How To Gain Lean Muscle Mass

The most common question I receive is:

“How to gain muscle mass with P90X? I thought it was for people who want to lean down only”

The truth is, P90X is not a weight loss program.  It is a well-designed program for anyone, whether your main goal is improving your fitness level, getting more lean, being ripped, or adding lean muscle mass.

The program works to get you to your most optimal physique – if you’re on the flabby side, you’d be losing weight.  If you’re on the skinny side, you’d gain lean muscle mass. However, if you want to know how to gain lean muscle mass, you will need to stimulate your muscle tissue properly to spur the growth - you need to lift heavy!

How To Gain Lean Muscle Mass With P90X

There’s a reason why Tony Horton mentioned on the video that if your goal is to find out how to gain lean muscle mass and to be big, just lift around 8-10 reps. However, with my own experience, I only follow the 8 reps rule. The moment I can lift weights at 8 reps in proper form, I try to force myself to do 1 more rep. The moment I can do the 9th rep – even a sloppy one – it’s the sign I need to start increasing my weight. The heavier I lift, the more I stimulate my muscles, and the bigger my muscles get (but only if I do everything in correct form!). I believe lifting 7-8 reps while on P90X gives me great results and I’m a hardgainer.  I feel I have learned how to gain lean muscle mass with P90X.

Although I started with my whole transformation with Power 90 back in 2004, I have to give credit to my best friend in college, Senor’ Peter Maes. He taught me almost everything I know about traditional weight lifting, which I later incorporated into my hybrid Power 90 workout. When I started my first round of P90X, I figured, ‘why not mix traditional weight training with P90X to create a hybrid mass building program?’ After 2-3 rounds of hybrid experiments, I found that adding few 5×5 routines to the P90X equation seems to work well.

how to gain lean muscle mass

Now what is 5X5 ??

This system has worked wonders for hundreds and probably thousands of weight trainers and bodybuilders alike in both building muscle and gaining strength. No matter how long and how fast bodybuilding evolves, the 5×5 system will ALWAYS be a proven way to stack on gains like nothing else.

Here’s how to gain lean muscle mass:  Pick an exercise.  Because compound exercises work the best, we will pick bench press. Start off by doing 5 reps with relatively light weight to warm up. Next, add some more weight, and do another 5 reps. Now that you are warmed up, jump to your working weight that you can do for 5 reps and do 3 sets with this weight. Since you are looking to gain more mass, then keep your rest periods between 1 and 2 minutes.  If you want to build more strength, then 3 minute rests would be more fitting.

Next time you do the bench press, add 5 more pounds to both your warm-up sets and your 3 working sets and do it again. The key is to keep adding five pounds each workout until you can’t complete 5 reps for one of your sets. What you would do is stay at that same weight until you can complete the 3 sets of 5 reps in good, clean form.

Remember to always keep your reps no higher than 5, even if you can do more. Staying with the 5×5 system is one of the best proven methods for building size and strength as fast as possible.

how to gain lean muscle mass.

Hybrid P90X + 5X5 (okay for a beginner on 1st Round) how to gain lean muscle mass

In traditional weight training, the main compound exercises we need for how to gain lean muscle mass are:  1)bench press, 2)shoulder press, 3)back row, 4)bicep curl 5)tri raise and 6) weighted barbell squat. P90X has all compound workouts except for the bench press and weight squat, which I added into my custom hybrid routine, usually on Leg & Back day.

how to gain lean muscle mass

Here’s an example of Phase 1 of P90X how to gain lean muscle mass

Mon : Chest/Back/ARX how to gain lean muscle mass
Tues : Plyo how to gain lean muscle mass
Wed : Shoulder/Arms/ARX how to gain lean muscle mass
Thur: Yoga how to gain lean muscle mass
Fri : 5×5 Bench Press/ 5×5 Barbell Weighted Squat / 40 min of P90X Leg & Back / ARX
Sat : Kenpo how to gain lean muscle mass
Sun : Rest! how to gain lean muscle mass

The only flaw with this design is that not everyone could do this hybrid at home since you’d need a bench, barbell, and weight plates. If you have access to a gym, you could always do P90X at the gym, or else, just do whatever you can at home with regular P90X – it still works as it is! Now you know how to add lean muscle mass using P90X. how to gain lean muscle mass

For those who wants to do P90X at the gym, check out the post on How to do P90X at the gym

 how to gain lean muscle mass

Additional Tips for Gaining Mass

1. When you’re lifting heavy with 8 reps, you will be out of breath and need to take longer break to recover. Take that break and pause the DVD as you need to regain your strength for the next routine. Keep your break around 1-3 min.
2. When you take your break, and doing the whole workout routines, it can take you 2 hours to complete the whole program. You grow your muscles when you’re resting, and not when you’re working out. Keep your lifting routine to 60-70 min top. Just do about 80% of the routines or so. It is OKAY to skip the rest of the routines.
3. Cardio is still essential as it helps to sculpt and give your muscles the defined look. So do not skip them. Consult with your coach on the necessary cardio that you should be doing, and if you should skip any cardio at all.
4. Forget about the ego. Focus more on proper form. Someone who only curls at 30 lbs can have bigger and more defined arms than you (who can curl 40 lbs) just because he focus on proper form. It’s OKAY to lift heavier as long as your form is correct. FORM IS EVERYTHING.

how to gain lean muscle mass

how to gain lean muscle mass

Also, check the diet plan for bulking the right way with P90X  and the Nutrition to Build Muscles

how to gain lean muscle mass how to gain lean muscle mass

Looking for a way to earn some extra cash by helping others get in shape?  Join my fitness teach and become a beachbody coach! how to gain lean muscle mass

Post Title:  How To Gain Lean Muscle Mass with P90X