Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Rapid Weight Gain - Fred R. Howell


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You Can Gain 25 lbs. in One Month
As Rader, Eells and Hise Did

Wayne Martin gained 25 pounds in one month. Not only had he gained almost a pound a day, but he did it without living a sheltered life. It didn't seem possible at first. When he weighed himself on my scales I thought they must be busted! I shook the scale as hard as I could and then ran downstairs to the gym to get a 50-lb plate to test the scale. First I weighed myself and then I tried the barbell plate. Both my weight and that of the barbell plate registered right on the mark! Wayne stepped back on the scale and it said the same thing. 185 pounds. One month ago, on the same scale, he weighed 160.


It all started when we were in high school. One night around 9:30, I was doing my last exercise when the side door opened and closed. Bounding down the stairs came Wayne and puffing and panting he said, "You just have to help me gain weight. I want to make the wrestling team and besides that, the guys at work pick on me. One guy has a sister that knows my sister, and my big-mouth sister told him I lift weights! Now he makes sure I get all the heavy stuff to do like unloading a truck or moving stuff around in the storeroom."

"And how long do we have to perform this miracle?" I asked. 

"About five weeks."

"You must be nuts! Your biggest gain so far was five pounds in a month. Besides that, you go to school and hold down a part time job. Exactly when do you expect to find the time to train?"

"After I get home from work at quarter past nine at night. I can train out in the back yard in the fresh air. No one can see me because we have a lot of shrubs between us and the neighbors. I have to gain weight! The lighter classes in wrestling will be packed with guys trying to make the team."

"How much time do you have to exercise?"

"I figure about a half an hour. Then I can get to bed by 10 and get eight-and-a-half hours sleep."

"Now hold it just one minute Wayne, old man. You used to make fun of me, for wanting to gain weight. You said I looked like a bloated watermelon."

"I was only kidding you. Now, if I recall, you said you could put weight on a broomstick if you could get it to do just one exercise. So, here's your chance to prove it."

"Let me think about it for a couple of days, Wayne, and maybe I can come up with some kind of routine to put some quick beef on you."

"Don't forget, I can train in my backyard where it's cool."



At first it seemed impossible to find a routine that would work. Wayne was up at 6:30 in the morning and was out to catch the school bus at 7:00. There was a funny sight. He lives on the side of a hill and got the school bus on the main highway at the bottom of the hill. Sleeping late most mornings, he would come hopping down the hill on one foot, trying to put his other shoe on and hollering for the bus driver to wait for him!

Then, at 3:00 he would ride the school bus to his stock-boy job at the Grand Union Supermarket. He was done at 9:00 and with a lucky ride using his thumb would be home a little after that. This, plus homework and working all day Saturday was a rough schedule. Then on Sunday his dad would find something to keep him busy such as mowing the lawn, painting the porch or washing the car.

Friday evening Wayne was back at my house to get his miracle routine.

"First, Wayne, get yourself some lengths of sturdy timber and sink a couple of them in the ground in the backyard to use as a squat rack. Then get a large hunk of plywood so you can use it to do some pullovers on. Now listen carefully.

"Load your barbell to equal your bodyweight, and you're ready to do the bodyweight squats. Be sure to add weight to your bar when you start to gain weight, but never use more than bodyweight on the bar.

"Now do 3 sets of 20 reps. Take three deep breaths between each rep. Rest about two minutes between sets or until your breathing returns to normal.

"Then you get to rest by doing three sets of the two-arm pullover. Get the piece of plywood and put a rug or some type of material on it for comfort. Do 3 sets of 15 reps and use about 30 pounds on your 5-foot bar. No cheating or bouncing the weight. You can bend your elbows just a little to make the exercise more comfortable.

"The bar should be light and easy to use. If you start to add poundage, you will defeat the purpose of the exercise. We want to expand the rib cage, not exercise the surface muscles of the chest."

"What about my arms, Fred? I don't want them to shrink!"

"I wouldn't want your biceps to shrink to the size of your brain, so after a few warmup curls, do one set of barbell curls for 12 reps.

"Then one set of rowing, 12 reps, for your upper back. Last and very important, do one set of abdominal exercise. If time and energy permits, you might want to do a few side bends too. The waistline is like a weed in the garden. It grows fast and is very hard to get rid of after you own it!

"There are experts who claim that abdominal exercise holds back weight gains, but why cause yourself a problem? Any good abdominal exercise will do. Use one you like and you won't skip it because you're tired."

"I like to hang from a tree limb and do leg raises."

"Good. It gave you good results before and will help you keep in shape. Lucky your neighbors can't see you playing in the tree.

"Now, living at home, Wayne, you're a victim of 'mother knows best' but try to get as much protein as possible. Don't stuff yourself with flab makers like cake, pie and bread. Get a balanced diet. Use supplements and drink skim milk instead of soda. Be sure to eat a snack before you go to bed. If you don't pack in the groceries then you won't gain weight. Your body can't make something out of nothing. You can't eat like a girl and expect to grow out of your clothes.

"The first workout do only one set of bodyweight squats. Then, the second and third workouts do two sets, and after that you can do the full three sets at each workout. Break in slowly if you're not used to high reps in the squat.

"Bodyweight squats can fool you. They look so easy! If you take three deep breaths between reps and do the full 20 reps it may make your legs sore. Raised on low reps, much to my sorrow, I decided to try these light, high-rep squats. I did one set and had sore legs for three days.

"Your mental attitude is very important. You must feel this course of action will help you gain weight. Any negative thoughts and worry will slow down the results. You must feel yourself growing. This outlook will give you the ambition and pep never to miss a workout. It will give you a reason to care about what you eat and how long you sleep. Keep your goal to yourself. Others may try to discourage you and say it can't be done. Realize it can be done. Men such as John Grimek, Bob Hoffman, Jim Douglass, Leo Murdock, Joe Hise, Jules Bacon, Arthur Saxon, Steve Stanko and many others weren't born weighing over 200 pounds.

"Sleep is very important. Nine hours at least each night."

Wayne was able to get more sleep by taking cat naps. He would nap during his forty minute ride to school and back each day. He told the other kids he stayed up late at night and they would let him rest. If you didn't have any homework to do he would stick his head behind a book in the library during free periods and rest.

After he got started on the routine you could see Wayne grow week by week. One month later, Wayne had gained 25 pounds and had outgrown all his shirts.

This course can help you to gain weight. Use it for a month or two and then go back to your regular routine. The idea of this routine is to give you just enough exercise to stimulate growth. If you start to add exercises then the routine will not work. About three weeks into the course, Wayne complained that his triceps were getting soft so we broke our own rule and added the dumbbell bench press for 3 sets of 12 reps. He still gained weight, so it wasn't too much for him. Now, let's go over the routine and also tell you what to do while on it.

1) Bodyweight Squat. 3 sets of 20 reps.
Take three deep breaths between each rep, then squat, three deep breaths, squat, until you rep out the 20 reps. The weight may seem light but if you do the exercise correctly you will be more than glad to set down that bar after a full 20 reps. Use parallel squats if you prefer them over full squats.

2) Two-arm Pullover. 3 sets of 15 reps.
Use a light weight. The purpose of the exercise is to expand the rib cage, not work the surface muscles. If you use too much weight you will pay more attention to moving the weight than expanding the rib cage.

3) Two-arm Curl. 1 set of 15 reps.

4) Barbell Row. 1 set of 15 reps.

5) A set of your favorite abdominal exercise for 20 reps.

6) Dumbbell Bench Press. 3 sets of 12 reps.


Since the days of Calvert, Mark Berry and Jowett the word has been out that chest and leg exercise will pack on bodyweight rapidly. Puff out the chest and stimulate the legs and before long the scale that refused to move will show a weight gain. This is very important psychologically. If weeks go by with little weight gain by a beginner or someone with months of experience, they begin to doubt that weight training will work for them. A loss of interest, a few skipped workouts, and eventually they drift way from the endeavor.

Now, let's go over the squat again for it is the most important exercise in the routine. If it is not done correctly then most of the weight gain won't materialize. If you have worn holes in the floor doing heavy squats, then bodyweight squats will fool you with the ease with which they can be done. But don't be fooled, they definitely work for what we want here. Take a weight equal to your bodyweight, squat down, come back up, and take three deep breaths, hold the last one as you squat down, inhale on the ascent, take three more deep breaths and repeat. Be sure to exhale strongly as you come out of the squat, and make each of the three breaths as deep as possible.

As for your diet, be sure to eat healthy foods. Don't make the mistake of stuffing yourself with anything that isn't nailed down. Eat chicken, tuna and other fish, vegetables, whole wheat products, fruits and plenty of liquids. Hold it . . . you don't have to flood yourself, just be sure you get enough liquids in your system. The idea is to gain muscle, not fat. Sure, I know some of you are so desperate you will take any weight gain in any form, but you don't want to have to reduce later. Also, you want to build good health at the same time. You can't do all this eating junk food and all sorts of crap and expect to maintain your health.

Not only is the 'hard gainer' prime for this course, but so is the football player who needs a fast weight gain, the wrestler at the low end  of his weight class who finds himself pushed around. A few guys have used it to gain employment as policemen and firemen after being so skinny they had to hold on to a tree when the wind blew! Use this course for a couple months, then switch off and do your regular routine for a while, then you can return and use it again.

For each exercise warm up with a light weight for 10 reps. Then do the prescribed exercise and reps. If tears run down your cheeks because you are only allowed one set of curls you can add a second set. But if you change the routine any further, then it will soon become just another standard exercise routine and the rapid weight gain will be lost.

It usually takes about a week to get used to the new way of doing the squat. If after the second week of exercise your legs still feel tired the day you exercise, you can cut the sets of squats down to two. But if at all possible try to do the full three sets of squats. Work out three non-consecutive days each week.

This course will only work if you do. If you follow the instructions to the letter and include the three requirements of the right exercise routine, good nutrition, and plenty of rest you will gain weight. If you burn the candle at both ends, add exercises to the routine and don't eat enough good food, don't blame the course when you don't succeed.

This is your basic road map to occasional rapid weight gain. Now follow the directions to success.            














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