Alright I get it, I get it! you guys want me to explain how to get shredded as fuck
if you’re skinny.
Let’s get down to it.
Back when I first started working out I was actually one of those skinny hardgainers who
had a really tough time putting on any weight, even gaining fat was impossible for me, and
I’m still a hardgainer to this day.
That just means I'm naturally skinny and it's harder for me to gain weight than it is for
an average guy.
When I saw you guys requesting this video I was like oh this is perfect, because I was
just like you.
When I was really skinny and learning about how to gain muscle, there was one book that
really helped me, it's called
Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, by Mike Matthews.
And I remember thinking "damn, this guy Mike is the shit, I wanna meet him one day.
And then I was like ... oh fuck, wait ... I'm Zeus!
And I snapped my fingers and summoned him and he appeared!
Mike: What in the actual fuck…
Are you...Zeus??
Did I die and go to Olympus?
Zeus: Oh good you’re here.
No you didn’t die don’t be ridiculous, I wouldn’t let those gains go to waste at
such a young age.
I'm doing a video about how to gain weight if you're skinny, so let’s jump right into
it.
Side note: this is NOT a sponsored video.
I've actually followed Mike's advice for years, and it's been seriously helpful in getting
me to put on size.
So when I saw this topic being requested, I knew he'd be the perfect person to collaborate
with on it.
And, since I actually am a Greek god, I can summon whomever I want to be in my videos,
click the link above to see the video I did with Alix Lynx, the pornstar!
Maybe next time I'll do one with those 3 Victorias Secret models I had a foursome with last weekend
...
#1.
Compound Lifts.
When it comes to your workouts, you want to focus on doing heavy, compound lifts ... which
is basically shit like squats, deadlifts, bench press, incline bench press, shoulder
press, and so on.
These are exercises that hit multiple muscle groups.
For example, bench press is a compound lift because it hits your chest, shoulders, arms,
etc, whereas something like a bicep curls hits only 1 muscle: your biceps.
You wanna focus on doing between 4-8 reps for each set, and you want to do about 9-12
sets of various exercises per muscle group per week.
And if you're a beginner, the reason I give a range instead of an exact number is because
you're not gonna know exactly how many reps you can do before you get into it, so if you
pick a weight, and you hit anywhere from 4-8 reps, then that's a good weight for you.
It doesn't have to be exactly 4, or exactly 8.
Mike: Good advice Zeus.
If you want to maximize gains as a natural weightlifter--that is, if you don’t want
to be pinning yourself every day in the locker room--then you need to do a lot of heavy,
compound weightlifting and ensure that you get adequate rest and recovery.
This is how you most increase whole-body strength and muscularity.
You can even work in some heavier training if you feel up to it--a set or two of 2 to
3 reps with a bit more weight.
Zeus: Totally agree, doing some sets of 2-3 reps has definitely helped me put more weight
up on the bar and get stronger when I feel like my progress is slowing down.
What I like to do for my compound workouts is 2 sets of 2-6 reps, and then do 2 more
sets of around 4-8 reps.
I like to hit 2 warm up sets, then go heaviest right after, because then I can hit my first
real set at max capacity.
Mike: That’s smart and in fitness lingo, is known as “reverse pyramiding” because
it’s the opposite of the traditional pyramid workout structure where you start with lighter
weights and progress into heavier loads.
If you’re going to pyramid your workouts, then I definitely recommend reverse pyramids
because they allow you to do your heaviest sets when you’re freshest and strongest.
If you do it the other way around, you’ll be fatigued and weaker by the time you get
to your heavy sets, which means you won’t be able to lift as much weight and you’ll
find it harder to maintain proper form.
Zeus: Yeah I actually stopped doing pyramids after hearing your recommendation about reverse
pyramids in one of your articles, and the reverse ones helped me a lot more.
#2.
Isolation exercises.
Mike: An isolation exercise is one that involves just one joint and major muscle group.
Other muscles participate, of course, but not much.
The biceps curl is a good example of an isolation exercise because it really only works the
biceps.
Isolation exercises definitely have a place in your workout routine because they can be
great for bringing up smaller, more stubborn muscles like the biceps, shoulders, and calves,
but they should never be the focus of your training because you simply can’t get anywhere
near the same results in whole-body strength and muscle gains as you can with compound
exercises.
The bottom line is this: If you want to gain muscle and strength as quickly as possible,
then you want to make sure that isolation exercises take a back seat in your training
and you put the majority of your time and sweat into the hard shit: the big compound
lifts.
Zeus: That makes perfect sense because I’ve always focused on doing compound lifts and
then supplemented my harder-to-build muscles like my arms with isolation exercises like
curls, pull downs, tricep extensions, and shit like that.
What regimen of isolation exercises would you recommend for something like arms?
Mike: Good question, and that brings up a good point because a lot of people say that
you don’t have to do isolation exercises for your arms if you’re doing heavy compound
pushing and pulling.
I disagree.
The reality is unless your arms are just hyper-responsive to training, which is not the case for most
guys, then you definitely need to train your biceps and triceps, and maybe even forearms
as well.
In my Bigger Leaner Stronger program for men, I recommend 6 to 8 sets per week for both
biceps and triceps with half of those sets being in the 4-6 rep range and the other half
in the 8-10 rep range.
As far as exercises go, let’s keep it simple: For bi's you can do barbell and dumbbell curls,
and for tri’s you can do close grip bench press and rope/bar pushdowns.
Zeus: Yeah that sounds similar to what I do and it’s worked for me really well.
In one of my last workout videos I mentioned that skinny guys should eat a surplus of around
500 calories to gain weight and should avoid dirty bulking since it makes cutting more
difficult in the future.
What’s the best diet routine skinny guys should follow?
Mike: I’ve worked with quite a few hardgainer types that had to eat upward of 4,000 to 4,500
calories per day just to eke out 0.5 to 1 pound of weight gain per week.
You may not need to eat that much (cross your fingers because trust me — it’s not nearly
as fun as it sounds), but know this:
Successful “bulking” usually entails eating a slightly uncomfortable amount of food.
For most guys, that boils down to 10 to 15% more calories than they’re burning every
day, which can be quite a lot depending on how fast your metabolism is and how physically
active you are.
As far as macros go, most important is eating enough protein, which is why I recommend that
you eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.
So if you weigh 150 pounds, then you want to eat around 150 grams of protein per day.
If you’re a little higher or lower, that’s totally fine.
You want to get the rest of your calories from carbs and fats, of course, and to figure
out how much of each you should be eating, just check out this article that I wrote.
It has a calculator too, so all you have to do is punch in a few numbers and you’ll
be good to go.
Zeus: Yeah I’ve found that a 15% surplus works best for me when it comes to putting
on muscle.
And look - if you do all this and you’re still not gaining any weight, JUST EAT MORE!
It’s pretty much physically impossible to NOT gain weight if you eat more than you use,
so if you’re not seeing any gains, just keep increasing your food until you do.
Now, if you guys are looking for a really solid workout routine, click the link on the
screen now to check out my video where I break down different splits for you to try out.
I’ll have my 4 day split on screen now of what I currently do.
On my 4th day I usually train arms and then another muscle group that I feel needs more
training.
For example, right now I’m focusing on my building up my back muscles since they’re
my weakest so I’d do arms and back on my 4th day.
[ Monday: Chest & triceps]
[Wednesday: Back & biceps]
[Friday: Shoulders & Legs]
[Saturday: Arms & back, chest, etc. whichever I’m focusing on at the time]
Zeus: So in summary, focus on heavy compound lifts, do 4-8 reps per set, and do 9-12 sets
per major muscle group per week, these include things like back, legs, chest, and shoulders.
Also, eat a calorie surplus of about 10% or a little more depending on how your body reacts
to it.
And finally, don’t forget to eat at least 1gram of protein for each pound of body weight.
Anything else you’d like to tell the fans before I whoosh you back to your place?
Mike: Well, uh, thanks for the chance to chill and talk about how to get jacked.
I hope everyone found it helpful.
If you’re still watching and liked what I had to say, then you should definitely check
out my book Bigger Leaner Stronger.
It has sold over 350,000 copies in the last few years and helped thousands of guys build
their best bodies ever.
You might also like my weekly articles I publish
over at www.muscleforlife.com and www.legionathletics.com.
Outro: