Matt started off as a young punk kid that liked to flip off walls and leap over random objects. I believe the official term for that is parkour.
In fact, he still loves partaking in such insanity but earlier this year his focus shifted on something more meaningful – getting strong and jacked.
Matt works at the same gymnastics gym as I do (my part time gig is a tumbling coach) and during the beginning of this year, he asked me for a bit of general advice on what it takes to build size and strength… since that’s what I do.
So I gave him a general outline to follow. Nothing fancy or over the top, just some basics that I have known to always produce results.
Now you have to realize, plenty of people ask me for lifting/diet/training advice on the daily – whether it’s through email or in person. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from giving advice to thousands, it’s that people love getting advice, but hardly ever put it to good use.
However, once in a while you get a guy or gal that takes what you told them and runs home with it. They treat your words as if it were written by the lords of iron themselves.
Oddly enough, Matt happened to be one of those people; he did exactly what I told him to do, and followed the advice to a “T”.
Sure enough, the results started pouring in.
It was at this point, that I realized he was more than serious about his goals, and so I decided to take him on as a client. I laid out a simple three-phase plan for him which went as follows:
Bulk > Hit Setpoint > Cut
And today, you’re going to get a sneak peek at the details of each of the phases. You’re about to learn what actually happens behind the scenes, and what it really takes to put on a significant amount of muscle in a relatively short period of time.
Phase 1 – The Bulk
This is where I had Matt take in a massive amount of calories, while building up his strength in key lifts such as the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift and Overhead Press. As far as training was concerned, I didn’t give him a super-specific plan early on as he was already following one which wasn’t half bad.
All I did was fix his squat, bench and deadlift form, and told him that he was to be adding weight on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. If strength was going up along with his bodyweight, I knew muscle would follow.
Sidenote: Technique is crucial when you’re going to be lifting heavy. Matt was smart enough to have me correct his form early on since he knew injuries would set him back. If you need help, especially with the deadlift, then CLICK HERE to download my Badass Strength program (it’s FREE). It not only shows you how to correctly perform this lift, but it will add 30-50 pounds to your max effort pull in about 3-4 weeks!
When it came to nutrition, I knew this is where we needed to pay a majority of our attention to, since about 70% of his results would be dependent on it. His base calorie limit was set a 3500 right off the bat (which equates to about a pound of food per day).
Of course, outright calories isn’t the only thing to focus on, since if all 3500 came from Twinkies he would look like an overgrown marshmallow (that means you need a tan, Matt). So putting together a proper macronutrient profile was key. And the first nutrient to dial in was, of course, protein.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes Matt was making (and so do 90% of guys trying to get big) was that he was eating too much protein. A good idea is to find a weight you want to be at, and eat that in grams. For Matt, who wanted to be just north of 200 lbs, it worked out to around 200-210 grams per day.
The remaining calories would be mainly carbs (60-70%) with the rest left over for quality sources of fat such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, butter etc.
Results? Strength shot right up, and he surpassed the magical bodyweight of 200 lbs near the end of April, and still kept a relatively flat stomach (that’s a gain of 30lbs in about 4 months). See the pictures and stats below.
July 2015 (lbs/inches)
- 213.2lbs
- Neck: 15.6
- Chest: 40.9
- Arms: 15.4
- Waist: 36.6
- Quad: 23.8
- Calves: 16.3
However, one of the things that guys will notice when they try and get big is the following:
- Their metabolic rate increases significantly, and the body does what it can to burn off the excess calories. Things such as night sweats and random twitching can happen (similar to how your body shivers to produce heat when it starts to get cold).
- No matter how much food you pile on, the body seems “stuck” at a certain weight for weeks on end.
- You constantly feel full or bloated
Folks, this is just the reality of bulking and getting big in a hurry.
Many clients/friends/athletes ask me why if I have such success in helping guys get jacked that I don’t get big myself. And the reason is, bulking is a bitch.
I’ve done both in my time – gone up by 25 lbs and also dropped around 20 lbs for powerlifting competitions and such, and while both require overcoming a certain level of discomfort, I’d much rather cut than bulk.
But if you’re mind is set on bulking, this is part of the game. However, discomfort can and does go away. How? By letting the body adapt. That’s why we have…
Phase 2 – Hitting Setpoint
It’s all well and good getting to the weight you want quickly, but if you don’t take the steps necessary to stay at that weight for a month or two, you’ll quickly drop 5-10lbs faster than it takes you to whip up a protein shake.
The “setpoint” is a weight that your body naturally likes to be at – and will do whatever it takes to stay there. Another name fo this is homeostasis.
This is why the longer you stay fat, the harder and harder it gets to drop the weight. Same with bulking – if you’ve been small or a “hardgainer” for a long time, then bulking is going to be harder for you than for some 18 year old punk kid that just started lifting.
So How Do We Maintain Weight Long Enough To Hit Setpoint?
As I said earlier, there will be times where adding more food will simply become too uncomfortable to keep you at the weight you want. To combat this, I have two secret tools in my toolbox, which I shall reveal for you today.
Bulking Secret Tool #1: Get Lazy
The first thing I needed to do, was make sure Matt wasn’t burning off any excess/useless calories during the day.
This means if we could save 10 calories then we would, because I simply had to keep him in what’s called a positive calorie balance (this is when the energy from food coming in is always greater than the energy being burnt off or used).
To do this, I ordered him to become the laziest human being on Earth. Here were his list of commandments:
- Don’t walk when you can drive
- Don’t use stairs when you can use an escalator or elevator
- Don’t stand when you could be sitting
- Don’t sit when you could be lying down
- Take naps whenever possible, as often as possible
- Don’t do anything that increases heart rate*
* The only time he was allowed to partake in demanding physical activity was during his workouts, which were done only 3x per week. More on this later.
If you think this is extreme, then you are correct. However, this little tactic makes a massive impact over the course of weeks and months. Think about it – if every day you are saving 100 calories, then over the course of a month you’ve just “added” 3000 calories without actually taking in any extra food.
Bulking Secret Tool #2: Glutamine Load
My second trick was to have him do a two week L-Glutamine load. Glutamine is one of the most common amino acids found in your muscles. In fact, about 60-70% of skeletal muscle consists of Glutamine. On top of that, this amino acid is also plays a significant role in protein synthesis (the process by which amino acids are linearly arranged into proteins. Without this, you would not build new muscle).
Glutamine has also shown promise in repairing/strengthening the stomach gut lining, which means better nutrient absorption, and a smaller chance you’ll experience diarrhea.
I prescribed Matt a significant amount in grams that he needed to take per day, spread into several doses. I found out about this little trick from a football coach. He used it when he needed his guys to add on mass as quickly as possible.
At this point, you’re probably wondering how much Glutamine should be taken during this two-week load. Well, the amount really depends on your current weight/rate of progress, so if you’d like to know, contact me or look into the Strength Training Blueprint – this is where I customize a complete muscle building/strength training plan including the nutrition guidelines.
Everything will be laid out for you – when to workout, how much, which exercises to do, how much to lift, what to eat, which supplements to take etc., and all you need to do is follow it, and reap the results.
Phase 3: Cutting
Once Matt’s weight was stabilized at around 210-213lbs, and his strength was at a level we were both happy with, it was time to start the cutting process. Truth be told I could have let him stay that heavy for a longer period of time, as his strength would have improved further.
But his end goal was to be bigger and leaner as quickly as possible… and based on this, the bulk/strength phase didn’t need go on any longer.
Around late July I created his fat loss plan. The goal was simple – keep him at 200lbs while making sure he drops fat and retains (or possibly builds) muscle.
This meant dropping calories while keeping protein high and having him do high rep workouts with lots of supersets to boost lactic acid buildup.
Why do we want this? Because lactic acid has shown to optimize his growth hormone and testosterone levels. Here’s the basic nutrition plan he followed during training days.
- 2 Scoops Whey Protein Isolate
- 3 Servings of lean meats (98% lean beef, skinless chicken, turkey, salmon etc.)
- 3 Servings of complex carbohydrates (oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat cereal/bagels/bread etc.)
- 3 Servings of fruits (an Apple, banana, handful of berries etc.)
And below is an example of one of the workouts that he did. Don’t let it fool you, it’s friggin’ tough if you follow the tempo.
RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion, or in other words, how hard you pushed yourself on a scale of 1-10.
I’m not putting the entire workout plan here because all 3 days were similarly structured, albeit with different exercises. What’s important is you understand the basics of what’s going on. His workout started with some low intensity cardio which would act as a warm up (increase blood flow, get the joints moving etc.)
This was followed by a short-burst, high intensity cardio session to reduce muscle glycogen levels but not deplete or exhaust him completely.
This way, when he gets to his supersets, lactic acid build up would come on much faster than usual. Supersets themselves are notorious for jacking up your lactic acid levels much quicker than traditional straight sets, but I just wanted to take things a bit further, and give him an ass kicking that I knew he wouldn’t forget.
Because I’m awesome like that.
The results, as you’ll see below, speak for themselves.
(the difference is calculated from his measurements taken in July).
Late August 2015 (lbs/inches)
- 198lbs (-15)
- Neck : 15.3 (-0.3)
- Chest: 40.3 (-0.6)
- Arms: 15.2 (-0.2)
- Waist: 34 (-2.6)
- Quads: 24 (+0.2)
- Calves: 16.3
As you can see, most of his measurements remained relatively the same except the following two numbers: his waist and his overall weight. This is exactly what we wanted, because it’s a good sign that a significant amount of fat loss is occurring without much muscle loss.
In fact, if you see him in person he actually “looks” bigger due to the enhanced definition.
[Bonus] Phase 4: Maintenance
While my work is mainly finished, the only thing left to do now is to keep an eye on his measurements once a month. I’ll be making minor adjustments to his training and nutrition plans so that he stays around 200lbs while getting stronger and leaner.
From here on out, his progress will be slow but gradual, and we’ll be more focused on the little details such as exactly how many carbs he needs on training days VS rest days, along with exercises that focus more on isolation to compliment the compound lifts. But notice how I didn’t bother with such minutiae in the beginning.
Focus on the basics, then worry about the little bullshit or you’ll end up spinning your wheels and get nowhere.
Want To Be My Next Transformation?
If you’re interested in becoming my next success story, then I’d love to work with you (yes, I work with women as well, click here to see the transformation of one of my female clients). Just make sure that you understand the amount of work involved and the time that has to be invested.
So if you can follow instructions and have a solid work ethic, then check out the Strength Training Blueprint and being your journey to become my next successful case study!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or hit me up on Twitter @hardcore_ts.
Until next time, eat well, train hard and refuse to be average!
