Crazy that it’s been over a year since publishing 11 Training Tips for the Skinny-Fat Ectomorph on T-Nation. This is a look back on the first conglomeration of tips I assembled for skinny-fat sufferers. Some things remain, but a lot of things have changed. I’m older, wiser, and somehow simultaneously stupider. Contrary to popular belief, my [...]
Crazy that it’s been over a year since publishing 11 Training Tips for the Skinny-Fat Ectomorph on T-Nation. This is a look back on the first conglomeration of tips I assembled for skinny-fat sufferers. Some things remain, but a lot of things have changed. I’m older, wiser, and somehow simultaneously stupider.
Contrary to popular belief, my first article for skinny-fat sufferers on T-Nation wasn’t an assigned article. I was tired of seeing skinny guy this, skinny guy that articles flying around. Given my unfavorable experiences with the usual skinny guy recommendations, I thought I’d put forth some tips that worked for me that weren’t as commonly thrown around. Below are the 11 original tips with refurbished commentary.
1. Stop Cutting and Bulking
Of the following 11 tips, this is the one I still hold dearest. For anyone that has rabid fat cells looking to soak up mounds of nourishing caloric goodness, the last thing I think you need to do is create an environment of consistent overfed anabolism. You can find some further ideas here: Should You Bulk or Cut? Or you can take my free chaos nutrition learning course here.
2. Carb Cycle
Admittedly, the biggest funk in this article was that I didn’t distinguish between current skinny-fat sufferers and former skinny-fat sufferers. Current skinny-fat sufferers looking to get down to their solid base usually don’t need much nutritional complexity (although sometimes carbohydrate cycling can come in handy).
Even former skinny-fat sufferers might not need carbohydrate cycling. As I mention in The Chaos Bulk, sometimes reducing carbohydrates leads to feelings of lethargy — it might be best to simply embrace caloric chaos. The beauty of carbohydrate cycling, however, is that is kinda naturally drops calorie intake for you. It’s tough to eat enough broccoli to reach a comparable caloric load of any starchy carbohydrate (rice, taters, oats, etc.).
I don’t disagree with this tip, but there’s certainly room for debate. (There’s room for debate in nearly any “fitness” subset, really…)
3. Get Lean, But Forget About Abs
Ah, talks of the solid base — an itchy topic, to say the least. One one end, people say you have to bulk up to gain muscle. On the other end, people are afraid to lose their precious six pack.
Where’s the median?
The median is here: reach a round about level of leanness that maintains your aesthetic aura, but also enables you to gain muscle without encouraging the creation of fat cells. The overriding relationship here: if you try to maintain a sickly level of leanness, you probably won’t gain much muscle. And if you go bulk-tastic, you’ll probably get too fat.
So…forget about abs? Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve since found a way to keep my abs while gaining muscle, as this was written in the early phases of my chaos nutrition experiments. But the rules above still remain.
4. Don’t Underestimate Bodyweight Training
Bodyweight training is the ultimate test of useable bodyweight. There are a lot of barbell-strong people that are fat. There aren’t many bodyweight-strong people that are fat. You simply can’t have dead weight if you expect to “get good” at controlling your body through space.
The motivation behind the giblet was my experiments with the PLP program, and the success I had with high frequency bodyweight training. But to this day, I think everyone should have a solid bodyweight background. It’s why the chin-up and parallel bar dip are two of the Great Eight Exercises for the X Physique.
5. Don’t Neglect Isolation, and Use Thick Bars
Curls are for the gurls, man………………………
I used to think that too…until I did curls and my arms started to grow.
If you need a big “whatever,” it’s no doubt that you need a serious compound exercise to drive the majority of your progress. But, at the same time, if you have an area that’s particularly deficient, don’t be afraid to attack it with worthwhile exercises that specifically target the muscle groups. Not twenty-billions exercises. Just one or two good ones.
As for the thick bar issue, this hold true. I recently switched all of my pressing exercises over to thick bar training a la Fat Gripz. Power cleaning with a thick bar (to assume a standing press position) is quite the challenge, but it’s a seriously fun challenge.
I also do curls with Fat Gripz. My elbows remain healthy, which is rather uncommon for a lot of people that do straight bar curls. (I also do a bunch of bodyweight training and ring work, which also tends to aggravate elbows…again, nothing.) Part of me thinks thick bar training is to thank here.
I’m not sure the thick bar is delivering anything a straight bar wouldn’t, since I don’t really use them to train my grip (which is why I touted their benefit in the original article), but I can’t say that they hurt anything.
6. Sprint, Carry
Die #6.
DIE.
Because the truth is this: I don’t sprint or carry much of anything these days. I did my share of overhead carries and sprints in the past, but I’ve since moved back to my tricking roots.
I think that if you’re going to get your huff and puff on, you’re best off sprinting and carrying things. They won’t create that much noise either. Alternatively, you can just trick and turn yourself into a strength and power beast. That won’t make much noise either. Just saying…
The thing I dislike about this tip is that I think some low intensity walking has huge benefits for reducing stress and increasing activity level in general. It was more of a lash back at those still yogging.
7. Be Cautious of Max Effort Work
Hrmm…in order for me to still endorse this tip, I have to classify “max effort work.”
Traditionally, max effort work is defined by anything at or above 90% 1RM. This enters a whole bag of issues, but the primary question: what exactly is a 1RM? Is your 1RM the number you hit when you’re psyched up on caffeine and ammonia? Or is it the number you hit when you just roll out of bed?
I think a better way to phrase this is: be cautious of overdoing intense psycho-physiologically aroused max effort work. In other words, don’t bash your head against the wall.
You can train heavy. You can train heavy often. But you just have to make sure your emotions are in check. Even still, I think most of us are better served outside of 1RM mode. I favor the 5-8 repetition money zone.
8. Be a Bodybuilder, Not a Powerlifter
I enjoy this tip because abandoning the powerlifting mindset is important for a well developed physique. Bodybuilders choose their exercises based on utility. Powerlifters choose their exercises to boost their potential to win in their sport, which contests the bench press, back squat, and deadlift. Unless you’re competing in a specific lift, you need to choose your exercises based on utility.
9. Shoulders, Upper Chest, Lats, Upper Back
Nailed it.
10. Wave Your Repetitions
I think working within repetition ranges is a viable strategy, but not a necessity. It all comes down to progress. I particularly prefer, especially once you hit a more chaotic realm of progress, increasing strength within a repetition range with a certain stagnant weight. Taking 225×6 to 225×8 means your two repetitions stronger. Two repetitions is progress. Progress is good.
11. Every. Damn. Day
I’m going to end on a crapshoot. Some skinny fats are soft because they’re babied. From a biological standpoint, having muscle is an artifact of living a lifestyle that demands its creation. So it may be worthwhile to try training every day to provide a signal to the body that being a skinny fat just isn’t going to cut it.
The quote from the original article says it all: your body is a reflection of your life. It showcases the unique combination of lifestyle, training, and nutrition you throw yourself into. What’s your body saying about you?
The evolution of knowledge
Right after writing these, I dove into the topic a bit more on this here website:
- Solutions for Skinny-Fat Syndrome I – The Basics
- Solutions for Skinny-Fat Syndome II – My Story
- Solutions for Skinny-Fat Syndrome III – Training
- Solutions for Skinny-Fat Syndrome IV – Nutrition
As with the original article, I’d go back and tweak some things within these. That’s just the nature of the beast, and it’s precisely why The Skinny-Fat Solution comes with free updates for life. It all comes down to refining the ideas and methods overtime to ultimately reach the best end. I hack away daily, and I’d like to think I’m getting further and further to the diamond each day.
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Want more information on skinny-fat syndrome? Take the free Skinny-Fat Secrets Learning Course. Got a skinny-fat question? Drop it in the comments section below. I’m always hanging around there, and I always respond. Don’t believe me? Just check out previous posts.