Phase Training Pt.1: 5 Week Primer Workout for Muscle Size

When it comes to just about anything that’s not working in your life, a small change can have a big impact.

That’s especially true when it comes to weight training, and change is something that should happen more frequently than it does for most trainees.

Some people go several months or an entire year on the same routine, but you can pretty much guarantee those are the people complaining about stalled gains and no motivation to train.

One of the easiest ways to change up your routine and break out of the monotony to keep the gains going is by utilizing periodic phase training.

The simplest way to use phase training is to break it up into four to six-week training schedules.

You can set up multiple phases, but a two-phase routine is a great way to start, so here’s a quick and easy way to break out of the boredom and start gaining again.

Phase 1: Priming for Size

First things first… If you’ve been training for a long time with medium to high intensity and no breaks, start by taking a full deload week of lower intensity. You can simply decrease the amount of weight you’ve been using and stop your sets short of reaching failure. This will give your nervous system time to recuperate, as there’s a good chance that’s what’s put your gains on pause.

This first part of this simple-to-follow phase-training routine will be a five-week phase that will prime you up for max gains during the second phase. This first five weeks will be based on big, basic exercises and a three-days-per-week program. After the first five-week phase, take a one-week downshift to reduce the intensity and prepare for Phase 2.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

*Do 1-2 warm-up sets on the big exercises, doing around 10 reps with about half of your work weight or slightly more. Train to failure on work sets, adding weight whenever you’re able to go beyond the listed rep count.

Note: After this size-priming phase, you’ll probably feel motivated to keep going at 100%, so it will be tough to turn that motivation down, but the medium-intensity week in between phases will rejuvenate your nervous system for the final five weeks of all-out training intensity. The low- to medium-intensity week is also a built-in change-to-gain method that just happens to get you totally refreshed and ready to trigger massive muscle gains.

For your medium-intensity week before going into the next phase, you can either start phase two with light weights to get a feel for the routine, or you can continue with this routine but use heavy weights with low reps…

How is heavy training considered medium intensity?! Well, heavy weight and low reps are hard work, but they simply don’t tax the muscles in the same way because your nervous system quits earlier.

With this sort of phase training combined with proper nutrition, it’s not unusual to hear reports of people gaining several pounds of muscle after a couple rounds. Keep in mind, this first phase will likely bring on some good strength gains coupled with decent size gains, but be patient. You’re not necessarily recruiting all your muscle fibers yet, as this is a way to prime you up for some serious muscle-size gains in Phase 2.