  I've reached my goal of putting on 15 pounds. It's been a long project lasting several months but in the past few days, my weight has held steady enough that I feel safe in making the pronouncement. It's been a long time coming. I was loathe to gain it in the first place. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I've managed to keep bodyfat at a decent level, which is usually where guys trying to put on weight will cheat. I don't feel the need to gain any more weight at this point. I'm eating enough and I'm working out like a dog.
Do dogs work out? I'm about to spend a little time talking about the workout. Some readers don't like this and consider any writing I do about working out as either narcissism or a personal display of a new kind of body fascism. To them I say, go jump in a lake. Actually, I'd like to be more specific but this is a family weblog so I'll hint that it includes the words "fuck" and "yourself.
" I've been on a much tougher (for me) routine for the past couple of months and the results are really beginning to show in terms of muscle thickness and popping veins and all that sort of stuff. I've been operating on the following principles: 1) devoting one day to each body part is an excellent way to fully exercise and exhaust your major muscle groups; 2) exercise plans that revolve around 4-5 exercises of 3 sets can accomplish the goal of fully exhausting the muscle group, but often they don't; and 3) a more intense and longer workout featuring more exercises and sets can exhaust the muscle group and promote better growth. In practical terms: I work out 6 days a week, devoting a day to each major muscle group: chest, back, biceps, triceps, shoulders and legs. Workouts average 70-90 minutes in length, not counting cardio. Each workout features 7-10 exercises, ranging from 3-5 sets apiece.
The goal is around 30-33 sets per workout. I aim for 6-8 reps in each set. Exercises are grouped within the workout so that the ones which work the muscle group most broadly or classically (flat bench press or preacher curls) are at the beginning... with smaller range exercises (cable crossovers, front lat raises) relegated to the latter half of the workout. Free weights get top billing, with machine or cable exercises coming in the last half of the workout as "finishers.
" Sleep and nutrition are going to be key factors in a workout like this because the goal will be exhaustion of the muscle group. This isn't an all-purpose workout. But in the past few weeks that I've used it, I've had good results. No workout plan should go on forever and I'm likely to switch away from this one by Thanksgiving or Christmas. 
