struggle to hold the pieces together, as if sewn and stapled in place by Dr. Frankenstein himself. Paper-thin skin covers the creature, which looks to be nothing short of 300 pounds.

Monsters such as these are built within the deep confines of iron dungeons across the globe, from Texas to Transylvania and every recess in between. They are crafted repetition by brutal repetition, set by searing set, with primitive instruments of torture--barbells, dumbbells and plates. They are fueled by uncommon means, with an insatiable appetite for meat and energy, and they are intensely driven by a voracious quest for size.

It is not a haphazard journey from mere mortal to bodybuilding behemoth. Although most of us can only dream to attain the freakish wicked mass of a competitive pro, we all can traverse the primal path they have pursued, undertaking the same nutritional strategies that build such beasts. Is it crazy to want to? No matter. To be big--and we mean scary big--requires a touch of madness.

BACK TO THE LAB | Piecing together a mad mass plan is almost frighteningly simple, at least in concept: first, you have to eat the right amount of food at particular times of day; second, you have to eat the right types of food at specific times of day. Doing one or the other isn't enough.

Look no further than the hardgainer who carefully chooses the right foods for his diet, but never packs away enough of them in one sitting; or the guy who goes overboard in his weight-gain quest, eating everything in sight until his belly becomes his biggest bodypart.

In contrast, an ideal mass-building plan, one that allows you to grow without turning into a slobbering ogre, requires a more methodical approach, which is outlined in the following nine "experiments." Try them for yourself, noting the effects each step has on your physique. In the end, you'll have assembled a full-blown muscle-building nutrition program. (Insert evil laughter here.)

EXPERIMENT #1 | Multiply your meals. You won't be able to maximize growth by eating only three, four or even five meals a day. Instead, you need to ramp up to six or seven (see "Monster Mass Meal Plan" sidebar on page 98). The benefits are multifaceted. Smaller meals are absorbed more readily by your body, which means you actually get far more of the amino acids, vitamins and minerals from your food than you do when you eat fewer larger meals per day. More frequent meals help increase testosterone and insulin levels--hormones that promote growth--while driving down cortisol levels, a growth-inhibiting hormone that is released during training and in response to other stresses.

EXPERIMENT #2 | Get your protein intake up to par. Protein is made up of amino acids, the basic components of muscle tissue. Thus, you need to have plenty of amino acids available so that your body can build muscle at its maximal rate.

It's key, then, that you take this advice to heart (if you've been reading FLEX for a while, you know that we've stressed this many times): you need to consume at least a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. If you weight 180 pounds, you need at least 180 grams (g) of protein in your daily diet. That's 26-30 g of protein per meal, equivalent to about five ounces (precooked weight) of chicken breast or a cup of lowfat cottage cheese. It's easy math, but so many monster wannabes fall short on protein intake, and their results suffer dramatically.

EXPERIMENT #3 | Manipulate your protein intake for key times of the day. Follow the "1 g per pound rule" for two or three weeks. At that point, if you're still not seeing gains, adjust your protein consumption at two critical times: after training and in the middle of the night.

After workouts, bump up your protein intake to 40-60 g, preferably using a fast-acting whey protein source; at midnight (set the alarm if you hit the sack early), guzzle a 30-40 g protein shake. The late-night feeding will help keep you in an anabolic state overnight. Otherwise, it's a long fast for your body from one meal to the next.

EXPERIMENT #4 | Crank up your carbohydrates. Carbs work with protein, creating a hormonal environment conducive to growth. They help the process of transporting amino acids from food into your muscles so they can be made into new muscle tissue or used to repair tissue damaged during training, and they are stored in your muscles as glycogen, a powerful energy source.

Start with 2 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight each day. But, unlike protein, split this over your first five or six meals of the day, dropping carbs from your last meal or two of the day. Thus, a 180-pounder should eat 60-72 g of carbs at each of his first five or six daily meals, with minimal carbs after that.

EXPERIMENT #5 | Adjust your carbs at key points of the day. Follow the "2 g per pound rule" for two or three weeks. Then, if your results are lagging, bump up your carb intake at two critical junctures: the first meal of the day and after training. By the fifth week, if you haven't seen improvements, boost your carb intake to a total of 2 1/2 g per pound of body weight daily.

Increasing carbs at breakfast, when they're coupled with protein, helps put a stop to the protein breakdown that occurs during the last two or three hours of sleep and kick-starts your metabolism. (Contrary to common misconceptions, an elevated metabolism actually increases muscle growth.) Boost your carb intake at breakfast and after your workouts by 50%. For example, if you were eating 60 g at breakfast, increase it to 90 g.

EXPERIMENT #6 | Focus your fat consumption. A common mistake among those trying to gain lean mass is in not distinguishing between good and bad fats. The truth is not all fats are created equal. Healthy fats--monounsaturated fats, omega 3s and 6s--can be a huge boost to body builders who are trying to gain quality size. Emphasize the following foods in your diet: avocados, salmon and other fatty fish, nuts and seeds, and healthy oils, such as canola and olive.

Reduce other fats, while continuing to consume those contained in lean red meat, chicken breast, turkey breast and whole eggs (including the yolk), because you do need some saturated fat and cholesterol for muscle growth.

EXPERIMENT #7 | Be a fiber fanatic. Consuming a ton of fiber won't help you get huge in and of itself, but it will help you better process the foods you do eat. The digestive systems of hardgainers on mass diets often have trouble handling all the additional calories.

Fiber can help you get the most out of your nutrition program. Vegetables, beans, oatmeal and brown rice are all high in fiber, and they're good sources of complex carbs. Including these foods at most meals (except before and after workouts) will help you put on size. As a rule, strive to take in up to six servings of vegetables a day, such as broccoli, spinach, carrots and asparagus. You should be able to easily consume two or three servings with a meal.

EXPERIMENT #8 | Hydrate. Even if we're always carrying gallon jugs of water around the gym, most of us are usually in a constant state of mild dehydration. Many people just don't drink enough water, period.

If you want to get big, you need to stay hydrated, because doing so pumps your muscles full of fluids, increasing strength, performance and, ultimately, progress; this will also assist your digestive system in processing food. Strive to drink a gallon of water a day. In addition to water itself, other fluids help keep your body hydrated, including green tea, sports drinks, milk, sparkling water and Crystal Light, as well as other diet drinks.

EXPERIMENT #9 | Size up your supplement regimen. A lot of guys make one of two mistakes when it comes to supplementing for muscle gains; they either overrely on supplements or they underrely on supplements (or don't use them at all).