What's up, guys?
Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.com.
I'm talking to the skinny guys today.
Now don't worry, it's going to be helpful for all, but I'm going to get inside the minds
of the skinny guys because I know what the hell you're thinking.
I've been one and I know how to get you a lot bigger than you are right now because
I know the things that you should be focusing on.
Today I'm going to tell you exactly what to focus on in your workouts if you don’t want
to be skinny anymore.
The first thing I'm going to tell you to do – shocker – is get your ass to the gym.
Now, it's not about telling you to start working out.
You already know that.
You're probably already doing that.
I'm saying get yourself to the gym.
Face your fears.
Remember I said I was going to get in your head?
I know what you're thinking.
You're maybe a little nervous to go to the gym because you're afraid of the ridicule
being the skinny guy.
You look around, you see all these guys lifting heavy weights, grunting, groaning, intimidating.
You're sitting there holding 20lb dumbbells in your hand thinking you're not going to
measure up to them.
You know what, guys?
Screw that and screw them because anybody at the gym that would ridicule you for the
weights that you're lifting has no bearing on you.
It doesn't even deserve your concern because that's a dick.
Nobody who's been where you've been at – all of us have started somewhere and most guys
in the gym are going to respect your pursuit.
They're going to respect the fact that you're there despite how thin you might be, doing
what you need to do to change that.
I can tell you that right away, that 99% of the guys that you maybe think are intimidating
are probably respecting the shit out of you because they know what you're been through.
If they've been there themselves they know more than that.
The idea is, make yourself accountable and face your fears.
Unless you have to work out at home for a particular reason then get there.
I'm telling you, you're going to find more out of getting there because facing your fears
in just that one move of arriving at the gym is going to set the stage for everything else.
Now, when you're there, the most important thing to do is simplify.
Find one exercise per major muscle group to focus on.
What am I talking about?
Well, major muscle groups are your chest, your back, your shoulders, your legs, and
your arms – your biceps and triceps.
Obviously your core is thrown in there as well, but we're not going to worry about that
so much.
We're trying to build as much muscle as we can.
So of those six major muscle groups, pick one exercise.
I'll give you a head start.
I think you should focus on a bench press.
Not necessarily with dumbbells because you might not have the coordination yet to handle
the independent dumbbells, but use a bar.
Do a bent over row for your back.
Do a squat for your legs.
If you can't do a squat because you've either got knee problems, or back problems, then
maybe try a dead lift.
I personally prefer dead lifts more than I prefer squats for my particular case for my
knees.
Do an overhead press.
Do a barbell curl and do a lined tricep extension, okay?
These are exercises that have two things in common.
One: they're compound.
They usually involve multiple joints.
We want to start trying to build your coordination on these movements and allow you to become
stronger, allowing different muscles to work together.
The second thing is, they allow you to eventually overload.
So let's just look at a case of the arms.
A barbell curl is always going to be the heaviest bicep exercises that you will ultimately be
able to do.
You're not going to be able to do more on a concentration curl than you are in a barbell
curl.
So I want you to focus on those bigger exercises, okay?
Now, how are we going to break them up?
I want you to start by simplifying again.
I know that people will probably tell you to start doing total body workouts because
that's the best way for a hard gainer to build and – no.
What I'd rather you do is actually conserve your energy towards those movement patterns
on particular days.
So, break it down into, again, movement patterns.
Pushing, pulling, and legs.
You do those once a week; each one, once a week.
Now, what are we looking to do?
You're looking to groove those movement patterns, first and foremost.
Guess what's going to happen?
That uncomfortable feeling of going to the gym might get a little bit more uncomfortable
temporarily because you might have to back down the weights that you're using.
So on an overhead press start with the bar if that's all you can handle.
What you're trying to do is learn the movement pattern.
Groove that pattern.
With a bent over row – what good is doing a bent over row if you're doing it like this?
I see so many skinny guys and young guys that are in the gym trying to do it.
It doesn't even have to be young.
It could just be beginners.
You might just be starting to work out at 45 years old, but you don’t want to be doing
it out of this position because what you're doing is you're not only not growing as much
as you can because you're not optimally stimulating the muscles that you're trying to work, but
you're setting up bad patterns to just carry over into more shit workouts down the road.
So, lighten the bar and learn the technique.
Once you've got the technique on those exercises then the fun comes in.
now what you start doing is you start adding weight to the bar.
When you add weight to the bar you have to ensure that you can still nail the same control
of that movement as you did when you were just starting out.
If you can, you add more weight.
If you can again, you add more weight.
This might happen really fast for some guys because you're going to build up that neurological
strength a lot faster.
For others it may take a little bit of time, but as you continue to add that weight to
the bar and you continue to master the command of the movement, you're going to see things
changing, I guarantee you.
When it does, you can start to add a second exercise from each muscle group.
Again, try to think big, but think just one step down from where you were.
So maybe you add a lat pulldown, or a pullup if you're training at home for your back.
Maybe you add a lunge, a great, single, unilateral exercise for your legs.
A more athletic exercise – you can add it to your squat, or your deadlift.
Maybe you add a push down – a weighted push down – for your triceps to add to that tricep
extension.
The idea is, you still want to do the last thing I'm going to tell you here and that's
push every single time.
Don't leave anything on the table.
If you're comfortable with that weight – in other words, you're in command of the weight
– then make yourself uncomfortable.
It goes back to the video I did a few weeks ago.
Make yourself comfortable being uncomfortable.
If you have the movement pattern down, you know how to command that weight, then make
yourself uncomfortable.
If you push yourself to the limit each and every time, skinny guys start finding that
they're not so skinny anymore.
There's a whole other component here of diet and nutrition.
We've talked about that in other videos and I can cover that in a future video if you
want me to, but when it comes to training that should be your game plan each and every
time and I promise you, you will not be skinny for that much longer, all right?
Push at every opportunity.
Don’t let those guys pull you down and make sure you have a game plan in place and hopefully
this video has given you just that.
Also, I hope it's given you maybe a little bit of inspiration from a guy that used to
be in your position, in your shoes, that faced all the same fears.
Now we're going to conquer all those one by one.
All right, guys!
If you've found this video helpful make sure you leave your comments and thumbs up below.
If you're looking for a plan that lays the foundation and does what I just told you and
helps you to start getting the confidence as you crush exercise after exercise leave
your comments and thumbs up below.
If you're looking for a plan that lays the foundation and does what I just told you and
helps you to start getting the confidence as you crush exercise after exercise, building
upon one workout at a time, then head to ATHLEANX.com and get our ATHLEANX training system.
In the meantime, I'll be back here in just a couple days to give you more of what you
guys want to see.
Leave your comments below and I'll make those videos for you.
I'll see you later.