Solution & Lifestyle

TH E KINNYFAT OLUTION
the skinny-fat solution

THE SKINNY (PUN INTENDED) ON BUILDING MUSCLE, LOSING FAT, AND FEELING HUMAN AGAIN
WRITTEN by and Anthony Mychal a sexy product of http://anthonymychal.com
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Anthony Mychal. This book is not a substitute for medical or professional health and/or fitness advice. Please consult a qualified health professional prior to engaging in any exercise. The content presented throughout this resource is intended for informational purposes only. Before using the written advice, always seek help from a health care professional that can better direct the application of the materials to your specific circumstances. Never disregard their expertise in light of something presented anywhere, including this text. The author, any contributors, publisher and copyright holder(s) are not responsible for any adverse effects associated with any use of this work. Affiliate disclaimer: Throughout this resource, I make use of affiliate links. Affiliate links have a unique identifier in them that signify me as a referrer to a product. Therefore, if you click through with my affiliate link and decide to buy the product, I get a little bit of pocket change for introducing you. If you arent a fan of this, feel free to search for the products listed and buy with the original link.
Table of Contents
(0) Preface...........................................................4 (1) quick start guide.........................................7 (2) defining skinny-fat..................................10 (3) great expectations...................................14 (4) three s's.......................................................16 (5.0) signaling...................................................18 (5.1) fat & signaling........................................22 (5.2) training & signaling.............................24 (5.3) mind & signaling.....................................27 (5.4) life & signaling......................................34 (6) stimulate.....................................................48 (7) supply............................................................54 (8) partitioning................................................62 (9) the road ahead...........................................69 (10) my story......................................................73
PREFACE
This is for the fight against the muffin tops. This is to stop the burden of being called lanky. This is for everyone thats grown up with sub-par genetics and in a less-than-ideal cultural environment. Us skinny-fat ectomorphs are at a disadvantage. Face it, most famous guys and gals out there in the fitness world have fantastic genetics for either building muscle or being lean. And it makes sense that they do, really. As the saying goes, the strongest shall survive. They are prodigies, built for success in fitness similar to the way a singer blossoms onto the scene. Rarely does a singer go from awful to stardom. The voice is inside the entire time, its just a matter of when they realize their potential. Skinny-fat ectomorphs have no voice buried deep within their bellows. They have neither the genetics nor the environmental ingredients necessary to marinate in a stew of what eventually cooks up the body seen on the cover of the latest fitness magazine. Some people are just better at some things. They are born to win. Some people are just better at creating an appreciable amount of muscle without tacking on extra fat. The problem enters when these prodigies share their wisdom with the less fortunate. The less fortunate, like us skinny-fat ectomorphs, become entranced. Looking up to the prodigies, we take their word for wisdom. And we follow it religiously. Now, not to knock the prodigys advice, but at some point we have to acknowledge the different starting points. A successful singer sings with a semblance of serenity from the start. What works to get him or her singing better is going to be different than what works for someone booted during the first round of American Idol.
the skinnyfat solution
In this respect, individual differences in response to nutrition and exercise is serious business. Some can shovel sustenance into their snare without care for getting fat. Five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Make it six. And add a gallon of milk too. For some, the six-pack will always be there. For us skinny-fat ectomorphs, this seems unfair. It feels unfair. Hell, it is unfair. The expectations and social norms that surround body image make being skinny-fat a shit show. But Im here to help you, because I know how degrading life can feel when you arent comfortable in your own skin. Personally, I felt damaged. I felt like less of a human being. I hated my skin. I felt fat. I didnt want to take my shirt off in public. And I know this all sounds extreme, but self-inflicted internal pressure climbs high if you let it. I was your prototypical skinny-fat ectomorph. Tall. Narrow shoulders. Wide waist. The same recipe Emeril Lagasse calls for when hes looking to create a magnificent blend of looking lanky while simultaneously sporting a muffin top. Part of me thinks being skinny-fat is much worse than being fat. When youre fat, everyone knows. But when youre skinny-fat, you feel like you have to hide yourself. You dont want anyone to know your secret. Internally, the pressure mounts. The sad part is that these beliefs are thrown on yourself by yourself. We create our own hell. Maybe it was from watching too much Dragonball Z, but I always fantasized about saving the universe. This, I think, was my search for validity. My search for reassurancesomething that told me I was worth a damn. Thats why what youre reading is more than a program or a routine. From a telescope, this may simply be a matter of fitness. But from a magnifying glass, this is a matter of life.
* Exposing the details of my childhood was tough. As a writer and creator of AnthonyMychal.com, it seemed against the rationale of trying to appear as someone coherent enough to preach the word of athletic fitness. Those walls came down when I wrote an article for T-Nation entitled, 11 Training Tips for the Skinny Fat Ectomorph. Feedback was huge. My inbox was flooded with people that sit where I once sat, feeling less than human. Damaged. Wondering how to get by. Wondering how to live in the moment well. Looking for worth and validity. Wanting their life to be more than a constant attempt to hide their insecurities. To this day, most of my e-mailers and coaching members are skinny-fat ectomorphs. Im going to cut the crap. I dont care about anyone but you. I know this stuff is real. I lived it. I failed at times. Somehow, I ended up on the other side. So imagine its just me and you, one on one, and Im showing you the ropes. Forget about everyone else. Dont worry about the people that say, skinnyfat doesnt exist. They havent walked in your shoes. And while I havent either, Im probably one of the few that traversed the same trail. Its time to fix your body. Its time to fix your mind. Its time to fix your life. Its time to fix all of it. Right now. Its time to feel human again.
CHAPTER | QUICK START GUIDE

A quick glimpse of whats to come
As this resource opens, I just wanted to say thanks for reading. Realize that youre about to be bombarded with information, but this has been a pleasure to write. Out of every project I fathomed, Ive gotten the most personal requests for this one, and I poured everything I had into it. Everyone that e-mails me, I tell them I deeply care about their success. And I mean it, 100% of the time. I know what its like. I know the feelings. I know how youre thinking. And thats exactly why I have to include this Chapter. Back in the beginning of my journey, I purposely avoided complex things because I simply didnt have interest. Carbohydrate cycling? Who has time to do that? But over time, I realized these things really werent all that complicated, which is why most of my methods revolve around these supposedly more complex methods. Im confident you can get going with them and get your life straightened out. Trust me, they arent that complicated. Below is a quick start guide. It will give you an idea of what to expect and serve as a refresher anytime you need it. Its not the fancy stuff. Its just a list of principles to use that will get you back on the path if youre ever feeling lost. Three or four times per week, lift barbells in different ways. Do these things: squat a barbell (full squat), press a barbell overhead, and pick a barbell up from the floor a bunch of times. Hang from things and press and pull yourself into positions a lot. A lot. Make it your goal to get good at chin-ups, dips, and the likes. Get better and stronger at these things over time. Yes, stronger. Train with 5-8 reps most times. Drink water, tea, and coffee. Dont sweeten them. Just the raw liquids. You can do this. Trust me. If I can, you can.
Walking is one of the most underrated things to do for fat loss and all around health. Walk as often as you can. The process is about other helping people as much as it is about helping yourself. Limit alcohol if youre in the beginning stages of this experience. Setting good habits is important. If you do have a cant-escape special occasion, opt for low-sugar drinks and dont eat any sugar, starchy carbohydrates, or fats in your meals prior. Stick to protein dominated foods only. And make sure you try keeping it at a few drinks. Dont make it a weekly thing. Since Lite beer is like shoving a pitchfork in your eye, you have three options: o Guinness (One of the better beers even though it still has about double the carbs as Lite beer. Id rather you go with one of the two below.) o Dry red wine (cabernet, merlot) o Whiskey, Vodka, Hard Liquor with club soda
You are given three days every year to become a drunk obliterated mess. Reserve these for weddings. (Jim Beam gets the job done quicklyor so I remember.)
You are a creation of the signals you send to your body. Send good signals. Fiber is good. Eat your vegetables. Good fats like fish and grass fed beef do wonders. Sleep long, sleep well. Eliminate stress. Meditate. Eliminate processed grains and wheat if youre having trouble losing weight. Basically go gluten-free. Eliminate all processed sugars including sports drinks and protein mixes that arent plain and unflavored. Consider eliminating dairy, or at least milk. It doesnt agree with many people.
Lose fat before trying to gain muscle. Get to a comfortable level of leanness. It helps you add muscle without tacking on as much fat down the road.
Dont starve yourself of carbohydrates if youre training matterfully, even if you have fat to lose. Just have a little bit of carbohydrates post workout. Dont break the house down though. Save that for when youre lean.
Your ability to use starchy carbohydrates is inversely related to your body fat. In other words, the fatter you are, the less carbohydrates you should take in (and they should always be shunted to the postworkout period). The leaner you are, the more you can eat and the more efficiently your body will use them.
You cant play by everyone elses rules. That lean dude that eats carbohydrates by the truck load? His body is better handled for it. Hes a Lamborghini. Youre a Volkswagen Bug. *
Also, keep in mind that the document youre reading now is the base document, but there are many more inside this resource. They are numbered inside of the zip file you downloaded, which is a cool little way to remind you in which order to read them. The specific training strategy and diet are their own PDFs.
CHAPTER | defining skinny-fat

Different strokes
The smell of charcoal was in the air, which radiated with the heat that sizzled off the cars. The sun was high and the temperature was close to 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius). Im not sure what compelled me to wear black, but one thing was for sure: it wasnt a comfortable day. While most people were playing corn hole or beer pong, I sought refuge in the shade and sipped my shitty Lite beer. Guinness might not have been ideal in the heat anyway, so I got over it quickly. Most everyone in the mass of people tailgating for the baseball game were drinking, eating, and having a good time. To avoid getting deep fried by the heat, a lot of people were shirtless. The crowd was diverse. Some were super obese with hot dogs in holsters waiting for hunger to strike. Others did the same, yet sported a six-pack. This puzzled me. Although one day isnt representative of an entire lifestyle, I saw a bunch of different people that were just that: different.
Snowflakes
Unless you have an identical twin, your genetic makeup is unique to yourself. There are rules apparently generalized to the greater population, but, ultimately, they are never exact. In the strength and fitness world, were often told that everyone operates similarly. That certain body types dont really exist. That everyone responds to the same thing in the same way. This is a shortsighted view. Considering everyone has their own genetic snowflake, predicting much of anything from one person to the next is difficult. In years past, somatotypes were used to classify people into categories that shared similar traits. Although somatotypes were originally created for psychological purposes, they somehow migrated to fitness.
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There are three:
Endomorphs
Endomorphs live on one side of the spectrum. They gain weight easily and have a difficult time staying lean. They are usually short. Just think Wario.
Ectomorphs
Ectomorphs live on the other side. They are usually thin with longer limbs and have difficulty gaining weight. Just think Luigi.
Mesomorphs
Mesomorphs split the middle and can usually put on muscle fairly well while also staying lean. Just think Mario. Well, the new age badass Mario. Not the old and fat version. Although these designations were used for behavioral purposes, they categorize three different body types. The problem? Not everyone falls cleanly into one category.
The legend of skinny-fat

The skinny-fat ectomorph is a fabled body type. Some even say it doesnt exist. But its real. Very real. I know, of course, because I have the body type. So were all clear on skinny fat ectomorphism, heres the usual suspect: Apparently thin in clothes, but bare skin reveals otherwise Small and thin wrists Tall(er) Weak and non-muscled arms Love handles, lower stomach, and lower chest are main areas of fat accumulation Narrow shoulders Wide waist
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From the beginning, I ignored the unique subtleties of my body composition. To me, it was all about questing for the holy grail of training programs. Anytime I saw a jacked dude, I was hooked. I needed to know his routine because I thought a magical sequence of exercises was the cure for my lackluster physique. During my search, I noticed something: most muscular body transformation figureheads and specialists are naturally lean. They can follow normal bulking rules because they arent likely to store fat. Its all about shoveling calories down the trap, so they get away with loading their plates with pasta, peanut butter, and pizza. This muscle building advice of eating pasta, peanut butter, and pizza then gets passed to those on the lower end of the genetic totem pole. And if us skinny fat ectomorphs follow the same path, we end up in a different spot. A much fatter spot. Original body composition cant be ignored. Skinny fat ectomorphs often live in opposition of most figureheads. Truly, skinny-fat is the ultimate downer because it takes the negatives from two of the three somatoypes. Endomorphs gain fat easily. Ectomorphs find muscle building difficult. Mesomorphs dont really get fat and can build muscle without tremendous issues. Skinny-Fats gain fat easily and find muscle building difficult.
So even though endomorphs get fat easily, they can usually build muscle. And even though ectomorphs have trouble gaining muscle, at least they are lean. Skinny-fat? The worst of both worlds. The rich get richer.
Ectomorphs
The general thought surrounding ectomorphs is that they are lanky and have trouble putting on weight. Whether its their appetite or some metabolic mutation, they cant find a way to shove enough calories down the chute. A blog reader of mine consumed upwards of 7000 calories every day and couldnt gain muscle. (Even weight for that matter.)
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There are a lot ectomorph success storiesskinny, lean guys eventually turning into muscular beasts without gaining fat. These people have the luxury of good genetics. For them, putting on muscle mass is more about getting enough food down. They arent prone to fat gain, so they can literally eat peanut butter and jelly sandwich after peanut butter and jelly sandwichand they will likely have to resort to that tactic, too.
Equality
Not all ectomorphs are created equal. The lucky ectomorph is the traditional ectomorph. Their life is skinny until they eat enough. Skinny-fat ectomorphs are just like regular ectomorphs in that they are usually taller, thin wristed, and narrow shouldered. But unlike regular ectomorphs, they gain weight easily. This wouldnt be that bad, but this weight is almost always fat. Not muscle. This weight is usually chunked around the abdomen and love handle area. Another common spot is the lower chest. But the arms and shoulders remain thin and undermuscled. Due to the different body types (body types encompass more than the three somatotypes), there isnt one ideal training and nutrition program out there fit for every human being. Skinny-fats need unique carea program, training, and lifestyle that suits their physiological and psychological differences.
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CHAPTER | great expectations

Realistic expectations
I told you that I wasnt going to bullshit you, and I dont intend to. I have higher expectations for you than you probably do of yourself, which is why I have to include this Chapter. You need to get your mind right in order to see long term success. Smash the societal norm of regular. Both the internet and magazine companies can easily play tricks. And play tricks they do with photoshop, performance enhancers, and a host of fancy tactics. Just Google photoshop magazine mistakeseven the celebrities get upset when they find more muscular arms photoshopped to their torso. Comparing yourself to others is a sickness. It makes us do weird things. Very weird things.
Comparing yourself to others

I think everyone has that one friend that disregards all health and fitness norms and still appears as the pinnacle of physical fitness. No regular exercise. No note on diet. Yet ripped, muscular, and athletic. I have one of those friends. His name is Tommy. Tommy plays baseball at college and is a freak athlete. He chews tobacco. He smokes tobacco. He drinks alcohol. His eats fast food. He does 80% of things wrong. Yet hes super athletic and jacked as hell. Sound familiar? Something arises after hearing stories like this, and that something is envy. Envy is bad because it makes you want to replicate their life to see similar results. But you and I both know we cant do that.
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No, its not really fair. But thats life. And if youre reading this, youve probably spent way too much time doing something with results on par with nothing. Lets change that. Lets get you moving in the right direction.
Listening to popular advice

Advice and knowledge are great, but you have to consider the source. I alluded to this earlier with the peanut butter sandwich thing, but taking advice from people that dont gain fat isnt smart. They all say the same thingjust eat eat eatbecause its what they needed to do. But its not what you need to do. Eat, eat, eat, and you will gain weight. Yes, weight. For them, that weight is muscle. For us, that weight is fat. In the athletic world, there are freaks that can do no wrong. They are good simply because they are good. Youre toast if you follow the same programs and schedules. Listening to advice like this can cause near-permanent changes. Fat cells are nasty buggers. Fill the ones you have, and the body makes new ones. Not good considering they stick around for a long time, even after theyre emptied. (Ten years as an estimate according to John Kiefer.) That last bit of stubborn body fat could take a while to get rid of if you dont play your cards right.
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CHAPTER | three ss
Stimulate, supply, signal
The body relies on constant interaction with its external environment to mould itself into a creature best fit for survival. Its no different than a virus, really. Extreme cases of survival through adaptation can be found in many medical journals, but real world examples are fairly common too. People live without kidneys, without gall bladders, without lungs. And then there are also stories of feral children that are raised by wolves. Bottom line, the body doesnt fold when faced with hardship, it fights and adapts. Adaptation is the key. Where you sit right now is a consequence of what your body has been through since day one. Skinny-fat is an adaptation in response to a sedentary life, an abundance of overly processed junk food, an abundance of stress, and poor sleep. Theres more, but thats a pretty legitimate recipe.
Environmental conglomeration
The body receives many signals from the environment. Diet and exercise are just two of them, and one of the reasons why manipulating either might not be enough to stimulate change. In fact, dropping calories and cleaning up food intake likely isnt enough for most skinny-fat ectomorphs. You will probably lose some weight, but you will struggle to get rid of the fat around the lower chest and lower abdomen. This is because diet is just one signal. Signaling refers to the ability of the body to hint towards certain adaptations. Suffice to say, those on performance enhancing drugs alter this signaling at the moment of injection. Those of us that dont, however, have to rely on more primitive and natural methods.
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The two most common ways to alter signaling in fitness is through stimulation and supply.
Stimulation
Stimulation refers to how the muscles are stimulated. In other words, how you train. This is lifting weights, running, sprinting, and all of that fun stuff.
Supply
Supply refers to the quantity and quality of nutrients that are provided to the body. In other words: what you eat.
Breaking them down

The overall quality of your body composition depends on stimulation, supply, and signaling. The three categories shake down like this with each of their facets: Stimulation o Training Supply o Nutrition Signaling o Hormones o Genetics o Training o Nutrition o Stress o Sleep (P.S. Thanks to my good friend, Kelly Baggett, for being the one to create and educate others on the three Ss.)
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CHAPTER | signaling
Under pressure
Youre staring at the multiple choice test that lies below your breath. Your hand rests on your cheek. Unbeknownst to you, this is causing your acne, but youre not worried about that now. Youre worried about the test. Youve never seen this math before. While trying to rationalize your failure, you lift your head and look around the room. You think maybe, just maybe, you can pick up a hint to the answers from someone else. Maybe you can see their paper. Maybe your friend will send you Morse code. Doesnt matter at this point. Youre just looking for a sign. Youre looking for a way to survive.
Cheating on the test

The body isnt much different. It constantly takes hints from the external environment to decide how to adapt. The body is out to survive, just like you were on the test. You want to get over the immediate hurdle in order to live another day. You arent worried about the test next week or even the test next period. The sequence is then: Stress Stimulation Adaptation Something stimulates you. (This something is usually stress is one form or another.) This trips a cascade of reactions in the body. From the test example, not knowing the answers is the stress. This stimulates the system to find a way to conquer the stress in hopes of finding a way out. The way is the adaptation. The out is survival.
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Body composition
Your body composition is a conglomeration of adaptations in result of stimulations from cues in the external environment. Heres another look at our crude bulleted list. Stimulation o Training Supply o Nutrition Signaling o Hormones o Genetics o Training o Nutrition o Stress o Sleep In other words, our genetics tell our body to act a certain way. Our training stimulates our body to work a certain way. The same can be said for the rest of the bulleted items. While it may be tempting to think we are plopped on earth as a pre-made Rodin clay sculptures, were actually more like balls of Play-Doh. We can change over time depending on how the hands decide they want to work on any given day. Consider genetics as the only signal thats out of the hands of the sculptor. We cant do anything about them. Genetics are like how malleable the PlayDoh is. Crappy genetics means more work to manipulate the Play-Doh. So its not that it cant be altered, it just takes more time and more work.
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What this means

You get fat because the stress signals you send your body say, Store fat. Now, there can be many reasons for this, but the bottom line is that the original cascade ends in fat storage. Stress Stimulation Adaptation So if you look at the factors in the signaling department, it kind of makes sense. Theres training, which is your activity. If you do no activity, you arent pushing or hinting at the prevention of fat storage. Then theres nutrition, which is what you eat. Drinking soda regularly doesnt do much for you either.
The most important cascade

More so than anything else, this book is about the following sequence of events. Now, this may seem simple, and it kind of is. But putting it into practice is the difficult part. Like, not reaching for the Oreos on Saturday night while watching The Goonies with the lady friends is kind of difficult. Dan John, a well known strength and performance coach, once gave these two tips that he claimed to work in any training system:
1. Train the way you want your body to adapt to training. 2. Train regularly.
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Or, as my good friend Andy Fossett of Gold Medal Bodiesa company that intertwines gymnastics skills with fitnesssays:
The surest method of becoming anything is to do the things that thing does.
The following principles are permutations of these very important tips.
1. Live in a way that necessitates your body to adapt the way you want it to. 2. Repeat that lifestyle over time.
So live in a way that requires your body to have a low body fat, big muscles, powerful legs, or whatever else it is you want. And then keep living that way. In other words, signal correctly. And then keep sending those signals. Think like the body would think. What questions is the body asking in response to what you are doing? And how would it react if its sole goal was survival?
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CHAPTER | fat & signaling

The formation of fat
In general, fat forms from continually consuming more energy than we need. We know this simply as overeating. The body is stingy. It wont waste extra energy. So it stores the energy as fat, just in case the rapture actually comes to pass. This is like being able to use your notes on an important test. Are you going to show up with a thick ass notebook filled with goodies, or one tiny note card? Youre probably going to carry as much information as you can if you care about surviving the test. Remember, the body cares about survival. Thats it. It doesnt give a damn about your six pack. The body is bent on survival, not aesthetics. It doesnt mind your arteries exploding in the future from French fry consumption, because it knows the globules of fat around your waist are sources of energy and that it needs energy to survive.
The body is bent on survival, not aesthetics

From a primitive look, starvation means death. Bears intentionally eat a shit ton of food to fatten up before hibernating. Your body assumes youre doing the same thingloading up before famine. This is an immediate hint taken from the environment. You can think from your bodys perspective on this. Why would you be eating a bunch of calories unless you were actually going to need them? How cool would it be to overeat and die in hibernation because your body wanted to look great naked?
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When you combine high calorie intakes with the wrong (or no) activity, your body has no sensible choice other than to sew satchels of fat around your waist for future use. If you want to be muscular with a low body fat, you have to live a lifestyle that trips the body into thinking, To survive, I need big and strong muscles with little excess dead weight. The good news is that we can actually make this happen because we are technologically adept enough to not need extra fat stores in the winter to survive all day in a cold climate. This is the mindset you need to have from this day forward: what does my life, lifestyle, and habits signal to my body for the ultimate goal of being lean and muscular?
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CHAPTER | training & signaling

Survive...or die
All of the items under signaling interact together to form an intricate weave of circumstances. You eat a lot. And your body is prone to fat storage. From a survival standpoint, this is awesome to prevent energy crisis. If youre stranded for a while without food, you have some extra energy. Fat isnt dangerous to survival when the only demand placed on the body is sitting down on a couch to catch the 11 o clock news. But what if you lived a more demanding life? What if your survival depended on regularly running from lions? Carrying around those fat sacks suddenly hinder survival. This all lives in a fine balance, of course. The life saving sprints have to be done regularly enough for the body to deem the activity as a regular enough stress to cause the subsequent adaptation. In other words, how strong is the signal youre sending? Strength depends on frequency, intensity, and psychological arousal. Arousal is important because it dictates intensity. Youll never run as fast or heart filled as youre capable of unless a real lion were actually running you down. Exercise burns calories, sure. But not that many. Most people can forego the Tastykakes and see the same net caloric reduction they would see after running on the treadmill for two hours. Training, in this sense, is more than simply burning calories. Its stimulating the body in a certain waya way that forces the body to recognize that weighing more (or carrying more useless [useless here depends on the context, but fat sacks arent useful for sprint speed] material) is detrimental to survival.
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Its not uncommon to seek out a massive calorie burning activity in order to lose weight, as if burning calories was the only determinant in weight gain or loss. But this isnt true, and its a shortsighted view. For instance, lifting weights burns calories. Its activity. Its movement. Anytime youre moving around, youre using energy. But lifting weights, despite burning calories, provokes weight gain by stimulating muscular growth. Just because something has a metabolic cost doesnt mean its in the name of fat loss. If our muscles grow to better survive an external stressor, we can lose fat to better survive an external stressor. It all depends on how the body interprets the signal and then adapts to it. So training follows the same rules. What does the body think about what is happening, and how is it going to adapt to survive?
A better look
Say you run ten hill sprints. Sure, youre burning calories. But what do the hill sprints mean to your body? Probably that youre either escaping danger or trying to catch foodtwo things essential for survival. Aztecs didnt trek up and down mountains for a hardcore workout. Long distance running, we now know, was an integral part of persistence hunting. Running wasnt recreational. It was necessary for food, which is necessary for survival. So does fat loss come from the bodys recognition that fat is damaging its immediate ability to survive? Or from the calories it uses for energy? Or both? The other side of the equation is nutrition. No matter how much you sprint, the body wont lose weight if youre consistently overfeeding. Again, from a survival standpoint, you wouldnt overfeed unless it was necessary. So the body thinks it will need the energy in the future. Grossly underfeeding yourself doesnt help either because the body assumes famine. It will hold on to, and be diligent with, what energy is left.
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Gaining muscle is also a survival mechanism. The body doesnt want to be squashed meat under a barbell, so it gets stronger by improving the nervous and muscular system. If the right hormones are floating about, the muscular system will grow because bigger muscles mean more potential for strength and survival. Having the right hormones is important because muscle is metabolically expensive to create. It wont build what it cant fuel. In the absence of nutrients and hormones, the body still copes with the stressor. It improves the nervous system to fire better. This is done through rate coding and a bunch of other things. We know this plain and simply as getting stronger. So its like this: Lifting weights = stressor Nervous system improvement = strength Right hormones and nutrients = muscle gain
More often than not, however, muscle gain wont happen without the subsequent increase in strength. But the bottom line is that no matter your nutritional or hormonal situation, the body tries to adapt to the stressor. It tries to better survival for the next onslaught.
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CHAPTER | mind & signaling

Free your mind
Not that I watch much TV, but I enjoy watching Extreme Make Over Weight Loss Edition. What I find interesting is that Chris Powell (the trainer) almost always breaks the participants mental barriers. Some of which are fueled by devastating childhood events such as rape or neglect. While I dont know the specifics of your situation, theres probably some mental issues that need sorted out. Ive gotten one too many e-mails from skinny-fat ectomorphs looking to take steroids. Its sad knowing so many people live with such baggage. But its also humbling, as it makes me appreciate where I am in comparison to where Ive been. After being told I had girl boobs, my life was an emotional wreck. This stuff is much more than physical dissatisfaction. Above all else, success comes from your mind. Lose your mind, lose your body. Youre starting anew.
Where skinny-fats go wrong

Skinny fat ectomorphs arent always hindered by a lack of training and nutrition knowledge. Sometimes theyre hindered by a lack of psychological togetherness. Being skinny fat carries severe emotional issues. Its a bipolar life to live. To some, youre lanky and wiry. To yourself, youre chubby and fat. You have no role or identity. This emotional turmoil lends itself to unorthodox behavior. A reader of mine sent me a sample of his diet. Im not including this to rag on him, as I used to have the same issues. But this illustrates the skinny fat paranoia.
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His intake: Breakfast: 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal Snacks: 2 scoops protein Lunch and Dinner: Shrimp and broccoli Lets break this down: 6 egg whites ites ~ 120 kcals 1/2 cup oatmeal ~ 300 kcals 2 scoops of protein ~ 250 kcals Shrimp and broccoli x 2 ~ 300 kcals x 2 = 600 kcals Total daily intake = ~ 1400kcals This reader er was a young and handsome lad complaining about not being able to lose weight. The problem was that he already had visible abs. His problem kind of made sense; he didnt have anything to lose, he just thought he did. Sadly, this is how most former skinny fat ectomorphs livein fear of regaining any and all fat. I was the same way, obses obsessed over details. This picture was taken in 2006. I was getting lean, but this little bit of fat (that was truly mostly skin) destroyed my life. I obsessed over it. I kept trying to hammer weight loss even though I shouldnt have.
Lifestyle, psychology
I dont mean to go all Dr. Phil here, but understanding the stress response is an important part of understanding how to optimize physiology for muscle growth and fat loss. If youre a constant subordinate filled with inadequate feelings, youre losing out. This is troublesome, as skinny fats often feel this way.
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Worrying about the perfect routine. Worrying about losing weight. Worrying about gaining muscle. Worrying about what others are doing. Worrying about what others are saying. Worrying about their current body composition. Worrying about girlfriends. Worrying about gossip. Sound familiar? Trust me, I get the e-mails. I know the thinking. Hell, I lived the thinking. But this mindset is a double whammy. Not only does it screw with your immediate physiology, but it also lessens your chances of following and dedicating yourself to your training. Ive been on this program for two weeks and nothing is happening! It takes longer than two weeks, Honey.
Mindset of winning
A few years ago, I regularly chatted with a man that changed my life. This wasnt one of those faux life changers either. This was a legitimate holy shit life changer. Since our original conversations ended, Ive yet to regain contact with him despite many attempts. Truly, I cant thank him enough, and if I ever reconnect with him, credit for the following passage falls solely in his lap. (Dear Females: As a warning, this is a more male oriented passage, but it will serve you well if you extrapolate some main points from it. First is winning. Second is feeling good about yourself. Try to focus on those two things.) Soak these words in. There isnt anything overly specific here with regards to skinny-fatness, but you need to extrapolate the code of living from this. Mindset wins.
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The first problem that jumps out at me is that you're trying to find your manliness in your diet, but that is no way to feel manly. If we're talking about "manliness" in the traditional western sense of the word here, it isn't "manly" at all to be concerned with your diet or your physical appearance. Conversely, in this pathetic modern era, AskMen.com voted David Beckham as the #1 manliest man in the entire world... Justin Timberlake was ranked significantly above Brad Pitt and Christian Bale... so to put it simply: fuck "manliness". The word is as twisted and dead as feminism. If you feel like your self esteem and sex drive are low, and you're looking for a way to qualify your self-worth through an innate masculinity, you aren't going to find it in your nutrition. Ask yourself these questions:
Have I done anything lately that I could feel comfortable bragging about if I wanted to? Am I responsible for any other person(s)? Do I pursue what I really desire, or do I try to fit my desires into the expectations of society? Do I have any role models -or - Who are the manliest men I can think of? Do I want to be like them, and if not, who do I really want to be like?
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When I look at myself naked in the mirror, do I feel sexy, or do I want to put clothes on immediately?
If you want to feel like a man and increase your feelings of self-worth, you have to WIN. Building self esteem is like building muscle, where hard work is heavy weights and a positive attitude is your nutrition. You need to ACCOMPLISH things, things that make you feel so good that you won't be embarrassed to brag about them to anyone you know. If you squatted an extra 10lbs today or beat God Mode in a video game, nobody (that matters) really cares. But if you build a wooden chair by hand, or you led your sports team to victory, or you deliver a public speech, then you will find each real accomplishment is like +10 SLF ESTM. Becoming manly means leveling up, and you do that by WINNING. Other wiser cultures have rites of passage that they put their boys through in order to level them up to manhood, but unfortunately here in the west we have to come up with it on our own. You also feel manly by being responsible for, and/or taking care of other people. I take care of my girlfriend, my dogs, my family, my best friend, and people that seek my guidance in bodybuilding online and in person. Making a difference in someone's life, and being a leader, is key to feeling right with yourself in my opinion. The real, ultimate definition of masculinity really just means bending your world to your desires, and not the other way around. My biggest tip here is to just examine yourself, and become fearless. Find out what you really want, and go after it like a raging bull. Role models are extremely important. This one is pretty self explanatory.
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Feeling sexy is the first step towards having a higher sex drive. Firstly though, don't believe all the societal hype about how men are supposed to be horny 24/7. It's just crude, sexist, and ignorant to really believe that, and I think this myth hurts more libidos than it encourages by far. But if YOU don't feel like YOU are a sexually attractive person, why would you expect to want to put yourself out there and be intimate with anyone else? Honestly, making yourself feel sexually attractive is the first and very likely the last step you will need to increasing your libido. If you look in the mirror and think you are too pale, or your beard is scruffy, or you aren't muscular enough, then create a plan to fix these things. When you look in the mirror and want to stay a while to do some posing/air-humping, then you will find your libido has mysteriously skyrocketed. If you asked someone in my life that knows me to describe me, they would likely say that I am "unique", or "weird", or "a cool guy but I can't tell if he hates me?" Some would say that I am manly, but that isn't where their minds first go to. However, none of them would say I am girly, and certainly not sad or exhibiting low self esteem. Most of the people in my life come to me for help or guidance, or they see me as a constant/solid figure that they can count on. I don't mean that in the "doormat" sense, since in some cases I have friends that can always count on the fact that I never have time for them, yet they love me for it.
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My final secret tip on manliness is simply to let yourself be distinctive. Think of today as the past. Imagine that you are living your entire life for a second time, or imagine that your future self is by your side telling you what to do and where to go. We all think to ourselves what we would do differently and how much harder we would work if we could just go back in time 5, 10, 15 years knowing what we know now. BE that change NOW, by figuring out what you truly want, and working so hard for it that you know in 5 years you won't be able to look back and think "I should have done something differently", or "I wish I'd paid my dues then". My future self is my imaginary friend.
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CHAPTER | life & signaling

Think big, win big
When I was in 9th grade, I started tricking. Tricking is a combination of martial arts, gymnastics, and acrobatics that aims to create an aesthetic blend of flips, kicks, and twists. Tricking quickly taught me that bad thoughts create bad actions. Your mind controls more than your brain. If you think youre going to bail or fail, youre going to bail or fail. You cant win when your mind wants to lose. Fixing skinny-fatness is 60% training and nutrition. The other 40% is mentality, lifestyle, and self-perception. Get your mind right, get your life right.
Understanding life
Sometimes, some things just make too much sense. In an attempt to fathom the progress an idol of mine accomplished with his physique and strength over a few years, my former mentor (the same one that wrote me the passage above) said something along the lines of: His gains are no surprise. What do you expect of someone that hangs out in the sun, lifts barbells, trains regularly, and eats wholesome foods, plays around in the grass, gets plenty of sleep, and lives a relaxed and stress free life? Too. Much. Sense. This concept was reinforced upon watching a scene in Pumping Iron, the bodybuilding documentary. Arnold and company were living the good life, seemingly without stress, ordering 12 eggs and a pound of steak for lunch, lounging and relaxing by the beach, being idolized by women, and growing into a tightly connected group of friends. Its no wonder they were able to do the things they did.
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Skinny-fats, being a ball of psychological disaster, usually stress and worry themselves out of optimal physiology. To signal the body to be muscular with a low body fat: Control unnecessary stress Gain a quiet confidence Help and take care of others Find good friendships Pick good role models Be yourself Stop lying Feel good about yourself Win Rest Eat the right stuff at the right time Train with the optimal frequency and duration
Alpha male myth

A common question I get is, What training books do you recommend? My answer: Why Zebras Dont Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky. The book has nothing to do with training in the traditional sense. Its about stress and adaptation. And lifting weights, getting stronger, losing fat, and increasing performance is all about stress and adaptationexactly why Why Zebras Dont Get Ulcers is important stuff. The content umbrellas over stress and disease. But if you can conceptualize the information into the performance realm, youll be a better person after reading it. There are huge lifestyle implication with regards to improve well being and physiology, starting with the myth of the alpha male. Alpha males are big and buff. Around performance circles, big and buff is good. So theres an idea that you should be ultra confrontational and aggressive, just like an alpha male. But this is just a selling point used by those that dont fully understand stress.
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Alpha males have as much emotional baggage as an inferior. Theyre big and bad, but their immune system and overall physiology is just as weak as someone that gets tossed around. Theyre always fearful of someone taking over their reign and power as number one. Those with the best immune function and most serene physiology are those that live in societies of equals. In other words, not having to give a shit about what others think of you. Were relaxed around friends and familyatmospheres with little competition. This is when the body does its magic. Theres a reason laughter is the best medicine. So on the lifestyle front, find a group of loving people to be around. (Preferably friends that dont push you to get shitfaced every week.) Destress. Meditate. Take care of your emotional well being. Most importantly, take care of other people and do stuff that matters. Nothing boosts morale like being a caretaker and having a sense of belonging. Helping others, not stomping on someone elses face in the mud, makes you feel superhuman. Numerous study show that helping others is the number one factor in deeming whether or not your job is rewarding. Cut the alpha male shenanigans. Be confident, but carry it quietly. Be you. Have faith in yourself. Help other people. Do something that matters. And trust in the process.
If thou knowest thyself, it will follow thou wilt not puff thyself up like the frog that strove to make himself as large as the ox. -Cervantes
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Pick good role models, but be yourself

Having role models is somewhat of a touchy subject, as part the mindset can be taken overboard easily. Fix it by taking the following mindset: role models are for motivation, not for replication. Trying to copy someone elses life or training program, and not giving yourself individual leeway to bewellyourself is a surefire way to hit failure. And fast. This is where becoming your own hero comes into play. Develop into something youre proud of. This goes back to taking care of others too. How can you find the confidence to manage others if you dont have the confidence to manage yourself? Role models are there to remind you that you can always be doing something a little better. They arent there to be envious of, so dont drain your self confidence over them.
TAKE ACTION:
Find one role model.
What does s/he do that you wish you did? Make a list of things. Remember, lifes not about looking back five years and wishing. Its about becoming who you want to be right now.
Knock one item off this list every one or two weeks.
Dont try doing everything at once, else youll quickly lose your own identity.
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Get positivity going

In line with becoming your own hero, you have to feel good about yourself. This is the most difficult part of the process, and something everyone struggles with. Skinny-fatness zaps confidence. Theres no self worth. How can you be proud of something that caused you years of anguish? Heres what I mean: It is very difficult to keep positive...I'm very critical, especially with myself. Every time I try to keep positive, I see that I have nothing to show for after all my effort and feel really bad. I know I should feel good about something, but I'm going through a phase in my life in which this is really difficult. But imagine that you are two years trying with no tangible results? Yeah, I've lost a lot of fat, but I looked bad with my shirt off them, as I do now. This kind of thing makes my confidence plummet. And I lost count of how many similar e-mails Ive received. Ive sat in the same spot. Finding something to snowball your psyche is troublesome, but this thinking focuses on the wrong things. You are more than your body. A lot more. What else can get your confidence going? Are you a badass artist? Can you do woodwork? A master mathematician? Perfect programmer? Whatever it is, find it. And then help someone else with that subject matter. This may sound a bit backwards, but part of the problem of being skinny-fat is being selfish. And I mean that in a respectful way, but skinnyfatness is always a whine-fest about personal woes. Start improving other peoples lives, and youll improve yours too. A subtle way to improve your life is to stop lying. This was a pact I made to myself after reading Sam Harriss short book, Lying.
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Its difficult. It hurts some people. But it feels damn good because it fosters genuine relationships and mental peace. Not long ago, I was a teacher. After losing my job, I was harassed by a school district to take a job that was only one week long. Now, I hate short-term stints. To not upset the district, the normal solution would be lying about a prior commitment. Instead, I told them, Im sorry, but substituting isnt something Im interested in doing. But let me know if you have any long term positions. This is unheard of because it ruins positive vibes with a district, as youre expected to subits almost like a rite of passage. Avoiding it is basically foregoing all chances at a future job. Let me tell you what though: I felt wonderful after delivering that message.
TAKE ACTION:
Find something to take confidence in.
This doesnt have to be fitness related.
Help others with that thing. Dont think of yourself in the present. Think of yourself in the future as the person you want to be.
This is your new identity. Live like him or her. Be like him or her. Own that person. Would your new self go drinking on a Wednesday night? Would your new self skip workouts?
Hold yourself to a respectable moral code.

Hold doors. Dont lie. Look people in the eye. Be that person that everyone is glad to meet.
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its simple: Win

All of these things come together to form small wins. These small wins are your snowballs. They roll down the hill, growing as they gather surrounding snow. Telling the truth may seem stupid as hell. This is a training book and youre reading about not lying? What the hell? But telling the truth in a situation you normally lie in unlocks a feeling of euphoria. Youre suddenly free of an arbitrary bind put on you by societya bind that subsequently suppresses who you really are and what you really think. You need to own yourself. You have different opinions and feelings. Share them. This subtle act of telling the truth gives you confidence because youre able to express your opinions. Expressing your opinions shows confidence in your ideas, which breeds even more confidence. This means youre more comfortable with who you are, which allows you to function with a clearer mind. This transitions into your training and nutrition too. Going out with your friends? Everyone ordering sloppy fried food? Congratulations. You now have the cojones to be yourself, decline the shitty food, and order a plateful of oats and cottage cheese. (Ive been known to do this.) You may look weird, but your newly found confidence doesnt give a shit. Remember back to the alpha males: Those best off live in societies of equals. In other words, not having to give a shit about what others think of you. If theyre really your friends, they wont care what you order. Normally, social circumstances order you to be a mule. With confidence, you can bend the world to your desires, and not bend your desires to the world.
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These form wins. For me personally, landing a new trick is a win. It makes me feel good about myself, just as teaching someone else a trick does. People think Im crazy, but I tell them my life changes every time I land a new trick.
TAKE ACTION:
Record how often you do things just to meet others expectations.
Try taking note of these situations when they happen, and act according to your genuine desires instead of what you think society would expect of you.
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Rest
Rest and sleep are more closely related to lifestyle as opposed to training. Setting good sleeping habits is more of a consequence of the life you live rather than a training routine. Rest is important. Getting enough sleep to feel good about your day means making better decisions and feeling just that much more awesome than you otherwise would. Dan John said that the Cuban Olympic weightlifters reportedly sleep nine hours every night and take two-and-a-half hour naps every day. Now, I dont know what thats saying considering Cuba isnt exactly a weightlifting powerhouse, but I think its worth the consideration. Certain things feel good on physiological purpose, so that were apt to repeat them. Having sex is one of them, else we dont procreate. Helping others is another, else wed probably die alone in the wilderness. But, really, is there anything worse than a terrible night of sleep? Is there anything better than waking up ready to conquer the world? Theres also another subtle benefit of being tired and nappy: its representative of being calmed and relaxed. Remember, skinny-fat ectomorphs are a gigantic ball of stress, which isnt good unless you want to look like a hyper drug dealer. While this is more of topic for hardcore athleticism, the easier your parasympathetic nervous system (also known as the rest and digest system) kicks in, the better off you are. Think of it like a car. You want to drive when the key is turned in the ignition. You dont want to idle. Idling zaps the battery. Taking naps and falling asleep easily are signs of being able to shut down, which is good for eliminating unnecessary stress and getting your body in optimal physiology.
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TAKE ACTION:
Thirty minutes before you plan on sleeping, get a notebook and write down every random thought you have to help clear your mind. After your brain dump, turn off all electronics and go somewhere quiet. (Best scenario: your bed.) Do the whole cross legged thing, close your eyes, and focus on breathing.
Remember, breathing comes from the belly, not from the chest. Expand through your diaphragm, which will expand your belly with each breath. The shoulders should remain still. Follow this protocol from Bill Starrs The Strongest Shall Survive until you feel at peace (usually about five or ten minutes): Inhale through the nose as close to 100% as possible When you think youre at 100%, take one last inhale (youll never be at 100%) Hold for 5-10 seconds Exhale 100% through pursed lips When you think youre at 100%, take one last exhale Hold for 5-10 seconds Repeat
Set your alarm for when you want to wake up and dont hit the snooze button.
An hour of shitty sleep as your alarm blares every ten minutes is just that shitty sleep.
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Stop caring about everyone else

Perhaps one of the most perpetuated myths in fitness is that working out, and its subsequent adaptations, are only done to impress others. That might be one of the original motivations (highly likely), but as we grow into our own world it becomes less and less about others. In the beginning, there is such a lack of confidence that everything is done for someone else. You want a better body. Youre tired of being teased. Or judged. (Most times, we tease and judge ourselves...) You want people to be envious of you at the beach. You want your friend to notice the size of your bicep. You want other people to notice you and respond in some way. But, truly, your only care for others should be in an effort to help them, as mentioned in the previous chapter. Nothing builds small wins, and feelings of masterfulness, quite like helping other people rise to the top. As you progress in your fitness journey, however, all of this stuff is done to make yourself feel good. Trust me, you will face your share of social scrutiny. Friends will be upset with you for skipping out on social occasions because your new life doesnt warrant the getting shitfaced four nights of the week ritual. Your family wont understand why you dont want dessert. You know, you only live once! theyll say. But because youre making yourself feel good, you end up caring less and less about everyone else because youre comfortable with your convictions. Who cares what they think? Right now, you probably obsess over everythingwearing clothes that dont highlight your fat for instancebecause youre uncomfortable with who you are. Gain that comfort, however, and it all fades.
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TAKE ACTION:
Instead of secluding yourself into a lifestyle your family and friends arent fond of, try helping them adopt healthier habits.
Remember how important helping others is? During family gatherings, bring a healthy dish (that actually tastes good). Cook food for friends and family that meet your standards. Who doesnt like a hunk of well cooked meat and some accompanying vegetables?
Reduce your drinking frequency with your friends, but dont cut them off completely.
Go out every other week and change your drink of choice to something with minimal carbs. Try getting your friends to drink the same. Alternatively, go out and opt to be the designated driver. This way, you have a reason not to drink.
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bonus: wear the right clothes

As silly as this sounds, what you wear represents who you are. Clothing brands are more than just protection from weather these days; they symbolize what you stand for. It sounds stupid, but the clothes you wear can help you feel good. They can help you win. Im a laid back guy. I dont really brag. I always defer credit to others. This kind of personality lacks satisfaction at times. You never soak up wins. Youre always downplaying them. Instead of changing my personality, I flipped the script. I embraced it in a way that made me feel good about it. And I did this partly with clothing. Ive always been one to cling to things that make me feel goodthat just make sense to me. By wearing clothes that represent me, it makes me feel better about who I really am. It may sound stupid, but these small psychological tricks work. Not saying you need to redo your wardrobe, but consider buying a few things that represent who you are and that make you feel good about who you are. Consider it an investment in yourself. I wrote a short blog post about clothing some time ago. Its applicable, so check it out.
Blog blast from the past: Look Badass, Play Badass

Earlier this year, Marylands football program debuted unique uniforms. Most of the people I follow on Twitter and Facebook hated them. I loved them. Im a fan of unconformity, and I think a lot of Universitieseven professional teamsare going to alter their uniforms to make them cooler, in hopes of better recruiting. It only makes sense. Youngsters and soft-core sports fans like the teams with cooler uniforms and colors.
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Anytime Im watching a football game with my mom, she asks why people wear those little bands around their upper bicep. She doesnt understand that athletes do things solely for aesthetic appeal. But its the same reason people wearing the Maryland uniform have a competitive advantage. The same reason people buy earrings, shoes, and belts to match an outfit. The same reason you dont often see people wearing a green shirt with red pants. Style matters. The better you think you look, the better you feel. And the better you feel, the better you perform. Take advantage of this. Find your style. It could be special jewelry, knee high socks, or a certain brand. You can borrow it from your idols too. Lacing up Jordans prior to a game will have a different feeling than lacing up the generic Wal-Mart brand. So if youre aiming to hit a squat PR, deck yourself out. Sport the high socks, tie the Nike Romaleos, get the Ikigai shirt, and wear the knit beanie toque. If youre having trouble finding the motivation for your sprint or field work, put on the bicep bands, the nicest pair of athletic shorts you have, and your special necklace. Everyone says, Everything else being equal, the stronger person wins. Well, everything else being equal, the one thats wearing clothes that they think they look badass in wins. Silly, but true.
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CHAPTER | stimulate
Making things happen
Ah, stimulationthe training side of skinny-fatness, and what you probably expected to find in this resource since the start. Skipping straight to this chapter is dangerous, as conquering skinny-fatness is more than a set of exercisesits a lifestyle. Nevertheless, training is important. Very important. Its the part that signals the necessity of having big muscles with a low body fatthe holy grail of skinny-fatness. The most common mistake skinny-fat people make is neglecting proper strength training. If theres one thing you need to do, its meaningful weight training. Frilly isolation and machine exercise routines simply arent going to cut it. The vast majority of people stuck in skinny-fat land do machine exercises, isolation exercises, and an overabundance of cardio with the rationale and goal of weight loss.
You need muscles

You need to grow your muscles, even if you only want to look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Ever see a big guy that doesnt look that fat because hes also muscular? Thats because whats under the fat and skin plays an important role in the overall shape the body has. Think of wrapping yourself in saran wrap. The first layer is pretty close to the skin and still reveals the subtleties of your shape. But if you keep wrapping, eventually its going to even out and details will no longer be distinguishable. The more pronounced and carved the object being wrapped is, the more times it can be wrapped before losing its shape and structure.
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Growing the muscles

There are a lot more people stuck in skinny-fat land as opposed to beast land. Most skinny-fats follow the same plan: cardio and avoiding weights. This gets them nowhere. Why then are you falling into the same trap? Being lean and muscular isnt normal in todays society. This means you need to do things that normal people dont. Normal people walk on the treadmill, use machines, and pick up dumbbells covered in pink, yellow, or orange plastic coating. In order to get to places most people arent, you have to do things most people dont. Machine exercises and overemphasizing cardio dont cut it, which goes back to signaling. What is the bodys perception of the exercises? Like it or not, youre going to have to learn how lift heavy things. For us without the wonderful genetics, its the only way to convince the body to adapt in the way we want it to adapt.
Good exercises
The reason cake somehow ends up at every party is because just about everyone loves cake. (Personally, I hate it.) The reason why programs are defined by big compound exercises is because, quite simply, they work. Nearly any reputable program has some type of squatting, some type of pressing, some type of pulling from the floor, and some type of pulling from arms length. Yes, this means barbell squats. Yes, we go all the way down and all the way up too. These exercises work because lifting weights and getting bigger muscles is all about stress and the subsequent adaptation demanded by the body. The body wont do something unless it has a damn good reason to do it. Energy is a precious commodity and the building blocks of muscle arent exactly easy to come by. To best produce muscle, you have to do the exercises that are quite literally the most dangerous to the body.
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And I dont mean dangerous in an injurious sense, I mean dangerous in a way that has the body signaling this threatens my survival. The latter forces adaptation. In an organism that only cares about survival, the fastest way to get something to happen is to threaten its survival. Take a bench press for example. The bar is held over the throat. Controlling your muscles prevents it from teetering back and forth as you lower it to the chest and then back up to lockout. The body doesnt want to get crushed under a heavy, unstable object, so its going to do something to prevent itself from getting killed. This something is building more muscle, improving the nervous system, or both. There are a few important things here: Free weights are preferred because they need to be controlled through space. Contraptions like Smith machines reduce the need for control and subsequently decrease the overall danger sensed by the body. The load has to be dangerous enough to alert the body. o Light weights are kind of like flies buzzing around your face. You swipe your hand at them a few times and then they go away. No big deal. But a wasp scares most people enough to make them get up and move. Bigger stress, bigger response. Bench enough times and the muscles of the chest and arms get stronger, which is the bodys way of getting better in an effort to survive. Compare this to sitting on a pec dec machine where theres literally no danger. Your muscles dont stabilize a weight being forced down by gravity. Its just not the same. Therefore, you must seek refuge in free weight exercises. Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebellsthese things are your friends. And training with them is something I call matterful training.
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Having said that, you arent going to find one holy grail exercise. So stop looking. Results come from consistent training. There are a few tricks that manipulate physiology through training and nutrition to trip the body into the, I need big muscles and a low bodyweight to survive, mentality, but the actual exercises in themselves arent overly critical as long as theyre within the same ballpark. (Front squats compared to back squats, for example.) Sometimes skinny fat ectomorphs do the right things in the gym. But they do them for the wrong reasonslargely a consequence of environment. Were told squats make bigger arms. And deadlifts do just about everything. Not to take anything away from those important lifts, but for all around developmentwhat most skinny fat ectomorphs seekyou have to embrace vanity. If you want big arms, you have to curl. Sure, you should do chin-ups and rows. But you should curl here and there, too. Youll never match the arm growth you would otherwise have with isolation movements. Adaptation is specific to the stressor. Its like math. Why do long division by hand when a calculator gets the answer much quicker? Now, this isnt a squat bashing. I squat. I always have. And I will until I cant. You should do. But theres simply more to consider for a well rounded physique. It seems silly, but we know what exercises produce good results. We know that rows target the back. We know benching hits the chest. We know squats hit the legs. We know curls hit the arms. The only unknown is you. You have to get out there and do these things regularly enough to get good at them.
Cardio confusion
From a physiological standpoint, distance running (ie: cardio) utilizes fat as a fuel source better than just about any other exercise, which is something to consider. But, once again, this takes us back to the type of adaptations in response to the activity.
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Remember, exercise is more than calories. Exercise signals a cascade of responses throughout the body which have the potential to hint at other things. In light of this, the vast majority of your training focus should be on building muscle. Period. Even when youre cutting down, you need to hammer strength training. Its your first priority when building a better body. Weight loss comes from nutrition more so than activity. Aerobic training is included in the programming, but its not a focus. Dont get me wrong, aerobic exercise is important as it uses fat as a substrate for fuel. But it isnt the only answer. In fact, it isnt even the first answer. Its just one variable in the long equation of your new lifestyle. Overdo or prioritize aerobic training, and youre asking for failure.
Programming
Short term programs are poison. So you have an eight week stint planned. But what do you do after those eight weeks? Jump to another program? And then what? Another one? And another? Program hopping is the worst behavior anyone can adopt. If a program isnt sustainable and adaptable for long term use, dont bother with it unless you have a narrowed short term goal (fat loss, for instance). Thats not to say youre doomed into doing the same thing day in and day out, but a program should be adaptable. Progress is the ultimate motivator. And progress comes from practicing a handful of lifts consistently enough to get good at them. Doing barbell row for two weeks and then switching to dumbbell rows and then switching back to barbell rows before trying arc rows after moving to inverted rows after doing chest supported machine rows makes progress impossible to gauge. Principles are more important as they shape the overall structure of the program. Have your mind in every session. Lift with a semblance of heart.
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Develop a worthwhile intensity. And take targeted muscles through a decent range of motion. These are the backbone.
Reasons for failure

Skinny fats fail because they either: expect results too fast follow a program not suited to their vanity (avoiding curls, for instance) These behaviors lead to: program hopping bulking
In either case, you might as well club baby seals. Bulking for a skinny fat ectomorph will be a mayhem-fest of trying to gain fifty pounds of muscle in six weeks. The results being tremendous fat gain, ten weeks of cutting, and ending up at square one. Im not here to dismantle your expectations, but if youre truly skinny-fat, your genetics probably arent the best in the world for becoming strong, ripped, or defined. Were working up hill. Because of this, training focus has to be a long term process.
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CHAPTER | supply
Mainstream madness
The idea of having a static diet day in and day out doesnt do much for our muscular and performance pursuits because it goes back to this principle: What signals are being sent to the body? With regards to supply, the following questions arise: 1. What does the quantity of food consumed tell me? 2. What does the type (macronutrient) of food consumed tell me? 3. What does the timing of consuming (or not consuming) specific nutrients tell me? Most mainstream diets deal with one of these three things. The nutrition guide included with this resource addresses all three. Its a reasonable nutrition scheme thats adaptable to any lifestyle. Its designed for fat loss, which suits the first skinny-fat step. (Remember, get lean first. Your muscle building potential will be heightened afterwards.) After leaning down, nutrition changes a bit. I prefer a strategy that I call Chaos Bulking. The Chaos Bulk manipulates many variables in order to build muscle without getting fat, which is why I consider it a clean bulking strategy for the genetically disadvantaged. Its designed for people that dont want to regain fatfor those that would rather build muscle slowly over time and maintain a lean physique year round. Most people would call this a clean bulk. But remember, clean bulking is only important after you fix the fat part of skinny-fat. The nutrition guide included in this resource is specific to the fat part, which makes it more applicable. No need to cross wires and give you too much too soon.
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Skinny-Fat Supplement
Most of the people I work with come from one of two backgrounds: 1. They cardio themselves to death and neglect strength work. 2. They eat themselves to death in hopes of gaining muscle, which makes them fatter. Theres a troop online that encourages people to milk their newbie strength gains by jamming calories down their throat. This energy is then used to propel strength gains. Without the caloric surplus, newbie gains stall earlier, and your muscle building potential will be limited. Or so the theory goes. This philosophy deals with lean body mass. Those with little lean body mass (not a lot of muscle) are told to avoid concentrated fat loss because it would result in a rather scrawny appearance. Hence the idea of building muscle before losing fat. (The opposite of what I recommend.) But most people that undergo this plan unsupervised all say the same thing: I was told to bulk. I bulked. I got fatter. I hate myself even more. Thats because this advice is passed down from people that simply dont understand the psyche of a skinny-fat person. For the majority of skinny-fat people, going on an eating frenzy ends badly because of the established ill will to body fat. Skinny-fats live their entire life obsessing over body fat. They dont feel comfortable with it. They hate it. Above all else, it destroys them. These mental and emotional issues take credence over everything because until theyre sorted, youll never make headway in the right direction. If youre self conscious about your body fat, the last thing you want to do is add more body fat to your frame. Its nonsensical, no matter how much potential you have to build muscle. I cant count how many e-mails Ive gotten about this, and how many times it spirals people down bad paths. Heres one from just the other day:
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Well, I noticed an increase of belly fat, and not much increase of anything else in the mirrorso I went back to thinkingmaybe I should get rid of all the fat first and then try to bulk, because if I continue things will get worseyou know this constant cycle.
Its running in place. And this almost always happens. But its a two way street for the following reason:
But again, I am still confused about should I cut to a low BF% first at all. I can see how thats not going to be a pretty picture either. I can only imagine what would happen if I did a more aggressive calorie reduction. I like the idea of getting rid of all the excess body fat first, but then Im afraid Ill look the skinniest Ive ever been.
The worst thing you can do is bounce back and forth between bulking and cutting, failing to make respectable strides in any one direction. Bulk. Get too fat. Cut down to original level. No muscular progress made. First failure. Cut. Feel undermuscled. Eat back up to original level. No fat loss progress made. Second failure. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat...
Congratulations. You just entered the hall of failure. Pick a direction and stick with it. If youre self-conscious about body fat, lean down.
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Besides, if youre overly fat, gauging muscle building progress is difficult. Muscle is harder to detect under fat, and its easy to get discouraged from an apparent lack of results. (Whether or not change is happening is arbitrary, as its all about perception for most people.) The opposite of this example is my little cousin. Hes a soccer player with a pretty low body fat. After two weeks we could tell that his training was working. There was nothing to stop the muscle from showing. This goes back to the saran wrap example mentioned earlier. The more saran wrap you have around your body, the tougher it is to get an idea of whats underneath. But there is more. Getting lean is easier than building muscle. You can lean down to a solid level within one year if youre at or under 20% body fat. But you probably wont reach your ideal level of muscularity in one year. So initially losing the body fat gets positive feelings rolling for the road ahead. You get over one hump quickly, which steamrolls momentum. If you bulk first, youre going to end up cutting and rebulking. Few people are willing to stay outside of their comfortable body fat level year round. Theres no point in the bulk-cut-bulk-cut-bulk ordeal. Just start from a solid lean base and slowly build muscle. If you bulk first, you have a longer cut ahead of you. Cuts suck. Being lean makes muscle building progress easier to gauge. Being lean is better for minimizing damage done when building muscle. You can sense if youre on the right or wrong path faster. Damage is easily reversible. If you overeat for a two weeks and notice yourself extending beyond a comfortable level of body fat, its only going to take one or two weeks to return to baseline. This is gist behind the The Chaos Bulk. Being lean increases your carbohydrate tolerance. You can get away with minor indulgences more. Being lean improves your partitioning. More of what you eat gets used for muscle building.
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Dont make this mistake

Getting lean doesnt mean foregoing all training outside of cardio. Some traditional lower intensity aerobic work can be implemented into your training, but the most important facet of getting lean is increasing or maintaining strength via strength training. Its often common to save strength training until a lean state is hit, but this is a huge mistake.
Skinny-Fat supplement 2
I dont care how much more your strength potential is improved by turning into a lard ass, dont do it. As long as you embark on a progressive strength training program, youre on the right path. Ive yet to hear of anyone that started strength training only to see their muscles shrink. Its just not fathomable. The idea of strength gains stalling early is arbitrary. Who cares? So you tone back your strength progression when it happens. Big whoop. At least youre finally making headway with your body compositionthe issue that plagued you for years. This bulk mindset also insinuates that only food just recently eaten can be used for fuel. But let me remind you again of what body fat is. Remember the talk about the body storing energy for later use? Thats body fat. Body fat is used for energy when deemed necessary. Training requires energy. If you arent eating enough energy, you body takes the body fat and uses it as energy. While fat doesnt turn into the muscle, the energy the body gets from the body fat can be used in the name of muscle building. Stored body fat = energy. It may not be the most efficient for replenishing muscle glycogen or building muscle, but whos to say it has no effect?
The rate of muscle gain

Come to terms with your body. You will never be the Incredible Hulk. But that shouldnt discourage you from reaching your maximum potential.
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As for what your maximum potential is: who cares? It doesnt matter. Why would it? Who cares about predicted peak potential? All that matters is you quest towards your best. You dont need a calculator to predict where you will stop. This is about you. Youre making your better, better. Youre working with what you got. Focus on that. Focus on yourself. Focus on taking what you got and making it better every day. If someone told you that you would never make more than $30,000 per year, would you try reaching beyond that salary? Or would you give up when you got there? Ceiling and limitations are poison. Just go. And go as hard and as best as you can. But, with this, set realistic expectationsespecially with rate of muscle gain. Jon Call of Tricks Tutorials has long since been a mentor and idol of mine. Hes made a tremendous physical transformation over the years. I wanted to know his secret. So, I asked.
It took years. 2002 I was 155. 2003: 165. 2004: 170. 2006: 185. 2007: 200. 2008: 215 (when I stopped tricking and started eating insane amounts of food). Now Im 205 again. Ive never gained a lot of fat no. But I have gained some of course.
The disclaimer is this: Jon is the most dedicated person I know. My birthday celebrations consist of cake, cookies, alcohol, and other guilty pleasures. Jon, on the other hand, sticks candles in a shrimp circle to celebrate. And even then, with everything being on point, Jon never gained more than fifteen pounds in one year.
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Adding ten to fifteen pounds of raw muscle in one year is downright impressive. Thats about one pound of muscle per month. Beginners will be able to add a little more. Seasoned veterans, a little less. And while fifteen pounds sounds great, on a taller frame, its not hugely noticeable. Granted, its partially a height issue. If someone 53 put on fifteen pounds it would be a lot more obvious. But my point is most people arent putting on fifteen pounds over a summer. Theyre adding five to ten, tops. And since its spread over their entire body, its tough to notice. Ten pounds per yearone pound per monthsounds easy. But we have to train sensibly to hit that maximum year in and year out. The difference between ten pounds per year and five pounds per year is huge. The better you get, the harder it is to build muscle. If are lucky enough to gain ten pounds of muscle each year in your first few years, thats thirty pounds of quality muscle. This can take a string bean 150 pounder up to a solid 180 pounder. But as you advance, muscle growth slows. Imagine if you were able to add ten pounds of muscle every year. In ten years, youd gain 100 pounds of solid muscle. And youd be 250 pounds of solid granite. The only things you should worry about are things you can control. Dont worry about adding x amount of muscle in y time. Silly timeframes like these distort your mind. Instead, think about training hard. Training consistently. Fueling your body according to its needs and your goals. Showing up every damn day. Because in the end, these are the things that matter most.
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Progress
Initial strength levels are irrelevant. Throw your self-consciousness away. Focus on consistency and small wins over time. If you started with one rep on chin-ups and added one additional rep every week, at the end of the year youd be doing fifty-two consecutive chin-ups. Now thats progress. Now, adding one rep per weekeven though it seems easy initiallywont exactly happen. Improvements are harder and harder to come by as you get better. But small wins over time are what pave progress. For the absolute novice, progression should be linear. You should get better every time you go to the gym. Start easy and work your way up gently to form a winning mindset. Do that until weights get heavy, and you start failing. The first month or two will be easy. But stick with it. The training guide and progression guide will detail this more.
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CHAPTER | partitioning
Viva la insulin resistance!
While some people can be lax with nutrition and training, skinny-fat ectomorphs are better served strict. Thats not to say youre doomed to never enjoy a good beer for the rest of your life, but maintaining a better-thanaverage physique requires better-than-average effort and dedication. This Chapter is a mix mash, if you willa conglomeration of meandering thoughts that served as the first layer of bricks to this resource. Its not my goal to make this overly scientific, so Im just going to highlight some things I think you should know.
More on partitioning
Remember the bit about partitioning? About how having good genetics means extra calories go more towards muscle? And about how having bad genetic means extra calories go more towards fat? Well, as mentioned, most of this is genetic. But there are some aspects of partitioning we can control. In short, we want our muscle cells to be insulin sensitive. Insulin is popularly known as a storage hormone. It helps build things. So we want our muscle cells to respond to insulin because it signifies the storage of nutrients and the promotion of growth. By the same token, we want our fat cells to be insulin resistant. We dont want our fat cells primed for storage.
Getting rid of predictable behavior

If it wasnt for my girlfriend berating me to go to breakfast, we wouldnt have been sitting in the 1950s inspired diner. It was crowded, but thats how the place operates. We were just about one inch too close to the tables around us, which were only two inches away to begin with. As I sipped my coffee, another couple was seated next to us. The male was skinny-fat. You may be wondering how I knew, but I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things.
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I whispered to my girlfriend, I bet I can predict what this dude will order. She didnt believe me, and didnt really care either. I told her anyway to prove my psychic powers. Chocolate milk to drink. Pancakes to eat. Lo and behold, the waitress came around to take his orders. Ill have a chocolate milk. This was enough to prove my worthiness. But not more than five minutes later. Ill take the pancakes. #winning. This story illustrates some common and easily predictable behavior among skinny-fats. This predictable behavior is responsible for sending the wrong signals. Are you guilty of it?
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Overusing the treadmill. Yes, Im stereotyping here. No, I dont care. People that use the treadmill too often are usually those too lazy to do other, more useful things. Dont be lazy. If you want to do some aerobic work, get outside if you can. Its nice being in the confines of an air conditioned space, I know. Get over it. Obsessing over cardio and aerobics. Aerobic work certainly has its place as it technically burns fat rather well. But without muscle underneath, you will always be skinny-fat. If strength training is the steak, aerobic training is the butter, salt, and steak sauce. It makes things better, but it shouldnt be eaten alone. Neglecting strength training with free weights and your body weight. Building muscle requires strong signals. Free weights, barbells specifically, and body weight exercises send those signals better than anything else.
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4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Seeking refuge in machines. That circle of white metal contraptions seems like a convenient way to build muscle, but its not going to match the gains matterful training can deliver. Doing an overabundance of lifting while sitting. Lying down on the bench while doing bench presses and sitting on the machines may seem like a cool perk of getting jacked, but most of your training should be done standing on your own two feet or with your weight supported by your hands. Doing the same weights over and over with no focus on progression. So youre starting to do the good exercises, are you? But in an attempt not to extend out of your comfort zone, you decide to stick to conservative weights day in and day out. You dont care about getting stronger. But this is like trying to get a tan without increasing your time in the sun. Nonsensical, isnt it? Lacking a quiet confidence. Dont be an alpha male (or female, for that matter). Be confident in yourself, and carry yourself with pride. More importantly, dare to be yourself. That way, you wont be stressing about what other people think of you all day long. Stress is bad. Drinking a lot of milk. Milk is the first thing skinny-fats should eliminate if theyre doing everything right and still having trouble losing weight. The entire dairy mainframe is up for grabs. But pasteurized cows milk, more often than not, will cause some problems. Sucking at sleep. You need to get enough rest. Im not quite sure I have anything else to say to that. If youre tired after seven hours, get eight. Tired after eight? Get nine. Chances are your sleep debt is high, so you need all the sleep you can get. Skipping training sessions. Consistency is king. Find a way to do something. Setting good habits requires consistency.
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11 12 13 14 15
Failing to fuel muscular gains. This is something pure paleo fanatics do by eliminating carbs completely. Without gaining muscle, your skinny-fatness is going to linger. You need shape underneath it all. This comes from muscle. Bending desires to the world. You can be stomped on, or you can leave your own footprints. Whats it going to be? Whats going to make you feel better? How about you start bending the world to your desires? Over relying on artificial stuff. I know ditching your old, sweet, and delicious life is tough at first. But try to avoid artificially sweetened sodas and foods. While it doesnt contain any calories, its a sign that you arent in the right frame of mindyoure clinging on to your old life. Have a small goodiea rewardevery once in a while. Once you get down to a solid lean base, you can reward yourself more frequently without consequence. So work hard knowing that the reward will make it all worth it. But for now, keep it small. Ordering sugar for breakfast. Stop it. Just stop it. Eggs, vegetables (yes, I know, vegetables for breakfast sounds weird), and perhaps some other meat is a good idea. Ditch the starchy carbohydrates. [This is if you want to eat breakfast at all. More on this in the nutrition guide.] Pounding down carbohydrates pre-workout. I hate to tell you this, but you have plenty of energy wired within your body. That food youre eating preworkout isnt going to hit the system fast enough to be worth much anyway. Save the starchy carbswhatever your allowance isfor post workout.
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16
Being lazy overall. Live a better lifestyle. Clean your room in your downtime. Do yard work. Garden. And when your significant other demands you sit on the couch and watch television at night, do what any self respectable person would do: Agree, but with the condition you are given a head massage for your torture. Not only will the massage eliminate stress, so will the lack of conflict. (Note: This could cause more conflict. Use at your discretion. Its worth a shot though, right?)
17 18 19 20 21 22
Trying to bulk up in traditional ways. The fatter you are, the more insulin works against your muscular pursuits. Hit the weights hard and get your diet in check. Dont shovel food down the pipes with the rationalization of bulking. That hurts, not helps. Drinking alcohol on the weekends. You arent going to make strides in the right direction if you binge drink every weekend. Lets not forget, this is usually combined with junk food indulgence. Eating processed junk. Instead, eat animals, plants, and berries. This could solve 99% of your diet problems, honestly. Just make sure you add that little extra to support your strength training. Eating a ton of bread, flours, and cereal grains. If milk is the first thing to go, bread, flours, pasta, and other cereal grains are second. There is life without bread. Most times, its actually pretty enjoyable too. Drinking sugar. You dont need Gatorade. No, its not healthier than soda, either. Same goes for fruit juice. Or Vitamin Water. If theres any carbs in it, just stop... Drinking calories, period. Drinking coffee or tea? Drink them black. Most of your beverages should be calorie free. Outside of the obvious benefit of carrying no calories, this also ensures you arent drinking artificial junk.
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23 24 25 26
Not centering meals around protein. Every meal should contain a dense protein source. Get familiar with stocking up on chicken, beef, turkey, and other meats. Not eating a handful of veggies at every meal. Fiber not only helps you poop like a champion (I told you I keep it real), but it also has play with insulin sensitivity. Second to protein, have some vegetables with every meal. Avoiding fat. Fat isnt bad, just dont go overboard with it in light of it being calorically dense. The old idea of low fat diets being the best thing for weight loss needs to die. Chomping down nuts like a champion. In light of #25, approach nuts with care. They are natural, which triggers some mechanism that says, Eat infinite quantities of these. But nuts are high in fat and thus calories. Combine that with not being very filling, and theyre easy to eat too much of. So you can eat them, but limit the quantity and always be mindful of their caloric load.
27 28
Staying on stagnant diets. You should have refeeds here and there at the least. These arent really cheat meals, just times when you eat more to give your body some extra fuel. Not understanding caloric load. I often get e-mails from people that claim they have a sensible diet yet fail to lose weight. More often than not, these people do eat rather healthy, they just have no grasp on caloric load. Their diet, or what they recollect of it, goes something like: breakfast is two eggs and toast, snack before lunch is fruit and some nuts, lunch is tuna and nuts, snack before dinner is nuts and fruit, dinner is whatever, and then if Im hungry before bed Ill have more nuts. While the intention is there, theres no understanding of the caloric load each food delivers, as evident by the huge nut consumption.
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Not training heavy enough. Most of your reps should fall under the 5-8 zone. And those should be heavy reps. Not necessarily to failure, but the weight should be challenging.
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CHAPTER | the road ahead

Your compass
As this base document closes, I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect from the road ahead. All of this spawns from a simple concern:
Sure, my current body state is pretty depressing. But knowing that I can't eat anything outside of a strict diet for years or my whole life is not appealing either.
The ultimate goal for just about everyone is to settle into a body they enjoy while also being able to enjoy lifes pleasures. The good news is that this is possible. The bad news is that this simply isnt realistic at first. Theres going to be a time when you cant have your cake. But this shouldnt bother you. Its not a life-sentence, and you can indeed have cake again in the future. Think, however, of the mental anguish the cake has caused you over the years. Why continue torturing yourself and giving into such anguish? I have a few fitness heroes that I look up to. Sometimes, I see them drinking beer and doing other unhealthy things. Oh, wait, yeah, I do that stuff too. Whats important to remember, however, is that Ialong with most other peoplehave been at this game for years and years. We know our body. And truthfully, this is a case where the rich get richer. Leaner folk can get away with more as compared to others. Their body better handles excess calories and junk food because its improved from a partitioning standpoint.
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Consider putting on the golf green. The number one piece of advice given is to take your time and think things through. This isnt true for everyone though. Turns out, newbies need time to think. They need to make sure their form is good and their swing is straight and all of that jazz. But experts get derailed by the thinking. It makes them worse. Also consider baseball players. Keep your eye on the ball, they say. For beginners, this is good advice. But experts dont keep their eye on the ball when catching or hitting. They release their gaze and pick general vicinities. What Im getting at here is that novices cant follow the same rules as advanced people. In the beginning, your fitness journey will be tough. Youre going to have to be meticulous. Youre going to have to count some calories, just a little bit. Youre going to have to get your butt in the gym a lot. Youre going to have to do all of these things to set good patterns and behaviors. You have to put the foot on the gas right now. Dont look back. There are four stages to motor learning. The first is conscious incompetence. You know you dont know shit. The last is unconscious competence. You just know shit without thinking. You dont get from one to the other without a lot of practice and fudging with details. So fudge away. Go to the store and read food labels. Come home and measure out servings to get an idea of what actual portions look like and their accompanying caloric load. As a beginner, details matter. You have to get them down. But after theyre down, things happen naturally. Do you really think that I consciously think about eating broccoli? Do you think it makes me gag? Although I hated vegetables at the beginning of my fitness journey, I love them now. Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, whatever.
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A friend of mine, Jon Call, owner of Tricks Tutorials, describes this best with regards to weighing food intake:
No, because after years of doing it slavishly and trying all sorts of eating styles, Ive got a really, really good idea of how my body reacts to foods. Im really tuned into whats going on so I dont need to do that anymore. But I couldnt have gotten this way without keeping records and doing the experiments.
As a beginner, you cant take the expert path. You cant neglect everything and hope it falls into place. So buckle up for a while. Save cruise control for later. This sounds daunting. Painful even. I know, I know. But you know what else is painful? Being handcuffed by your physical appearance. Or living another five years with the same feeling thats haunted you to this point. If youre anything like me, youve lived days, months, and years with an unsettling discomfort. So heres what I suggest: First, take pictures, document the journey as best as you can. Try enjoying the tough times. Youre going to make a few decisions that end up alienating people. Youre going to face scrutiny from your family when you make healthier choices. All of this comes from the simple fact that they think youre starving yourself of pleasure. They think youre being some kind of martyr. But, realistically, its the opposite. Youre freeing yourself from the burden thats beaten you down for so many years. Try getting them to understand that.
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Second, bring people along with you. Theres a good chance someone else you know wants to get involved in fitness and health. Third, be creative with gatherings and get-togethers to maintain relationships. For instance, I go on vacation every year with my family. After we return, were all pretty depressed. Save for the occasional holiday dinner and drinking nights, we rarely see each other. So I flipped the switch and created Saturday morning coffee get-togethers. Most Saturday mornings we all meet at a new coffee place around town, get buzzed up on caffeine, and catch up. Most Friday nights, my good friends come over my place. We play pool or ping pong. Sometimes video games. We catch up with life. And this has solidified good friendships. I dont need to go out every weekend to make my friends happy. You can enjoy the company of your friends and family without sacrificing your relationships. Steal these ideas and come up with a few of your own. And I was serious earlier: document the journey. Take pictures, keep a journal. Looking back is incredibly humbling and rewarding. If you do things right, it only happens once. Dont let it waste away. Create some good memories. Dont be shy either. Share your journey with me. I have a separate section on my website for testimonials thats dedicated to good people like you changing your life. So if you have anything you want to contribute, just let me know. And if youre having trouble along the wayif you hit that speed bumpfeel free to get in touch with me. I want you to come out on the other side of this.
Lets crush this disease. Together.
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CHAPTER | my story
Ive been there
I put my heart and soul into this thing. Sifting through my old thoughts, feelings, and self brought back chilling memories of how unsatisfied I was with myself. It may not hit with you at the moment, but just think of how mentally draining it is waking up every day and being unsatisfied with yourself. And then think of how much its worth to you to get rid of that feeling.
My story
Writing equations on the chalkboard, my Algebra teachers back faced the classroom. To my right, I noticed a few girls giggling and pointing at my shirt. Like any self conscious teenager with little confidence, my mind swirled with ideas of what embarrassing disfigurement lay on my dandelion colored Reebok t-shirt. Was it a kick me sign that I missed? Did I cut a hole in my shirt in art class? Did my pen explode on me? Nothing added up. It was eighth periodthe last class before school ended and just now someone was noticing a scarlet letter. After a few more giggles and quizzical looks, the girl leaned towards my desk. My glance turned away from binomals on the chalkboard and the FOIL method gently escaped my brain as I heard her whisper. You have girl boobs, she said. Ah, the traumatic and life altering experience that shaped who I am today. Here are pictures from my own journey with small captionsjust to let you know Im not fooling you. I lived the stuff youre living. I know how you feel. Thats why Im here to help, and why I put so much into this resource.
SFS TRAINING PRIMER
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Early 2000s
I loved food.
Winter 2006
First semester into college, I sat eating pop-tarts and pizza in the cafeteria. It hit me: something needed to change.
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Summer 2006
Did way too much running, ate way too little. But I lost a decent amount of fat.
Fall 2006
Reduced activity; ate a little more. Things seemed to be coming together.
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Early 2007
Like an idiot, I bulked. As you can see, this didnt work very well. I think I lost muscle in the process, really.
Summer 2007
What happens if you lift like you mean it, and eat good stuff. Unfortunately, I was riddled with injuries and regressed severely after these pictures.
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2008
And as a note, I bulked in 2008 for a month or two. Results were lackluster. But it did reaffirm my ability to lose fat quickly after a bulk.
2009
Another failed bulk. 232 lbs body weight, and neglecting pictures without a shirt on. (I had puffy cheeks, yikes.)
=
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2010
More lifting, eating, and not overthinking. Injuries started clearing up and I started developing a better mindset (the one youre reading about here.)
2011
I broke my foot tricking. But because of my solid mentality, I bounced back after being sidelined for a good five months.
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2012
what happens when you compile and implement of all of the goodies in front of your face in this resource.
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Solution & Lifestyle

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Solution & Lifestyle

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TH E KINNYFAT OLUTION

the skinny-fat solution

WRITTEN by and Anthony Mychal a sexy product of http://anthonymychal.com

the skinnyfat solution

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CHAPTER | QUICK START GUIDE

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CHAPTER | defining skinny-fat

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There are three:

The legend of skinny-fat

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CHAPTER | great expectations

Comparing yourself to others

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Listening to popular advice

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Breaking them down

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Cheating on the test

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What this means

The most important cascade

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The following principles are permutations of these very important tips.

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CHAPTER | fat & signaling

The body is bent on survival, not aesthetics

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CHAPTER | training & signaling

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CHAPTER | mind & signaling

Where skinny-fats go wrong

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CHAPTER | life & signaling

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Alpha male myth

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Pick good role models, but be yourself

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Get positivity going

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Hold yourself to a respectable moral code.

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its simple: Win