Hi guys, i was search across alot of the web looking for general info regarding this program ( http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459276 ), and the subject around Building mass primarily. First what do you think about this program in general...i ask because im not very advanced but looking to step out of 5x5. Much more into the direction of building mass than strength. This program didnt seem overly complex to me. There were other ones i noticed as well like the old GVT. Any ideas in the direction i should be heading into? would this program work well?

thanks

Should work pretty well. Couple of other suggestions for mass building programs:

GVT (German Volume Training)
EDT (Escalating Density Training)
AGBC (Advanced German Body Comp)

How about Steve Michalik's Intensity/Insanisty training? It is freaking insane. I worked out with one of the women he trains with (pro bodybuilder herself) and saw mass gains in 2 weeks....no joke and I put on about 8lbs in 5 weeks, 2lbs of it were fat and the rest muscle. The first routine was a chest one. We did 25 reps on a hammer strength incline, 25 reps flyes, 25 reps fb db....no rest between sets. After waiting 30 seconds we moved into the next 3 sets of 15 half full reps (1 half + 1 full equals 1 rep) for hammer strength incline, flyes, and fb db. The last 3 sets consisted of 8 reps with 3 second pause/holds at the most difficult/fullest contraction point of the muscle. Basically he uses the same rep schemes for every body part and switches it up every other workout. The results from his training methods are mind boggling and you complete 2 body parts in a 30 minute time period. The amount of extra water your muscles draw in in a few weeks is ridiculous, it is very very taxing and requires frequent deloads but if you want programs that really work I would check out Atomic Fitness which is the book he wrote. His philosophy revolves around less time in the gym, more time to recover and by shrinking the time between sets you increase intensity w/o just throwing around some big ass weight. If someone were to give this routine a try for the first time going in skeptical...try training legs in the same fashion I specified for chest.

Why would you do 25 reps for mass? Is that 25 total reps, or one set of 25 reps?

yea i just wasnt sure if this program served as a middle ground since the rep range was at 5. So it would be almost like 10x5

while GVT was 10x10. Still pretty big difference.

I would never completely eliminate strength or size training. Just shift the volume/frequency over to the one you want to emphasize, and do enough work for the other to maintain. If you wanted to do something like this for GVT, you could either do 10x5 or 5x5 followed immediately by 5x10 (same exercise, lower weight).

I would imagine it depletes glycogen heavily/expands the muscle and its ability to hold glycogen? The first 3 sets are 25 reps, then 15 half and fulls, then 6-8 3 second hold reps. I am making the program seem like bs because I am ill informed on all of his techniques but have used some of the basic ones and had results. Legs can grow nicely with higher reps so its worth checking out for that alone.

15+ reps are usually used for glycogen depletion. 8-10 is normally where it's at for size, although it depends on individual differences and the muscle you're working.

Watch out for overtraining if you do programs like GVT.. I find it's best as a shock tactic used only sparingly during a mass building phase...

im going to try and eat hard, and see if i respond to this type of training. Like i said, i wont expect much for strength but id like to see some physical growth.

Yeah, be sure to get in plenty of calories, sleep well, etc. 4 weeks is usually a good amount of time for the program - unload afterwards.