Putting on muscle is far less complicated than you may have been conditioned to think. I’m sure you’ve seen the t-shirts: “Eat. Lift. Sleep. Repeat.” Though it may sound simple, this really is the formula for adding more size to your frame.

Eat.

There seems to be a misconception among the general public that, in order to get a “Men’s Health physique”, one must dramatically reduce their food consumption. On the one hand, yes, cover models will tend to cut down prior to a photoshoot, but the reality is, to pack on muscle you’ll need to eat plenty of food. 

As a general guideline, use a TDEE calculator to determine how many calories you should be consuming. Your TDEE refers to your total daily energy expenditure. Essentially, you’ll want to eat more calories than “you’re using” so that the excess can go towards muscle growth.

During this phase, putting on fat is practically inevitable. However, the exact amount will be determined by how aggressively you choose to bulk up. My advice: take it slow. It’s far easier to put on weight than it is to lose it. Increase your calorie intake slowly and monitor your body’s response. There’s no reason you can’t stay lean.

If you’re struggling to gain weight at the rate you’d like, more often than not, it’s because you’re not eating enough. Personally, I found it difficult to get the calories in, being naturally tall and skinny. To get around this, I bought a Ninja Blender and started making homemade weight gainer shakers (usually consisting of protein powder, oats, almond milk, avocado & peanut butter). In my opinion, this is the easiest way to up your calories.

Lift.

Naturally, to put on size, you’re going to have to train. You can do this in a gym with free weights or in your living room with no equipment at all. The key is in being consistent and following a structured routine to avoid muscle imbalance. 

A few of the more common training splits are: 

• Upper Body/Lower Body
• Push/Pull/Legs or PPL (i.e. Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs)
• The 4-day split (i.e. Back/Biceps, Chest/Triceps, Legs, Shoulders)

The idea is that each workout corresponds with one section of the split. For example, if you were to follow the PPL routine, your first session would consist of training chest, shoulders and triceps; the next would be back and biceps, and so on and so forth. The main benefit of using a split routine is that it allows you to focus more time and attention on each muscle group.

If you’re working out without any equipment, it might be easier to stick with a full-body routine. However, with just a pull-up bar your options dramatically increase. In fact, when I first started working out, it was the only piece of equipment I had.

Calisthenics, for example, is a form of resistance training which primarily uses your bodyweight to build strength and size. My advice would be to incorporate some of the fundamental moves (e.g. push-ups, pull-ups and dips) into any practice. These are staples which will provide a strong foundation for you to then build on – they are often overlooked.

How to Progress

With a routine in place, the next concept to consider is progressive overload. The idea is to simply make your workouts more demanding over time; putting continuous stress on the muscles so that they are forced to adapt and grow. This can be achieved in four main ways:

1. By increasing the weight on your lifts.
2. By increasing the number of reps or sets in your training.
3. By increasing the amount you train.
4. By performing exercises at a slower rate (i.e. greater time under tension).

Be patient and listen to your own body. When I first started lifting weights, I was hasty and short-sighted, thinking about the goals I wanted to achieve next week rather than, say, a decade down the line. I was quick out the gates and that resulted in several injuries – though, thankfully, nothing too serious.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t focus on weekly objectives but rather that they should be sustainable and in alignment with a longer-term view.