How to Get Lean Muscle - Force a Skinny Body to Get Lean Muscle
So, you're skinny and find it virtually impossible to gain any lean muscle mass on your body. That's good! No, I'm not jerking your chain. You will realize why I responded like that later in the article and why my sort of response is important if you wish to gain lean muscle or do anything else successfully in life. Have you actually ever stopped to consider if the exercise you do is to get lean muscle is different from "regular" exercise? I mean, everyone knows about push ups, sit ups, chin ups, bicep curls and that sort of thing but if you don't understand how to get lean muscle, those exercises are meaningless.
1. That's good!
Still wondering why I responded like that before? Like any form of strenuous exercise, muscle-gaining exercise requires the utmost discipline and mental strength. Mind over matter, as they say. There's a simple yet powerful quote from a great Yoga master which I'd like to think also applies to any sort of sport: "The mind should be calm, the body active." Do you agree? So many things can buffet your concentration when you're working out; you might have had a bad day at work, you might be suspicious if this exercise is going to benefit you at all or leave you even more tired, etc. Self-development literature teaches this: we are a mind with a body. We've been brought up to believe the opposite. Our complex minds are what define humans and as humans we can achieve great things, but it all starts in your head. Control your emotions, focus on your work out and you will see results.
2. Heavy weights
OK, so now we can move onto the nitty-gritty stuff. If you are completely new to exercise and think that learning how to get lean muscle is like getting a new degree, let me reassure you, it isn't that difficult. It's relatively straight forward. The only reason that not many people have it (or know how to get it) is because of the muscle industry that shoves advertisements down our throats with one hand while slipping their other hand into our back pocket. There are only two basic rules for gaining lean muscle. One of them is to use heavy weights. Of course, for you heavy could be anywhere from 11 lbs or 5 kgs to 22 lbs or 10 kgs or even more. It's so logical, I don't know why more men don't understand it.
When you do exercise, you feel pain if your muscles experience more force than usual. Your muscles will get big enough to oppose that same force if it comes around next time. When that same force does come around, since it's bigger, it can better oppose the force. So if you want your muscles to continually get bigger... I'm sure you can work it out. Of course that's only half of the big picture.
3. Fast repetitions
Tell me, what hurts more, doing 30 push ups with no break in between or doing 20 push ups then having a short break, then doing 10 more? If you've done push ups before, you'll know that the burn starts creeping in pretty quickly. Following on from the previous point, it seems like the old saying, "no pain, no gain" is applicable to gaining lean muscle, doesn't it? Hey, no one said it was going to be easy. If you're skinny, you'll have to work harder, but it'll pay off in the end, especially if you can break through your pain barrier.
Doing fast repetitions focuses your energy for a short period of time and puts your muscle group under the most strain in the most energy efficient manner. You can basically get bigger biceps from doing the same exercise, but by doing it faster, since you'll be pushing your muscles to failure, that is pushing them to "muscle overload". It feels like a cold burning in your muscles. It's not quite lifting/exercising until you can't do any more, it's that cold burn you feel which means you will have successfully gain lean muscle. Aim to exercise to failure when you work out by working out quickly.
Skinny men, you are not doomed to be in the shadows of the genetically gifted! Heaps of skinny men have become successful weight lifters like Vince DelMonte, a long distance runner who became the winner of a swimsuit modelling competition in Canada. All it requires is mind over matter and the right kind of guidance relating to learning how to get lean muscle. It's not that hard to understand, just takes some effort.
