It's the simplest weight-gainer routine ever. It's also possibly the most physically grueling. It's influenced a multitude of modern-day routines, such as Doggcrapp/DC training and High Intensity Training/HIT.
What is it? 20-rep squats.
First introduced in America in the book Super Squats, by Randall Strossen, 20-rep squats are the king of weight-gaining routines. What's the premise? As Strossen said in his book, you do 20-reps of a weight you can normally do for ten reps.
You can mix a few reps of other things in (10 reps of bench here, 10 reps of pulldowns etc), but personally, I recommend you DON'T do that. After grinding out 20 squats in a row, you will be spent.
So, if you can fairly reliably squat a weight for 10-reps, here's what you do: Take the weight off the rack, on your back. Squat it. Keep squatting. When you start to gas out, stop in the stand-up position between reps and breathe deeply, as many times as you need to. Squat again. Breathe again. Squat again.
Yes, 20 reps of squatting, completed by guts and guts alone, will seem like an eternity. After you finish that 20th rep, you will want to die. Strossen recommends following this up by laying back flat on a bench-press bench, and doing 20 light dumbbell pullovers - the key is light. They are meant to stretch the ribcage, but just as important, they are an excellent cooldown after your squat-a-thon.
Anyways, that is your workout. 20 breathing squats, 20 pullovers. How often do you do this? MWF. 3 times per week max. 2 times a week is good too. Add 5 pounds every workout. You might start this with 100 pounds, do this routine for 6 weeks, doing a total of 15 workouts (an average of 2.5 workouts per week). If you begin this routine squatting 100 lbs for 20 reps, you will end it squatting 175 lbs for 20 reps.
Do this routine for 6 weeks, MAXIMUM. You WILL burn out if you try to extend it. Switch to something else for 6 weeks, then come back to this one. Or rest for a week, do something else for 4 weeks, rest another week, and then come back.
What do you eat on this routine? EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. Randall Strossen again, recommends drinking a gallon of milk per day. I share this recommendation. If you're really hardcore, guzzle half a gallon as a post-workout meal. If you're vegan or lactose intolerant, there are certainly workarounds, E.G. loads of rice and beans, nuts, corn, etc, or soymilk. Either way, get a ton of protein, and EAT EAT EAT. Eat everything in sight. Eat constantly, right up until the point that you go to bed. And by the way, sleep 8-hour nights.
Will you gain weight? I did. I made the mistake of adding olympic lifts to my version of this routine, rendering me capable of doing just 3-4 workouts every 2 weeks. Nevertheless, I gained 18 pounds in 5 weeks. Dragondoor.com's Marty Singer has done the purist's version of this routine - and gained 30 pounds in 6 weeks. Give it a shot.
