Growing season: put this winter season to good use and get huge with this supercharged three-month training and nutrition program

Usually, muscle magazines try to prep you for the beach--helping you craft a physique that won't get Greenpeace summoned in response to the beached-whale reports that flow into their office at the sight of you.

Yeah, sure, spring is a key time of the training year for guys who want to look good in the summer months, but for the truly hardcore (i.e., the typical FLEX reader), there's an even better time of year--when the snow flies and the sweatshirts and jackets are pulled out of the closet.

Yeah, baby. Winter. That's when you are able to make some major headway, when you don't have to worry about staying overly lean, and when you can pack on weight that's easily hidden under a few layers of clothing. For a bodybuilder, winter is the time to get down to the business of body building--breaking out the heavy-ass weights in the gym and the bigger plates at mealtime.

Screw the six-pack and the 5% bodyfat. Instead, take full advantage of the next three months by getting down and dirty with this power-amping size-jacking training program and high-impact nutritional strategy.

PHASE ONE

WEEKS 1-4 PREP AND GROW

Phase one will prepare you physically and mentally for the final two months. However, preparatory doesn't equate to easy--this phase includes some of the hardest training you'll do during this program. The training for this month is designed to increase your strength endurance; i.e., the amount of weight you can lift for a given number of reps. During this phase, you work out using a compression system, training your muscles to do more sets in a fixed amount of time, using sets of 10 reps.

The end goal is to perform four sets of 10 reps per exercise with a given weight in the same amount of time it took you to perform three sets of 10 reps in the beginning of phase one. By enhancing your ability to recover between sets, you'll see an increase in both strength and muscle mass at the end of the four weeks. (See "Compress to Grow" for a sample outline of a typical progression using the compression system.)

PREP AND GROW LOG FOR WEEKS 2-4

Use this workout table as a guide to the exercises to be used in the first phase. Choose the rest you want to allow between sets and the total time for your initial three sets per exercise (in the first week of this phase), and stick with that total time for each exercise over the last three weeks. We suggest you allow one to two minutes of rest between each set, depending on the week you're in and the exercise you're doing.

This weekly workout log should be used for the second, third and fourth weeks. Remember, in the first week, you'll be doing only three sets of 10 reps. Make a note of the time you require for each exercise--you'll use that as a benchmark for the next three weeks. Photocopy the log shown here so that you can record your reps, rest time and total time for each of those three weeks.

PHASE TWO

WEEKS 5-8 FIVES AND TENS

Fives-and-tens training uses two distinct rep ranges to maximize gains. The "five" portion of the program comes from the 5x5 training method, or five sets of five reps with two-minute rest periods between sets. The goal of the 5x5 workout is to do five sets for five reps with a given weight.

The "ten" portion of this phase comes from the 10x10 program, also known as German volume training. The goal is to perform 10 sets for 10 reps with a given weight with two minutes of rest between sets. The 5x5 and 10x10 methods are grouped together to stimulate the muscle fibers with a different stimulus each workout. This cycling of weight, reps and sets prevents the muscle fibers from stagnating during the program, enhancing the muscle adaptation that takes place.

Even if you can't complete all of the sets for the required number of reps, you'll still be much stronger than when you started. For example, in the 5x5 training, if you can finish five sets for five reps before the end of four weeks, increase the weight again and start over.

PHASE TWO: FIVES AND TENS (WEEKS 5-8)

Train each muscle group twice per week during this phase, using a three-day training split. During the first half of the week, follow the 5x5 system. In the second half, use the 10x10 system. For 5x5 training, choose a heavy weight that allows you to get only five reps for the first set and possibly five for the second. If you can get five on the third, the weight is too light, so add more, depending on the exercise.

For 10x10 training, do 10 sets for 10 reps each with just one exercise per workout. Choose a weight with which you can normally get between 12 and 15 reps. The first few sets will feel light, but fatigue will start to set in as the sets continue and the number of reps you're capable of doing will decrease. Perform early sets with explosive power to recruit more of the fast-twitch muscle fibers that are capable of greater strength and power gains.

PHASE THREE

WEEKS 9-12 THE 6X6 SEGMENT

In weight training, six is kind of a magical number. In regard to reps, it's the bridge between maximizing strength and muscle mass. When training for strength, it is suggested that your rep range falls between two and six per set. For muscle growth, though, you should train in the six- to 12-rep range. Six reps is the ceiling for strength training and the basement for training for growth. That means that if you use the rep number wisely (short and sweet), you can optimize both.