Rule #1: You Can’t Lift Too Heavy or Too Light
There is no doubt that you can build mass on heavy weight and lower reps (1-5) but the load needed to gain mass on a low-rep program is difficult for the most of us. Unless you have a 400-pound bench press, 500-pound squat, and 600-pound deadlift, you will need some more reps. In order to cause enough stimulation for muscle growth, you need to have a higher time under tension (TUT) to cause enough microdamage to the muscle tissue. Conversely, if you train too light (15-25), you will not have enough load to stimulate strength in the long run. Different rep ranges on occasion help to break up the monotony but with proper nutrition and recovery, the 6-10 rep range will be the perfect prescription to gain mass.
Rule #2: Keep It Simple
Don’t complicate things, keep it simple. People put too many exercise choices into their workouts, too much volume and not enough recovery days. They also get too crazy with advanced techniques like drop sets, rest-pause and tri-sets. While all of those methods have their advantages, you can’t do them all at once. You need to pick one method and go at it hard for 6-8 weeks. Concentrate on heavy compound movements, like the Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press, and Rows. Keep the program simple and execute.
Rule #3: Don’t Think About Fat Loss
If you really, really want to build mass, you have to keep all of your other fitness goals on hold. That means fat loss in particular. You can’t worry about keeping your coveted six-pack, or think you are going to stay as lean as a show-ready bodybuilder. In order to gain some mass, you are going to have to eat big. This does not mean that you have to eat a bunch of junk food to get in the calories, and then end up looking smooth and out of shape. It just means that you need to make sure that you get enough quality calories to recover and grow. Think about high-protein recovery shakes before, during and after in order to get good calories in and to optimize the anabolic window.
You also need to make sure that you don’t do too much activity outside of your lifting days to optimize recovery and muscle growth. Avoid doing too much cardio, if any at all. If you must, keep it to no more than two days per week at a moderate intensity for only 20-30 minutes. Any more than that is going to hinder your mass gains. Keep it simple and stick to your goal.