Genetics get blamed for far too much in fitness.
When it comes to building muscle, way more often than not, you’re simply not training hard enough, not training smart, not eating enough or not recovering enough.
I know…
From the age of 18-25 I called myself a hardgainer and bought into the ideas that everyone had given me as a teenager about being skinny. Or as my Grandad once told me ‘a lanky streak of piss’.
The reality was, I had learned how to improve my physique from the titbits and half advice of the commercial men’s fitness magazines. Fortunately, the start of my fitness career also coincided in the rise of the rise of the internet and renegade’ trainers putting out content that actually worked.
I started to learn about the old bodybuilders, strongmen and powerlifters and started to formulated methods which brought much more in the way of gains.
I may not have the genetics (or desire to take drugs) that’s required to reach the top echelons of global bodybuilding, but I have discovered what’s really required to get big and strong, wherever you’re starting from.
At university, I hovered around 72kg ‘no matter what I did’. The reality is I wasn’t eating enough and was trying to play football and be super fit by running on top. THAT’S why I failed to gain much weight.
Once I learned the truth about training, I shot up to 85kg and now spend most of my life somewhere between 90-95kg even when not specifically training for size.
While we’re at it, around 25kg gain in lean muscle seems to be about as good as the average guy can expect over a lifetime starting from an untrained adult weight (if drug-free).
Having experimented with various methods and learned from some of the best, here’s what I can tell you needs to have a rock-solid, consistent place in your life if you want to get big and strong.
Again, this applies to drug-free lifters. Some of the rules change for those who are juicing and that’s not my game so I won’t comment further!
THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TRAINING
3-4 weight training sessions per week is the sweet-spot.
I’ll rotate between three full body workouts, an Upper-Lower-Upper-Lower split or a Push-Pull-Push-Pull split.
This ensures every muscle group is hit every 48-72 hours giving enough stimulus and enough recovery whilst maintaining higher volume over the week.
You’ll find perfect examples in the Free Weight Physique program in the Storm Force Performance Program Library.
HARD WORK
This needs to be stressed before all the technical magic, because no program works if you don’t.
A good guide is for every set to include 3-5, full commitment, really tough reps whatever the total length of the set. If you’re cruising through sets without needing to concentrate intensely on what you’re doing, it’s unlikely to force your body into any adaptation.
THE BIG THREE MUSCLE-BUILDING STIMULI
Your program needs to include some combination of three types of stimuli for muscle growth.
Mechanical Tension: Hard, heavy sets of 4-6 reps, taking the lifts to full range of motion. Typically, we’ll use variations of the powerlifts (squat, bench, deadlift) and overhead pressing.
Muscle Damage: Mid-range, moderate weight sets for 6-12 reps with more attention to slower tempos looking to total 40-60 seconds of Time Under Tension.
Metabolic Stress: Longer sets of 12-25 reps that give you the pump and that satisfying ‘burn’. We can also use ‘muscle complexes’ combining 3-4 exercises performed with around 10-20 seconds rest.
These can be put together in different ways.
A leg day example would be:
A: Back squat 5 x 4-6 reps (Rest 3-5 minutes)
B: Leg Press 4 x 10-12 reps (Rest 2 minutes)
C1: Leg Extension 3 x 20 reps (Rest 30 seconds)
C2: Sled Push 3 x 20 reps (Rest 30 seconds)
Alternatively you could use the 6-12-25 method, a favourite of legendary strength coach, Charles Poliquin.
You can either use the same exercise with a drop in weights as the reps increase, or use a mechanically easier exercise as you go along.
Altering our session above, we could go for a tri-set and complete 4 sets:
A: Back squat x 6 reps (Rest 1 minute)
B: Leg Press x 12 reps (Rest 1 minute)
C: Leg Extension x 25 reps (Rest 3 minutes)
There are many, many ways to achieve the 3 M’s, these are just for illustration and not a precise or ‘best’ blueprint.
REGULAR PROGRAM CHANGES
The entire objective of training is adaptation to a certain stimulus whether you’re trying to gain muscle, get strong or train for a sport.
However, once that adaptation has occurred, your body needs a new shock such as a new rep range, new exercises or less rest between sets.
Don’t expect to buy that one program that will last you forever – it just doesn’t work like that. Training needs to be a constant evolution of stimuli to keep your body guessing and reacting with extra strength, muscle growth, endurance etc.
I recommend switching things up every 4-6 weeks.
A good approach is alternating Accumulation phases with Intensification phases.
Typically an Accumulation phase will be higher volume with a focus on solid muscle growth.
An Intensification phase will prioritise heavy weight, low rep training to drive strength gains which then feed into the next Accumulation phase.
Constantly trying to smash high volume for more muscle growth will become counter-productive. It’s also embarrassing to see the relative weakness of some guys who look the part with big muscles but who get shown up when they go for a max lift.
Over time, your training weeks need to trend upwards in terms of volume – the total kilos lifted when we multiply sets x reps x weight.
TRAINING JOURNAL
Progress requires good programming and good programming is only as good as your notes from last week.
Blindly walking in and going from memory will leave a lot on the table because you’ll keep making wrong decisions and wasting sets.
Get a quality program, make notes on weights lifted as well as any successes and failures, then refer back to it next week to laser-target today’s workout.
Trust me on this. It will make more difference than you think!
ENOUGH FOOD
You can’t build a mansion when you only have enough bricks for a small garage.
You’re going to need a constant 10-20% calorie surplus.
Either calculate it accurately or aim for 40 calories per 1kg of bodyweight per day. Most of the time, it should feel like you’re eating too much.
This total should include 1.5-2g of protein per 1kg of bodyweight per day.
ADEQUATE RECOVERY
Training hard and scoffing lots of good food isn’t enough to build muscle.
You need to get out of your hustle hard, alpha-male bullshit and learn to rest sometimes.
This includes 7-9 hours of sleep per night, sunshine and Vitamin D for testosterone production, supplementation with protein, creatine and ZMA (zinc and magnesium, again for testosterone support), reducing stress levels and full rest days.
It’s good that you’re the rare breed who WANTS to train and better themselves. However, the magic happens on rest days and generally you want 48-72 hours between big sessions to allow for the rebuilding to occur.
You body can only choose one thing from using calories and energy to rebuild and using calories to perform activity.
You’re also going to need to minimise alcohol consumption. The latest research shows 1-2 units shouldn’t harm muscle building too much but if you’re partying hard, then don’t expect big gains.
PATIENCE
Muscle-building is a slow, energy-intensive process especially if you’re not juicing.
Play the long game and stop expecting headline progress like ‘explosive muscle growth’. Do the right things and you will build a physique that sticks around for life.
FOCUS
You can’t get massive, win 10k races and become an MMA fighter at the same time, and definitely not without ‘assistance’.
I always recommend some cardio work, sprints etc for health and athleticism but you’re going to have to learn that different goals require different adaptations that can’t all happen at once.
This article is intended as an eye-opener not a precise GPS.
If you’re ever not gaining as much muscle as you thought you would, come back to this checklist with an honest assessment of what you’re doing and you’ll likely find the door to the next jump in progress!
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