Getting Stronger Is The Key To Gaining Muscle
I know how you feel because I was super skinny too. When I first started training I was in grade 10. I messed around with it for a year with zero results. Then I figured out that the magazine routines were way too high volume for a small framed guy like myself.
When I figured things out I was 126 pounds. With a lot of eating and heavy training, I was up to 170 by the end of the school year.
This meant eating every few hours and going from a 45 pound squat to just over 315 pounds for 20 reps inside a year.
Let’s talk a little more about that initial spurt of growth of almost 50 pounds. Yes, it was all drug free, but I was also very skinny and young.
It took me another couple years to get up to 190 pounds. Then after that very slowly to 210.
When training correctly, you’ll achieve your average muscular bodyweight quick. But those extra 20 pounds of pure, fat free muscle will take another year or two. Those last 20 pounds of muscle are the big difference. Its what separate looking like you “train a little” from looking like you can life a truck.
So let’s get to the real secret of putting on muscle which is:
You need to be stronger.
Lifting heavy. What does that mean for you specifically?
I always talk about the basics. The hard, solid facts of how to put on muscle, and it’s always lifting heavy, resting well, and eating enough good food.
If you are skinny and want to gain muscle then these numbers are the goal.
- 1x bodyweight for the overhead press
- 1.5x bodyweight for the bench press
- 2x bodyweight for the squat
- 2.5x bodyweight for the deadlift
If you can’t move those numbers then keep reading because the answer to your muscle gains lies in becoming stronger.
Beginner Muscle Building Workout Details
The following workout plan focuses on your full body. You’ll do it three non-consecutive days a week with the weekends of.
This plan is how people trained before steroids became mainstream. You can adapt it as needed to suit your time constraints. I actually made my best progress using only two days a week weight training, combined with track & field.
With any workout, you need to start out with some warm up exercises. I do a very light set of each exercise to bring up my body temperature and get blood flow to the joints.
A warm-up session before working out helps get your body and mind ready for the effort to come. You should also have an appropriate cool down period after working out. This will help flush the adrenaline that has been building in your system so you can calm down. Do some simple stretching exercises or a couple of minutes on the treadmill.
It’s important to start out slow and not push yourself beyond your limits at first. Soon you’ll be going all out. Use weights that are not too heavy for you, but that will give you enough resistance to almost temporarily fail at the end of your set.
Initially you are only going at 80% of your capacity. You can progressively increase the intensity and weight as you adapt.
For the following exercises, first do one easy warm up set. Then two more sets of 10 reps each at about 80% of your full potential.
Week three, you can go to 1 warmup and 3 hard sets depending on how you feel.
If you feel ready for it, release the hounds. Hit those three sets of each exercise as hard as you can without stalling out. Keep upping your weights on each set once you achieve 10 reps.
Recording Your Workout
Every set will have a different weight because the set before it will make your muscles fatigued. So while you may do 100 pounds for 10 reps on your first set. Your second set, you may only get 80 pounds for 8 reps.
Next workout add 5 pounds to the first set and stay with that 80 pounds on the second set until you get up to 10 reps. Then up the weight and start all over again!
This is why you need a journal to keep track of everything.
Do this week after week, workout after workout until you can handle the weights mentioned. This along with feeding yourself lots of good food is all that it takes.
The Basics, Done Well Workout
- Back Squats
- Bench Barbell Rows
- Standing Barbell Press
- Deadlifts
- Close Grip Pushups
- Standing Barbell Curl
- Standing Single Leg Calf Raises
You’ll only gain muscle if you are recovering from your previous workout. If you feel well rested, increase the intensity you put into each set.
Building Muscles Is Simple To Understand But Takes Time
In the beginning I mentioned the basics. The hard, solid facts of how to put on muscle, and it’s always lifting heavy, resting well, and eating enough good food.
Keep working towards those numbers listed and feed yourself. This is the way. Don’t get distracted.
Ask me your questions in the comments.