Welcome back.
In the past two lessons we learned how to stomp out the Scrawny mindset and how to make the Ultimate Muscle Meal.
In today’s lesson we’re gonna talk about every guy’s favorite subject: how to work out to gain muscle. Because if you want to gain 10 pounds, 30 pounds, or even 50 pounds like some of our clients, exercise is critical.
But here’s the thing. Just like with nutrition and eating, so much is written about training that it can seem like you’re shit out of luck without the perfect program or advanced methods. Well, that’s just more bullshit we’re sick of hearing.
After coaching hundreds of clients and having worked with some of the best trainers in the world, we can tell you this: building muscle comes from doing just two simple things in the gym and doing them consistently.
So what are they?
To build muscle you need to:
Number 1: Use compound movements.
And Number 2 : Use progressive overload.
That’s it.
Kinda anti-climatic, isn’t it? A lot of guys expect something fancier or more cutting edge. Specialization programs, extreme hypertrophy blocks, and muscle confusion.
All of which sounds cool and even have some merit.
But the truth is, they’re just not that important, especially to guys who have trouble adding muscle.
So let me repeat: To build muscle, you need to do two things in the gym. You need to use compound movements and you need to use progressive overload.
Let’s quickly go through each one and then hook you up with a free training program so you can get started right away.
Compound movements.
Compound movements are exercises that use more than one major muscle group. Things like squats, lunges, rows, bench presses, pull-ups, and hundreds more.
They allow you to lift heavier weights, which causes your body to produce more of its natural muscle-building hormones. Not only that, compound movements mimic the way your body actually moves in real life, thus increasing your athleticism. Remember: we’re not just building muscle here. We’re building a muscular, athletic body. That kind of body that looks good and can get things done.
So whatever training program you decide to do, you must make sure at least 80% of it revolves around compound movements. Otherwise, as a scrawny guy, you’re just wasting your time.
Second — and this is probably the most important thing you’ll ever learn about exercise for building muscle — is the concept of “progressive overload.”
In plain English, it means: consistently challenging yourself to do a little more, or a little better.
For example, let’s say in your last workout you lifted 150 pounds. Well, today, you’re gonna lift 155 pounds. Or let’s say you could only do 7 reps on your last exercise. Well, today you’re gonna do 8 reps.
That’s progressive overload.
Every time you do a workout, you write down what you did, and the next time, you do more, or do it better, even in the smallest ways.
You can lift more weight, do more repetitions with the same weight, add another set, use better form, or even choose a more difficult exercise. As long as you’re doing a little more, a little better, you’re going to build muscle.
So now that you know the two most important things about training to build muscle, is there anything else you need to know?
What about sets and reps and weights to use and exercise selection and more?
All of that’s cool.
And in the free training program, you’ll see we gave you more details on how to perform the workouts.
But the important thing is to not get bogged down in the details. Because frankly, they don’t matter nearly as much as many fitness experts claim.
Do compound movements. Use progressive overload and do a little more a little better every time you’re in the gym.
If you just do those two things — regardless of the specific program you’re following — you’ll gain muscle and see results.
Trust us.
So go download the program and give it a shot.
And then check back tomorrow because we’re gonna talk about the topic we get the most questions about: supplements.
We’ll go over which ones actually work — and which ones are a waste of your time.
See you then.