How to add 11lbs of muscle in 28 days - Occam’s Protocol

One of the most important conclusions I have come to in my experiments in health and fitness so far is that you have to measure everything. It’s impossible to draw any firm conclusions unless you have some numbers to analyze. I’ve always been a data geek but since I started performing MAF tests last year tracking my health and fitness metrics has become an obsession. I’ve started to track everything including my weight, body composition, daily nutrition, heart rate variability, training hours, heart rate zones/paces etc.

Tim Ferriss is very clear about this in the Four Hour Body. He doesn’t want you to think something is working, he wants you to know it’s working, with reference to weight, body composition, body measurements and before and after photos. So for this experiment I’m going to follow Occam’s protocol as described in the 4HB for four weeks and measure my weight, body composition and body measurements at the end of each week (I’ll spare you the before & after photos). I want to see if it’s possible, as Tim claims in the book, to gain 10lbs (or more) of muscle in just 4 weeks by following a minimal weight training programme (30 mins gym time per week).

What is Occam’s Protocol?

The basic premise is that you train to failure on a few compound lifts using a slow lifting technique (5 seconds up, 5 seconds down), one set per exercise. You work out your target weights in your first session and then in subsequent sessions you lift to failure. If you reach (or surpass) 7 reps you increase the weight the next week. You never do more than one set in each exercise and you make sure you have adequate recovery times between exercises (3 mins) and between sessions (3 days+). This is coupled with a high protein diet and some suggested supplements. If you want to know more about how and why Tim came up with this protocol I suggest you buy the book.

21/09/2014

Starting weight:

10st 6.5lbs (66.45kg)

Starting measurements:

Week 1 - 21/09/14 - 28/09/14

Felt lethargic and heavy, didn't feel as sharp as when on my usual low(ish) carb, high fat diet. I ate far more than I'm used to and found the protein bars stodgy, had to force them down at times. I did feel stronger even after only one week and felt great after the workouts. Doing such minimal training means you really look forward to the next workout.

Typical daily diet

Breakfast: 2 x Scrambled eggs, Protein shake with semi-skimmed milk + 5g Creatine, 10g L-Glutamine, 800mg Cissus quadrangularis
Morning snack: Protein bar
Typical lunch: Sainsburys Turkey breast chunks, Eat super food salad with feta, Small pot natural yoghurt, Pint semi skimmed milk
Afternoon snack: Protein bar
Evening meal: Meat or fish with veg, minimal carbs
Before bed: Protein shake with semi-skimmed milk + 5g Creatine, 10g L-Glutamine, 800mg Cissus quadrangularis

Workouts

Workout A (22/09) - Starting weights

Close grip supinated pull-down: 7 reps @ 39kg
Shoulder press: 7 reps @ 23kg

Workout B (25/09) - Starting weights

Bench press: 7 reps @ 39kg
Leg press: 10 reps @ 52kg

I experienced a lot of DOMs after the first training sessions particularly the second day after the first session. I’d not really trained my upper back for years and the aching in my lats was particularly noticeable. My shoulders and chest were fine. I thought my legs would be fine too from all my endurance training but my inner quads were sore. It seems your inner quads aren’t worked as much by running and cycling as the rest of the muscle. Hopefully this training will help to correct an imbalance there.

End of week 1 weight:

10st 12.5 lbs (69.2kg)

End of week 1 measurements:

In week one I added 6lbs of body weight with no increase to my waist measurement and an increase of 1cm to my biceps and thighs.

Week 2 - 29/09/14 - 05/10/14

Bit of a mixed bag in terms of results this week. But it was always going to be difficult to be 100% committed given that the 1st October was my 40th birthday and I spent the weekend away celebrating with friends. Also, I wasn’t working this week so my meals were a bit more irregular than they tend to be when I’m working in an office with a set lunch break.

I felt better in terms of my food intake / digestion this week. I think my body had got used to the increase in calories. Didn’t feel as lethargic and heavy as I did in week 1.

Typical daily diet

Breakfast: 2 x Scrambled eggs, Protein shake with semi-skimmed milk + 5g Creatine, 800mg Cissus quadrangularis
Morning snack: Protein bar
Typical lunch: Roast chicken breast, Spinach and cabbage greens sauteed in coconut butter, handful of cherry tomatoes
Afternoon snack: Protein bar
Evening meal: Meat or fish with veg, small portion of white rice
Before bed: Protein shake with semi-skimmed milk + banana + 5g Creatine, 800mg Cissus quadrangularis

Workouts

Workout A (29/09)

Close grip supinated pull-down: 10 reps @ 39kg
Shoulder press: 8 reps @ 23kg

Workout B (02/10)

Bench press: 10 reps @ 39kg
Leg press: 10 reps @ 52kg

I comfortably hit my target reps at the weight levels set in week 1. The only exercise where I didn’t manage to surpass the target reps was the leg press and I still managed to complete the full 10 reps before failing on the 11th.

End of week 2 weight:

10st 13.5 lbs (69.6kg)

End of week 2 measurements:

The disappointing outcome of this week was that I barely gained any weight (1 llb) and only added muscle to my thighs and not to my arms. I think this means I didn’t eat enough. Tim says there should be no need to count calories but I think to continue to gain weight I need to continue to increase the calories and I don’t think I managed to increase them enough with everything else that was going on this week.

I’ve also added 1cm to my waist which isn’t ideal. However I did expect to gain a bit of unwanted weight over the course of this experiment. I know I can drop fat fairly easily so I’m not too concerned with 1cm on the waist at this stage, especially after a week of birthday celebrations. Something to keep an eye on though.

Overall not too worried that progress appears to have stalled this week. I’ve still gained 7 llbs in 2 weeks so very much on target to reach the predicted 10lbs. Should be able to restore a bit of consistency and discipline to my diet over the coming week.

Week 3 - 06/10/14-12/10/14

Week 3 Diet

Breakfast, dinner & snacks as per week two.
Typical lunch: M & S Roast chicken, M & S Nutty Superfood salad, pot of natural yoghurt, pint of semi-skimmed milk
Started adding the odd extra snack between meals particularly pre-workout. Felt hungry if I didn’t eat something every couple of hours.

Workouts

Workout A (06/10)

Close grip supinated pull-down: 7 reps @ 45kg
Shoulder press: 6.5 reps @ 27kg

Workout B (09/10)

Bench press: 8 reps @ 45kg
Leg press: 10 reps @ 59kg

End of week 3 weight:

11st 1.25lb (70.4kg)

End of week 3 measurements:

Slight improvement from week two. I gained 2 llbs in weight and added 0.5cm to my arms without any further increase in my waist measurement. In 3 weeks I gained 9lbs of body weight and based on my body measurements would appear to be mostly muscle.

Week 4 - 13/10/14-19/10/14

Week 4 Diet

As per week 3

Workouts

Workout A (13/10)

Close grip supinated pull-down: 8 reps @ 52kg
Shoulder press: 7 reps @ 27kg

Workout B (16/10)

Bench press: 8 reps @ 52kg
Leg press: 14(!) reps @ 66kg

End of week 4 weight:

11st 3lbs (71.2kg)

End of week 4 measurements:

Conclusion

Does Occam’s protocol work? In my case the answer was a definite yes. I gained 11lbs of body weight in four weeks and added two centimetres to my thighs and biceps. In a month I increased my seven rep weight for the pulldown and the bench press by 33% and in the leg press by 30%.

I did gain 2.5cm on my waist over the course of the experiment so I don’t think we can say the 11lbs gained was entirely muscle but given the other body measurements and the increases in the weights I was lifting I think it’s safe to say most of it was.

Would this protocol work for everyone? I think if you’re naturally slim or underweight and want to add muscle quickly Occam’s protocol is definitely worth a try. It’s going to cost you very little in terms of time (less than 8 hours total gym time in the course of a month). It will however cost you quite a bit in terms of cash, to buy the recommended supplements and to consume a high protein, high calorie diet for four weeks.

If you’re interested in giving this a try I suggest you buy Tim’s book The Four Hour Body. I would also recommend that you subscribe to Tim’s podcast, he has some really interesting and inspiring guests on the show.