"How do I gain muscle fast and without gaining too much body fat?" , that's easily on of the most common questions asked by young men (and some women) to any fitness expert in the world. Regardless of where you live, if you're a fitness expert you've been asked that question in one form or another. This subject has been covered countless times in magazines, online articles, videos, books, and just about any other form of media know to man. Yet, people keep asking the same question time and time again. Opinions vary from person to person , from expert to expert, but some things remain constant.
- You need to eat, A LOT!
- You need to lift heavy
- You need to rest
- You need to avoid too much cardio
There's also a strange stigma attached to both body weight training and primal/paleo diets being unable to build any significant muscle mass. So, with this in mind I decided to take it upon myself to experiment and see just how much muscle mass I could put on following these rules and without deviating from my "primal diet" too much (other than allowing for dairy) and using a body weight based workout program. I needed to see just how much mass you can build using the foundation that I have built Jungle Fit upon. So starting early June 2011 and running through to the end of Sept 2011 I followed my program and the results were surprising to say the least.
By following an intense body weight based program, upping my calorie intake of my primal diet a lot, adding around 1L of milk a day, extra protein powder, and some sweet potato, my body weight shot up from 145lbs to 180lbs!
That's a 35lb weight gain in around 3-4 months! I out grew all my clothes, I had to buy all new shirts because my back, arms, and shoulders were too large, and my pants went up only one size from a 30 to 32. Not too bad for a 35 lb weight gain!
In the video above I've talked about it in a little more detail and displayed pictures as for the change. In the future if you guys want me to go into greater detail on the subject then please leave comments on youtube or this blog and I'll provide workouts, meal plans, or even create an ebook detailing everything involved.
So long story short, anyone who says you can't gain muscle mass or impressive strength from body weight training is completely misinformed.