http://www.thealternativedaily.com/
It’s called intuitive eating, and it goes against the grain of all popular dieting methodologies. No need to weigh food, count calories or stress over the numbers on the scale. Intuitive eating spits in the face of conventional dieting wisdom, much of which has not yet yielded consistent results for millions who struggle with their […]
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I have a confession to make: I, Mark Sisson, suffer from keto crotch.
It’s embarrassing, really. I thought maybe it was just the change in climate moving from Malibu to Miami—the humidity, the heat, the fact that I’m paddling and swimming more often now. There’s a whole lot of moisture down there. Perpetual steaminess.
But then I met up with my writing partner and good pal Brad Kearns, who’s been working with me on my upcoming book. Brad lives in Northern California, which is far from hot or humid right now. He’s also a staunch keto guy most of the time, and, well, let’s just say I could smell him before I could see him. We met up at a coffee shop and cleared out everyone in a fifteen foot radius. We sampled a new exogenous ketone product he’s been trying and not one, not two, but three separate individuals approached to inquire if we were salmon fishermen.
Okay, let’s get serious. Does “keto crotch” really exist? And, if it does, what can you do to prevent it?
I’m writing this not because of overwhelming demand from loyal followers of the Keto Reset plan. In fact, I hadn’t ever heard of “keto crotch” before last week. There’s a good chance almost no one heard of it before March 2019, if Google Trend data for “keto crotch” searches is any indication. I’m writing this post because the barrage of news articles, Twitter hashtag campaigns, and extremely serious warnings from people with lots of acronyms after their name has led people to ask me if it’s a legitimate phenomenon. A few acquaintances have brought it up in social situations. Our marketing director found herself fielding keto crotch questions at a dinner for Expo West last week.
So, are women following a ketogenic diet experiencing an epidemic of stinky vaginas?
Probably not.
Vaginal odor does change. It fluctuates naturally, and sometimes it can get worse. The most common cause of unpleasant changes to vaginal odor is bacterial vaginosis, which occurs when something upsets the balance between the beneficial lactobacilli bacteria that normally live in the vagina and pathogenic bacteria. What can upset the balance?
The vagina is supposed to be an acidic environment; that’s how the healthy lactobacilli thrive. If something upsets that pH balance, tilting it toward alkalinity, unhealthy bacteria gain a foothold and become predominant, and begin producing unpleasant-smelling amines like putrescine, tyramine, and cadaverine. This is bacterial vaginosis. As it turns out, the lactobacilli bacteria normally present in the vagina are instrumental in maintaining an acidic pH. They consume glycogen, spit out lactic acid, and exert antimicrobial and antifungal effects that block common vaginal pathogens like candida, e. coli, and gardnerella from taking hold and causing trouble.
The interaction between diet and vaginal biome is understudied. To my knowledge, there exist no direct controlled trials that address the issue. It’d be great to have a study take a cohort of women, split them up into different dietary groups, and follow them for a year, tracking their vaginal pH and bacterial levels. Alas, we do not.
We do have a study that provides a hint. In 2011, researchers looked for correlations between dietary patterns and bacterial vaginosis in a cohort of nearly 2000 non-pregnant mostly African-American women aged 15-44. While there probably weren’t many keto dieters, and the diets as a whole were of the standard American variety, glycemic load—which basically boils down to carb load—was the strongest predictor of bacterial vaginosis. Other markers of food quality, like a person’s adherence to “healthy eating guidelines,” initially seemed to reduce the chance of bacterial vaginosis, but those relationships were almost abolished after controlling for other factors. Only glycemic load remained highly significant.
This connection between dietary glycemic load and bacterial vaginosis starts looking more causal when you realize that diabetes—a disease where one’s “glycemic load” is perpetually elevated and exaggerated—is another risk factor for bacterial vaginosis.
There’s also a 2007 study that found “high” intakes of dietary fat, particularly saturated and monounsaturated fat, were a significant predictor of bacterial vaginosis. In this study, “high fat” meant around 39% of energy from fat. That leaves 61% of energy from carbohydrate and protein, the kind of “high-fat, high-carb” Standard American No-Man’s-Land that’s landed the country in the current metabolic predicament. High-fat intakes in the presence of high-carb intakes may very well be bad for your vagina, but it says nothing about the likelihood of keto crotch.
At any rate, neither study was a controlled trial, so we can’t say anything about causality.
What about a yeast infection? The most common offender is candida, which usually favors sugar for fuel, but there’s also evidence that it can metabolize ketones. Could keto make a latent yeast infection worse and lead to smelly “keto crotch”?
Perhaps keto can make candida worse (that’s for another day), but that’s not the cause of “keto crotch.” Candida vagina infections don’t smell very much, if at all, and they certainly don’t smell “fishy.” That’s only caused by bacteria and the aforementioned amines they can produce.
Free glycogen levels in vaginal fluid are a strong predictor of bacterial vaginosis. If ample glycogen is available, the good lactic acid bacteria have plenty of food and produce plenty of lactic acid to maintain the acidic pH conducive to vaginal health. If inadequate glycogen is present, the lactic acid bacteria have less food and produce less lactic acid, increasing the chances of the pH tilting toward alkalinity. An alkaline vagina is a vagina where pathogenic bacteria—the ones that produce stinky amines—can establish themselves.
The question then is if ketogenic diets lower free glycogen in the vaginal fluid. That’s a fair question. I wasn’t able to find any solid answers. I guess “ketosis effect on vaginal glycogen” isn’t the most lucrative avenue of scientific inquiry.
Even assuming this is a real phenomenon, it’s a rare one. The vast, vast majority of people following a ketogenic diet aren’t coming down with keto crotch. Other than a few Reddit posts from the past 5 years, I haven’t seen anyone at all in our neck of the woods complain.
Maybe people doing Primal keto are eating more nutrient-dense ketogenic diets than people doing conventional (or caricature) keto. Salads, steaks, eggs, and lots of non-starchy veggies are a great way to stay keto and obtain micronutrients. And there are links between micronutrient status and bacterial vaginosis. The most common relevant deficiencies include vitamin D (correcting the deficiency can cure the vaginosis) and folate. Hard to get adequate folate if your diet is based on salami and cream cheese.
We also know that the health of your skin biome tracks closely with that of your gut, and that eating plenty of non-starchy veggies, fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc), and colorful produce can provide prebiotic fiber, prebiotic polyphenols, and probiotic bacteria that nourish your gut biome. If the vaginal biome is also connected to the gut biome (and it is), tending to the latter should also have positive effects on the former.
The Primal brand of keto tends to emphasize micronutrients and gut health a bit more than some other types of keto I see floating around. If—and it’s a very big “if”—keto crotch is legit, that may explain some of the discrepancy.
Finally, be sure to check out this very interesting Twitter thread where the author lays out his suspicions that the whole “keto crotch” phenomenon might be a manufactured stunt designed to vilify the ascendant ketogenic diet. Nothing definitive, but it’s certainly food for thought.
Okay. Say you’ve recently gone keto and your vagina is smellier than usual. (And you’ve ruled out other, more obvious potential causes like changes in soaps, etc.) It’s hard to ignore, and I wouldn’t want you to. What can you do?
That’s it for today, folks. Do you have “keto crotch”? Do you know anyone who does? Or did your vaginal health improve on keto? I’m curious to hear what everyone’s experiences have been, so don’t be shy.
Take care and be well.
References:
Thoma ME, Klebanoff MA, Rovner AJ, et al. Bacterial vaginosis is associated with variation in dietary indices. J Nutr. 2011;141(9):1698-704.
Kalra B, Kalra S. Vulvovaginitis and diabetes. J Pak Med Assoc. 2017;67(1):143-145.
Taheri M, Baheiraei A, Foroushani AR, Nikmanesh B, Modarres M. Treatment of vitamin D deficiency is an effective method in the elimination of asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis: A placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial. Indian J Med Res. 2015;141(6):799-806.
Dunlop AL, Taylor RN, Tangpricha V, Fortunato S, Menon R. Maternal vitamin D, folate, and polyunsaturated fatty acid status and bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy. Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol. 2011;2011:216217.
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Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Most of us who train frequently are familiar with the psoas muscle, short for iliopsoas, and commonly referred to as the hip flexor.
“My hip flexors are tight.” “My hip flexors hurt.” “My hip flexors are pinching.” You name it, and I’ve heard it. We’re familiar, for the most part, with what hip flexors are. However, a lot of us are lost on what to do to help them.
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A few weeks ago, I was working with a female runner who asked me, “Will I ever run pain-free again?”
This is a question that I receive regularly, and one which I have to admit having a really tough time answering.
Pain is a part of the running experience, there is absolutely no doubt about it. The best — and possibly the only — way to mitigate your risk of a running-related injury is to stop running.
I’m not saying this because I don’t believe that you can run pain-free. I’m saying it because I believe in transparency and it doesn’t make sense for me to lie to you.
So what did I say to that runner? I turned to her and said, “There is pain, and then there is suffering, I’m OK with a little bit of pain; it’s when the joy of the activity is lost that we might want to course correct.”
And herein lies the crux of pain and running: no one other than you can decide where that line is drawn between pain and suffering.
This can be a very difficult thing to understand — in your body and in your mind — when you are scared about what you’re feeling, fearful of the future, or simply uncertain about how to proceed. Below are five important things I usually recommend to runners to help them:
Please know that it is wise to speak to your physical therapist if you find that your running-related pain is disconcerting and is causing challenges in your life.
One of the best strategies to reduce pain with running — believe it or not — is to run more frequently.
Of course, I say this with a bit of caution because some conditions, such as bone stress injuries, definitely don’t get better by running more and there certainly are situations where we might want to advise refraining from running altogether. However, for most runners, consistency in training is key.
The number one problem that I see with my clients who run, by far, is a lack of consistency in training habits and routines. This creates a number of different challenges, but the most notable one is the lack of opportunity for your tissues to build their capacity and eventually tolerate running.
Running is a skill after all: the more you run, the better you get at that skill, and the better your tissues also adapt to that skill.
This is an important window of opportunity to help reduce running-related pain.
Step rate, or cadence, is defined as the number of steps you take per minute. Research suggests that subtle changes to your preferred step rate can make a world of difference to the pain you feel in your legs when running.
Specifically, one study showed that by increasing your preferred step rate by 5 to 10 percent, you can reduce the loading to your hip and knee joints fairly substantially.1 By reducing the loading to your hip and knee joints this way, you might find that running is more comfortable and even more efficient.
Strength training is an underutilized golden nugget for runners. An appropriately loaded strength training routine goes a long way to support a runner’s quest to feel strong and healthy while running.
Strength training has been shown to:
And while stronger doesn’t mean injury- or pain-free, it does mean that you unlock a certain level of badassery that can foster the sense of resiliency you need to feel good — dare I say it, great — in your body as a runner.
I have some favorites exercises that I like with runners and they include the following:
I cannot emphasize this enough: your sleep and recovery are vital to your training success and pain reduction. If you aren’t sleeping enough, you better believe that you’ll have a harder time feeling good as a runner.
I get asked all the time, “What is recovery supposed to look like?” Here’s the short and probably disappointing answer: nothing in particular. To me, as the professional, recovery is going to be anything that fills you up and recharges your batteries.
Recovery is made up of the things that nurture your soul and don’t stress your ecosystem as an athlete.
While sleep is considered a huge part of recovery for me and the athletes I work with, so is joy. There is nothing more wonderful than sitting on the couch after a long run or waking up after a full eight hours of sleep and drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. These are the things that fill me up and recharge my batteries.
5. See Yourself as the Badass Runner You AreFinally, the last thing that I’m going to include here, is that you absolutely need to believe in yourself and in your body’s ability to adapt.
It is very easy to think, “I’m not made to be a runner,” when culturally we are conditioned to think runners need to look a particular way. But I am here to dispell those inaccurate notions: you are absolutely made to be a runner!
When you start believing in your most badass self as a runner, your body will start to embody it.
So here’s the deal: running isn’t a pain-free sport. But remember, you don’t have to suffer, and that there are teams of people (including me) who are ready, willing and able to help you reach your potential.
Learn the most effective strategies for getting the exact results you want — without spending your life in the gym.
Our Girls Gone Strong Formula has helped thousands of women all over the globe get the results they’re looking for.
stand the Blueprint and be willing to trust the process.
The post 5 Important Tips to Help You Run Pain-Free appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.
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It’s Monday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Monday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
Growing up, I was very bookish and avoided all forms of exercise despite my parents’ best efforts to get me involved in some sort of sport. I was also a very picky eater, especially when it came to veggies, so my diet wasn’t the greatest.
Throughout high school, I always carried an extra 10-15 lbs and my lunch consisted of stuffed crust pizza, strawberry milk and fries swimming in ranch dressing.
My weight yo-yoed in college depending on how excited I was about the gym and whether I was on a salad bar or buffalo chicken wrap kick. I did gain a lot of weight after I got married and hit my all time high of 170 lbs. I was able to lose most of the weight through a low carb diet, though I still avoided the gym.
My first experience with primal eating came in 2014 when my husband came home talking about this paleo diet he’d heard about from a colleague. I started doing a lot of research and decided to start this new way of eating. We weren’t super strict about, using dressings and condiments that were not ideal and I refused to give up cheese (I now know that including dairy is more aligned with the primal way of eating). My husband lost a bunch of weight, and I felt really good even though the scale didn’t move.
Unfortunately, after only about two months, we went on vacation and fell back into our SAD eating habits even after we returned. Fast forward to 2016 and I had moved to another state, finally gotten a full-time job after a year of under employment/unemployment and was steadily gaining weight again. I didn’t realize how lucky I’d been to have been able to walk or bike to work before moving to a bike and pedestrian unfriendly area! I started calorie restricting, but that just left me feeling hungry all the time and my pants were too tight. I weighed in at 155 lbs.
In January, I finally gave in and let my husband sign me up for a gym membership. As much as I disliked exercise, I knew that I had to get my body moving if I didn’t want to look like a lot of the people in my office when I got to middle age. I started strength training which was way more fun than cardio and lost 5 lbs in the first month. But despite hitting the gym 3 times and week and participating in a Crossfit style workout once a week, my weight loss stalled after that. I knew I was building up muscle mass that I’d never had before, but I was mostly motivated to not have to buy new, bigger pants at this point.
By the end of March, I realized that I had to make some serious diet changes if I wanted to get my health completely under control, so I decided to do my first Whole30. It was hard but amazing! I felt great, finally kicked my diet soda habit, reset my taste buds and learned that dairy gives me migraines and makes my seasonal allergies go crazy. I also rediscovered MDA during this time and read years of primal success stories which gave me the courage to keep up this style of eating long term using the 80/20 principle. I also made it a point to try every (primal) food I thought I hated one more time and now I eat many of them regularly. Hello onions, peppers, brussels sprouts, squash, zucchini, fish, nuts, carrots, pineapples, sweet potatoes, tea, and so many more. I’m still working up the nerve to try sardines but there’s a tin of them in my pantry for the day I’m feeling brave!
For the first time in my life, I felt fit and strong. My body learned to love and crave veggies, even at breakfast. I was empowered to make better food choices. I still get anxious about food in social situations sometimes when my social anxiety combines with my fear of accidentally eating dairy and getting really sick, which has, unfortunately, happened. Now if I don’t feel comfortable with my food options, I eat beforehand or bring my own food. My health is totally worth being that weird person for. I have also learned that most people have no idea what is in their food or what is actually good for their bodies. I am so glad to have come upon this way of eating while I’m still young.
My next big health change occurred in the fall of 2018 when I started getting into long distance running. I came into running knowing that I wanted to do it in a way that aligned with my health and nutritional values that I’d worked so hard to get straight. This led me to using the run walk run method to decrease risk of running injuries and to primal keto to avoid all of the sugary fuel and recovery products aimed at endurance athletes. I do all my training runs fasted and eat a bit more carbs right before and after races. I also make sure to focus on keeping up my strength training by incorporating the Primal Essential Movements, even the two I dread-pushups and planks. There is something awesome about being able to take yourself 13 miles on your own two feet, but nothing makes me feel as badass as using the assisted pullup machine.
Doing keto while staying dairy free, maintaining a high veggie intake and properly fueling my athlete body has taken some extra effort but the benefits are amazing. I no longer get hangry if a meal is delayed. I feel strong and powerful in my own body. I weigh less than I did in high school. I have way fewer migraines. I even have abs. I have learned so much about my body and my personal nutrition needs. I still ended up needing to buy new pants twice but smaller rather than larger. I have so much more energy to do the things I love. Most importantly, I now know how to take care of my body properly for a long and healthy life.
Stephanie
The readers featured in our success stories share their experiences in their own words. The Primal Blueprint and Keto Reset diets are not intended as medical intervention or diagnosis. Nor are they replacements for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner. It’s important to speak with your doctor before beginning any new dietary or lifestyle program, and please consult your physician before making any changes to medication or treatment protocols. Each individual’s results may vary.
The post I Feel Strong and Powerful In My Own Body appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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When human beings are sleep deprived, they can exhibit a number of symptoms. Among them are: impaired attention and alertness, decreased reasoning and problem solving, decreased sex drive, depression, wrinkles, forgetfulness, overeating, and impaired judgment. A new study has revealed yet another negative impact…when you don’t get enough quality sleep your brain may start eating […]
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Chayote squash is having its day in the sun as of late, but it’s been used for centuries in Latin American cooking and baking. The chayote squash (also known as mirliton squash) is a mild-tasting, relatively low carb, and versatile fruit with a good dose of vitamin C. Because of its hardness, you’ll definitely want to eat it cooked, but the end result will be worth it: a tender but slightly crisp fruit that bears a resemblance to pear or jicama and that takes on the particular flavors of any recipe—sweet or savory.
Note: there’s a little extra prep involved with chayote, but we think the additional few minutes are well worth the approximately 50 grams of carbs spared (full recipe).
Time In the Kitchen: 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
Filling
Crumble Topping
Instructions:
Preheat oven 350 ºF/175 ºC
Prep the squash. (This video has a good rundown of the process.) In a nutshell, cut the top inch off the fruit and let the liquid bubble up on the exposed flesh of the fruit. Rub the cut top piece over the exposed area for a full minute to draw up and out more liquid. This will create a froth as pictured. After the full minute, wipe off this froth with a clean paper towel. (Although the liquid/froth is completely safe, it may cause a mild tingly feeling if you get it on your fingers.)
Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, along with the white flesh directly around it.
Cut squash into 1/4 inch slices.
Place in pot along with cinnamon, arrowroot or cream of tartar, lemon juice and sweenter. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes so that the squash starts to become tender.
Pour into ramekins.
Put all the crumble topping ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the butter is well incorporated and it looks good and crumbly.
Pour over top of squash.
Bake 30 minutes (or 45 minutes if baking as an 8-inch pie)
Nutritional Information (per serving)
The post Low-Carb & Keto Chayote “Apple” Crisp appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/
So you want to get bigger and stronger, like this guy.
Leopard print leotard optional.
Maybe you’ve always been the skinny guy and can’t gain weight to save your life (trust me, I’ve been there).
Maybe you’re a bigger guy and you’d rather have broad shoulders than a broad waistline.
Maybe you’re a female, and you’ve realized that lifting weights with the right diet will give you that “toned” look that everybody is after.
Maybe you just want to be stronger and faster.
No matter who you are or what your starting point is, I want to help get you where you want to go.
Building muscle is something I’ve been obsessed with since high school (okay, not obsessed, but it’s where the majority of my fitness research and experience has taken me). After struggling with building muscle for close to a decade, I’ve made significant progress in the past few years, packing on 20+ pounds of muscle, learning handstands, and adding 200+ pounds to my deadlift.
If you’re looking to start building muscle, getting bigger, and becoming stronger, these are the things you need to do:
I realize doing those three things is much easier said than done – I struggled with progress for a decade and know exactly what you’re going through.
After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than putting in effort for months (or years) and not seeing results. And unfortunately, this is what I see from most people: Lots of well-intentioned but misguided effort in the gym and no changes.
You probably don’t have years to make the mistakes that I did, and you just want to start getting results today. In addition to the free resources below, we also offer 1-on-1 Online Coaching, where you’ll get personalized instruction for your body type and goals, and professional accountability from a Coach on Team Nerd Fitness!
But enough of that, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to get started with Strength Training!
If you are going to build muscle, you’re going to need to lift heavy things. This means you’ll most likely need access to a gym with a great free-weight section. Body weight exercises can be fantastic for weight loss and keeping the muscle you already have, but if you’re serious about weight training you’ll need a gym with a squat rack, bench, barbells, and a spot to do pull ups, chin ups, and dips to be most efficient.
Got access to a decent gym? Good, now we can started.
Because we’re looking to create functional strength and size, we’ll be doing lots of full-body routines with compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once.
They’re more efficient, they create solid growth and stimulation, and they will keep you safe. Why is that?
Well, when you spend all of your time doing stupid isolation exercises on weight machines (ugh), you’re only working those specific muscles and not working any of your stabilizer muscles (because the machine is doing all of the stabilization work). On the other hand, when you do compound exercises like barbell squats, you work pretty much EVERY muscle in your body, setting yourself up to be strong and injury free.
Stay away from machines, focus on dumbbells and barbell exercises.
Each of your routines should have one leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and a core exercise:
That’s IT. Don’t worry about adding in any ridiculous machine shoulder shrugs, iso-chest flys, preacher bicep curls, calf-raises, whatever. Learn these few exercises, get really good at them, and your entire body will get stronger and bigger. Focus each week on adding more weight to each exercise. For example, if you did 3 sets of 5 squats of 150 pounds this week, try for 3 sets of 5 squats of 155 pounds next week.
If you do that, you’ve gotten stronger. Eat right, and you’ll get bigger too.
Using the principles I’ve laid out in my “how to build a workout routine” article, here’s a routine I’ve created for myself recently:
Each day has a leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and some core work.
While it’s possible to build out the perfect routine on your own, many of our Rebels end up spending hours and hours building something custom – only to realize it isn’t what they need (or isn’t effective) weeks and months later for their goals.
For people who want to avoid that altogether, we built the solution – our uber-popular 1-on-1 Nerd Fitness coaching program pairs you with your own Nerd Fitness Coach who will get to know you, your goals, and your lifestyle, and handcraft a workout plan that’s specific to not only your body, but also to your schedule and life. Click on the image below to schedule a call with our team to see if we’re a good fit for each other!
That depends on your goals. If you’re just interested in getting stronger, you can do 3-5 sets of 5 reps, with a focus on lifting heavier and heavier each week. If you’re looking to add more size along with strength, mix up your rep ranges. Sets of 5 reps will build compact explosive strength, while sets of 6-12 reps will build more size but less concentrated strength.
I try to mix it up. This week, I might do 3 sets of 5 reps for each exercise (other than the core exercises), adding enough weight to each exercise so that it’s incredibly taxing. Next week, I’ll do four sets for each exercise, adding weight each time and doing less reps. For example, I’d do 12 reps of an overhead press at 100 pounds, then 10 reps at 105 pounds, then 8 reps at 110 pounds, and finally 6 reps at 115 pounds.
The good news is that no matter which path you take (pure strength, size, or a mix of both), as long as you are adding weight each week you WILL be getting stronger.
ANY path will work, provided you are getting progressively stronger with it! So if you do 5 sets of 5 squats at 140 pounds this week, aim for 5 sets of 5 of 145 pounds next week. Or 3 sets of 10 at 100 pounds, then next week try for 3 sets of 10 at 105 pounds.
Get stronger, which is 20% of the puzzle. The other 80% is nutrition (which I cover later)!
If you want even more info, you can head to our article “Determining the Correct Number of Reps and Sets” for a deep dive into the subject.
Warm-up before exercising – don’t walk into a gym, slap 45-pound plates on the bar, and then start your routine. Get your heart rate up and muscles warm first by doing a dynamic warm-up of jumping jacks, lunges, bodyweight squats, hip raises, push-ups, leg swings, jumps, etc. After that, always start with doing a set or two of lifting JUST THE BAR. Only then should you start adding weight for some warm-up sets before moving into your real sets.
Have focused form – if you’re doing a bodyweight squat incorrectly, you might develop bad habits. However, if you do a squat incorrectly with 405 pounds on your shoulders, you could do some serious damage. If you’re just starting out, check your ego at the door: start with a VERY light weight and make sure you are doing the exercise properly. There is NO SHAME in starting with just the bar. You can always add more weight next week if this week is too easy.
Stimulate, don’t annihilate – I try to always have one more rep left when I finish a set. Some trainers will preach working your muscles to annihilation, but I think that’s just asking for an injury, poor form, and beyond-sore muscles. Your muscles get built while resting, not in the gym, so don’t worry about destroying them completely each day you step in the gym – it’s not worth it.
Change up the time between sets – if you’re doing 3 sets of 5 reps of a really heavy weight, it’s okay to wait 3-5 minutes between sets – you’re focusing on pure strength here. If you’re doing sets up in the 8-12 range, try to keep the time between sets around a minute or so. This will affect your muscles in different ways. Just be consistent between sets and when doing the same workout between weeks to track your progress.
Don’t overdo it – More does not mean better in weightlifting. You don’t need to spend two hours in the gym, you don’t need to do 15 different kinds of chest exercises. My routines last no longer than 45 minutes, I only do three or four sets (after warm up sets) for each exercise, and it’s enough to stimulate muscle growth. Three routines a week is plenty too – you shouldn’t lift every day, as you need to give your muscles time to regrow bigger. Less is more – just make your routines really intense and exhausting.
Write down everything – Keep a training journal, and write down exactly how many sets and reps you did for every exercise. That way, you can compare how you did this time with how you did last time. You’ll know how much more you need to lift this week to make sure you’re stronger than last week.
Follow a routine, have a plan. The best thing you can do is have a plan to follow and stick with it! We provide a free bodyweight routine, and a comprehensive gym training routine to get you started with strength training in our free guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. Grab your guide when you sign up in the box below:
If you’re skinny and trying to bulk up, this will be 90% of the battle.
If you’ve been lifting weights for a while “but can’t seem to gain weight,” then you are not eating enough – it’s that simple.
I thought I was one of those people who just could never gain weight…and then I learned it was all diet, started eating 4,000 calories a day, and I put on 18 pounds in 30 days. Yeah, I wanted to throw up from always eating along with three Muscle Milk shakes a day, but it worked. Looking back I would have done things differently (so many calories and so much sugar/carbs), but after 6 years of exercising without putting on any weight, it was great to see so much progress in such a short period of time.
4,000 calories sounds freaking insane right? I know. It makes eating a full-time job, as you’re always either cooking, eating, or cleaning up after yourself. But if you really want to get bigger and you’re struggling to do so, then all of your effort is going to have to go into eating more, eating healthier, and eating ALL THE TIME.
Here are a few different techniques for weight gain:
Eat a lot of whatever – this was my first plan years ago: it’s cheapest, the fastest, but probably the least healthy. Just make sure you get 200+ grams of protein a day and 3,500+ calories in any way that you can: pasta, rice, pizza, milk, hamburgers, chicken, protein shakes, muscle milk shakes, whatever. This is how I went from 162-180 pounds in 30 days. I’m not proud of how I ate, but it produced results and I remained healthy and strong.
Eat a lot of “healthy” stuff – I did this once and put on about 10 pounds in 30 days. Lots of oatmeal, brown rice, chicken, my home-made big-ass shake, almond butter sandwiches on whole-grain wheat bread, beef, eggs, fruits, veggies, and some milk. Still not optimal, but it works and is better for your insides than the previous method. Still relatively cheap, as tubs of oats, brown rice, and bread are inexpensive and can add on a lot of calories quickly.
Eat Paleo – I’ve tried this strategy too, and despite my best efforts to GAIN weight I managed to lose five pounds (all of which was fat). It’s certainly possible to gain weight on the paleo diet (try adding in three big-ass Primal Shakes per day), but it is tricky and very expensive to get 4,000 calories of paleo-approved food daily. LOTS of nuts, eggs, sweet potatoes, shots of olive oil, and yams along with tons of chicken, grass-fed beef, fruit, and veggies.
GOMAD (Gallon of Milk a Day) – Obviously this method will only work if you’re not lactose intolerant. Oh, and it has to be whole milk. You’ll definitely put on some fat, but you’ll build muscle and get really strong quickly – and then you’ll adjust the diet to thin out. I’ve attempted this diet occasionally, as whole milk is certainly a fast path to tons of carbs, fat, protein and calories. Be prepared for your stomach and body to constantly feel bloated. Note: you can adjust the amount of milk you consume daily based on how your body responds.
That’s going to depend on your situation – your age, how much you weigh now, how much you want to weigh, and how fast your metabolism is. For some, just 2,500 calories and strength training will be enough to build muscle. For others, you might need to eat 4,000+ calories in order to put on weight. The only way to find out is to track your normal calorie intake for a few days, and then start adding on 500 extra calories per day for a week or two and see if you notice any changes.
Want a rough idea of how many calories you should be eating? Head right here for our calorie requirement calculator.
Bottom line: If you don’t see any change, then you need to eat more. Yes, it will feel excessive. Yes, you will feel full all the time. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass and expensive. But if you really want to be bigger, then you are going to need to really dedicate yourself in the kitchen. Unless you’re a genetic mutant, it’s incredibly tough to build muscle and strength without overloading your system with calories and nutrients.
Just keep eating.
I get this question all the time in emails, usually from guys who are 6 feet tall and 130 pounds.
Don’t worry, if you can’t gain weight now, putting on this extra weight is going to be great for you.
Yes, you will put on SOME fat along with the muscle you’re building if you’re running a calorie surplus. This is why picking the right amount of calories per day is important.
If you can build muscle at 3,000 calories, but you’re eating 4,000 calories, you’ll put on a pound or two of fat per week along with your muscle. However, if you need to eat 4,000 calories to build muscle and you’re only eating 3,000, you won’t see any changes. Everybody is different, so you need to experiment and find out what works best for you.
Once you get to your desired weight (actually, aim for about 10-15 pounds heavier than your goal weight), you can scale back the calories, add in some extra sprints to the end of your workout, and keep lifting heavy – the muscle will remain, the fat will disappear, and you’ll be left with the body you want.
You can actually build muscle and lose body fat at the same time.
You just have to be careful about how you do it.
We cover the subject in depth in the post, “Can You Lose Weight and Gain Muscle at the Same Time?”
This gist goes like this:
If you are eating enough protein, and have decent fat stores to pull from for energy needs, you can build muscle even while in a caloric deficit.
As long as you are resting (next section) and strength training (previous section), you can shed bodyfat while still putting on muscle.
Now, this only works if you have plenty of fat stores to pull form. Once you start to lean out a little, you’ll likely have to increase your calories to start putting on more muscle.
Just remember, you can build muscle while losing weight, as long as you:
Let’s talk about that last one for a bit.
If you’re skinny and trying to bulk up, avoid cardio like the plague. Why? Take a look at the best marathon runners in the world – they look like a stiff breeze would knock them over. Now take a look at Usain Bolt, the best sprinter in the world – tons of muscle, power, and a body to envy. I have nothing against people who run all the time and love to run marathons/half-marathons – as long as you’re active I’m all for it. I’m just telling you that if you want to build muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible, cardio is the enemy.
I will admit that I’m biased against chronic cardio, but mostly because it bores me! You can be far more effective when you focused on getting stronger and only do ‘cardio’ on things you enjoy – after all, your success will largely depend on your nutrition, NOT your cardio!
I spend three days a week in the gym, with each workout clocking in at 45 minutes. I go for long walks on my off days along with a day of sprints to stay active, but I know that my muscles get built while I’m resting, not when I’m working out. I really focus in on my workouts to make them as exhausting as possible, and then I give my body ample time to recover (while eating enough calories to produce a surplus).
If you’re lifting heavy, and eating enough, make sure you’re also getting enough sleep! 5-6 hours a night isn’t going to cut it – you need to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night for optimal muscle-building. Take naps too if you have the opportunity. Sleep needs to become a priority.
If you’re a big guy/girl trying to slim down, a little extra cardio might speed up your fat loss, but a lot of it might cause you to lose the muscle you already have. Don’t worry about going for 10 mile runs on your off days – do 20-30 minutes of intervals or go run hill sprints in your park. The weight will come off more slowly, but you’ll only be losing fat, not fat AND muscle.
Once you hit your goal weight and the target amount of muscle mass, I’d recommend adding back in some cardio for your overall conditioning, but keep it varied (sprints and intervals). The focus is to keep building explosive muscle and not long, slow, boring muscle.
If you love going for long runs and aren’t going to give that up, I’m not gonna stop you. Just know that the long hours of cardio will severely inhibit your progress on building strength and size.
This is a basic overview to get ya started. It really boils down to a few major things: lift heavy, eat lots of good food, and rest. Simple to understand, tough to implement. Trust me, I know – I’ve been battling this for the past decade.
If you made it this far, and you want more specific instruction, or have more questions about strength training and bulking up, sign up for our email list in the box below.
I’ll send you two free resources that will help you reach your goals: our massive Strength Training 101 guide and a Skinny Guy Bulk Up Cheat Sheet and Shopping List.
So did I miss anything?
Do we have any strength building success stories? People who are skinny struggling to bulk up? Big guys who lost weight and got stronger while lifting weights? Post your questions in the comments and I’ll go ahead and answer them.
Let’s hear your strength and muscle stories!
-Steve
PS – If you made it this far, and you are tired of not getting results, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. No more guesswork, no wondering if you’re doing exercises correctly – you’ll get expert guidance and accountability from a professional on Team Nerd Fitness who gets to know you better than you know yourself!
Sound good? Head over to our Coaching page and schedule a free call with our team to see if it’s right for you!
PPS: 40,000+ rebels have joined us in the Nerd Fitness Academy! If you’re interested in strength training and want more specific workouts to follow, nutritional advice and meal plans to pick from, a boss battle system, character leveling system, and a supportive community, check it out. We’d love to help you level up with us. See you inside!
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It is easy to get our kids doing push-ups with us and to comment, “Wow, I couldn’t do push-ups like that when I was your age. You are so strong!” Likewise, when our kids are playing at the park and we watch them beat their friends in a race, we might comment later about how fast our little guy is and when his sister is running circles around the soccer field we naturally let her know how athletic she is.
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