Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 6 - May/June 2016 | Page 31

This workout is designed to hit all the major muscle groups using compound heavy exercises as the priority . Compound exercises require multiple muscles and multiple joints to actually accomplish the movement . These types of exercises will cause the most muscle growth an increases in strength . Even though this workout is dubbed , “ The Skinny Guy Workout ” it can be utilized by anyone . For the sake of this article though I have geared it and the following information towards the skinny guy that wants to add muscle / weight but can ’ t seem to get there .

This workout consists of a weekly 4 day upper body and lower body split . So Mon- Sun would look like this , Upper / Lower / Rest / Upper / Lower / Rest / Rest . High intensity cardio is not encouraged simply because of the extra calories burned but DO NOT neglect your heart . It is a muscle too and needs to be worked as well . At least 90-150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio is recommended per week for your average healthy adult .

There are two major factors that need to be implemented in order to build muscle . One is overload . The overload principle is one of the most important when following an exercise plan . Overload states that in order for the body to keep changing / adapting it continuously requires new stimuli that are out of the norm . A good example of bad overload implementation is benching 100lbs for 4 weeks in a row without any change in the weight , reps , or volume . A good example of proper overload would be benching 100lbs during week 1 and then 105lbs during week 2 and so on .

The most important thing however is going to be food and LOTS of it . Muscle requires a significant amount of calories in order to grow . Especially for those of us that are genetically just naturally skinny and small framed . In most cases it is recommended that your caloric surplus be anywhere from 1000-1500 calories above your maintenance calorie level , due to the increased thermogenic effect of food . Example , if you need 2000 calories just to maintain your weight , a good number to shoot for would be 3000-3500 at a minimum .