Performing a skill well is more important than how much you can lift. I’m not at the elite level myself but I do think it’s easy to get into the mindset of “well I’ll never be a champion so it doesn’t matter if I work out”. I hate that mind set. The body is there to help the mind and mind is there to help the body. What’s the point of getting big if it won’t help you to think clearly and confidently? I feel like you also need to factor in recovery too in those terms. That means doing your workouts to a T every day and not being too rigorous if you know you’re just going to be a little sore later that day. Or it means doing your workout with your family so that if anything else comes up during the day you have more time to deal with it. The important thing is to have a plan that gets you where you want to go. You have to make adjustments along the way, but the end game is the same. And just one final comment for those who don’t feel the workout has provided the intended results: don’t do the same workout for 3 or 4 years! Train less frequently and allow more time for recovery. This is a great post! How do you know if your training has paid off? Your last line: If you haven’t improved in muscle mass, strength or both, then you have nothing to brag about. I’d say that, if you’re starting out, if you don’t improve after a year, you might have to re-evaluate your training and maybe start from scratch. I see the improvements in myself, but if I wasn’t so impatient, I might not notice them. “If you aren’t happy with your results and results keep changing, you’re doing something wrong.” Really great post; a lot of really thought provoking ideas. I’m a skinny guy so it’s definitely been a challenge to ‘get big’ but I started in June of ’07 and I’ve gotten big enough that at 6’6″ I can no longer fit in a single door. I don’t think I am ‘big enough’ to do much of anything but I’m not at all unhappy with my results. Thank you for the compliments. And honestly, I never would have come up with that last line; I got it from the first line. Good observation on the different between skinny guys and girls. You have to have a lot more muscle and strength to get big than a girl does. And also be more confident. It’s a fine line for sure. Great read (and I agree with most of it)! I agree that it takes alot of work and not just for gaining muscle. It is easy to say I’m going to train like a power lifter because I can lift heavy. If it were that easy everyone would have massive muscles. I think it is important to find out who you are and not compare yourself to others. There are always going to be things we can learn from others and it’s good to learn as much as we can. I find that training at a high level keeps me wanting more. I can’t compare myself to a 400+ lb bench pressing power lifter, but I can appreciate how they get there. The fact is, if you want to improve, you have to train. There is no magic pill that will give you big without years of work. That’s what people need to learn – it takes a long time. The only thing that helps is hard work and dedication and that’s it. I always tell people, “The only person you can compete against is yourself.” And that means the only time you can use somebody as an example is if you can beat their work ethic, their attitude and passion. I’ve met guys who look like they have nothing but I’m always amazed at the things they do. That’s what’s impressive. I also think that the other thing you have to do is understand what your goals are. I’m a short guy but one thing I know is that I’ve got to put on as much muscle as I can. You do have to have goals for yourself and know that they may change, but if you’re not making progress every time you hit the gym, you aren’t moving anywhere. Very good post, I like how you say “It takes a lot of work and not just for gaining muscle. It is easy to say I’m going to train like a power lifter because I can lift heavy. If it were that easy everyone would have massive muscles.” I know the way I was a couple years ago, it was easy for me to “let down” because there was always someone or something better. But it always comes back to you and your mental state of being, when you go in to the gym. I was big when I was 14, then after a serious injury I was small and I felt like I was just made of water, but ever since getting back in the gym a few years ago I went from a size 14/16/18 to a 20, and back down to an 18/20. It’s not super fast but it’s the same thing, it’s a lifestyle. Great points. I completely agree. The reason most people don’t gain a lot of weight, don’t feel sore, and don’t develop big lifts is because they don’t really train, so why expect anything different? It really is very simple. If you don’t give your body time to rebuild (muscles and connective tissues) it won’t grow as much as you want. Not to mention the fact that you can’t gain mass while simultaneously losing weight. Your body must adapt to the new demands you’re putting on it. So if you’re doing the same workout for months, you’re not doing it right. You can’t get stronger if you aren’t putting a significant amount of new weight on your body and vice versa. If you are making progress, though, you must be making progress in some way, shape, or form. If you can’t explain your progress, then you didn’t gain anything because all you’ve done is cut calories from the same calorie source. I’m not saying your diet must be a certain way. I’m saying your diet must change, which means your workout must change as well. And for those who say, “well I can eat more but I don’t want to gain weight”, do you ever gain weight when you stay at the same weight for years? You need to eat MORE! I’m not asking for all or nothing, just eat more so that you can grow to the point of where you’re ready to gain weight. Great article, and I agree with a lot of the points. I’d like to make a couple of corrections, though. “The key to making progress is intensity. If you’re just training hard and not seeing gains, then you need to dial back your workouts.” You aren’t saying this to some guy training for his first workout, are you? If you’re going to say that, then you’re an idiot and we can’t have you around here. If you’re in the “I don’t want to see gains” crowd, that means you’re not ready for a workout and should dial down and stick with a steady state. “Hey, I’ve trained for 8 years and I’ve never gained any muscle. I should go try something else.” No, you don’t. You get to continue going at your own pace because no matter how long you have been doing something, you don’t understand its purpose yet. I’ve never seen a skinny guy go from fat to muscularly fit without doing a significant amount of work to change his body. This is true of the big guys and the small guys. You can’t just “know” this fact because your experience has been different. “The body adapts at a specific rate depending on the intensity of your training.” Oh yeah, that’s right. You get so fat that you need someone to tell you that when you’re hungry, you should eat food, not get fat. You see a lot of skinny guys get fat when they go heavy and don’t go to the gym enough, but I think it has more to do with poor nutrition than intensity. I see more obese people in this world than I do over-muscled people, so guess what guys? If you’re going to eat food, eat good food. And