Bradley asked me this via a Facebook message:

“I currently am 6’3″ and weigh 82, but am regularly attending gym to try to put on weight through muscle and bulk up. Have you got any tips or advice that you could offer me? It would mean a lot and I really appreciate your time”.

He also mentioned that he was keen on Strength, Power and Plyometric work and has been doing that style of training in his programs.

Brad is around 17 years old and is starting his strength and getting jacked journey which for starters is awesome and will help him big time as the world starts trying to test him and slap him in the face…

I started training with weights when I was 15 and the lessons, discipline and confidence that the iron has given me is something that I will always appreciate and try to pass on to other men and women.

Here was my advice to turn Brad from what sounds like an athletic skinny lad into a weapon…

 

“Strength and Power work is definitely a great way to go.

If your goal is purely weight and size gain do your plyo’s after your warm up and then get lifting heavish in that 3-6 rep range.

After that most things should be muscle focused (still with big lifts like presses, rows, chin ups, squats etc) and keep all of these in the 8-12 range.

Eat like a madman with heaps of quality proteins, veg and lots of rice/ fruit for carbs If your training hard and heavy 3-4 times per week is generally optimal for getting jacked.

Do all of that consistently whilst getting stronger for a few years and you’ll definitely be whacking muscle on”.

 

^^^ Simple right? YES. But it’s not easy ^^^

 

So the way I work things in the gym is to get my athletes explosive, strong in different foundational movements and then jacked and handsome through the body building and conditioning based work that we always include to our programs.

Here is a check list of what the elite do in a training week

1. Mobilise and warm up properly – use this time to correct movement or imbalances
2. Do explosive work – Jump Variations, Throw Variations, do quick lifts like kettlebell swing, snatch or clean (our favourites).
3. Lift Heavy Shit – we use the power lifts and variations of them (squat, bench and deadlift) along with strongman movements like farmers carries, yoke carries (sometimes as it takes a lot to recover from), Log presses and Weighted Pull Ups.
4. Train the muscles that will help the sport, main lifts or weak areas – Use body building type training to grow and bring the weak areas up so that your strong areas can flourish.
5. Get conditioned – we use strongman conditioning, high intensity interval training, sprints with sled or suicides etc and kettlebell/ bodyweight complexes.
6. Sprint – With sleds, without sleds, up hills, playing sport or chasing girls. I don’t care how you sprint just sprint.
7. Eat like an adult – Vegies, meats, rice, sweet potato, fruit, heaps of water and limit drinking alcohol.
8. Get massage, osteo, physio and foam roll/ self myofascial release methods.

 

Are you doing these things?

If not start with warming up and find ways to get the rest of the list ticked off either every session or at least by the end of each week.

I have some online programs coming out to clarify the specific programs so if you are in need of help, hit me up and I will let you know when the book is getting released.

Strength is king. Be strong.

-Matty