Muscle Mayhem

With just four weekly workouts, you'll manipulate loads to get bigger and stronger in as little as 4 weeks.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated March 25, 2024

Muscle Mayhem Program Snapshot

Length: 4 weeks (with the option of extending up to 8 weeks)
Workouts per Week: 4
Training Split: 4-day split
Equipment: Commercial gym or well-equipped home gym.
Featured Techniques: Varying training loads (heavy, moderate, and light weights), plus negative reps.
Rep Ranges: For each exercise (4 sets) — Set #1, 5-6 reps; Set #2, 8-12 reps; Set #3, to failure up to 12 reps with negatives; Set #4, 15-20 reps.
Rest Periods: 2-3 minutes between all sets; to speed up the workouts and/or to focus on fat loss, drop rest periods to 1 minute between sets.
Cardio: cardioacceleration between working sets, or HIIT cardio at the end of the workout or on rest days.
Meal Plan: Muscle-Building Rules to maximize mass-gaining; Dieting 101 or Intermittent Fasting to maximize fat loss.
Summary: Muscle Mayhem maximizes strength- and muscle-building by manipulating training loads and changing the stimulus on every set of every exercise. Set #1 is heavy for low reps, Set #2 is moderate weight and moderate rep count, Set #3 is moderate weight with negative reps, and Set #4 is light weight and high reps.
Note: If you’re a beginner or just getting back to the gym after an extended time away (months or years), this program will likely be too intense/advanced for you. If you’re a beginner, consider my Beginner to Advanced Program before doing this program.

The biggest, strongest guys (and gals) aren’t always the ones that spend the most time in the gym. You can build considerably more muscle and strength with only four workouts per week. That’s exactly what you’ll accomplish with my Muscle Mayhem program.

This dynamic workout is designed to maximize gains in both strength and muscle mass. Its unique approach manipulates loads, from heavy to moderate to light, to change the training stimulus so that you’re working the muscles four different ways on every exercise.

Muscle Mayhem offers a fresh perspective on training, one that’s extremely time-efficient. The versatile plan can be followed for anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks and features a 4-days-a-week training split, making it perfectly suited for those juggling busy schedules yet eager to achieve lofty fitness goals.

Whether your goal is to get jacked, boost your strength, or both, Muscle Mayhem is a no-frills path to results.

Muscle Mayhem Training Split

Muscle Mayhem calls for only four workouts per week, following a 4-day training split. The workouts can be done on any four days of the week you like — Monday through Thursday, Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday, Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Saturday, or whatever you prefer. This makes for a very “doable” program for people with busy schedules who

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