Tag: strength and muscle

How to Build Muscle Fast: The Ultimate Guide + Workouts | Nerd Fitness
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Want to build muscle like this guy?

(Leopard print unitard optional but encouraged)

In this guide, we’ll provide step-by-step instructions that will help you start building muscle immediately! Like, today!

We’ll explore:

That may seem like a lot of topics to cover. DON’T PANIC!

Because gaining muscle and strength really comes down to three things.

If you want to build muscle, get bigger, and become stronger, these are the things you need to do:
1. Lift heavy things^[1]
2. Eat enough calories and protein for your goals^[2]
3. Get enough rest^[3]
I realize doing those three things is much easier said than done – I struggled with progress for a decade and know exactly what you’re going through if you’re feeling unsure.

You probably don’t have years to make the mistakes that I did, and you just want to start getting results today.

In addition to the free resources below, we provide a free bodyweight routine, and a comprehensive gym training routine to get you started with strength training in our free guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. Grab your guide when you sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
But enough of that, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to get started with strength training!

How Do You Build Muscle and Strength? Lift Heavy Things

If you are going to build muscle, you’re going to need to lift heavy things.

But what the heck does ‘heavy’ mean in this context? I’m so glad you asked!

Muscle-building is optimized when we perform exercises (bodyweight or weighted) within 1 to 3 reps of failure while maintaining good technique. (i.e. You could do 1 or 2 or 3 more repetitions of the exercise using a specific weight, but not more.) Usually, you’ll repeat this effort for multiple sets targeting multiple muscles in a workout.

That’s what we mean by ‘heavy’ – that you picked the right amount of weight to challenge yourself for the desired number of reps. (We’ll get into exact sets and reps in a bit.) This is the sweet spot where you’re muscles will want to rebuild bigger and stronger than before!

You can target your muscles with a wide variety of exercises. Free weights, machines, and bodyweight exercises are ALL good options as long as you can adhere to the guidelines we laid out above. ^[4]

While you can grow muscle using any type of strength-training exercise, having access to a gym with free weights and weight machines makes leveling up your muscle-building game all the easier. Increasing or decreasing the weight used in an exercise is probably the easiest way to get the exact right amount of stimulus your muscles need to grow. (Don’t have access to a gym? Take heart – our bodyweight workout will get you started on the right path.)

Some useful pieces of equipment to look out for:
- Squat rack
- Bench
- Barbells
- Dumbbells
- Assortment of weight machines (like a cable pulldown machine)
- A spot to do pull-ups or chin-ups (assisted or unassisted)
- A spot to do dips (assisted or unassisted)
(Want even more ideas on how to find the right gym? Check out our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym for everything you need to know.)

Even having access to a few of these pieces of equipment will help us target an efficient and effective full-body routine to maximize your results.

We’ll show you exactly how to put together a full-body routine with compound exercises that train multiple muscle groups at once. They’re efficient, they create solid growth and stimulation, and they will keep you safe.^[5]

To create our full-body routine, each workout will start with one leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and a core exercise:
1. Leg Exercises: Squats, Deadlifts, or Lunges
2. Push Exercises: Bench Press, Overhead Press, or Dips
3. Pull Exercises: Inverted Rows, Pull-Ups, or Chin Ups
4. Core Exercises: Reverse Crunches, Hanging Knee Raises, or Planks
That’s IT.

When should I add in isolation exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, calf raises, etc.?

You can add these in whenever you want to, though we recommend starting with the workout we laid out above FIRST and getting consistent with that. Muscle-building isn’t just about picking the right exercises and the right weights, it’s about building the habit of working out! If you try to do ALL THE THINGS at the very beginning, you’re increasing the risk that we won’t be able to make the habit stick. So start with compound exercises that give you the biggest bang for your buck, THEN sprinkle in isolation exercises that target your specific areas of need once you’ve got your rhythm. ^[6]

What about machines versus free weights? I’ve heard free weights are better…

Not true! (And this is something that we’ve changed our stance on over the years.) If a machine exercise feels safer, is more easily accessible to you, and targets the same muscles – go for it! ^[7]

Learn these few exercises, get really good at them, and your entire body will get stronger and bigger. Focus each week on adding more weight to each exercise.^[8]

For example, from one week to the next you could do:
- Week 1 Barbell Squat: 3 sets of 5 at 150 lbs.
- Week 2 Barbell Squat: 3 sets of 5 at 155 lbs.
If you do that, you’ve gotten stronger. Then, repeat next week. Eat right, and you’ll get bigger too.

Bottom line: if you want to get bigger muscles, you need to challenge them regularly with exercises that bring the muscle close to failure (1 to 3 reps). To start, we recommend picking big, compound movements that work multiple muscles at a time.

What’s a Sample Routine for Building Muscle?

Using the principles I’ve laid out in my “how to build a workout routine” article, here’s a three-day routine I’ve created for myself recently:
1. Monday: Squats, Benchpress, Wide Grip Pull-Ups, Planks
2. Wednesday: Deadlift, Overhead Press, Inverted Rows, Hanging Knee Raises
3. Friday: Weighted Lunges, Weighted Dips, Weighted Chin-Ups, Reverse Crunches.
Each day has a leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and some core work.

Besides having rest and recovery days in between MWF, adequate rest intervals have been established in the workout itself!

By following the leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and core exercise routine you will maximize rest in-between each exercise, therefore, limiting muscular fatigue and allowing you to perform each strength training exercise to its fullest extent.^[9]

I know what you’re thinking: that Steve is very clever.

While it’s possible to build out the perfect routine on your own, many of our Rebels end up spending hours and hours building something custom – only to realize it isn’t what they need (or isn’t effective) weeks and months later for their goals.

For people who want to avoid that altogether, we built the solution – our uber-popular 1-on-1 coaching program pairs you with your own Nerd Fitness Coach who will get to know you, your goals, and your lifestyle, and handcraft a workout plan that’s specific to not only your body, but also to your schedule and life.

Click on the image below to schedule a call with our team to see if we’re a good fit for each other!

How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do?

We have a MASSIVE guide on the exact number of sets and reps (it’s where the video above comes from), but you can follow the basics here.
- For beginners, we recommend starting in the 5 – 15 reps range to increase both size and strength. (If you want to focus on more strength than size, stick to the lower end of that range.)
- As you get more advanced, you may find that it’s beneficial to do up to 30 reps of an exercise. (Though 90% of your work will still be in that 5 – 15 rep range.) The biggest drawback to higher rep ranges like this is it can be hard to target specifically that “1 to 3 reps before failure” when the rep count is so high. ^[10]^[11]
If you get bored, want to change things up, or you’re looking to bust through a plateau, you can do the following:
- This week, I might do 3 sets of 12 reps for each exercise (other than the core exercises), adding enough weight to each exercise so that it’s incredibly taxing.
- Next week, I’ll do four sets for each exercise, adding weight each time and doing less reps.
For example, I’ll do an overhead press in the following sequence:
- 100 pounds: 12 reps
- 105 pounds: 10 reps
- 110 pounds: 8 reps
- 115 pounds: 6 reps
The good news is that no matter which path you take (pure strength, size, or a mix of both), as long as you are adding weight each week – and eating enough – you WILL be getting stronger.^[12]

ANY path will work, provided you are progressively overloading your muscles with an increased challenge!

What’s progressive overload?

Coach Jim explains it all for you right here:

Progressive overload involves exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently.

Your muscles will have to adapt and rebuild themselves to get stronger. So in order to see improvements, your training must gradually and constantly increase.

We just have to make sure we get the right pace!

According to Mike Rebold from Hiram College:

Keep in mind that if the overload increases too quickly, poor technique and injury may result. And if the overload progresses too slowly, improvements will be minimal or non-existent.

Slowly but gradually increasing your challenge could look like:
- If you do 5 sets of 5 squats at 140 pounds this week, aim for 5 sets of 5 of 145 pounds next week.
- Or if you’re doing 3 sets of 10 at 100 pounds, then next week try for 3 sets of 10 at 105 pounds.
Get stronger, which is 20% of the puzzle. The other 80% is nutrition (which I cover later)!

As I said before, if you want even more info, you can head to our article “Determining the Correct Number of Reps and Sets” for a deep dive into the subject.

Any Other Muscle Training and Weight-Lifting Tips?

#1) Warm-up before exercising – don’t walk into a gym, slap 45-pound plates on the bar, and then start your routine.

Get your heart rate up and muscles warm first by doing a dynamic warm-up of jumping jacks, lunges, bodyweight squats, hip raises, push-ups, leg swings, jumps, etc.

After that, always start with doing a set or two of lifting JUST THE BAR.^[13] Only then should you start adding weight for some warm-up sets before moving into your work sets.

#2) Have a focused form – if you’re doing a bodyweight squat incorrectly, you might develop bad habits.

However, if you do a barbell squat incorrectly with 405 pounds on your shoulders, you could do some serious damage. If you’re just starting out, check your ego at the door: start with a VERY light weight and make sure you are doing the exercise properly.

There is NO SHAME in starting with just the bar. You can always add more weight next week if this week is too easy.

#3) Stimulate, don’t annihilate – I try to always have one more rep left when I finish a set.

Some trainers will preach working your muscles to annihilation, but I think that’s just asking for an injury, poor form, and beyond-sore muscles.

Your muscles get built while resting, not in the gym, so don’t worry about destroying them completely each day you step in the gym – it’s not worth it.^[14]

#4) Change up the time between sets – if you’re doing 3 sets of 5 reps of a really heavy weight, it’s okay to wait 3-5 minutes between sets – you’re focusing on pure strength here.

If you’re doing sets in the 8-12 range, try to keep the time between sets around a minute or so. This will affect your muscles in different ways. The most important thing is to rest long enough that you can give the same level of effort as you did in the previous set.

For more, learn all about sets and rep ranges.

Just be consistent between sets and when doing the same workout between weeks to track your progress.^[15]

#5) Don’t overdo it – More does not mean better in weightlifting. You don’t need to spend two hours in the gym, you don’t need to do 15 different kinds of chest exercises.

My routines last no longer than 45 minutes, I only do three or four sets (after warm-up sets) for each exercise, and it’s enough to stimulate muscle growth. I only need to add more if my growth plateaus or stops, and before I do that I make sure my intensity, diet, and recovery are dialed in FIRST. ^[16]

Three workouts a week is a great place for most to start – we’ve had clients build muscle on anywhere from 2 days a week to 4 days a week using a full-body routine like this! You need to give your muscles time to regrow bigger – remember muscles are made in the kitchen!^[17]

Less is often more – just make your routines really intense and exhausting.^[18]

#6) Write down everything – Keep a training journal, and write down exactly how many sets and reps you did for every exercise.

That way, you can compare how you did this time with how you did last time. You’ll know how much more you need to lift this week to make sure you’re stronger than last week.

#7) Follow a routine, have a plan. The best thing you can do is have a plan to follow and stick with it!^[19]

HOw Many Calories Should I Eat To Gain Muscle (and Which Supplements)

If you’re skinny and trying to bulk up, this will be 90% of the battle.

If you’ve been lifting weights for a while “but can’t seem to gain weight,” then you are not eating enough – it’s that simple.^[20]

I thought I was one of those people who just could never gain weight…and then I learned it was all diet, started eating 4,000 calories a day, and I put on 18 pounds in 30 days.

Yeah, I wanted to throw up from always eating along with three Muscle Milk shakes a day, but it worked.

Looking back I would have done things differently, but after 6 years of exercising without putting on any weight, it was great to see so much progress in such a short period of time.

4,000 calories sounds freaking insane, right? I know.

It makes eating a full-time job.

You’ll always either cooking, eating, or cleaning up after yourself.

But if you really want to get bigger and you’re struggling to do so, then all of your effort is going to have to go into eating more, eating healthier, and eating ALL THE TIME.

I’ve since changed my strategies and gotten much more calculated in my approach. It’s how I (jokingly) went from Steve Rogers to Captain America.

Here are the key elements for weight gain:

PART #1: Eat More – To gain weight, you’re going to need to seek a calorie surplus (i.e., hypercaloric diet). This can be achieved by consuming an additional 250-500 kcal/day or 10-20% above your typical diet.

You can get an estimate of how much you need to eat to just MAINTAIN your weight in our free calculator here.

When I first realized I wasn’t eating enough, I did it the hard way and just started adding in anything I could.
- Pasta
- Rice
- Pizza
- Milk
- Hamburgers
- Chicken
- Protein shakes
Whatever.

This is how I went from 162-180 pounds in 30 days. I’m not proud of how I ate, but it produced results and I remained healthy and strong.^[21]

PART #2: Eat enough protein – With all the hard training you’re doing, you want to not only gain weight but make sure your body has the resources to turn as much of that weight as possible into muscle.

That’s why we put together this handy protein calculator for you – so you can maximize your gains! For most people, targeting between 0.7-1.0g/lb of bodyweight gets you in the optimal muscle-building range.

If you’re not used to eating a lot of protein, that can be a struggle! Never fear we have more resources for you. In our Protein 101 Guide, we talk about sources of protein and simple ways to include more in your diet. Protein shakes can be another way to quickly and easily boost your protein intake.

“Which Supplements Should I Take to Build Muscle Quickly?”

As we lay out in our Nerd Fitness Supplement Guide, most supplements are a waste of money and completely unnecessary for building muscle.

However, there are two supplements that CAN BE helpful in building muscle quickly:
1. Protein Shakes: If you are struggling to hit your protein and calorie intake goals for the day, adding in a high-calorie protein shake can be a game-changer.^[23]
2. Creatine Supplements: Creatine helps your muscles retain water and can improve your performance, allowing you to push harder, for longer, in the gym.^[24]
Are you vegan and trying to build muscle? Read our full article on how to go plant-based properly!^[25]

Bottom line: If you don’t see any change, then you need to eat more.
- Yes, it will feel excessive.
- Yes, you will feel full all the time.
- Yes, it’s a pain in the ass and expensive.
But if you really want to be bigger, then you are going to need to really dedicate yourself in the kitchen.

Unless you’re a genetic mutant, it’s incredibly tough to build muscle and strength without overloading your system with calories and nutrients.

Just keep eating.

Won’t All of This Eating Make Me Fat? I Don’t Want to Get Bulky.
I get this question all the time in emails, usually from guys who are 6 feet tall and 130 pounds.

Don’t worry, if you can’t gain weight now, putting on extra weight is going to be great for you.

Yes, you will put on SOME fat along with the muscle you’re building if you’re running a calorie surplus.

This is why picking the right amount of calories per day is important:

If you can build muscle at 3,000 calories, but you’re eating 4,000 calories, you’ll put on a pound or two of fat per week along with your muscle.

However, if you need to eat 4,000 calories to build muscle and you’re only eating 3,000, you won’t see any changes.
Everybody is different, so you need to experiment and find out what works best for you.^[27]

Once you get to your desired weight (actually, aim for about 10-15 pounds heavier than your goal weight), you can scale back the calories, add in some extra sprints to the end of your workout, and keep lifting heavy – the muscle will remain, the fat will disappear, and you’ll be left with the body you want.

I’m not skinny, I need to LOSE weight – what’s different for me?

As Coach Matt explains above, you can actually build muscle and lose body fat at the same time.

You just have to be careful about how you do it.

We cover the subject in depth in the post, “Can You Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time?”

This gist goes like this:

If you are eating enough protein, and have decent fat stores to pull from for energy needs, you can build muscle even while in a caloric deficit.

As long as you are resting (next section) and strength training (previous section), you can shed body fat while still putting on muscle.

Now, this only works if you have plenty of fat stores to pull from. Once you start to lean out a little, you’ll likely have to increase your calories to start putting on more muscle.

I recently added some strength (and muscle) while losing 22 pounds in 6 months.

Just remember, you can build muscle while losing weight if you:^[28]
1. Sustain a caloric deficit
2. Lift heavy
3. Prioritize protein
4. Rest
Let’s talk about that last one for a bit.

Rest Days for Building Muscle and Strength

As Coach Jim mentions in the video above, if you’re skinny and trying to bulk up and build muscle, avoid cardio like the plague (also avoid the plague).

Why?

Take a look at the best marathon runners in the world, and compare their physique to somebody like Usain Bolt, the best sprinter in the world – tons of muscle, power, and a body to envy.

There’s nothing wrong with EITHER body – we’re all awesome and are special and blah blah blah.

But you’re reading an article about how to build muscle fast, right? So focus all of your effort on building muscle!^[29]

You want all the calories you’re consuming to go towards “building muscle,” and not “fuel my run.”

I will admit that I’m biased against chronic cardio, but mostly because it bores me!

You can be far more effective when you focused on getting stronger and only do ‘cardio’ on things you enjoy – after all, your success will largely depend on your nutrition, NOT your cardio!

Personally, I spend three days a week in the gym, with each workout clocking in at 45 minutes.

I go for long walks on my off days along with a day of sprints to stay active, but I know that my muscles get built while I’m resting, not when I’m working out.

I really focus in on my workouts to make them as exhausting as possible, and then I give my body ample time to recover (while eating enough calories to produce a surplus).

If you’re lifting heavy, and eating enough, make sure you’re also getting enough sleep! 5-6 hours a night isn’t going to cut it – you need to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night for optimal muscle-building. Take naps too if you have the opportunity.

Sleep needs to become a priority, because while we’re asleep, growth hormone, a hormone responsible for regulating muscle growth is released.^[30]

If you’re a big guy/girl trying to slim down, a little extra cardio might speed up your fat loss but if you’re not eating correctly, it might result in losing some of the muscle you already have.

Don’t worry about going for 10 mile runs on your off days – do 20-30 minutes of intervals or go run hill sprints in your park. The weight will come off more slowly, but you’ll only be losing fat, not fat AND muscle.

Once you hit your goal weight and the target amount of muscle mass, I’d recommend adding back in some cardio for your overall conditioning, but keep it varied (sprints and intervals). The focus is to keep building explosive muscle and not long, slow, boring muscle.

If you love going for long runs and aren’t going to give that up, I’m not gonna stop you. Just know that the long hours of cardio will severely inhibit your progress on building strength and size.^[31]

Get Started Building Muscle Today

This is a basic overview to get ya started. It really boils down to a few major things:
- Lift heavy
- Eat lots of good food
- Rest
Simple to understand, tough to implement.

Trust me, I know – I’ve been battling this for the past decade.

If you made it this far, and you want more specific instruction, here’s how Nerd Fitness can help!

If you are somebody that wants to follow a tailor-made program designed to build muscle and grow strong, check out our popular 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program.

You’ll work with our certified NF instructors who will get to know you better than you know yourself, check your form, and program your workouts and nutrition for you.

-Steve

PS: Be sure to check out the rest of our Strength Training 101 series:

###

All Photo Sources are found right here.^[1]
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Steve Kamb

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February 1, 2024
How Much Weight Should I Lift? (Home or Gym) | Nerd Fitness
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“Do you even lift?”

After today’s guide, not only will you be able to say “YUP,” but you’ll also know exactly how MUCH you should be lifting!

We’ll help you get big and strong so you can fight back against your older brother when he tackles you in the hallway.

As part of our Strength 101 series, we’re going to tell you exactly what you need to know about lifting weights and strength training:

If you find yourself with a billion other strength training questions as you build your own workout, or you’re overwhelmed at all of this and not sure how to get stronger…you’re in good company!

It can be scary enough to keep MOST people from starting, which is actually why we created our Coaching Program.

Your NF Coach will do an initial assessment to calculate exactly how much weight you should start lifting. They’ll then design a program that they’ll adjust regularly based on your progress and schedule.

Plus, with our app, your coach can do regular video form checks to make sure you safely make consistent progress.

With that out of the way, let’s jump into the nitty-gritty of “How much weight should I lift?“

Step #1: Why You Should Lift Your Own Bodyweight First

Stop! (Wait a minute…)

Before trying to figure out how much weight you can lift, let’s make sure you know how to do the movement, as flawlessly as possible, without any weight at all.

Why?

Because if you can’t do a movement correctly without weight, how can you expect to do it right WITH weight?

Think about it – if you can’t walk up a flight of stairs normally, would you expect to be able to walk up the flight of stairs carrying a sack of hammers?

No – you would only hurt yourself.^[1]

Also, what are you even doing with a sack of hammers?

STEP ONE: learn each movement without any bars, dumbbells, or added weight.

Which might make you say:

“Staci, how on earth do I do a deadlift or an overhead press without any weight? And I know I can do a bodyweight squat, but isn’t it completely different doing a barbell back squat?”

Easy – grab either a broomstick (be careful for splinters!), mop handle, or PVC pipe (I use a 1.25” PVC cut in half) and pretend it’s a barbell.

If you’re trying to mimic a dumbbell movement, either grab a short dowel, PVC, or just hold your hands in a fist as if you were holding on to something.

While it’s not the exact same as holding actual weight, it will allow you to practice getting into the correct positions.

Practice the movements in your own home without other people around you (so you’ll be less nervous).

Also, you can videotape yourself pretty easily. I’ve use my computer’s webcam, or my phone camera and a little tripod, then completed the movement with a broomstick.

Now, I can deadlift 455 pounds and I’m a Senior Coach for our Online Coaching Program:

If you want a beginner strength training workout to follow:

If you are interested in nerding out about the proper form for each barbell movement, start here:

We also HIGHLY recommend you pick up Starting Strength, widely considered to be the Bible of barbell training.

Once you feel good about your form, you can see if you can “pass the bar.”

(Guaranteed to be the nicest lawyer joke you’ll ever read on Nerd Fitness, by the way).

Now, if want a full Bodyweight Workout Program that you can follow along with at home that will help get you prepped to start strength training?

You can download the worksheet to follow along here when you sign up in the box below:
Grab Your Beginner Bodyweight Routine Worksheet. No Gym Required!

Complete this workout at home, no equipment required

Avoid the common mistakes everybody makes when doing bodyweight exercises

Learn how to finally get your first pull-up
Step #2: How to Start Barbell Training with Lifting the Bar

Once you’re comfortable with each movement with a broomstick or PVC, then you can move to the bar.

Your first gym workout shouldn’t go any heavier than “just” the bar, which means the bar without any added weight.

How much does a barbell weigh?
- A standard barbell weighs 45 lbs (20.4 kg).
- A “women’s barbell” weighs 35 lbs (15.8 kg).
Now, don’t be discouraged if this seems really heavy – especially on upper body movements.

When I started out, I could not bench press or overhead press an empty barbell.

If the bar seems too heavy to start:
1. See if the gym has a lighter barbell – some have a “women’s bar” or a “training bar” that usually weighs 30-35 lbs and 15 lbs, respectively. These are usually shorter, but that’s okay!
2. Start out with dumbbells – while the movement is not the exact same, it allows you to build up the strength:
  This will help you handle a barbell down the road.
3. Focus on bodyweight training (push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, squats) until you build the strength to handle the bar.
Now, on opposite ends of the spectrum, if the bar seems really light, I would STILL encourage you to complete your first workout with just the bar.

Why?

According to Mike Rebold from Hiram College, when you start lifting the barbell or dumbbells for the first time you will notice muscle deficiencies (i.e., one side that is weaker than the other). It can often come down to motor units, or the nuerons that help muscle fibers.^[2]

Rebold explains:

When you first start strength training and lifting the barbell or dumbbells, your motor units don’t fire as quickly and smaller motor units that don’t generate a lot of force are recruited. As you continue working out and become more trained, your motor units fire more rapidly and your brain recruits larger motor units that can generate more force allowing you to lift heavier weights. This is why the progressive overload principle is important.

That means focusing on getting each rep correct, and worrying about adding weight next time.

Check your ego at the door!

I would rather see somebody in the gym lifting the bar with proper form than watch somebody with awful form lift 400 lbs.

That makes me…

Note: If you finish your first workout with the bar and still aren’t comfortable with the movements, it’s never a bad thing to do your next workout with just the bar again.

If you’re not comfortable with the movement and you start adding weight, not only will you be more likely to injure yourself because your body isn’t ready, but you’ll be more likely to hurt yourself because you won’t be confident under the bar.

Confidence is something that is very important as you start lifting heavier and heavier.

Mike Rebold supports this idea:

Self-esteem is confidence in one’s own abilities. Research has shown that in order to improve one’s self-esteem, or one’s confidence to exercise and lift heavier weights, you must first incorporate and master simple exercises.^[3]

This is why we also recommend starting with the barbell or light dumbbells. Because as you master these simple exercises, that will result in your self-esteem being improved and then you will have more confidence to try new exercises and to lift heavier weights.

Speaking of, if you’re planning on using dumbbells as your main lift (and not a barbell):

Start with 5-10 lb dumbbells to get a feel for things.

Whether you’re starting with dumbbells or ready to move onto a barbell, it’s important to do it properly!

We check the form of EVERY online coaching client on their workouts so they have the confidence that they’re doing these moves correctly!

We’ve also created a specific sequence of workout routines you can follow along with for free in our guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.

Grab yours free when you sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Step #3: How To Start Adding Weight to the Barbell

If you’re looking to start on a beginner program, such as the workouts in our Beginner Strength Training Workouts or our 6 Beginner Gym Workouts, you need to start light!

A few common rep ranges for beginner programs are:^[4]
- 5 sets of 5 reps
- 3 sets of 8 reps
- 3 sets of 10 reps
Let’s do an example: your program has you doing 3 sets of 8 on a particular lift.

1) After a proper warm-up routine, start with the empty bar again, and complete the prescribed number of reps (for this, it would be 8).

“But I thought you said we could add weight this time?” you might be thinking.

You can – but no matter how heavy you are going, always start with just the bar to warm up for EACH exercise.

If you watch the best lifters in your gym, you will notice they all warm up with “just the bar” to start, often for multiple sets!

This helps get your body warm, primes your nervous systems and all of your muscles for that movement, and gets you ready to lift heavier weight.^[5]

As a beginner to strength training, this is especially important to ingrain proper technique.

2) Add a small amount of weight to the bar. Depending on how heavy the bar felt, start by adding:
- 2 – 5 pounds for upper body exercises.
- 5 – 10 pounds for lower body exercises.
When in doubt, add the lower amount.^[6] You can always add more! Do another set of 8-12 reps at this weight.

(Note: If you’re doing dumbbell training, instead of adding weight to the bar, increase the weight of the dumbbell. Start with 5 lb. dumbbells, then 10 lb. dumbbells, for example)

3) If you were able to complete those reps both without losing form and without the speed of the bar slowing, add more weight to the bar.

Base the amount of new weight off how it felt – if the last set felt really light, add 5’s, if it felt heavy, add 2.5’s’s.

Here’s a good guideline from NSCA :^[7]

If a person can do two or more reps than the goal in an exercise on two consecutive training sessions, then they should increase the load.

4) Continue to do this until your form starts to break down or the speed of the lift gets slower on any of your reps.^[8]

The weight you used right before your form started to break down is your starting weight on which you will base all future workouts!

5) If it is a lower number than you expect, that’s great actually!

Don’t try to be a hero your first workout, it is better to start out too light than too heavy.^[9]

Remember – we’re trying to get solid, productive sets in, not find our max, so we want all of the reps to be fast and with as perfect form as our body allows.

Since you’re testing out heavier weights for the first time, never be afraid to have a spotter, or to use pins to ensure your safety!

If you don’t want to figure ANY of this out on your own, and you just want somebody to tell you exactly how much to lift, how many sets, reps, etc., I hear you.

I’ve had a lifting coach for years and it’s the best investment I make each month!

Step #4: How Do I Know When to Add More Weight?

Once you’ve found your starting weight, you’ll want to start using something called “progressive overload.”

This sounds a lot fancier than it really is.

As Coach Jim explains above, progressive overload means gradually increasing the stress put on your body during training.^[10]

In other words, we need to increase something, regularly. Usually, this means the amount of weight we lift.

And for beginners, that can often happen after every workout.

During every workout, our muscles are torn and broken down. Then after every workout – for the next 24-48+ hours, our body repairs itself. If you’re getting proper sleep^[11] and nutrition,^[12] it heals back stronger than it was before.

Conversely, if you do 5 sets of 5 squats at 100 lbs every single workout for months, are you getting stronger?

Most likely not.

Your body is actually just getting more efficient at lifting 5×5 at 100 lbs, burning fewer calories, and using less energy to make that movement happen.

So, how much weight do you add when you’re ready to increase your workouts?

That depends on how difficult the set was last time.

This is where great note-taking comes in (I’m a huge fan of a simple notebook, or Evernote docs on my phone).

Be sure to document each workout with:

Did you go to failure on your last set?

Did your form break down on any of the reps?

You’ll end up in one of two positions:

PATH A: You failed to complete any of your reps or your form started to break down. Do the same weight again next workout, and focus on boosting your form and technique of each rep.

Remember, if you are doing the same workout as last time, but each rep is more solid and with better form than before, you’re still doing better than you were the last workout.

In other words, you’re still leveling up.

You don’t necessarily have to go up in weight every workout to see gains.

You could also focus on:
- Less rest between sets.
- More control and better form.
- More repetitions.
All of which means you are getting stronger.

PATH B: You were able to get through all of your sets with great form, and without the bar slowing down. Congrats! Consider adding more next week. It’s not unheard of for beginners to add 10-20lbs a week to some lifts (especially squats and deadlifts), though don’t get discouraged if you’re only adding 2.5 or 5!^[13]

The BEST THING YOU CAN DO: slowly add the smallest amount of weight possible, and progress consistently. This is much preferred to progressing quickly and then hitting a plateau.

Each week, as you add a little bit of weight, you are building strength, confidence, and momentum.

Note: For some lifts, especially the overhead press or bench press, adding just 5 lbs may be too much to go up per workout.

I personally have a set of 1.25lb plates that I bring with me to the gym so that I can still progress regularly.

Remember: You’re going to have shitty days at the gym. There will be days when you can’t add any weight, or you feel like you have to take a step backward.

So many things affect how your lifts are going to feel:
- A baby crying all night – causing sleep deprivation and resulting in systemic inflammation and decreased GH release = poor recovery
- Lots of stress at the office.
- To drinking too much at the big game – causing stomach discomfort and bloating.
- Just not eating enough for your goals – not consuming enough carbohydrates and fats to support energy demands or not consuming enough protein to facilitate muscle protein synthesis and recovery.^[14]
It’s important to listen to your body over listening to some number telling you what you should be lifting.

You want to make progress every time you walk into the gym, and that means having a specific plan to follow.

Don’t have a workout to follow? Tired of not getting results despite all the effort?

This is what we do for a living! Help people like you get out of ruts and finally get them the results they want.

After doing my own workout programming for 5 years, I hired a coach and it changed my life. Let us help you hit your goals too.

Step #5: How Do I Calculate My 1 Rep Max?

It’s really fun to find the maximum amount of weight you can do for one repetition (one rep max) every once in a while.

However, as a beginner who is just starting strength training, it’s better that you start with getting the movement right and adding weight slowly before trying to find a one-rep max.

I would suggest you follow a program for at least six weeks before even attempting “a heavy single”.

Why?

Even if your form is as good as you can get it now, you will get far better, learning how to make tweaks and corrections as you go.

When you first start out, you’re still getting everything down, so your one-rep max won’t be a “true” one-rep max.

Plus, when you train, you’re training everything in your body.

Some things, like muscles and bones, get stronger, while others, like your nervous system, get more efficient.

The more you do something, the better you get at it. And in the beginning you’ll get better very quickly.

It’s unwise to attempt a 1 repetition maximum when you’re learning the movement.

This is one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.”

But only slightly less well-known is this: “Never attempt a 1-rep max as a beginner.”

Even if you can do it with proper form with lighter weights, as soon as the weight gets close to your 1 rep max your form will start to break down, and you are more likely to hurt yourself.

Some words of caution here from Mike Rebold, an expert in exercise physiology:

During 1RM testing, fatigue will happen! One-repetition maximum testing has been found to overload the neuromuscular system resulting in lower motor unit activation, less force production, and ultimately more fatigue. This level of fatigue experienced by the lifter can be enough to result in injury, especially if the lifter is a novice (i.e., beginner).

When your form starts to break down, you need to have the experience behind you to finish (or bail out of) the lift safely.

If you watch any weightlifting or powerlifting competition, sometimes the lifts are not the prettiest lifts you’ve ever seen.

However, the lifters are experienced enough to handle this, and know how to bail if something goes wrong.

As a beginner, you are not.

Team NF’s Steve worked with a coach for 4+ years to finally get his 420 lb. deadlift:

If you want to work with a coach that can help you perfect your form and train to hit 1-rep maxes too, we’re here for ya! We’re slightly biased, but having a coach in your corner is an absolute game-changer.

Step #6: what is a respectable amount to be lifting?

The simple answer? The weight that’s right for you.

You are not competing against the guy next to you; you’re competing against the YOU from last week (like racing your ghost in Mario Kart).

As far as what you can strive for, there’s no easy calculation or formula.

While some people have put out strength standards, it’s truly up to your body, your body type, your background as an athlete, your genetics, and many other factors.^[15]

You should be lifting the amount that’s right for you today. In your next workout, you should be trying to lift more (even if you can’t do more weight, try doing one more rep, or with less rest between sets) than you did last time.

That’s it.

As a part of this journey, I want you to completely forget about strength standards and forget about everyone around you.

I don’t care if the guy (or girl) next to you is squatting 500 lbs for sets of 10.

If you’re squatting 50 lbs, and that’s the weight that is challenging for you, then that’s the weight you should be lifting.

These are the BIG mistakes you need to avoid:

Never EVER try to outlift the person next to you.

Never EVER adjust the weight to impress someone.

No one’s judging you based on the weight on the bar, and if they are, they aren’t worth your time or energy.

To recap “How much should I lift?”:
1. The strongest lifters do a dynamic warm-up first.
2. The strongest lifters warm up with “just” the bar.
3. The strongest lifters focus on getting their reps in, and aren’t ashamed that they’re lifting less than the guy next to them.
4. The strongest lifters take time to get things right, even if that means lifting less weight than they know they “can” do.
5. The strongest lifters started off doing a beginners program just like you.
So remember – start slow, add weight slowly, and stay conservative.

It’s amazing how much even adding just 5 lbs (2kg) a week adds up to! It’s far better to play it safe in the beginning than to find yourself injured and frustrated before you have a chance to progress.

Do You Even Lift?

Hopefully, this article EXCITED you about strength training, and you now know exactly how much to lift.

For people looking for the next step, we’ve got 3 options you want to check out:

1) If you want to follow a strength training program that’s specific to your goals, check out our popular Online Coaching Program.

You’ll work with a certified NF instructor who will get to know you better than you know yourself, check your form, and create a workout strategy that will evolve alongside you.

2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! Join hundreds of thousands of people like you. It’s free to join, and we have a dozen free guides for you when you sign up in the yellow box below.
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Let’s get these questions answered so you can get back to getting stronger!

What are your other big questions about lifting weight and how much you should be lifting?

-Staci

PS: Be sure to check out the rest of the Strength Training 101 series:

###

photo source: Strongman, Four Bricks Tall: Scenes from an empty lot in Brooklyn, vol 1., hxdbzxy © 123RF.com, Lego Lifting.
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Staci Ardison

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May 25, 2023
Strength Training for Women (7 ) | Nerd Fitness
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So you’re a woman who wants to start strength training?

Well you’ve come to the right place!

We help women just like you grow strong, and today we’ll get you started on your strength training journey.

Here’s what we’ll cover in our strength training guide for women:

After today’s guide, you’ll know exactly how to transform yourself into a superhero!

What makes me so confident? How do I know so much about women growing strong?

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Staci Ardison.

This is me deadlifting 455 pounds:

I’m currently the Senior Coach here in the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program.

And no, I wasn’t born this strong (that would be strangely awesome). It’s only after discovering a love of strength training that I learned how to handle weight like this.

Obviously, we won’t start you out lifting that much at first. But we will set you up on a path that if you want to, one day you’ll be able to.

Before we get to it, if you’re in a hurry, I want you to know we’ve compiled all our strength training material into a friendly guide so you can read it at your leisure (I’m picturing you reading the guide poolside, sipping a lemonade).

Download Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, let’s do this!

Should Women Lift Weights? (Why You Should Start Strength Training)

Everyone should start strength training: people of every sex and gender, the young, the old…everyone.^[1]

We discuss the benefits heavily in our introduction to strength training, but I’ll highlight some examples now.^[2]

Here’s why every woman should strength train:

#1) When you’re stronger – life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger.

#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).^[3]

#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,^[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:

#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.^[5]

#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture and reduce back / hip pain.^[6]

#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape.

#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.^[7]

Boom!

Although strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, it’s estimated that only about 20% of women do it, far below that of our male counterparts.^[8]

That sucks.

It’s part of my life’s work to reverse this trend and to do so, I’m going to need your help.

You in?

Perfect!

Is Strength Training Different for Women?

Here’s something that may shock you: there’s no reason everybody – of any gender or sex – shouldn’t strength train the same way!

Yep, you don’t need 3-pound pink dumbbells, unless you like 3-pound pink dumbbells! You can train with free weights and barbells just like everybody else at the gym.

Sure, there are biological differences between the sexes. For example when strength training, people with typical male anatomy will produce more type IIa fibers than people with typical female anatomy, who will in turn produce more type I fibers than men.^[9]

Don’t worry about any of this though.

We don’t need to get you lost in the weeds.^[10]

The American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between sexes in their strength training recommendation.^[11] So neither shall we.

So what exactly is strength training, you may be asking?

“Strength training” of any kind can be explained by two things:

#1) Movement of any weight (including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.

#2) Progressive overload: exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and will constantly be rebuilding themselves to get stronger.

Coach Jim walks you through different strategies for progressive overload in this video:

Before we get into the ins and outs of strength training, I need to address a question we get over and over from the women in our coaching clients:

Will I get bulky if I lift weights?

If you see a woman who is incredibly muscular and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the very specific goal of building muscle and looking that way.

It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.

We simply don’t have the same amount of testosterone as people with male anatomy to get there easily.^[12] It’s something we cover in great detail in our guide on How to Build Muscle as a Woman.

If you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.

It’s something Rebel Leader Steve brings up in the video below:

So strike “I don’t want to get bulky” from your vernacular.

Alright, let’s talk about how to actually get started strength training.

Strength Training Level 1: Bodyweight Workouts

If you’re just starting your strength training journey, our first stop will be a bodyweight workout.

Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”

Duh.

This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.

Why is this the best place to start?

Here are two big reasons to do bodyweight training:

#1) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:

#2) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.

By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.

Bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.

For example…

You can start with knee push-ups:

Then go to regular push-ups:

Then elevated push-ups:

Then even up to things like handstands:

And even handstand push-ups:

You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).

Want a sample bodyweight workout you can try? You got it:

This is the Beginner Bodyweight Workout (3 Circuits):
- 20 Bodyweight squats.
- 10 Push-ups.
- 10 Walking lunges (each leg).
- 10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
- 15 Second plank.
- 30 Jumping jacks.
Want some variety? Try 8 other “at-home workouts.”

You can also create your own “no equipment workout” by reading the 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises.

Strength Training Level 2: Dumbbell Workouts

The next stop on our strength training journey includes lifting some actual weights!

Woot.

Dumbbells are a great first step into the world of weight training and strength training:
- Dumbbells make it easy to add difficulty to a bodyweight movement: holding dumbbells while doing lunges, for example.
- Dumbbell exercises can be less intimidating than barbell training for some, and are a step towards barbell training.
- Dumbbells have an added stabilization challenge, and will point out muscle imbalances pretty easily (“oh my right arm is stronger than my left arm.”).
- You can scale easily. Once the 10 pound weights become too easy, pick up the 15 pound ones!
Here’s a beginner workout that you can do, taken from our Level 4 Gym Workout “Dumbbell Division”:
- 10 goblet squats
- 10 push-ups
- 10 dumbbell rows per side
Here’s how to perform a goblet squat:

This is a push-up done in proper form (in case you skipped the last section^[13]):

And here is how to do a dumbbell row:

If you’re following along at home, you just did your first full-body workout using weights!

Want a custom-built dumbbell workout? Something designed for the weights in your apartment’s gym?

Our Nerd Fitness Coaches can do just that! Plus they’ll scale your workouts as you grow stronger, turning you into a superhero!

Strength Training Level 3: The Wide World of Barbells

You made it! It’s now time to start training with barbells!

This is going to help you become ultra-powerful and strong.

It’s how I transformed myself into the person I am today.

The reason barbell training is so important is that it allows you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. This is great for building powerful, strong muscles in your core, legs, glutes, and so on.

We’re talking about exercises like the Back squat:

And the Barbell Deadlift:

Show me somebody that’s strong at both of these movements, and I’ll show you somebody that’s in better shape than most of the human population.

But wait!

Even an empty barbell can be heavy (normally 45 pounds or 20Kg), so before we jump into the deep end, let’s make sure you are strong enough to proceed.

You’ll need to be able to complete a goblet squat with a 45 pound dumbbell (shown earlier) and the Romanian deadlift with 20 pound dumbbells.

Here’s how to perform the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells:

Our test to see if you can handle barbell training will be the Level 4 Gym Workout: Dumbbell Division C (taken from our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym).

You’ll need to be able to go through the following before you start training with barbells:
- 10 goblet squats – 45 lbs (20Kg dumbbell),
- 10 Romanian deadlifts with 20 lbs dumbbells (9-10 Kg)
- 10 push-ups (on knees or regular)
- 10 dumbbell rows with each arm – at least a 20 lb dumbbell
Can’t do those movements at that weight? Stick to the Level 4 Gym Workouts until you build up the strength to progress to barbells.

Once you CAN do the above, the real fun is going to start!

We’re gonna replace the goblet squat with a back squat and the RDL with a barbell deadlift.

Here’s a video demonstration on how to perform the barbell back squat:

I would also encourage you to read How to Squat Properly for a full tutorial, especially if you’re just learning how to squat.

Here’s a step-by-step video on how to do the deadlift:

Again, make sure you read How to Deadlift Safely With Proper Form if you’re just starting your deadlifting journey.

Once you get the handle of these two moves, it’s time for a full-body workout using barbells!

We’ll give you two different days to alternate between.

NF BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT: DAY A

Do 3 rounds of:

NF BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT: DAY B

Do 3 rounds of:
- 5 barbell Romanian deadlifts
- 10 push-ups
- 10 dumbbell rows per arm
That’s it! Do each of these once a week and you’ll be rocking an awesome strength training practice.

Are you doing the workouts correctly?

A good way to tell would be to record yourself doing the movement and then match them against the gifs and videos in this guide. If they look close you’re doing great!

We also provide form checks in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Through our snazzy app, a Nerd Fitness Coach (like me!) will review your movement to make sure you are training correctly and safely!

How Much Weight Should Women Lift?

We have a FULL resource on how to determine your starting weight for lifting, but I’ll give you the gist here.

The simple to learn but tough to implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.

And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.

How much weight should I start with?
- If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.
- If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (as a reminder, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).
“How fast should I add weight to the bar?”

Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”

Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!

So go SLOW. Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week.

It’s a big part of how he transformed (jokingly) from Steve Rogers to Captain America.

And if you are looking for this content in an easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Can Strength Training Help with Weight Loss?

We get questions relating to weight loss and strength training all the time, and it’s something we cover throughout our Strength Training 101 series.

Let me quickly address it here:

Fat and muscle are two different things – one can’t transform into the other.

We all have plenty of muscle right now (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to move, walk, sit upright, etc.), the muscle is just hiding underneath a layer of body fat.

In order for us to lose weight and look better, we want to do two things:
- Build our muscles stronger and tighter.
- Reduce the fat covering those muscles!
And luckily, both of those things happen simultaneously through strength training!

Coach Matt explains exactly how in this video on losing fat while gaining muscle (also known as “getting toned”):

So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.

You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).

You do NOT need to do hours of cardio for weight loss – weight loss is 90% a result of your nutrition. So honestly, you don’t need to ever set foot on a treadmill again (unless you WANT to).

Strength training will help you lose weight and look better IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:

As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight” article (full of fun Harry Potter references), combining a caloric deficit and strength training is magic:
- You’re not consuming enough calories to carry out your body’s daily functions.
- Your body needs to use lots of calories to rebuild the muscle that was broken down during the strength training workout.
- Your body has no choice BUT to pull from fat stores to get stuff done!
Just by doing those two things (get strong, reduce calories), all sorts of wizardry and witchcraft takes place in your body:
- Get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
- Build tight dense muscle.
- A revved-up metabolism while rebuilding muscle.
- Burning of body fat to get things done.
Yeah, you’re hearing me correctly.

Lose the body fat that sits on top of your muscles and you’ll make your muscles tighter and denser = look better without clothes on.

So how do you put this into practice?
1. Pick one of the strength workouts we covered earlier (start at the Beginner Bodyweight Workout if you feel unsure where to begin).
2. Calculate your daily caloric needs.
3. Learn which diet is best for you and make a small change.
Oh, what’s that? You just want somebody to tell you exactly how to train for your body, and how to eat for your goals?

Fine!

Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program – it’s helped hundreds of women lose weight through strength training – and proper nutrition. We work with you on habit-building and lifestyle design to actually get stuff done!

The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
Great news:

The best strength training exercises are universal. No matter your size, shape, sex, gender, age, or whether you love Star Trek more than Star Wars, these are the best exercises to build a great physique.

I’m going to share with you the exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!).

The 9 Best Strength Training Exercises for Women are:

Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)

Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)

Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!

Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.

Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.

Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. Recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and a great core workout.

Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.

Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!

Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than the chest.

Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:
1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):

2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose as it’s the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!

3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength (back, biceps, and forearms).

4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)

5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips. Warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength-building exercises.

And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:

6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:

7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”

This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:

8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.

As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.

9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.

And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…

A Meal Plan for Strength Training (Healthy Eating 101)
So far, we’ve been more or less just talking about exercises when it comes to strength training.

This is logical, because this is in fact a guide on how to perform certain exercises to grow strong.

However, we constantly remind our coaching clients that 90% of their success or failure on their fitness journey will come down to what they eat.

“Success” in this context really comes down to your goals.

Are you looking to bulk up? You’ll need to eat more calories than you burn.

Are you looking to slim down? You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn.

At this point, you might be thinking “Staci, how many calories do I need?”

To answer that question, it’s time for the Nerd Fitness Calorie Calculator!
(Click here for our Metric calculator)

(Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! ^[14]).
- If you want to bulk up and gain weight, take your TDEE and add 250 calories to it to get your daily goal. This should result in gaining half a pound per week.
- Want to lose weight? Take your TDEE and subtract 250 calories to receive your daily goal. This should result in losing about a half-pound a week.
The other piece of the equation outside of a caloric surplus/deficit is protein.

Since you will be strength training and building muscle, you’ll need to make sure you are eating protein at every meal. It’s the number one macronutrient for creating new muscle tissue.^[15]

Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
- Meat (steak, bison, pork).
- Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck).
- Eggs!^[16]
- Cheese and dairy.
- Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).
- Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).
- Other vegetarian protein sources here.
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein required for muscle growth vary wildly from source to source (and woman to woman).^[17]

Here is our recommendation:
- If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g per pound of bodyweight (2.2 g/kg).
- If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.
Let me simplify it for you:

“To build muscle, target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).”

If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:

Here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
- 4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
- 4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
- 4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes. Rebel Leader Steve and I both supplement with shakes daily to meet our protein goals.

Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting enough!

Whenever we speak with new Online Coaching Clients, protein is the macronutrient we begin every discussion with! It’s THAT important when it comes to either weight loss or building muscle. I’m not kidding when I say it should make up a portion of every meal you eat.

The Top Frequently Asked Strength Training Questions for Women

Here are some of the most common questions we receive from women beginning their strength training practice in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.

#1) Will I get bulky lifting weights? I really don’t want to.

I have GREAT NEWS!

Strength training will not make you bulky, UNLESS you want it to!

And if you want to bulk up? That’s AWESOME!

Here’s how to build muscle correctly.

You get to pick how you want to look, so you do you.

Just remember that women who compete as bodybuilders didn’t start looking like overnight:
- They have eaten, trained, and potentially taken supplements specifically so they can look like that! Which is great. Good for them.
- They’ve been working towards that goal for years, probably decades.
Here’s the truth: when you pick up heavy things (like barbell training), your muscles get STRONGER (but not necessarily bigger).

If you actively eat for the goal of building muscle and getting bigger, you CAN build muscle and size.

Again, if you want bigger arms or stronger glutes, AWESOME. You do you.

Let’s talk about the reverse: If you pick up heavy things and eat a caloric deficit, your muscles will get stronger and denser; you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will lose weight and get that “toned” look that many women are after.

Jump back to our healthy eating section for more on caloric deficits and surpluses.

#2) Can I spot reduce fat with certain exercises?

Sir Mix-A-Lot was wrong. Don’t do side bends and sit-ups, because you’re wasting your time!
- Side bends don’t get rid of love handles. They will simply strengthen your side muscles without actually reducing any fat there, potentially making you bigger around the waist unless you change your diet as well.
- Sit-ups will not remove belly fat. They can also wreak havoc on your lower back, and are an incomplete exercise.
Your body cannot spot reduce fat in specific locations. If you have flabby arms or a big stomach, doing thousands of bicep curls and thousands of crunches won’t help.

Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain locations in a certain order.

When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first, then your legs, then your belly, then your chest, and THEN your butt.

Or in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup.

No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears.

Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake in a way that doesn’t make you miserable:

We cover ALL the popular diets, and why they will ALL work…temporarily in our article on “which diet is right for you?” (Just don’t do the Military Diet!)

Here’s the truth: your diet – specifically how MUCH you eat – will be responsible for 80-90% of that fat-loss equation.

The other 10%-20% can come from strength training and fun exercises.

Big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done). Our section on the best strength training exercises for women would be good examples of compound movements.

#3) How many days a week should a woman lift weights?

Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.

You build muscles while resting, not working out, so you generally want 48 hours before engaging the same muscle group again.

If you made it up to our “The Wide World of Barbells” section, you can do the DAY A workout on Monday and the DAY B workout on Thursday. That’ll give you plenty of time to recover.

Want more? Maybe on the weekend, you sneak away for a short hike.

Read “Exercise Without Realizing It” for more ideas on how to keep your body moving!

Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like a lot at first. We are interested in building the habit of strength training initially. We can up the frequency once you’re rocking and rolling.

Learning to meal prep would also be a good use of your time between training sessions.

4) Can I do strength training at home?

You sure can!

Many of our coaching clients have gotten in great shape simply by doing bodyweight exercises at home.

Here are a few resources to get you strength training in your living room:

We can also build you a custom workout for your exact situation, whether you’re stuck at home or in an office, we can create a solution that fits your busy life!

How to Begin Lifting Weights as a Woman (Next Steps)

Since 2009, Team Nerd Fitness has learned a tremendous amount about how to best serve the ladies of this community.

I want to share with you my favorite success story.

Meet Leslie, a very sedentary single mom who works long hours that managed to lose 100+ lbs with the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program:

What spurred her epic transformation?

In two words: strength training.

Leslie learned to train the right way, picked up a barbell, fixed her diet, and now does crazy things like handstands and ring work!

So if you’re tired of the same ole same ole and you’re ready to start strength training, you’re in the right place!

Not sure what to do or how to get started?

1) Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Our philosophies help women like Leslie above and they can be the philosophies that help you become strong inside and out.

Click on the image below to schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit for each other!

2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!

You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide!
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
4) Do a strength training workout this week! The most important step you can do is to actually start.

You got this. You can do it. I know because we’ve seen it countless times here at Nerd Fitness.

Enough from me though, now it’s your turn:

Are you just starting your strength training journey?

Do you strength train at home or the gym?

Any weight lifting tips or tricks we missed?

Let us know in the comments!

-Staci

PS: Make sure you read the rest of the articles in our Strength Training 101 series:

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Photo source: Women’s day 2015, Goodbye Batman, Scenes from an empty lot in Brooklyn, DSC_0254, tonobalaguer © 123RF.com, Pirate girl, The Breakfast of Jedi, Cecaelia has come, Lance Cpl. Tayler P. Schwamb.

GIF source: Thumbs up, Emma Stone Yes, Bird Delete, Lisa Simpson, Duh, Ninja Turtles, hiking.
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Staci Ardison

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March 17, 2023
44 Best Bodyweight Exercises (for Each Muscle Group) | Nerd Fitness
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Here are the 44 best bodyweight exercises you can do to build muscle and burn fat, no gym required!

These are the exact exercises we start our coaching clients on, and many perform them from their house or apartment.

In a hurry? Sign-up for our free weekly newsletter and we’ll send you PDFs of our “Work Out at Home” guides!

We’ve organized the exercises in today’s guide by major muscle groups (click to jump to those movements):

Plus, we’ll pull it all together at the end so you can create a complete bodyweight workout routine!

Alright, let’s get to it.

The 11 Best Lower-Body Bodyweight Exercises

You don’t need the gym for “leg day.” Do the following wherever!

#1) ASSISTED BODYWEIGHT SQUAT:

(Perfect if you can’t do regular bodyweight squats).

#2) BODYWEIGHT SQUAT:

If you want even more instruction, here’s how to do a proper bodyweight squat:

#3) ASSISTED PISTOL SQUAT:

#4) PISTOL SQUAT:

#5) SUPPORTED LUNGES:

#6) REGULAR LUNGES:

We have a guide on how to do lunges with proper form for you too.

#7) SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFT:

#8) HIP BRIDGE:

#9) CALF RAISE:

#10) STEP UP:

#11) BOX JUMP:

The 8 Best Push Bodyweight Exercises

Let’s walk you through the best bodyweight exercises to train your push muscles. We’ll more or less progress in difficulty as we go.

#1) KNEE PUSH-UP:

#2) ELEVATED PUSH-UP:

#3) PUSH-UP:

We have a whole article on how to do a proper push-up, but we also cover it extensively in this 5-minute video:

#4) DECLINE PUSH-UP:

#5) SIDE-TO-SIDE PUSH-UP:

#6) ASSISTED DIP:

With a resistance band, you can start performing assisted dips. A great exercise while you build up strength for normal dips.

#7) DIP:

Here’s how to do a proper bodyweight dip if you’d like a step-by-step guide.

#8) HANDSTAND (WALL WALK):

The wall walk is a great exercise as you progress into a full handstand. If you’re a complete newbie to turning upside down, check out our guide “Get Your First Handstand” for a full tutorial.

Just make sure you take it slow with your handstand and don’t be an “Overeager Beaver,” a label we define in our guide “15 Mistakes That Newbies Make When Trying to Get Healthy.”

Download it and the rest of our guides for free when you sign-up for our weekly newsletter!
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit

The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.

Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.

Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
The 8 Best Pull Bodyweight Exercises

Don’t neglect your pull muscles when creating your bodyweight workout. Here are the top 7 to include:

#1) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (HIGH):

An inverted bodyweight row can be a great “pull” exercise if you can’t do a pull-up yet, or if you don’t have a proper pull-up bar nearby. Because a good sturdy table can be used for inverted rows:

Alternatively, you could do doorframe rows if your table seems sketchy:

#2) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (LOW):

Once you get comfortable doing an inverted bodyweight row, try going lower to increase the difficulty.

You can check out The 5 Best Pull-up Alternatives for more ideas on how to perform rows, including how to build your own station:

#3) BAR HANG:

#4) ASSISTED PULL-UPS (WITH BAND):

A resistance band is a great tool to help build strength for proper pull-ups. It’s part of our arsenal for getting your first pull-up.

#5) ASSISTED PULL-UPS (WITH BOX):

#6) NEGATIVE PULL-UPS:

Once you feel confident enough that you can do assisted pull-ups and support MOST of your own weight, start looking into negative pull-ups.

Jump and hold yourself above the bar, and then slowly, under control, lower yourself to the ‘starting position’ of a pull-up.

Then repeat!

This is a great way to build up enough strength to eventually get your first pull-up.

#7) PULL-UP:

We have a full guide on proper pull-up form so you can hone in your technique.

#8) CHIN-UPS:

Much like a pull-up, but with your palms facing toward you.

Here’s a video going over proper pull-up and chin-up form:

Don’t have enough strength yet to hoist yourself up? No problem.

Download our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, for an exact plan of attack to start growing strong today:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
The 12 Best Core Bodyweight Exercises

Our next stop on building a bodyweight workout finds us at the core. Here are the 10 best exercises to include:

#1) REVERSE CRUNCH:

#2) KNEE-PLANK:

#3) PLANK:

#4) SIDE PLANK:

#5) HIP BRIDGE HOLD:

#6) HANGING KNEE TUCK:

#7) JUMPING KNEE TUCK:

#8) HOLLOW BODY HOLD:

The hollow body is one of the best ways to engage the midsection and stabilize the body. We utilize the hollow body exercise as part of our strategy for getting your first handstand.

Once you get comfortable holding the position, try…

#9) HOLLOW BODY ROCKING:

#10) KNEES TO ELBOWS:

#11) TOES TO BAR:

#12) GOOD MORNING:

Catch our guide “How to Strengthen Your Core” for even more exercise ideas!

5 Dynamic Body weight Exercises (Full Body)

Next, we’ll cover some dynamic full-body exercises to get your heart rate roaring during your workout.

#1) WALKING JACKS:

#2) JUMPING JACKS:

#3) STAR JACKS:

#4) BURPEES:

#5) BURPEES WITH PULL-UP (WHAA…):

How to Build a Bodyweight Workout

Alright, it’s time to pull this whole guide together and build a bodyweight workout!

We will pick a bodyweight exercise from each section:

We’ll aim for 3 to 4 sets under each category for 8-12 reps.

Plus, we’ll bookend the workout with a dynamic warm-up (DON’T SKIP) and a post-workout stretch.

Your warm-up can look like this:

Your post-workout stretch can look like this:

Example Bodyweight Workout:
1. Dynamic Warm-Up
2. Jumping Jacks: 10 reps
3. Bodyweight Squats: 10 reps
4. Push-ups: 10 reps
5. Pull-ups: 10 reps
6. Reverse Crunch: 10 reps
7. Repeat 2-6 two more times, for 3 complete circuits.
8. Post-workout stretch.
Boom!

You now have a bodyweight workout you can do in your own home.

You can mix and match from each category or progress to more difficult moves as you get stronger.

Now, you don’t HAVE to do these exercises at home. You can even do them while exercising around the world, as I did!

If you want to learn all the fine details of building a workout, make sure you check out our extensive guide “How to Build Your Own Workout Routine.“ It’ll walk you through creating a program of bodyweight exercises – or using weights if you want to train in a gym.

Don’t want to bother creating your own bodyweight workout? No problem, I have two options for you:

Start at the Beginner workout and move onto the Advanced when it becomes easy.

This should help you get started with a bodyweight training routine. But we hear frequently that people want MORE instruction, MORE guidance, and MORE workouts.

If that’s you, we have MULTIPLE options to take the next step. Pick the option below that best aligns with your goals and timeline:

1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom bodyweight training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

2) If you want an exact blueprint for working out at home, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating these bodyweight moves into your training.
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, your turn: I’d love to hear how your bodyweight training is going!

Did you make your own workout?

Try one of ours?

Include different moves we didn’t cover today?

Leave a comment below with your results or any questions you have on bodyweight training.

For the Rebellion!

-Steve

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Photo source: Deadshot, Laughing Budda, 102, 103, 104, hanging, 167/366, Yeaaaah…. Surprise ladies!!, acrobat
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Steve Kamb

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January 27, 2023
How to Do a Handstand (30-Day Progression) | Nerd Fitness
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A handstand is one of the coolest exercises ever, but it’s also one of the most advanced moves to learn.

Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place.

Today you start your journey to the Upside-Down!

Ah, not that Upside-Down…we’ll keep you in this dimension.

We’ve helped many of our coaching clients achieve their first handstand and today we’ll share with you how it’s done with this guide!

We’ll treat it like a video game, progressing you from complete noob to Level 6: Handstand Master.

We’ll go over the following (click to flip to that section):

The tutorials ahead are from our premium course Nerd Fitness: Handstands, which you gain access to under a Nerd Fitness Prime membership. I would encourage you to check out if you like what you see here.

Alright, brace yourself to get flipped-turned upside down.

Are Handstands Good for You? (3 Reasons Why Handstands Rule)

At Nerd Fitness we LOVE handstands like Eleven loves waffles.

Here are 3 reasons why handstands rule:

#1) Like other bodyweight training, there’s no excuse. If you have room to stand up, you have room to practice handstands.

#2) It recruits DOZENS of muscles in your body.

From arm strength to wrist mobility to core strength to shoulder mobility and muscular endurance, handstands do it all.

When you are trying to balance, it makes your body work as one complete unit.

#3) It scares you – yes, that’s a positive. We grow outside our comfort zone and for many people, just the thought of a handstand is enough to make their palms sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomi…

…nevermind.

The point is that the handstand is just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical one.

How scared do you think this guy gets on a regular basis?

That’s Coach Jim!

Master of the NF Fitness Universe, and our lead trainer for our Handstands Course and Nerd Fitness Coaching. You’ll be seeing a lot of him in today’s article because Jim can do handstands in his sleep.^[1]

The Secret to Performing a Handstand

Sure, we need to build strength to support ourselves upside-down, but even that hurdle is overblown.

A proper handstand actually starts to feel easy.

That’s because once you’re balanced and aligned, it becomes uber-efficient. Just as you don’t exert yourself much if you stand straight with good posture, a good efficient handstand is the same way… it will soon start to feel effortless.

Actually, the biggest hurdle to overcome – especially at the beginning – is the mental fear.

The voice/feeling in the back of your head that says “you could get hurt doing this!” SCARY!

And I won’t sugar-coat things, you CAN hurt yourself working on these skills… but it’s no different than if you walked into the gym first day, slapped 315 lbs on the bench press, and gave it a go.

Or went out and tried to run 13 miles without training.

The exercise itself isn’t dangerous, unless you attempt TOO much, too quickly.

If you wouldn’t load up a bar to deadlift 500 lbs on your first day in the gym, why do so many people just kick and fling themselves up into a handstand, failing repeatedly, hoping one day they’ll “get” it?

So…

There’s a smarter way!

How do we overcome this fear and keep ourselves safe? Just like learning any other fitness skill: slow, easy, successful steps!

These small victories accumulate over time to bring us to our goals safely while having a lot of fun.

Are you ready to learn?

Sweet, we’ve got you covered. Read on for ways to safely progress to handstand mastery!

Handstand Progression Warm-Up Routine

For any handstand exercise, there is going to be a significant amount of stress on the hands and wrists. So, it’s important you stretch and warm things up.

Here is a video from our NF Handstands course going over some of our favorite wrist stretches to prepare to get upside-down. Go through each stretch about 10 times.

Let’s spotlight a few of these Handstand Warm-Up exercises:

#1) Forward and Back Wrist Stretch:

#2) Lifted Palms Wrist Stretch:

#3) Reverse Palm Stretch:

#4) Backhand Palm Stretch:

#5) Upside Down Wrist Stretch:

The trick with wrist stretches is to move in as many different ways as feels comfortable. Feel free to make the warm-up your own!

The shoulders are another stressed area in the handstand. There are several ways we can prepare them for work

A few rounds of jumping jacks:

Or arm circles

That will get the blood moving and the area ready.

From here, we’ll begin our journey leveling up your Handstand Progression.

We’ll start by having you work with some balance drills and some positional drills.

Nothing too crazy, and in fact some of these might seem TOO EASY. That’s fine! That’s what we want, remember?

We’re using small victories to motivate us. Landing on your head is not a great way to motivate anyone.

Ouch.

Want someone to build you a custom made progression plan for doing your handstand? Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program will do just that, plus your coach can review your movements through our app so you’ll know your training correctly and safely.

Level 1 Handstand Progression: Quadruped Rocking

You may be thinking that feeling the balance of a handstand is going to be brutally difficult.

Not so!

We can start quite easily on our hands and knees in the quadruped position.

From here, we will simply rock forwards and backwards on our hands.

Seem familiar?

If you did the wrist mobility we described above, it’s the same motion!

Isn’t that handy?^[2]

As you are rocking back and forth, feel where the weight rests in your hands.
- When you rock back, it sits more in the heel of your hands.
- When you rock forward, you’ll feel it in your knuckles and fingertips.
Where do we want it in the handstand?

Right around the knuckles.

This is a balanced spot – similar to the balance you find when standing. You don’t sit all your weight on your heels, and you don’t lean all your weight forward, gripping your toes hard into the ground, do you?

Find and feel that balance when you rock.

When should you move on to Level 2 Handstand Progression?

Now would work!

Level 2 Handstand Progression: Hollow Body
The hollow body is one of the best ways to engage the midsection and stabilize the body. It will help to give your handstand a good shape.

Do you need to master the hollow body to master the handstand?

Not necessarily, as there are plenty of handstands out there that are a bit banana-shaped.

But the hollow body will help you create a more efficient position.

#1) Start by laying down a yoga or exercise mat on the ground and laying on the ground face up.

#2) Think about pressing your lower back down into the ground and engaging your midsection like you’re coughing. You should still be able to breath!

#3) Once the midsection is set, tuck your knees to your chest and hold your shins like you’re getting ready for a wicked cannonball.

#4) Holding the shins will help you maintain that lower back and midsection position.

Still feeling good?

Then try rocking!

Rock your body forward and back slightly from the upper back to the lower back, like a rocking chair.

Head and feet stay off the ground.

If you are stable then you should move as one unit.

If you need more of a challenge, reach your arms by your ears, keep the knees tucked, and rock some more.

Without the hands holding the shins, the midsection really has to keep engaged in order to give you a smooth rock.

With any of these positions, work to rock for a full 15 seconds under control.

Once you can do so with arms extended, progress up to Level 3.
Level 3 Handstand Progression: Crow Pose

To enter Crow Pose, move forward from the Quadruped Rock position so that your knees are on the outside of your arms. You can even bend the elbows a little and rest your legs on them.

Rock forward in the same manner as before, putting a little more weight on the hands and a little less weight on the feet.

Important: this isn’t Assassin’s Creed… We are not making a leap of faith here!

Don’t jump!!!

We are simply looking for less and less weight on the feet.

Take things slow and easy – rising up on the toes when you can. When you are ready to pick the feet up and hold yourself off the ground on just your hands, it should come naturally.

Be sure to grab into the ground hard to hold and control yourself, and feel free to put down a pile of pillows or mats in front of you if you should fall!

Once you’re able to get both feet off the ground comfortably and safely, it’s time for Level 4 Handstand Progression.

If you find yourself stuck at the crow position or any other level, we are here to help!

Our coaches can review your progression and form to help you advance onto the next level!

Level 4 Handstand Progression: Wall Walk

In this level, we’ll get started working toward something that actually looks like a handstand!

All we’re trying to do with this exercise is support our bodyweight on our straightened arms (just like the front plank or push-up).

So, the first level of this exercise is to simply get yourself up into the top of a push-up and hold. If that’s too hard, put your hands up on an elevated surface and/or rest on your knees and hands instead.

Once this is mastered, level up by simply lifting your hips in the air into a down dog position!

From here, it’ll be a matter of getting your feet onto a higher and higher surface.

Note: putting your feet up something even a few inches off the floor counts – small steps!

You can use something as simple as bumper plates:

As you progress, add more bumper plates (or whatever you’re using) so your feet are higher and higher.

Once you are supporting yourself with your feet on a high box, try walking your feet up the wall. (Think of it like a really tall box!)

Be careful at this step: Be sure you have enough energy to walk back down safely and second, that you don’t walk too close to the wall and risk flipping onto your back!

See the next section on pirouettes to safely exit these wall walks if you happen to “go over!”

With each of these variations, we’re looking to build up to a solid 15 seconds under control before moving forward.

Once you’re at the point of lying vertically against the wall, you’re on your way to leveling up to a full handstand!

But first, we need to talk about how to bail safely.

Level 5 Handstand Progression: How to Bail out of a Handstand
As you start to get better with Wall Walks, and you practice getting closer and closer to completely vertical while upside down, there’s going to be instances where you start to “tip over.”

In order to safely return your feet to the ground, you’re going to want to do what we call a pirouette:

How to bail out of a handstand:

Get into a wall handstand.

Shift your weight to one arm (the planted arm), allowing the other arm to move.

Drive one leg into the wall (the one that’s on the same side as the planted arm), and lean the opposite leg forward.

Gravity pulls you around, and lets you lower your feet to the floor safely.

This is one of the most important skills you can learn as you develop your handstand practice, as it will allow you to safely exit any handstand without any risk of injury as you develop your balance!
Once you feel comfortable bailing out of a handstand, my dear rebel, it is time for Level 6!

Level 6 Handstand Progression: How to Do a Handstand

We are now ready for you to try a handstand!

It’s going to come down to you slowly but surely leaving the safety of the wall.

First, just try to take one leg off the wall during your wall walk:

When you’re comfortable taking one leg off, trying switching them!

The objective is now is to switch your legs in a slow, smooth manner – one lifts off the wall while the other simultaneously moves back to the wall.

Once you get comfortable with this, it’s time to take both legs off the wall!

BOOM! Your first handstand!

Are you doing it right?

A good way to tell would be to record your handstand practice and review it against the videos here to check your form.

Want to have an expert review your form? Check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! Our spiffy mobile app lets you send a video of your handstand directly to your coach, who will provide feedback so you can perfect your technique.

They’ll also build a workout program that’s custom to your situation, which will have you doing handstands like Luke Skywalker in no time!

4 Tips and Tricks for Doing Handstands

Nothing beats patience and hard work, but there are a few tips and tricks we can provide that will allow you the best chance for success.

#1) Make sure you go through a proper warm-up: We’ve given you several options for the wrists and shoulders. Not only will a warm-up help prevent injury, but it will get the muscles and joints properly prepared to get the most out of your training.

#2) Prioritize Your Handstand: You can work the skill on its own time, and it won’t interfere or be interfered by anything else, but what if you’re doing other exercises during your workout?

When do you do your handstand? When you’re training in a swamp?

The best time to work the balancing drills (like your wall walk) is at the beginning of your workout, after you’ve warmed up.

These skills require concentration and a fresh focus to really benefit and progress with them.

Trying to balance after you’ve exhausted yourself with a tough cardio session is an exercise in futility (pun intended).

The best time to work the positional drills (like your quadruped rock) would be sometime during your strength session, and before your cardio.

These drills are not as dependent on completely fresh muscles, but we still don’t want to try and hold ourselves upside-down after a grueling workout.

#3) Don’t do too much, too soon.

We’ve mentioned this a million times because it’s so important. Taking on too much too soon is a way to develop bad habits and possibly injure yourself.

Ouch again.

Take your time! Enjoy and really master each step!

#4) Take it Easy: In the same vein, we want to look for success.

What do I usually see when people practice handstands: Someone kicking up 100 times and kinda getting a handstand once or twice.

How much sense does that make?

While we might not be batting 1,000 with all our attempts, but we should be looking to successfully complete around 8 out of 10 attempts. If we’re not? Then we might have taken on too much, too soon!

Let’s wrap up this guide and give you some next steps for your handstand practice.

The 5-Minute Rule: Practice Handstands Every Day and Be Amazed at What Happens

Commit to 5 minutes a day. That’s it. But do it every day.

I’ll see a lot of people go all-in for a single handstand session, and then not touch the skill for a week or more.

Dan Gable once said”

“If it’s important, do it every day.”

Now, this is a simplification, but with handstands, this is ESPECIALLY important.

When you first start out, your arms and shoulder may only be able to do 5 minutes before they are DONE.

Doing them for a short time each day is the best strategy to improve strength, endurance, and balance.

Want help progressing with handstands from here? I’ve got 3 great options for you!

#1) If you want step-by-step guidance on how to complete handstands, get stronger, and even eat better, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Have questions you need answered? Join Nerd Fitness Prime!

Nerd Fitness Prime contains at-home exercise routines, live-streamed workouts with NF Coaches, a supportive online community, and group challenges.

Plus, you’ll gain access to all our online courses, including Nerd Fitness: Handstands, which will help you become a master at flipping upside down!

#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get strong, get healthy, and have fun doing so.

I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit

The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.

Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.

Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
Alright, your turn:

Have you ever tried to kick up into a handstand?

What’s the one thing holding you back?

What questions can I answer?

-Steve

PS: One day I’ll be able to type articles like this while doing a handstand.

Jim, our lead trainer for Nerd Fitness Coaching, makes it look so easy:

###

Photo sources:^[3]
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Steve Kamb

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January 17, 2023
How to Gain Weight (Exercises & Nutrition) | Nerd Fitness
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So you want to gain weight fast (and safely)?

You’ve come to the right place, because this is what we do!

This guide covers the exact weight gain strategies I’ve used to go from my “before” (on the left above) to reach my “after” (on the right above). Believe it or not, that “before” photo is me after a DECADE of strength training and trying to get bigger.

It’s the stuff in this guide that finally allowed me to actually get results (the after).

It’s also exactly how we help our online coaching clients: nutritional guidance and workout plans that line up with their goals.

Oh, and if you sign up in any of the yellow email boxes throughout, you can download our “Gain Weight and Build Muscle” Shopping List and Cheat Sheet to hang on your fridge!
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Let’s start putting on weight right NOW.

These are the 12 lessons I wish I knew when I started trying to get bigger (click to jump right to that lesson):

NUTRITION
STRENGTH TRAINING
RECOVERY
Let’s get to it!

Rule #1) How to eat to gain weight.

As we cover in our “Ultimate Skinny Guy’s Guide to Bulking Up Fast,” there’s one rule you need to know above EVERYTHING else.

“If you’re not gaining weight, you’re not eating enough food.”

It’s science and thermodynamics.

Allow me to explain: depending on your current size and level of activity, your body burns 1200-2500+ calories every day just doing all of its daily processes:
- Breathing.
- Keeping your heart beating.
- Powering your liver, kidneys, and brain.
- Powering your movement.
- Rebuilding muscle.
And dozens of other things. We burn a lot of calories just keeping the lights turned on.

Here’s the problem: because your body efficiently uses up all of the calories you consume every day, there are no calories left over to build muscle (or get stored as fat).

Want to know how many calories you burn every day? Check out our Total Daily Energy Expenditure TDEE calculator:

Use the metric system? I wish we did too here in the States! Click right here for our Metric calculator.

Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! ^[1]

Hooray! You now know estimates of your Basal Metabolic Rate (calories you burn existing) and TDEE (calories you burn while moving throughout the day)!^[2]

So, in order to get bigger, you need to eat ABOVE this TDEE number consistently.

That’s it.

This is the NUMBER ONE mistake skinny people make trying to get bigger:

We think we have an overly fast metabolism.

Although there is SOME variation regarding metabolism variability, it’s insignificant when compared to the effect of the more important part of the equation:

We overestimate how many calories we’re eating each day, we don’t account for the calories we burn through movement or exercise, and there aren’t enough calories left over to create a “caloric surplus.”

And without that surplus, we’ll never gain weight or get bigger.

MY STORY: I had been training in a gym for 6 years without gaining size.

I then worked with a great trainer, who had me DOUBLE the amount of food I was eating.

I thought he was out of his mind.

Until I did it…and it worked.

I put on 18 pounds in 30 days ^[3], and I realized I had been severely undereating for my goals:

In order to gain weight, target an additional 300-500 calories above your Total Daily Energy Expenditure^[4]:
- If you have a TDEE of 1800 calories: target 2100-2300 calories per day to gain a pound a week (0.5 kg per week).
- If you have a TDEE of 2000 calories: target 2300-2500 calories per day to gain a pound a week (0.5 kg per week).
Want to gain weight even faster? As long as you know you’ll also be gaining lots of fat, you can target 800-1000 calories above your TDEE.
- If you have a TDEE of 1800 calories: target 2600-2800 calories per day to gain 2 lbs a week (1 kg per week).
- If you have a TDEE of 2000 calories: target 2800-3000 calories per day to gain 2 lbs. a week (1 kg per week).
Question: What about meal timing?

Does it matter WHEN I eat my meals?

“Can I eat now?”

Answer: “WHEN” you eat doesn’t matter nearly as much as “HOW MUCH” you eat.

Your body will process all calories efficiently^[5], so focus on total calories consumed.

Depending on your schedule, you can:
- Eat 3 big meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Eat 6 regular-sized meals throughout the day.
- Skip breakfast and eat two MONSTER meals (this is what I do).
It comes down to your personal preference. You might struggle to eat 3000 calories in 3 meals, so having 6 500-calorie meals throughout the day might make you feel less bloated and full.

Your results may vary!

See the next section for tips and tricks on WHAT foods you should eat to gain weight.

If you want somebody to help keep you accountable and help you actually bulk up safely and quickly, we have a pretty great online coaching program that has helped people reach their weight gain goals safely and quickly.

Rule #2) What Foods Should I Eat to Gain Weight?

If you want to build muscle, target whole foods that come from high-quality, high-calorie sources whenever possible.

Sure, you could obtain 3500 calories eating Taco Bell, Twinkies, candy, and Mountain Dew. However, this isn’t a good long-term solution to gaining weight and building a good physique (goodbye health).

Trust me, I know. I put on 18 pounds in 30 days by eating meatball subs from Subway, drinking whole milk, eating McDonald’s, and drinking weight gainer shakes.

I certainly wasn’t healthy, and today I’m much more intelligent and knowledgeable about how to bulk up safely.

HERE’S HOW TO EAT TO GAIN HEALTHY WEIGHT:
- Calculate your TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure) and add 300-500 cal over your number for sustainable weight gain.
- Consume at least 1-1.5g per pound (2.2-3.3g per kg) of body weight in protein daily.
- Consume .25-.4g per pound (.5-.8g per kg) of body weight in fat daily.
- Consume the rest of your calorie goals from healthy carbs.
- Eat vegetables so that your body can process all the extra food.
- If you are not gaining weight, add more carbs and/or fats to your meal.
We’re going to start building a Balanced Plate, like so:

The most important macro we’re going to focus on is protein.^[6]. Studies show you’re more likely to put on the right kind of weight with a high-protein diet compared to a low-protein diet.

So that’s where we’ll start.

FOOD PRIORITY #1: PROTEIN

Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
- Meat (steak, bison, pork).
- Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck).
- Eggs!^[7]
- Cheese and dairy.
- Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).
- Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).
- Other vegetarian protein sources here.
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:

Also, here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
- 4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
- 4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
- 4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
We’ll cover below the answer to the question “How much protein should I eat?”

PRIORITY #2: CARBS

In order for you to gain weight, you need to consume plenty of calories, so the remainder of those calories will come from carbs and/or fats.

Here are whole foods full of carbohydrates:
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Oats
- Legumes and lentils
- Sweet potatoes
- Yams
- Regular potatoes
- Whole grain pasta
- Whole grain bread
To help you get better at eyeballing serving sizes:

1 serving of a starchy carbohydrate is 1 cupped hand (uncooked), or your two hands forming a cup (cooked).

Here are some images to help you learn proper portion sizes (thanks to SafeFood):

In addition to consuming carbohydrates from these sources, it’s okay to consume plenty of fruit while trying to bulk up!

You can read our full “Is fruit healthy” guide to learn more.

PRIORITY #3: FAT!

Fat is a macronutrient that can help reach your surplus goals, as fat can be higher in calories. Plus, you can eat lots of it without feeling full.

Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
- Avocado
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Macadamia nuts
- Olive oil
- Almond butter
- Peanut butter
Saturated fats^[8] can come from things like:
- Whole milk
- Full-fat dairy
- Coconut oil
- Grass-fed butter
- Fatty cuts of meat
- Lard
To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb!

For reference, this is a single serving of almonds (162 calories):

THIS is a serving of olive oil (60 calories):

As you can see, you can eat an extra 500 calories of “healthy fats” by eating lots of “heart-healthy” fats like nuts or adding more olive oil to your meals.

PRIORITY #4: VEGETABLES!

Last but not least, you need vegetables in your diet.

If you start to eat a lot more food, your “indoor plumbing” is going to really benefit from eating some high-fiber veggies with each meal:

A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist:

Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that you can choose:
- Broccoli
- Broccolini
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Kale
- Spaghetti squash
- Brussels sprouts
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Onion
- Asparagus
“BUT STEVE, I REALLY STRUGGLE TO EAT ENOUGH CALORIES FROM WHOLE FOODS EVERY DAY!“

I do as well. It’s why I consume a good portion of liquid calories every day too.

It’s a surefire way to make sure you hit your calorie goals.

As I lay out in our massive Protein Shake Guide, creating high-calorie protein shakes to eat between meals can be the game changer:

Also, download our Skinny Guy Guide which has both lessons and a shopping list you can use to prioritize eating the right high calorie, high-quality foods!
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Rule #3) How Much Protein to Eat to Gain Weight?

Let’s answer the question: “How much protein do you need every day?”

The current international Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.4g per pound of body weight (0.8 g per kg of body weight):^[9].

In our opinion, and as pointed out by this study^[10] the RDA # for protein is too low and should be higher regardless of your body composition.

But you don’t care about that. You just want me to know how much protein to eat, right?

I figured.

Here is our recommendation^[12]:

If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g/lb (2.2 g/kg).

If you’re going to be strength training while getting bigger, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.^[13]

Let me simplify it for you: target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (2.2 grams per kg).

Provided you’re a healthy individual with a healthy liver, you don’t need to worry about eating too much protein^[14] – you should be more concerned with eating too little protein.

Long story short: studies suggest you will not put on the right kind of weight without consuming enough protein!

Okay, so let’s talk portions. Here’s how much protein is in a palm-sized serving of food:
- 4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
- 4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
- 4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
EXAMPLE TIME!

Let’s say you weigh 150 pounds (68 kg).

That would mean a day of eating could be:
- 1 serving of protein with breakfast: protein shake (30g).
- 2 servings of protein with lunch: 2 chicken breasts (60g).
- 2 servings of protein with dinner: 2 portions of steak (56g).
As we cover in our Ultimate Guide to Protein Shakes, a protein supplement can help you reach your protein goals for the day.

Creating a high-calorie protein shake with foods like frozen fruit, oats, milk, and a scoop of protein can be huge.

It’s how I hit my goals every day!

MY STORY: I am currently bulking up, and according to my online coach, I need to eat 3200 calories with 240g of protein on workout days (I weigh 172 pounds).

That much protein and calories helps me do things like this:

After fasting until noon, here’s how I get 240 g of protein daily:
- LUNCH: Double chicken bowl at Chipotle for lunch (rice, chicken, guac, lettuce, cheese): 77g of protein.
- SNACK: 2 servings Optimum Nutrition Whey in my powerbomb shake: 70g of protein.
- DINNER: 8 oz of grilled chicken, 2 servings of rice, lots of broccoli: 62 g of protein.
- SNACK: 1 serving Optimum Nutrition Whey in my 1/2 powerbomb shake. 35g of protein.
Total protein intake for me: 244 grams. Adjust to fit YOUR goals!

RECAP ON PROTEIN INTAKE: Target 1-1.5g per lb of bodyweight (2.2-3.3g per kg) while trying to gain weight. When in doubt, eat more.

Rule #4) How Much Carbs and Fats Should I Eat to Gain Weight?
If you are trying to put on a lot of weight, then carbs and fats are your friends.

They have a high-calorie count and you can eat lots of them without getting as full as some other things (like protein-rich foods).

Here are foods full of carbohydrates you can prioritize for bulking up:

Rice

Quinoa

Oats

Legumes and lentils

Sweet potatoes

Yams

Regular potatoes

Whole grain pasta

Whole grain bread

Healthy fat can be found in foods like:

Avocado

Almonds

Walnuts

Macadamia nuts

Olive oil

Almond butter

Peanut butter

Whole milk

Full-fat dairy

Coconut oil

Grass-fed butter

Fatty cuts of meat

Lard
Once you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure + 500 cal (for weight gain), and you know how many grams of protein you need to eat every day, then the remainder of your daily calories can come from carbs and fats.

Want even simpler info?

Target 2 portions of carbs, and 2 portions of fat in your meals.

Remember, our portions look like so:

If you’re not gaining weight, increase those numbers even more.

This is all about math! Not getting bigger = need MOAR food.

What about other foods like pizza, pasta, candy soda? Sure, you can get away with consuming less healthy things ON OCCASION (pizza, subs, etc.) but avoid fueling yourself with ONLY junk food.

If you’re not sure specifically what you should be eating for protein, carbs, and fats, download our “Get Bigger” Shopping List by putting your email in the box below:
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Rule #5) How Fast Can I gain Weight?

Depending on your training, genetics, how skinny you are, and how much muscle you need to obtain, you can decide how much weight you want to gain each week.

Everybody’s results will vary, and thoughts are mixed on how quickly we can build muscle:
- Under optimal conditions, some say you can expect to gain 1 pound (.5 kg) of muscle per week,
- My results have shown that 2 lbs (1kg) per month is more realistic.
- A 2016 study^[15]revealed that strength training produced a 2.2 lb increase (1kg) increase in lean mass in 8 weeks.
Now, depending on how thin you are currently, you might WANT to gain weight even faster and put on a bit of fat.

If you target 500 calories above your Calorie Expenditure every day, you’ll gain a pound a week.
- If you have a TDEE of 1800 calories: target 2100-2300 calories per day to gain a pound a week (0.5 kg per week).
- If you have a TDEE of 2000 calories: target 2300-2500 calories per day to gain a pound a week (0.5 kg per week).
If you target 1000 calories above your TDEE, you’ll gain 2 pounds per week:
- If you have a TDEE of 1800 calories: target 2600-2800 calories per day to gain 2 lbs a week (1 kg per week).
- If you have a TDEE of 2000 calories: target 2800-3000 calories per day to gain 2 lbs. a week (1 kg per week).
Yes, it is possible to put on even more weight than that in a short amount of time, like when I gained 18 pounds (8.1kg) in 30 days.

This was due to consuming 1500 cal above my TDEE, heavy barbell training, targeting lots of protein, and carrying extra water weight (from supplementing with creatine):

My advice: Rather than chasing massive weight gain over a month, you’d be much better off gaining .5-1.5 lbs. (.25-.75 kg) a week, every week, for six months…and keeping the weight on!

So, how do you know if your efforts are working? Simple.

Taking measurements, take photos, and weigh yourself daily:
- Take front and side photos every Monday.
- Track your meals every day.
- Weigh yourself every other day.
If the scale is moving UP, keep doing what you’re doing.

If the scale is NOT moving: EAT MORE.

If you’re ever unsure if you’ve eaten enough that day, eat more.

Once you start to get a good feel for how many calories you eat each day, try to eat the same meals to keep it easy.

Still convinced you can’t gain weight even after tracking things? Let us help. I too was convinced that it was my “fast metabolism,” until I learned from my personal trainer that I simply wasn’t eating enough.

Rule #6) What Are the 10 Best Exercises For Weight Gain?

Up until this point, we’ve only talked about the weight gain portion.

Do Steps 1-5 above, and you’ll put on plenty of weight.

HOWEVER, if you’re not also training correctly, you’ll just be getting fat, and not building muscle!

That’s where strength training comes in!

If you want to bulk up correctly, you need to be strength training with heavy weights and bodyweight movements.

As we lay out in our “Beginner Strength Workouts” guide, these are the BEST exercises you can do to gain weight:

Get as strong as possible with these exercises while eating enough calories and protein, and you will gain the right kind of weight! It’s how I bulked up correctly:)

Here’s a sample workout to gain weight, though you can follow our 6-level gym workout routine too.

WEIGHT GAIN MONDAY WORKOUT:
1. Squats (4 sets of 8 reps)
2. Benchpress (3 sets of 8 reps)
3. Pull-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
WEIGHT GAIN WEDNESDAY WORKOUT:
1. Deadlift (3 sets of 5 reps)
2. Overhead Press (3 sets of 8 reps)
3. Inverted Rows (3 sets of 8 reps)
WEIGHT GAIN FRIDAY WORKOUT:

Here are some resources to help make heads or tails of the above:

Important point: don’t worry about isolation exercises like triceps extensions, shoulder shrugs, bicep curls, or crunches.

You can certainly do them, but only AFTER you’ve done your heavy lifts for the day!

All of the compound exercises listed here use every muscle in your body, and when you overload your body with calories and protein, those muscles will grow.
- Want more workouts to follow? Read through our Strength Training 101 series that will answer all your questions!
- Terrified to even step foot into a gym? We understand! Check out our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym article for some basic strategies and workouts.
- Want somebody to tell you EXACTLY how to exercise and how to eat? Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.
Rule #7) How to Strength Train to Gain Weight

If you are going to get bigger, you need to consistently increase the difficulty with every workout.

Every time you train, your muscles break down and have to rebuild themselves.

You are teaching them to say “I must get bigger and stronger in case I have to do that again!”^[16]

This is called “progressive overload,” and it’s the foundation of strength training.

So how do you progressively overload your muscles?
- Lift more weight than last time.
- Do more sets or reps than last time.
- Wait less time between sets than last time.
- Do a more difficult movement or variation.
If you did 3 sets of 5 reps of squats at 95 pounds last week, go for 3 sets of 5 reps at 100 pounds this week!

Did knee push-ups last month?

Great, try to do regular push-ups this month.

Coach Jim breaks down the ins and outs of progressive overload for you in this video:

The trick with progressive overload is to continuously increase the challenge, and the best way to do that is by tracking your workouts!

Write down how you train, so that way you know exactly how to get stronger next time. I use Evernote on my phone, but you can use an old school notebook or whatever floats your boat.

Write down exactly:

And then next time?

Pick up more.

In addition to the protein shakes mentioned back in Rule #3, consider a creatine supplement – it allows your muscles to store more water – which will both help you potentially lift heavier and improve your performance in the gym!

If you don’t want to build your own workout routine, or you’re not sure how and when to scale up your workouts for the best results, let us build a routine for you!

Our coaches will build a workout program for your goals, and every day you can check your coaching app and know exactly what to do:

Rule #8) How Many Days Per Week Should I Exercise to Gain Weight And Get Bigger?

Muscles are made in the kitchen and while sleeping, NOT in the gym.

When you train, you are essentially ripping apart and breaking down your muscles.

Then, during the next 48 hours, as you are eating a caloric surplus and recovering, your muscles get rebuilt bigger and stronger.

For this reason, never exercise the same muscle before it’s ready.

In other words, try not to exercise the same muscle on two consecutive days.

Here are the best common practices for weight gain: Do a gym workout 3-4 days a week with a day off in between each (while consuming plenty of calories). This is plenty of training to promote muscle growth and weight gain.

Long story short: pick up a heavy weight in the gym 3-4 days a week for an hour.

Go HARD, go HEAVY.

And then come home, eat, and rest. If you are interested in doing some active recovery on your off days, that’s fine too.

Skinny people usually don’t need to train more, they need to eat and rest more!

Rule #9) How Much SLeep Should I get To Get Bigger?

You should get at least 6 hours of sleep to function as a human, but getting 7-8 hours of sleep will help aid in building more muscle.^[17]

This study^[18] also found:

“Inadequate sleep impairs maximal muscle strength in compound movements when performed without specific interventions designed to increase motivation.”

Think of it this way:

Building muscle is hard work, your body can use all the help (and calories) it can get. Your body is doing nothing but lying there and building muscle while you’re sleeping. ^[19]

If you are only getting 6 hours or less, you’re not going to get all the benefits of your exercising and diet, and not giving yourself the best chance to gain weight and grow bigger.

So don’t make these sleep mistakes!

We often spend quite a bit of time with our coaching clients working with them on their sleep and environmental habits! From turning off the TV an hour earlier to even becoming a morning person, we build fun missions and challenges for our clients around stuff like this to get results.

Rule #10: Should You Do Cardio While Trying to Gain Weight?

Depending on how you currently feel about running, this next sentence will either make you happy or miserable:

“Running might work against your efforts to gain weight and build muscle.”

When you run, your body uses up calories to fuel your runs. This leaves fewer calories left over to build muscle.

Now, nobody will refute the benefits of improved cardiovascular health, nor would I EVER tell you to not do an exercise that you find fun.

In addition, a 2016 study^[20] showed that doing endurance training AND strength training actually created larger muscle hypertrophy in untrained subjects than just resistance training alone.

What this means:

If you’re somebody that runs and enjoys it, great!

If you’re trying to get bigger, here’s what I would recommend:
- Find a way to increase your food intake, and still know that you might be building muscle slightly slower than if you ONLY did strength training.
- Cut back on running until you reach your goal weight/size, and then introduce it back into your routine.
Is your SOLE focus on getting bigger? Do 3 things:
- Eat (a lot).
- Lift (heavier).
- Sleep (a lot).
Interested in giving your heart a workout without steady cardio?:

Want to incorporate cardio the RIGHT way into your life, along with strength training, to start gaining weight?

Our coaching program builds custom programs to help people just like you reach your goals.

Rule #11: Realize you will put on some fat, and that’s okay.
With all of this eating, you will probably put on some fat along with your muscle.

That’s okay!

You might even be skinny enough that a bit of extra “cushion” on you is a good thing!

If you are trying to put on MOSTLY muscle and minimal fat gain:

Target at least 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight (3.3g per kg).

Eat a caloric surplus that is 250cal over your current TDEE.

And then fine-tune it from there:

You’re trying to thread the needle of “only build muscle, don’t add fat” which is fairly advanced and challenging.
As this 2017 study points out ^[21], “Protein overfeeding or the consumption of a high protein diet may not result in a gain in body weight or fat mass despite consuming calories that exceed one’s normal or habitual intake.”

This is incredibly challenging, and you do run the risk of not eating enough to build muscle. In addition, you might build less muscle than had you consumed a larger surplus of calories.

Now, what if you’re “skinny fat?”

What if you have a gut/belly, and thin arms?

IF YOU ARE “SKINNY FAT”:

Then, once you get to a low enough body fat percentage that you can see some abdominal muscle definition, you can get back to bulking up.

Rule 12: SuperCharge Your Weight Gain Results (Build the Habit)

These are the 11 rules I’ve followed multiple times in my life whenever I have decided to gain weight.

There’s a 12th rule I want to share with you too:

Build the habit of eating and exercise:

It’s important to build a system that sets you up for weight gain success.

It comes down to two things:
- Don’t miss workouts.
- Don’t miss meals.
So do whatever you need to do to make those things happen!

Here’s my final piece of advice: If you want permanent success, stop thinking in terms of “How fast can I gain weight?” and instead think:

“What can I do today that feels sustainable enough that I can stick with it for a year?”

This is how I get results, and how you can use the tools and tips in this article to get results too. Build small habits that become permanent parts of your life, and the results you’ll get will be permanent too.

Now, if you’re somebody that wants even MORE guidance, and specific instructions to follow, I got you:

1) Our 1-on-1 online coaching program, work with a member of Team Nerd Fitness that gets to know you and your situation. We’ll provide expert guidance and accountability, a custom workout, and regular ongoing support:

2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Sign up for our free email list, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! Join a few hundred thousand rebels just like you and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides too. I’m nice like that.
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

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Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
To recap our full article, here are the “12 Rules To Gain Weight Quickly”:
If you have more questions, please leave them in the comments below and I’ll gladly answer them when I get a chance!

You can do this.

Go eat something.

Learn how to do squats and deadlifts.

Do lots of push-ups and pull-ups.

And then eat some more.

-Steve

PS: If you want to read more about this stuff, make sure you check out the following in-depth resources too:

###

photo credit: Marina Pissarova © 123RF.com, LEGO Grocery store, I love bread, pencil, W_Minshull Hardcore Stormies Hit The Gym, Speed
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Steve Kamb

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January 14, 2023
How to Get Bigger (9 “Skinny Guy” Mistakes) | Nerd Fitness
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If you’re here because you want to go from skinny to muscular, you’ve come to the right place!

I know exactly how you feel.

I was once a very thin guy struggling to put on muscle! Hell, my “before photo” below on the left below is after a decade of training and “eating a lot.”

It took me 10 years of struggle to crack the “bulk up” code, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re really struggling to put on mass.

We’ve helped people just like you get bigger in our Online Coaching Program: we use the same tactics and strategies I’ll discuss below!

Okay, let’s get into it! Click any of the links below to learn about the 9 key mistakes skinny guys make when trying to bulk up:
Let’s get right to it!

Mistake #1: Not Eating Enough (What to Eat to Grow Big)

If you’re not getting bigger, you are not eating enough.

This one solution will account for 95% of most skinny men and women who are looking to get bigger.

When I started lifting weights, I spent 5-6 days a week in the gym following a bodybuilder workout routine from various fitness magazines.

Over the next 6 years, I put on maybe five pounds total, even though it felt as though I was eating a lot.

Turns out, I was eating 500-1000 less calories per day than I needed to stimulate muscle growth.

It wasn’t until after college that I simplified my workouts (lots of barbell lifts), doubled the amount of calories I consumed, and I was able to put on about 18 pounds in 30 days.

This is back in 2006:

I didn’t put the weight on a necessarily healthy or sustainable way, but after 6 years of struggle, this experience solidified the connection between diet and getting bigger.

It finally made sense.

If you don’t eat enough calories, you won’t get any bigger.

So if you are not getting bigger and more buff, then you are not eating enough.

It’s science.

If you’re trying to gain weight: when in doubt, eat.

Some of my favorite techniques are in my “How to Bulk Up Fast” article.

YOUR GOAL: Add 200-300 more calories per day until your stomach gets used to it, and see how the scale changes.

What should you be eating?

Depending on how skinny you are, you can get away with eating junk food as long as you’re getting enough protein and calories.

Liquid meals are your friend too for squeezing in extra calories every day – here’s my favorite high-calorie protein shake recipe!

Here are some high quality, high-calorie foods:
- Sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and yams.
- Rice or quinoa of any variety.
- Oats, instant or steel-cut.
- Peanut butter, almond butter.
- Walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews.
- Cheese, milk, eggs.
Eat lots of high-calorie foods, get plenty of protein, and don’t forget the veggies!

I know how overwhelming this stuff can be, which is why we have a Coaching Program that kicks ass.

We also have a printable “Get Bigger” Shopping List and Bulk Up Cheatsheet when you join our email list in the yellow box below.
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Mistake #2: Setting Unrealistic Expectations (How Fast Can I Grow Muscle?)

We live in a world of instant gratification.

People have unrealistic expectations thanks to marketing when it comes to weight loss (“Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!”).

Unsurprisingly, people also have unrealistic expectations when it comes to NATURALLY building muscle as well. This is why we get served ads like this:

“Scientists don’t want you to learn this trick to pack on 40 pounds of muscle!”

These ads are designed to sell supplements, not make you bigger or get you results.

Most supplements are garbage.

The only supplements I recommend taking: protein and creatine.

We cover this extensively in our “How Do I Build Muscle Fast?” article:

Under optimal conditions, you’ll most likely be able to put on 1-2 pounds of muscle per month.

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t make tremendous strength gains – you’re just not going to build 50 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks.

So start by having proper expectations: don’t try to “Put on 50 pounds” by the week or month. It’s time to think in terms of days and years to make your progress permanent:

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and muscle isn’t built in a matter of days either. It’s going to take months of sustained effort, and it’s going to take consistency and patience.

But you can get there.

If you struggle with not seeing results, and you want a Yoda in your pocket (that sounds weird…) to help you bulk up fast, our online coaching program fits that exact scenario

Mistake #3: Not Having a Solid Plan (How to Go from Skinny to Muscular)

If you want to go from skinny to buff, you need a plan.

A plan that is balanced, and provides you with big movements that stimulate growth all over your body.

If you just wander into the gym without a strategy, you’re going to struggle to get bigger.

Then you’re gonna have a bad time…

It’s better to pick a basic plan and stick with it for months and months and months, than jump around from week to week chasing the newest shiny object.

As we lay out in our Strength 101 series…

Get freaking strong at the following movements, eat enough, and you will get bigger:
What plan to follow?
1. No idea where to start? Read our free Strength 101 series, and pick a workout program from our Beginner Strength Training Workouts.
2. Work with our coaching staff! We’ll build a program and offer nutrition guidance so that you actually start to see results right away.
3. Pick one of the 6 levels of workouts in our Beginner’s Gym Guide article to get you comfortable and in a routine.
4. If you’re not ready for barbell workouts, start with bodyweight training!
5. Other great barbell-based programs are Stronglifts 5×5, Wendler’s 5/3/1 program, and Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program.
6. I started with basic barbell training, then moved into more of a hybrid barbell/bodyweight program (thanks to my Online Coach).
Which should you pick?

Honestly, any of them will work – you just need to start, and stick with it for months at a time, focusing on getting stronger with each movement.

You can also download our Strength 101 Guide when you sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Mistake #4: Not Doing Enough (How to Grow Muscle)

If you are trying to get bigger, you might not be doing a tough enough workout in the gym or in the park to stimulate muscle growth.

No matter what, you need to be doing heavier weight, or doing more repetitions in order to challenge your body, breakdown muscle fiber, and force your body to rebuild stronger.

This is called “progressive overload,” and it’s the only way you’re going to build size in the right places.

Coach Jim breaks down different strategies for progressive overload in this video:

As Jim mentions above, yep, you can indeed get bigger doing just bodyweight exercises.

Take one look at gymnasts – these dudes have built their muscle through years of intense bodyweight training like handstands and muscle-ups on the gymnastic rings:

However, you must be scaling these exercises constantly to make them increasingly more difficult, which many people struggle to do.

Just doing more regular push-ups, bodyweight squats, and pull-ups is a good way to get conditioned, but after a certain point, it most likely won’t produce muscle growth without increasing the challenge.

That’s when you need to progressively overload your muscles with a more difficult movement.

I detail this during my “stay in shape while traveling” post, in which I packed on a few pounds of muscle while ONLY doing bodyweight exercises.

I started by doing just pull-ups and dips.

Now I’m up to doing pull-ups with 60 pounds on a weight belt, and dips with 70 pounds on a weight belt.

I used to just do push-ups and pull-ups, now it’s parallette gymnastic complexes:

And muscle-ups on gymnastic rings:

So, YES it can be done!

You just need a solid plan that allows you to consistently push your muscles further.

Looking for a plan to gymnastics mastery? Outside of our coaching program, our new app will show you exactly how to start training with rings.

You can try out your free trial right here:

Mistake #5: Going Too Quickly and Getting Injured (Being Safe)
In the age of instant gratification, we always want more, now now now.

Over the past decade, I followed a terrible cycle of setbacks and injury:

Try to get bigger. Eat lots of food, and put on some weight.

Ramp up my workouts too quickly.

Sustain some sort of injury from trying to do too much.

Take a month off to recover.

Start back at #1.

Repeat the process.

Have patience.

Start out with easy weight, and get a teeny tiny bit better every single day.
In fact, it wasn’t until I stopped chasing fast goals and instead focused on tiny habits that I went from Steve Rogers to Captain America.

Back when I started deadlifting again, I kept thinking “I can do more! I can go heavier!” – but I patiently forced myself to go just a tiny bit further than the week prior.

Live to train another day, and just focus on the process:

“Hit the gym 3-4 times per week, get a tiny bit stronger. Then go home and eat!”

As bodybuilder Lee Haney says:

“Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate.”

Getting yourself to slow down and put faith in the process is really difficult. It’s why everybody fails at diets, and why nobody can get results that stick.

They try to do TOO much, TOO soon, and keep falling back to square one.

If you are tired of falling back to square one and want somebody to help you make sustainable, permanent progress towards bulking up, check out our coaching program!

Mistake #6: Not Following a Sustainable Strategy (Consistency)

As Coach Jim mentions in the video above (where he documents his journey on gaining 50 pounds), you need to be consistent with your workouts and nutrition.

For me personally, I’ve found sustained success by doing the following:
- Getting enough sleep by going to bed at the same time each night.
- Training 4 days a week for about an hour.
As a result, I’ve been able to make consistent progress for the past 4 years, and my new “normal” is progress and strength improvements!

What I’m trying to say: be honest with yourself.

If you can’t work out six days a week for the next year, DON’T train that way!

Start with twice a week, doing a basic weight training program, and dump the extra time you would have spent training into eating more or getting more sleep.

If you can train three days a week, that should be plenty to make you bigger: muscles are made in the kitchen, after all!

Remember, if you’re not getting bigger, you’re not eating enough!

Eat more.

It might take you 6+ months longer than if you went all-in and did nothing but eat and lift all day every day, but you’ll actually KEEP the progress you’ve made rather than giving it all back.

This was a brutal lesson I couldn’t learn until I hired an online personal trainer who helped me get my mindset right, and put the right systems in place!

Mistake #7: Not Making It a Priority (Remember Your Training)

After telling myself “I want to get big and strong,” I realized that for much of the past decade, it wasn’t really a priority.

I put work, messing around on the internet, video games, and going out and drinking ahead of my training on my list of priorities.

Since 2014, I’ve made it a point to see what I could accomplish if I made getting bigger and stronger a priority in my life.

Most importantly, I started taking this seriously and hired an online trainer that I’ve been working with for 5+ years.

It’s what allowed me to deadlift 420 pounds at a bodyweight at 172 pounds:

Here’s what I did to prioritize my transformation and training:
- I ate extra meals even when I wasn’t hungry.
- I rearranged my training schedule so work would NEVER be an excuse.
- I said “no” more often to staying out really late and drinking.
- I programmed my workouts into my calendar.
- I had my coach keep me accountable.
- I scheduled Saturday morning workouts so I wouldn’t go out drinking on Friday.
- I made fitness a priority.
Is this goal of going from skinny to buff truly a priority for you? If it’s not, you’re going to give up when you’re tired, or not hungry, or don’t want to exercise.

As we talk about in our “How to Get in Shape” article, you need to have a BIG WHY: the reason you’re doing this!

I wanted to get bigger so I could be more confident when going on dates.

What about you? Why are you here?

Write down your reason, stick it on your bathroom mirror or laptop, and use it as a reminder.

Because this isn’t going to be easy!

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

And if you want to GET bigger permanently, you need to do things differently, consistently, and permanently.

Never forget why you are doing this!

I did this journey alone for a decade before I finally got some help in staying accountable and keeping me on track.

If you’re looking for somebody to keep you accountable, tell you exactly what to do in the gym, and tell you how many calories you should eat, we can help there too.

Mistake #8: Sweating the Small Stuff (Keep It Simple)

Bicep curls! Forearm curls! Calf raises!

“Should I target all three heads of the triceps muscle?”

“I see the big guy over there doing 8 types of bicep exercises – should I do what he’s doing?”

“Does chest day need to be bench, incline bench, decline bench, cable chest flys, dumbbell flys?”

“How many sets and reps should I do? Should I do 6 sets of 8 reps or 5 sets of 5 reps?”

Forget all of that stuff!

If you want to get bigger, focus on getting stronger in one of the few big, basic movements.

Once you have a solid foundation, then we can start targeting specific isolated muscle groups as the bodybuilders do.

Always start your workout with the basics of strength training (noticing a theme here?):
“But where’s my bicep curls, tricep extensions, ab work, etc.!?!?!”

ALL of those muscles get worked incredibly well with the above exercises, so don’t worry about isolating.

Instead, just get strong.

When you can lift heavy things or complete intense bodyweight exercises, your body needs to adapt.

If you want to do things like bicep curls or triceps extensions, great.

Just do them AFTER doing the big important workouts.

As long as you are eating enough to fuel your recovery and following the Bulk Up Like the Hulk Axioms, you’ll be good to go! (Covered in the free download when you join our email list in the box below!)
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Mistake #9: Not Recovering Enough (Get Sleep)

I used to pride myself on not needing a lot of sleep.

I also used to be dumb, apparently.

Since putting a focus on getting bigger and stronger, I’ve had to considerably up my sleep time.

When you strength train, your muscles break down and need to rebuild over the next 24-48 hours.

Sleep is a key part of this process.

Without it, your body can’t recover, and you can’t grow.

I find I am exhausted the day of really heavy max deadlifts, so I prioritize more sleep on those days!

Muscles aren’t made in the gym, they’re made while you’re resting.

So make sleep a priority!

How I Put on 25 Pounds – My Last 18 Months
I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to pull off over the past few years, and I’m excited to see what the next 18 months bring.

Here are two recent photos to highlight how I’ve transformed in 6 months:

Photo on the left: 171 pounds

Photo on the right: 194 pounds
The best part is that it was all done in a healthy, sustainable, natural way.

Since then, I’ve actually worked on leaning out too (while getting much stronger).

This was all done under the supervision of my Online Personal Trainer and Coach, Anthony

If you are somebody who wants to get bigger, and go from skinny to buff, make sure you don’t make the 9 mistakes I used to make!

And if you want results, here are 3 options we offer:

1) If you’re tired of the guesswork and just to be told exactly what to do, consider checking out our 1-on-1 online coaching program! We create custom programs and nutritional guidelines for people like you struggling to put on size.

2) If you want a roadmap for home workouts, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! We have a free newsletter that we send out twice per week with new content helping you build muscle and level up your life.

Sign up the box below and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides!
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below:

What are your biggest struggles when it comes to bulking up?

Have you had success as a skinny dude or lady and made great progress?

Have you struggled your whole life with being skinny and still can’t seem to crack the code?

Let me know how I can help!

-Steve (former Steve Rogers, current Captain America)

PS: Check out these other articles in our “Build Muscle Fast” Series:

All photo sources can be found right here: ^[1]
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Steve Kamb

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January 12, 2023
How to Do Pull-ups Without a Bar (5 Alternatives) | Nerd Fitness
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So you want to do a pull-up but don’t have a bar?

Or maybe you just don’t quite have the strength yet to hoist yourself up?

Either way, no problem!

We’ve been teaching people how to do pull-up alternatives in our Online Coaching Program with “no-bar pull-ups.” Today, we’ll show you all these tried and trusted workarounds.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

By the way, all of these pull-up alternatives can be done in our sweet new app. Why not learn how to lift yourself up (even without any equipment) while you build your very own superhero?

You can test drive it for free (no credit card needed) right here:

Alright, let’s do this thang.

How to Do Pull-ups Without a Bar (5 Pull-up Alternatives)

The video above comes from our Chin-up Challenge (which you can do in our app).

Coach Jim walks you through 5 different levels of pull-up alternatives, depending on your experience level and what items you may have lying around the house.

Pull-up Alternative #1: Doorway Rows

Our first alternative is to simply use your doorway for bodyweight rows.

To perform a doorway row:
- Stand in front of your doorway and grab both sides.
- Place your feet a little closer to the doorway, so you’re leaning back.
- Sit back so you put weight on your arms.
- Pull yourself forward.
That’s it. The more you lean back, the tougher this will be.

To start, you can also just hang back to start building some “pull” strength.

Pull-up Alternative #2: Towel Doorway Rows

Our next alternative is to do doorway rows, but this time using a towel.

The towel might help you lean back even further, creating a more challenging exercise.

Take a towel, and fold it twice lengthwise. Then take your long, folded-over towel, and tie it around the door on the handle opposite side of you.

Make sure the door opens AWAY from you. You don’t want the door accidentally opening, which could cause an unexpected tumble.

Once you have your towel secured around the doorknob, perform rows by using each side of the towel.

Pull-up Alternative #3: Inverted Rows with Chairs

For this pull-up alternative, you’re gonna need two sturdy chairs and a broomstick (or dowel).

We’ll be combining them together, Voltron style, to form our own row station:

The important thing here is the setup. Give your newly created station a few gentle pushes to check the integrity of the structure. Only when you feel confident should you start performing inverted bodyweight rows.

Pull-up Alternative #4: Towel Pull-ups

Now, we’re gonna start doing some actual pull-ups…with towels.

You can either use a couple of sturdy hand towels or washcloths.

Tie an overhand knot in the corner of both towels, which will be used as your anchor.

Then place these knots over a door and close it. Make sure the knots are secure before you start doing your pull-ups.

Again, you’ll also want to make sure the door opens AWAY from you.

Doing towel pull-ups is going to be a great way to improve your grip strength, although if you find them a little too tough, you can use a stool to support your feet as you lift. This will help as you build strength.

Pull-up Alternative #5: Strap Pull-ups

You may or may not have some Forearm Forklifts hanging around, but if you do, you’ll have the perfect equipment for a pull-up alternative.

Forearm Forklifts are made to help you and a friend lift heavy furniture or equipment, but Coach Jim discovered they’re also pretty useful for doing pull-ups.

They have loops designed to hold your arms, which makes them easier to grip than a towel.

Tie a knot in them just like you would with a hand towel and use it to anchor them against your door.

For more ideas on how to train with stuff you may have around the house, check out How to Build a Home Gym (When All Equipment is Sold Out).

The 6 Best Pull-up Alternatives (How to Get Your First Pull-Up)

This section is taken from our guide “Get Your First Pull-up.”

If you can’t quite hoist yourself up yet, don’t fret!

We’re going to work on increasing your “pull” muscles through a series of pull-up alternatives.

First up…

Level 1 Pull-up Alternative: Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

Bent-over dumbbell rows:
- 8 reps each arm (or as many as you can do)
- Rest for a 2-minute break
- Do another set
- Repeat until you hit 3 sets
What weight should you start out with initially?

Whatever allows you to get to at least 5 reps a set.

Once you can do 3 sets of 8 reps (each arm), it’s time to pick up a heavier dumbbell.

This will allow you to get stronger and stronger.

When you can lift a 25-pound (10kg) dumbbell or heavier, consider moving up to the next level.

Level 2 Pull-up Alternative: Inverted Bodyweight Rows

Bodyweight rows are the PERFECT precursor to pull-ups – they work the same muscles, and have you lifting your own body weight, just at a different angle.

Our goal here will be to work towards a lower and lower angle, increasing the difficulty of the movement.

So at first, we’ll do rows with the bar higher up:

Then we’ll progress to getting the bar lower:

As soon as you’re doing bodyweight rows where your body is at a 45-degree angle or lower, you can progress to the next level.

Level 3 Pull-up Alternative: Assisted Pull-ups

At this point, you are going to start actually doing pull-ups…with a little bit of assistance.

We’ve got a few options for you.

#1) Assisted Pull-ups with Chair

Either one foot or two on the chair, depending on your needs. Your feet are ONLY there for support, use your upper body as much as possible.

#2) Assisted Pull-ups with an Exercise Band

You can get different types of exercise bands with different levels of strength, or a variety pack for easy progression.

Put your foot in the exercise band and pull yourself up.

#3) Assisted Pull-ups with a Partner

Have a friend hold your feet behind you and help you complete each rep. Have them use the least amount of help possible to get you through your workouts.

Once you’re comfortable doing a form of assisted pull-ups, and can do about 10 repetitions, it’s time to advance to the next level.

This is probably the TOUGHEST level before getting your pull-ups. If you get stuck on “assisted pull-ups” and “assisted chin-ups”, you’re not alone. This is where most people get stuck.

We work hand-in-hand with people like you to get them their first pull-up in our Online Coaching Program. If you don’t know how to fit these movements into your workouts, or you just want somebody to give you the exact workout to follow every day, we got you!

Level 4 Pull-Up Workout: Negative Pull-Ups

Our next level on our path for a pull-up is what we call “negative pull-ups.”
1. Grab onto the bar with an overhand grip
2. Jump so your chest is touching
3. Slowly lower yourself under control until you’re at the bottom of the movement.
As you continue to lower yourself down, you’ll build strength, eventually creating enough muscle so you can pull yourself up.

If you want more specific instructions on any of these levels or movements, check out our guide “Get Your First Pull-up” for more.

What Is the Easiest Type of Pull-Up? (Start With Chin-Ups)

The easiest pull-up variation for you to attempt will likely be the chin-up.

That’s why we have a Chin-up Challenge in our app, because we feel Rebels will have an easier time lifting themselves up with this variation, compared to a traditional pull-up.

For reference:

A CHIN-UP is when your hands are facing toward you:

A PULL-UP is when your hands are facing away from you:

Chin-ups are generally easier to perform than pull-ups because the wider grip of a pull-up isolates your lats, which means you get less assistance from your biceps.

Start with chin-ups. Once you get comfortable doing them, you can then work on more advanced variations. For ideas here, check out our guide How to Do a Pull-up.

When Should I Do My Pull-Up Alternatives? (Next Steps)

Generally, you want a 48 to 72-hour resting period before returning to train the same muscle group.

So take at least a day off before working on your “pull” muscles again.

This allows the area to heal properly so you can grow stronger.

When we designed a training routine for Nerd Fitness Prime members to get their first chin-up, we aimed for three workouts a week.

If you’re trying to get your first pull-up or chin-up, this would be a good goal.

So for example, you could do:
- Monday: Bodyweight Rows
- Wednesday: Chin-up Negatives
- Friday: Dumbbell Rows
You could also do Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Even just working out Monday and Thursday – twice a week pull-up training – would allow you to see some great progress.

Feel free to do whatever works best for you.

If you want any more help with designing your workout, we got you.

Check out the option that best fits your goals:

Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on the equipment you have available, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!

For example, let’s say you find yourself stuck indoors during a pandemic, and you want somebody to custom-build you a workout program based on the equipment and furniture you have. That’s where an online coach is a game-changer!

Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the image below:

Option #2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Plus, it’ll teach you how to do pull-ups, even if you have zero experience (or any equipment).

Try your free trial right here:

Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Enlist below and we’ll send you our free Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know:
Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, now I want to hear from you!

Can you currently do a chin-up or pull-up?

What’s your favorite pull-up alternative?

Am I missing any tips or tricks for pull-ups without a bar?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: If you want more pull-up goodness, make sure you check out:

###

Photo source: Kermit and Pink Panther, Mouse Hanging, Scarlet Spider-man
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Steve Kamb

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November 23, 2022
The Skinny Guy’s Guide to Bulking Up (Fast) | Nerd Fitness
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Want to go from a skinny guy to building muscle quickly? I got you.

I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to pack on muscle, and after years and years of trial and error, I finally cracked the code.

Today, I share that code with you!

This is a topic that is near and dear to me, because I’ve spent my life devoted to this stuff:

These are the exact tactics I’ve used, and the same strategies we use with our Online Coaching Clients.

This free guide is gonna get you started off on the right foot!

Here are the 4 parts we’ll cover in this ultimate guide:

#1) INTRO:

#2) NUTRITION:

#3) STRENGTH TRAINING:

#4) RECOVERY, TIPS AND TRICKS, NEXT STEP:

How I Bulked up After Years of Struggling as a Skinny Guy

Growing up, I was always the scrawny, skinny weak kid.

There was a reason I dressed up like superman every other day for the first six years of my life:

Superman was strong, big, and powerful…and I wasn’t.

To this day, it’s still a big challenge for me to gain weight or build muscle.

When people tell me “must be nice to have been skinny growing up,” I explain that a killer flat top, my height (5’2″ until I was 16), four years of braces, and two Acutane treatments made sure I still got the full adolescent experience 🙂

When I was cut from the high school basketball team (which I thought was the end of the world), I signed up for a gym membership to get big and strong.

Within five minutes I had almost killed myself when loading up way too much weight for a set of bench presses.

Fortunately, I survived, and thus began my love affair with strength training.

I spent the next six years training in a gym, reading every muscle and fitness magazine I could find, drinking protein shakes religiously…and had about 3 pounds of muscle gain to show for it.

I just assumed “I’m one of those people who can’t gain weight.”

It turns out, I was doing it all wrong.

After graduating college I moved to California, signed up for a gym membership, and received a few free personal trainer sessions.

Although I thought I had known it all (I had been training for 6 years in a gym! I read the muscle mags! I was in good shape already!), I still took the free sessions for the hell of it.

I’m so glad I did!

The trainer drastically simplified my workout and DOUBLED the amount of food I was eating.

I thought he was crazy at first, but I stuck with it.

In 30 days, I had put on 18 pounds (pictured below), increased the strength in ALL of my lifts, and felt more confident than I ever had before in my life.

That’s when the lightbulb when off in my head: there’s a better way.

And thus began a radical redefinition of how I thought the human body worked, how muscle was built, and where I needed to put my priorities.

Since then, I’ve spent seven years learning everything I can about how muscle is built.

A few years back, I took an epic 35,000-mile trip around the world, and despite not having access to a gym for 6 months, I managed to once again pack on even more muscle and get myself in great shape without once picking up a weight (pictured below):

Again, my world was turned upside down.

I learned that gyms are not a requirement to build muscle and get stronger, though a great gym workout can certainly speed up the process.

And after a few more years of up and down challenges, I had finally – jokingly – changed from Steve Rogers to Captain America (there’s a story behind this):

I’m still not the biggest guy in the world, nor will I ever be. I’m okay with that!

I’ve learned that anyone can pack on muscle, even skinny nerds like me.

If you’re skinny and want to get bigger, you’ll be fighting genetics the whole way, but do not let that deter you.

Anything is possible.

Today’s article outlines everything I’ve learned over the past 13 years of mistakes, successes, failures, and adventures.

The Most Important Thing for Putting on Muscle: Eat More Food.

As they say, muscle isn’t made in the gym, but in the kitchen:

If you want to bulk up, you’d be better off working out twice a week for 30 minutes and eating right, than working out 6 days a week and not eating properly.

I learned this the hard way.

I spent four years of college working out five days a week for 90 minutes a day trying to get bigger.

I drank protein shakes like I thought I was supposed to. I got a little stronger, but never bigger.

Why?

BECAUSE I DIDN’T EAT ENOUGH CALORIES.

When I get emails from people who lament the fact that they can’t gain weight, I always first ask about the person’s diet.

More often than not, that person thinks they are eating enough, but are definitely not.

Here’s the truth:

If you are not getting bigger, you are not eating enough.

Your body can burn 2000+ calories every day just existing (and then factor in exercise and, gulp, cardio – I’ll get to that in a minute), and you need to overload your system with calories in order for it to have enough fuel for the muscle building process.

Want to know how many calories you burn every day just existing?

Plug your stats into our TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure) calculator:

Click right here for our Metric calculator.

Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! ^[1]

For every person, the number of required calories for bulking up daily is different, especially when you factor in how much you move, fidget, and how much weight you need to gain:
- For some people, it might be 2,500 calories a day.
- For others, it might be 3,500 calories a day.
- For others, it might be 5,000 calories a day.
I don’t love calorie counting (I prefer a “Balanced Plate” approach), but I think for a newbie starting out, tracking calories for a few days is a great place to begin.

So, track your calories using something like MyFitnessPal over a few days and get an average.

I bet you’ll discover you’re eating significantly less than you thought you were.

LEARN HOW MANY CALORIES YOU NEED TO EAT FIRST.

And then eat MORE!

Spend the next two weeks eating an additional 300-500 calories per day above your TDEE (which you calculated above) and see how your weight adjusts (and how you look in progress photos!).

If you are not getting bigger, add an additional 300-500 calories per day and repeat the process.

Depending on your training, genetics, how skinny you are, and how much muscle you need to gain, you can decide how much weight you want to gain each week.

Everybody’s results will vary, and thoughts are mixed on how quickly we can build muscle:
- Under optimal conditions, some say you can expect to gain 1 pound (.5 kg) of muscle per week,
- My results have shown that 2 lbs (1kg) per month is more realistic.
- A 2016 study^[2]revealed that strength training produced a 2.2 lb increase (1kg) increase in lean mass in 8 weeks.
Regardless of how fast you bulk up, it might be helpful for you to gain weight by putting on some fat with your muscle!

Here are things to consider if you overeat WHILE strength training: extra glycogen, some fat, and water stored in your body can be a good thing for your confidence and get you headed down the right path.

So, don’t listen to the sites or programs that say “gain 40 pounds of muscle in two months!”

Unless you’re on the juice (‘roids, not Hawaiian Punch), it’s going to be a slow, long process.

Yes, it is possible to have incredible transformations in a short amount of time, like when I gained 18 pounds (8.1kg) in 30 days

This was due to strength training, overeating, protein, and extra water weight (from supplementing with creatine):

My advice: Rather than massive weight gain over a month, you’d be much better off gaining .5-1.5 lbs. (.25-.75 kg) a week, every week, for six months…and keeping the weight on!

Now, I know this stuff isn’t easy.

There’s nothing worse than spending 6+ months in a gym and doing what you think you SHOULD be doing, only to step on the scale and realize that you haven’t made any progress!

If you’re somebody that’s worried about wasting time, or you want to have an expert guide your nutrition based on your current situation, consider checking out our Online Training Program!

What Food Should I Eat to Bulk Up?
Let’s go through how you should be prioritizing your nutrition, nutrient by nutrient:

Protein: rebuilds muscle after you break it down.

Carbohydrates: provides your muscle with fuel and body weight with energy

Fat: helps your bodily functions and can also be burned as fuel in the absence of carbs.

Let’s look at each of these individually:

PRIORITY #1: PROTEIN

Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
- Eggs!^[3]
- Cheese and dairy.
- Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).
- Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).
- Other vegetarian protein sources here.
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein needed vary wildly from source to source (and athlete to athlete).

Here is our recommendation for protein consumption:

If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g/lb (2.2 g/kg).

If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.

Let me simplify it for you: target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).

If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:

Also, here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
- 4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
- 4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
- 4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes, like so:

PRIORITY #2: CARBS

After protein, in order for you to get bigger, you need to eat enough calories, and those calories should come from sources composed of carbs and/or fats.

Here are foods full of carbohydrates you can prioritize for bulking up:
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Oats
- Legumes and lentils
- Sweet potatoes
- Yams
- Regular potatoes
- Whole grain pasta
- Whole grain bread
To help you get better at eyeballing serving sizes:

1 serving of a starchy carbohydrate is 1 cupped hand (uncooked), or your two hands forming a cup (cooked).

Here are some images to help you learn proper portion sizes (thanks to SafeFood):

In addition to consuming carbohydrates from these sources, it’s okay to consume plenty of fruit while trying to bulk up!

You can read our full “Is fruit healthy” guide to learn more.

PRIORITY #3: FAT!

Fat is a macronutrient that you can eat that can help you reach your goals in the right quantity, as fat can be higher calorie and you can eat lots of it without feeling full.

Healthy fat can be found in foods like:
- Avocado
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Macadamia nuts
- Olive oil
- Almond butter
- Peanut butter
Science has recently come around on saturated fat too ^[4]. Once completely vilified, but now considered okay for moderate consumption.

Saturated fats can come from things like:
- Whole milk
- Full fat dairy
- Coconut oil
- Grass-fed butter
- Fatty cuts of meat
- Lard
To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb!

For reference, this is a single serving of almonds (162 calories):

THIS is a serving of olive oil (119 calories):

As you can see, you can eat an extra 500 calories of “healthy fats” by eating lots of “heart-healthy” fats like nuts or adding more olive oil to your meals.

PRIORITY #4: VEGETABLES!

Last but not least, you need vegetables in your diet.

If you start to eat a lot more food, your “indoor plumbing” is going to really benefit from eating some high-fiber veggies with each meal:

A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist.

Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that can fill your plate:
- Broccoli
- Broccolini
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Kale
- Spaghetti squash
- Brussels sprouts
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Onion
- Asparagus
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER:

This plate and serving size stuff above is just to help you get started thinking about healthy food differently and in proper portion sizes.

To recap:

HERE’S HOW TO EAT TO BULK UP:
- Calculate your (Total daily energy expenditure) and add +500 cal over your number.
- Consume 1-1.5g per pound (2.2-3.3g per kg) of bodyweight in protein every day.
- Consume the rest of your calories from foods composed of carbs and fats.
- Always eat vegetables so that your body can actually PROCESS all this extra food.
- If you are not gaining weight, add more carbs and/or fats to your meal.
It really does come down to the following:

If you are not gaining weight fast enough, you’re not eating enough. Increase your portions of carbs and fats!

Whenever we work with coaching clients who struggle to bulk up, this is the area we target: adding more carbs and fats to each meal.

What are the Best Popular Bulk Up Eating Strategies?

If you read the previous section, you know that we have some pretty specific “best practices” on how to bulk up.

However, there are multiple strategies that can also work, and I’d like to cover each of those here too.

Depending on your budget, your taste in food, and your goals, these strategies will work better for some than others.

#1) The “Healthy” Bulk

I have followed this method to great success multiple times (including right now).

Ultimately, I follow the “real food” principles whenever possible (good sources of quality meat, tons of vegetables, minimal amounts of gluten and processed carbs), but mixing in some specific items that are calorie/carbohydrate dense to reach my calorie goals for the day.

This is the exact strategy we lay out in the previous section of this article.

Speaking of quality calories – how I recommend doing this – receive your Get Bigger Shopping List and Bulk Up Cheat Sheet by putting your email in the box below:
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The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
#2) The “See Food” Diet

This is the diet I used to put on 18 pounds in 30 days.

Looking back at how I ate, I’m now grossed out.

But for me at the time, it worked (and got me interested in diet research).

If you are super skinny and on a tight budget, this might be your only option, and that’s okay!

Foods that are high in calories include:
- Whole milk
- Cottage cheese
- Cereal
- Pasta
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Ice cream
- Juice
- Peanut butter sandwiches
- Meatball subs from Subway
- Pizza
- Burgers
Etc.

Whatever gets you to your caloric intake goal for the day.

When I put on my 18 lbs, I used to drink 3 CytoGainer shakes a day, because it was the easiest way for me to stay on target.

If you are training properly, a majority of these calories will go towards building muscle instead of putting on a lot of fat.

Steve’s thoughts: I’m not a big fan of this method much, as I’ve come to learn the quality of food is as important (if not more so) than quantity when it comes to your overall health, and we’re aiming for bigger AND healthier.

#3) GOMAD

Drink a gallon of whole milk every day along with your meals.

Sounds crazy, yup, but it works.

A gallon of whole milk is full of enough sugar, carbs, fats, and protein that when all said and done, results in 2400 calories consumed in liquid form.

Mix in vegetables and meat for healthy meals and you got yourself a simple to follow diet.

I’ve attempted this diet back in my younger days, and although my stomach hated me, I certainly had success with it, mostly because it was simple to follow and easy to understand.

#4) Paleo Bulk or Keto Bulk

Bulking up while following the Paleo Diet, or bulking while following a Keto Diet.

Yes, it’s possible to bulk while following either of these diets:

If you are eating Paleo, you’ll want to eat LOTS of carbs and fats from calorie dense foods like fruit, sweet potatoes, and nuts.

If you are going Keto, you’ll want to eat LOTS of fat from cheeses, nuts, oils, and so on.

If you have the budget and want to try it, go for it. You’ll be eating truckloads of nuts, avocados, and meat.

“WHICH STRATEGY IS BEST FOR ME?”

In our opinion, we’ve had the most success with Coaching Clients who adapt a “healthy bulk” strategy, #1 above.

It’s a focus on real food, sustainable increase in calorie intake, and can be adjusted easily by adding or reducing total portions of carbs and fats.

But hey, you do you, boo.

What Supplements Should I take to Bulk up? How to eat more calories.

If you are struggling to consume enough whole foods every day, then here are some tips to help you reach your caloric goals to bulk up:

“WHAT SUPPLEMENTS SHOULD I TAKE TO BULK UP FAST?”

Most supplements are garbage

Plus, you should ALWAYS prioritize consuming real food over shakes and powders.

HOWEVER, if you are interested in bulking quickly, there are two I would recommend:
1. Protein Powder. A great solution for getting extra protein and calories in your diet and building muscle.^[5] As we point out in our article on protein and protein shakes, mix and match your own ingredients and see how many calories you can get into a smoothie without breaking your blender.
2. Creatine supplement. It helps your muscles retain more water ^[6], and has been shown to increase the hormone IGF-1, which is needed for muscle growth^[7]. It’s one of the only two supplements (along with protein) that I take regularly.
Outside of these two supplements, you really don’t need to prioritize supplementation, despite what the muscle magazines tell you! Hell, many of these muscle mags are OWNED BY SUPPLEMENT COMPANIES.

I’ll leave you with two more big suggestions on how to bulk up in this section:

#1) Liquid calories are your friend. Liquid calories can give us lots of calories without ‘filling us up,’ which is an easier way to consume enough calories every day without feeling overly full.

I personally get a huge chunk of my calories every day from making my own ‘Powerbomb Shake – from our Protein Guide
1. Water: 16 oz.
2. Quaker Oats: 3 servings (120g)
3. Frozen spinach: 1.5 servings (120g)
4. Frozen mixed berries: 1.5 servings (120g)
5. Protein powder: 2 scoops of Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Whey
And here is the macronutrient breakdown:
- Calories: 815 cal
- Protein: 70g
- Carbs: 107g
- Fats: 12g
I put all of this into a Vitamix Blender – yep, it was expensive, but worth the investment. This blender has been used twice a day for 8 years without a single issue.

If you need even more calories consider adding whole milk, coconut milk, or almond milk instead of water.

You can also add a shot of olive oil to add calories/fats to a shake in the quest for MOAR MUSCLE!

#2) Train your Body to Eat More: If you are cooking rice, each week try adding in an extra quarter cup when you cook it.

And yeah, you have to FORCE your stomach to accept more food, even when you’re not hungry.

This is not enjoyable, as you often feel like you’re going to explode.

However, just like it’s necessary to force your muscles outside of your comfort zone to get bigger, you need to force your stomach outside of its comfort zone until it adapts to accepting more calories.

So, start by adding a little bit more food each day and soon enough your stomach will expand.

How to Grow Bigger Muscles: Get Stronger

When you strength train, your muscles are broken down and then get rebuilt stronger to adapt to the stress you have applied to it.

So every time you pick up a slightly heavier weight, you are increasing the challenge and forcing your muscles to adapt and get more resilient.

What I’m trying to say:

If you want to get bigger, focus on getting stronger.

As long as you are continually increasing the weights or increase the sets and reps you are lifting, your muscles will continually adapt to get stronger.

This is called “progressive overload” and it. is. everything.

Coach Jim walks you through the ins and outs of progressive overload in this video:

If you want to dive in more, check out our guide “What is Progressive Overload?“

Follow a progressive overload strategy and eat enough calories, and you will get bigger.

You have two approaches to consider while bulking up:

PATH A: BODYBUILDER BULK. Follow a bodybuilder-type routine that focuses on isolation exercises that chops your body into different segments and works each of them out once a week.

You may have seen something like this:
- Monday: Chest
- Tuesday: Legs
- Wednesday: Shoulders
- Thursday: Back
- Friday: Arms and Abs
I think these routines are fine, and you might even enjoy them.

However, they do require a fairly large time commitment at the gym, and you’ll be training 5-6 days per week.

PATH B: STRENGTH AND MUSCLE. Focus on full-body routines that contain compound exercises like squats and deadlifts that give us the most bang for our buck.

Every time you train, most of the muscles in your body are getting worked out.

Specifically, this path has you focusing on getting really strong at these movements:

If you can focus on getting really strong with the above exercises, and eat enough calories, you will also get bigger in all of the right places.

Path B is something we’re bigger fans of compared to Path A, and it’s what we recommend to our Coaching Clients.

Specially, we find it to be safer and also more time-efficient: you’ll be training just 2-3 days per week on this path (instead of 5-6 days per week with Path A).

Mark Rippetoe (author of Starting Strength, a must-read for anybody interested in the above exercises) lives for old school barbell training (path B):

Why?

Because it works.

Just. Keep. Eating. And. Lifting.

Skinny Guy Workout Plans for Bulking Up

As we cover in our “How to build muscle” article, here’s a sample routine you can follow NOW to start bulking up.

After you do your dynamic warm-up, do the following workout:

MONDAY BULK UP WORKOUT:
1. Squats: 4 sets of 5 reps
2. Bench press 4 sets of 5 reps
3. Wide Grip Pull Ups: 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Planks 3 sets of 60 seconds
WEDNESDAY BULK UP WORKOUT:
1. Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps
2. Overhead Press: 3 sets of 5 reps
3. Inverted Bodyweight Rows: 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Hanging Knee Raises: 3 sets of 10 reps
FRIDAY BULK UP WORKOUT:
1. Front Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps
2. Weighted Dips: 3 sets of 10 reps
3. Weighted Chin-Ups: 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Reverse Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
Get stronger and the rest will take care of itself.

NERD FITNESS RECOMMENDATION: Feel free to pick WHATEVER workout program you want from wherever. If you don’t want to follow the workout above, consider these sources:

If you’re curious, here are some commonly accepted strategies based on your goals for how many sets and reps you should do:
- Strength and power: 1-5 reps
- Strength and some size: 5-8 reps
- Size and some strength: 8-12 reps
- Muscular endurance: 12+ reps
Now, don’t worry too much about which path is best.

Nutrition plays the most important role in bulking up, and any strength training plan will help you get bigger.

There are 3 studies I want to point out:
1. A recent study showed that a higher intensity workout (heavier weight for low reps) created more muscle mass than a higher volume (lower weight for more reps).^[8]
2. Getting more volume (more sets of exercises) per week resulted in more mass compared to less volume (fewer sets of exercises), in this study^[9].
3. Studies show that weight training creates superior “bulk up” results compared to bodyweight training,^[10] but that doesn’t mean bodyweight training isn’t beneficial. Studies show that bodyweight training exercises can build muscle, but require a LARGE number of sets per rep, and pushing oneself to absolute failure.^[11]
What this means: Don’t overthunk it.
1. Pick up heavy stuff for 3-4 sets of 5 reps. Pick up a weight that is heavy enough that you can only complete your specified number of reps.
2. Challenge yourself on bodyweight exercises, either by making them more difficult, adding weight, or doing high reps to failure.
3. And then do more next time.
What’s important is that you pick a plan and follow through with it while focusing on eating enough.

After a few months, you can reevaluate and then adjust based on how your body has changed.

On any of these days, feel free mix in bicep curls or tricep extensions or calf-raises at the END of your workouts.

Focus on the big lifts first and get stronger with them.

How much weight should you lift? For every one of the barbell movements above, I start with just the bar, and then add weight in 5lb increments each week.

It’s important to get form right and get your body used to the movement for when you start to lift heavy weight.

How long should you wait between sets? Again, don’t overthink it. Waiting 2-3 minutes allows you lift heavier weight, and thus makes you stronger.

Waiting 60-90 seconds puts more of an emphasis on muscular size and endurance (as you’re resting for a shorter period)…but don’t overthink it. Do the next set when you’re ready.

A piece of advice from 8-time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney: “stimulate, don’t annihilate.”

Don’t destroy yourself for the sake of destroying yourself; stopping one or two reps short of maximum effort can save you from overtraining and potential injury – remember that muscles are built in the kitchen!

If you’re already overwhelmed and just want somebody to tell you what to do, you’re not alone.

I’ve had a coach since 2014 and it’s the best investment I make in myself every month.

Can Bodyweight Training Help Me Bulk Up?

Yes, you can get bigger and stronger doing exclusively bodyweight exercises.

Take a look at any Olympic gymnast: he is jacked, with giant muscles, all built with bodyweight exercises:

HOWEVER, it requires a very specific type of training regiment to see those results.

Studies show that weight training creates superior “bulk up” results compared to bodyweight training,^[12] but that doesn’t mean bodyweight training isn’t beneficial.

Studies show that bodyweight training exercises can build muscle, but require a LARGE number of sets per rep. In other words, you’ll need to push yourself to absolute failure.^[13]

So, here’s where the challenges arise:

Like with weight training above, you need to increase the difficulty in order for your muscles to adapt.

Because it’s often more challenging to add a few pounds to a bodyweight exercise to make it tougher – compared to putting a weight on a bar, you need to increase the difficulty of the bodyweight movement itself.

If you are trying to build size, you can also do sets where your rep ranges are in the 25-35 reps per set, and you are pushing your muscles to failure (woof):
- If you can do 4 sets of 15 push-ups, consider making them harder to progress. Do 4 sets of 15 push-ups with your feet on a bench.
- Body weight squats too easy? Work your way up to pistol squats (one legged squats).
  4 sets of 12 pull-ups not a challenge anymore? Great. Make them tougher. Go for a wider grip, an uneven grip, or weighted pull-ups.
I highly recommend beginners start to take a serious look at strength training with free weights; it’s much easier to record one’s progress, easy to add more difficulty (just add more weight!), and very structured.

You can ALSO mix in bodyweight training, which is what I prefer to do!

In fact, I personally believe the best routine mixes both weights and bodyweight training. I have been working with my online coach for 4 years, and I’ve packed on size by following a barbell + bodyweight training routine.

Weight training for my lower body, advanced bodyweight movements for my upper body.

Every day starts with either a squat, front squat or deadlift.

Here I am pulling 420 pounds at a bodyweight of 172 pounds:

Each workout also contains a lot of Olympic/gymnastic style movements and holds to build upper body strength.

Handstands too (read our guide on handstands):

And I just try to get stronger.

What it really comes down to is this: no matter what you have access to (a gym, barbell, dumbbells, or just a pull-up bar) you can find a way to build strength and muscle if you follow a plan and eat enough calories.

If you’re trying to bulk with just bodyweight, it might be worth enlisting the help of a coach to help you scale your bodyweight exercises correctly and in the proper sequence!

I am Skinny Fat: Should I gain or lose weight first?

If you are skinny fat (you have skinny arms and legs but have a gut), there are three paths available to you:
1. Build muscle and lean out at the same time.
We all want Door #3, right?

Here how to do accomplish both goals at the same:

If you follow a program with the right calories and strength training, you can both lose weight AND build muscle at the same time.

It’s how we helped NF Coaching Client Jimmy (these photos are 5 months apart):

Our advice: Get strong and eat a SLIGHT caloric deficit while consuming enough protein every day.

Get yourself down to roughly 12% body fat (~20% for women), and then start to increase the size.

By slimming down first, while building muscle, you don’t have to worry about buying BIGGER clothes first, only to then need smaller clothes once you start cutting the fat.

Then, once you decide to eat more and get bigger, if you notice your body fat percentage start to creep up, you can simply adjust until your body fat gets back in the acceptable range. Then keep building!

To recap, here’s what to do if you are skinny-fat:
1. Eat a caloric deficit while heavy strength training to build muscle while leaning out.
2. Prioritize protein intake: 1.5g per pound (.75g per kg) of bodyweight.
3. Get strong as hell with big lifts and low reps (this will build muscle even in a deficit).
4. Once you reach a certain body fat percentage you’re happy with (probably 10-12%), then you can increase your caloric intake to build more muscle without putting on too much fat.
Proper Sleep and Rest for Putting on Muscle

Last but not least, the other important piece to this Triforce of muscle building:

Strength training, eating enough, and RECOVERY.

Your body builds and rebuilds its muscles during RECOVERY.

Our muscles generally need 48 hours or so to recover from its previous workout, so I do not recommend you do any serious strength training of the same muscle group on back-to-back days.

Feel free to do dynamic warm-ups or fun exercise if you feel like it doing some active recovery on off days, but I tend to take my off days OFF.

I might go for a walk (to Mordor!), but that’s about it.

A word about cardio: if you are serious about getting bigger and stronger, lots of long-distance cardio will work against you.

It’s something Coach Jim brings up in the video “7 things I learned adding on 50 lbs of muscle”:

Your body has to burn so many calories for your runs that it doesn’t get to use any of these calories in the muscle-building process.

If you love to run/bike, that’s cool, as long as you know it’s slowing (or halting) your progress.

So, cut back on the running or cut it out completely.

Try mixing in sprints and interval training if you want to keep the cardio up without having to do all of the crazy distance. You can always add it back in once you accomplish your weight gain goals.

A few words on SLEEP: You need more of it when you are building muscle.

It’s that simple.

Don’t be surprised if after a heavy deadlift day you find yourself wanting to sleep for 10 hours.

It might mean less TV or less video games.

Again, if you are serious about getting bigger and stronger, don’t neglect sleep.

FAQ for Skinny Guys Trying to Bulk Up

QUESTION #1: “But I just want to get toned, I don’t want to get too bulky.”

That’s not a question, but I hear it all the time. Do NOT worry about getting too bulky. I’ve been trying to get “too bulky” my entire life – it takes years of concerted effort to pull that off.

I’m gonna guess you have 30+ pounds to gain before you’d ever even be considered “bulky.”

That means that if you struggle with weight gain, getting to the point where you are TOO bulky would actually be a good problem to solve.

As you start to put on weight if you ever find yourself getting a tiny bit too chubby, simply eat less at that point!

So, when in doubt, always err on the side of too many calories than not enough. If you’re not sure if you should eat or not, etc.

QUESTION #2: “But I don’t want to do that stuff, so I’m gonna do _____ instead.”

Again not a question. But hey, go for it. Give it a month, and see how your body reacts. If you’re getting bigger, stronger, and healthier, keep doing it.

If not, come back to this article and apply the lessons in here!

QUESTION #3: “I’m a vegetarian/vegan, can I bulk up?”

Absolutely. You just need to make sure you’re getting enough calories and enough protein in your system to promote muscle growth.

Beans and nuts have lots of protein; if you’re vegetarian you can still use dairy to your advantage (whey protein, whole milk, cheese, etc.).

If you’re vegan, then it’s slightly more of a challenge to get enough protein, but it can be done: almond butter is your friend 🙂

Check out our plant based protein suggestions.

QUESTION #4: “Should I do ___ reps and sets or _____ reps and sets?“

Either plan will get you there. It’s 90% diet anyways.

What’s important is that you pick a plan, you progress, you keep track of your results, and you consistently progressively increase the load that you are moving (be it your body’s weight or an actual weight).

QUESTION #5: “I want to get bigger and faster and have more endurance and flexibility ALL at the same time, can I do that?”

I hate to say it, but building endurance and getting bigger simultaneously is brutally difficult.

As I point out in “How to build any physique,” compare a marathon runner’s body with that of a sprinter or gymnast. Put the running on hold for a while, and focus on getting bigger: you’ll get there faster.

When you decide to mix running back in, keep your calorie consumption high and don’t forget to keep strength training!

You can still go for walks, and still get a good cardio workout by lifting quickly with minimal breaks between sets.

QUESTION #6: “Do I need to eat every three hours?”

Nope, you don’t have to:
- The TOTAL number of calories you consume over the course of a day is more important than the timing of the meals.^[14]
- The same is true with protein intake: studies show it doesn’t matter WHEN you eat your protein. HOW MUCH you consume in a day is more important.^[15]
In fact, there are actually some scientific benefits that can result from not eating all day and instead condensing it into a smaller window.

But eating more frequently might help…

If you struggle to get enough calories in your system, spacing out your meals might help you feel less full, or give you more opportunities to reach your calorie goal for the day.

I eat all of my calories between 12pm and 8pm, and still get bigger despite only eating 2 MASSIVE meals each day.

QUESTION #7: “But what about this other article? And this other thing I read? Which workout is the best workout?”

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Keep it simple. Get stronger, eat more food, sleep. Break this down into simple steps and goals that aren’t scary, and get started.

The best advice I can give you is to start and make adjustments along the way.

Track your progress, track your calories, and track your workouts.

If you are getting bigger and stronger, keep it up!

I know this stuff can be overwhelming, as I struggled with this stuff for YEARS before getting results.

It why after I started Nerd Fitness, I eventually launched a coaching program: to help people skip the years of mistakes I made!

More Resources for Skinny Guys Looking to Bulk Up

This is a monster of an article, and your head probably hurts at this point.

If I can narrow it down to three main points:
1. Get stronger by picking up heavy stuff or doing more challenging bodyweight movements.
2. Get bigger by eating enough.
3. Recover faster by sleeping enough and giving your muscles days off to rebuild.
If you made it this far, and you want more specific instruction and guidance, we have a few options for you:

1) If you are somebody that wants to follow a tailor-made program that’s designed around their life and goals, check out our popular 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program.

You’ll work with our certified NF instructors who will get to know you better than you know yourself, check your form, and program your workouts and nutrition for you.

2) If you want a roadmap for home workouts, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Download our free Bulk Up Guide, which you can get when you sign up in the box below:
Download our free skinny guy’s guide to putting on muscle!

Enter your email below to download now

The Nerd Fitness “Get Bigger” Shopping List

Bulk like the Hulk with our rules for getting bigger
Lastly, I’d love to hear from you!

PLEASE leave your questions, eating or strength or otherwise below so we can answer them and become best friends and practice karate kicks in the garage:

How can I help you get bigger and stronger?

What part of this journey are you still struggling the most with?

What are your favorite bulking up foods!?

Share with your friends in the comments so we can all go buy it in bulk at Costco.

-Steve

PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Bulk Up guides:

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photo source: Not Happy, Marina Pissarova © 123RF.com, magone © 123RF.com, Ekaterina Minaeva © 123RF.com, Morning run with the Fitbit, Inna Vlasova © 123RF.com, Viktor Hladchenko © 123RF.com; Olga Yastremska © 123RF.com; famveldman © 123RF.com; 167/366, LEGO bench
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Steve Kamb

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November 22, 2022
How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do? | Nerd Fitness

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If you’ve ever asked yourself “Am I doing too little or too many reps and sets?” then this guide is for you.

This article is part of our Strength 101 series, and we’ll show you exactly how to determine the number of repetitions and sets for specific exercises, so you can build your own workout routine.

It sounds easy, but depending on your goals, the answer to “How many reps and sets should I do?” can vary greatly.

We work hand-in-hand with our Online Coaching Clients to create the correct workout program that suits their goals, needs, and available equipment

In today’s guide on workout programing, we’ll cover (click each to get right to that answer):

The Correct Number of Reps and Sets for a Workout

As Coach Jim mentions above, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and defines one complete motion of an exercise.

And one “set” is a consecutive number of reps without stopping.

And one “smorgasbord” is a buffet of food.

(This has nothing to do with this article, but it’s a fun word to say.)

As we mentioned throughout our Strength Training 101 series, how many reps and sets you should do is really going to be dependent on your goals.

For example, is your goal to improve:

Muscular endurance

Muscular hypertrophy

Muscular strength

Muscular power

Depending on what your goal is, the sets, reps, and rest intervals will change.

Oh, you’re just starting your strength training journey?

Well, make sure you grab our free guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. I’ll send it to you for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!).

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, let’s break down reps and sets for you, because I can see you still have questions.

How Many Reps Should I Do?

Remember, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and is more or less one complete exercise.

Like a push-up:

So “2 sets of 5 reps of push-ups” means, “5 consecutive push-ups, a rest, then another 5 consecutive push-ups.”

Cool?

Cool.

When deciding on how many sets and reps to do, it begins by asking “What am I trying to get out of this workout?!“

We’ll group different rep ranges into different goals, for:

Muscular endurance

Muscle size

Overall strength

I’m going to share with you the commonly accepted answers, but they ALL come with a HUGE caveat that I’ll share at the end of this article.

I’m going to start with the “widely accepted numbers here.”

Let’s chat about the following:

1) MUSCULAR ENDURANCE (long-lasting muscle)

Endurance means encouraging and training your muscles to perform for an extended period of time. This means doing a LOT of repetitions.

People targeting muscular endurance will aim for a range from 12 to 20+ reps.

Obviously, you won’t be able to lift heavy amounts of weight for 20+ reps, so you’ll be lifting lighter loads.

Also, because you’re targeting endurance improvements, you want to decrease the amount of rest between sets: 30 seconds to a minute.^[1]

If you are a runner or cyclist, strength training with higher repetitions can help your muscles develop more endurance as well!^[2]

Reps for increased muscular endurance: 12+

2) MUSCLE SIZE (“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”)

This is for folks looking to build larger muscles.

The scientific term here is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,” as it focuses on increasing the amount of sarcoplasm, the non-contractile fluid found in your muscle.

Up to 30% of your muscle’s size is attributed to the sarcoplasm, so focusing on this type of hypertrophy helps build overall size (i.e., increased cross-sectional area of the muscle).

If you’re looking to get bigger:

Target a rep range of 6 – 12 reps per set.

Aim for 3-5 sets.

Rest time between sets should be short, about 60 to 90 seconds.

Reps for increased muscle size: 6-12^[3]

3) STRENGTH AND POWER (“myofibril hypertrophy”)

If you’re training for specific sports and just want to get stronger with more power – but not necessarily get bigger, this is the strategy for you.

This type of training focuses on strengthening the myofibril, the contractile part of the muscle, hence the name “myofibril hypertrophy.”

For this, target reps in the 1-5 range. And yep, that means you’re going to be picking up heavy weights, focusing all that concentrated effort into just one or a few reps.^[4]

Something to note when lifting for strength and power: not only are you shocking your muscles, but you’re also putting a lot of pressure on your body’s central nervous system (CNS).

So what does this mean?

In a way, it means your body’s ability to communicate with its muscles has grown fatigued, and performance may suffer.

That’s why you may want to rest between 2-5 minutes in this range.

Oh, and your CNS will adapt and become stronger, which will be critical for building strength and power.^[5]

This is how powerlifters train:

Low reps

High weight

Long time between sets

Since powerlifting really taxes the central nervous system, you may be waiting 3-5 minutes between sets when training in this fashion.

TO RECAP, these are the rep ranges you should be considering:

Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength.

Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size.

Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.

I realize this is a lot to figure out, so if you are somebody – like me – who just wants to be told what to do and outsource all the worry of “am I doing the right workout for my goals?” I got you covered!

I’d love to learn your story, and then build a custom program that fits your goals. We’ll help you with your nutrition, your workouts, and even check in regularly to keep you accountable!

How Many Sets Should I Do?

As explained above, a “set” describes a group of repetitions performed for an exercise without stopping.

For example, if you do 10 squats right now, you just did 1 SET of 10 reps of squats.

So let’s talk about the “correct” number of sets per exercise.

The simple answer: “Do 3-5 work sets of a given exercise.”^[6]

Just make sure you’re not compromising your form.

At least he’s trying!

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) will break this down, suggesting the following set ranges:^[7]

2-3 will help build muscular endurance (12 to 20+ reps)

3-6 build muscular hypertrophy (6 to 12 reps)

3-5 build muscular power (3 to 5 reps)

2-6 build muscular strength (less than 6 reps)

“STEVE, JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO.”

FINE! Pick a weight that feels light to you, and then do 3 sets of 10 reps.

(Learn how much weight should I be lifting”).

And then next time?

Do more than last time:

Did 3 sets of 10 reps of a 65 lb bench press? Do 3 sets of 8 at 75 lbs this week!

Did 3 sets of 5 pull-ups last week? Go for 3 sets of 6 this week.

That’s the key to progressive overload, as Coach Jim explains in this article:

If you’re not sure if “3 sets of 10” or “5 sets of 5” is right for you, we got you covered.

We’ll build a program that fits your goals, and then adjust it each month based on your progress. Never guess or wonder what you should be doing again.

How to Build a Workout Routine!

Now that you have “edumacated” yourself on how your specific goals influence the number of reps per set, and what sets actually are, you can build your workout program around this info.

TO RECAP, aim for 3-5 sets in the following rep rangers per exercise based on your goals:

Endurance: 12+ reps per set.

Hypertrophy (bigger muscles): 6-12 reps per set.

Strength (dense, powerful muscle): 1-5 reps per set.

Two points worth mentioning:

A recent study showed that heavier weight for low reps created more muscle mass than a higher volume (lower weight for more reps).^[8]

Studies show that bodyweight training exercises can build muscle, but require a LARGE number of sets per rep, and pushing oneself to absolute failure.^[9]

What this means: studies suggest targeting heavier weight with fewer reps for big lifts like squats and deadlifts to build muscle, while targeting high reps to absolute failure with bodyweight exercises for muscle building.

Just remember to rest enough between sets so you don’t fatigue your central nervous system too bad.^[10]

One last point: Nutrition is still 90% of the equation!

Your rep range doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think, so don’t overthunk it!

Here are some examples:

If you’re trying to build muscle and get bigger, doing sets of 3 or sets of 5 or sets of 10 will ALL help you get bigger, if you’re eating enough to get bigger!^[11]

If you’re trying to lose weight, it doesn’t matter if you do sets of 15 or sets of 5 if you are consistently overeating by 1,000 calories a day. You need to eat the right number of calories.^[12]

It doesn’t matter if you train like a bodybuilder, you ALSO need to eat enough food to provide your muscles with enough calories to rebuild themselves bigger and stronger! This is the biggest mistake I see skinny people make when trying to bulk.

This brings me to my final point: because nutrition is 90% of the equation, your sets and reps don’t matter nearly as much as you think they do!

All that matters? Doing MORE this workout than the last workout.

Remember, how you build muscle and strength and burn fat: “progressive overload.”

One more rep than last time.

Doing one more set than last time.

Picking up a weight that’s 5 lbs. heavier than last week.

So get out of your own head, and START TODAY:

1) GET HELP: If you want expert guidance and accountability so you don’t have to figure out all of this stuff on your own, I got you.

Click the red button below to get the details about our amazing online coaching program:

2) FIGURING IT OUT OUT ON YOUR OWN!

Download our free Strength Training 101 Guide! You get it free when you join our Rebellion (the name of our awesome free online community). Sign up in the box below:

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

3) WORKOUTS YOU CAN DO NOW:

Remember: the goal should be to get stronger each workout.

Write down what you did last time, and then do MORE this time.

By continually challenging your muscles to do more, they’ll have to adapt by getting bigger, stronger, burning more calories, etc.

There are a lot of different truths and fallacies on plateaus and how your muscles can get “used” to working out and stop growing.

If that’s something you’re battling, here’s a way to continue making progress:

Spend a week in a different rep range with different amounts of weight.

This will introduce a little chaos into the system, which could be a good thing…unless you’re Batman.

What we’re talking about is muscle confusion theory, which is a preplanned period of variation.^[13] Not, you know, wandering into the gym with no plan and just doing something different every time (whatever you feel like doing at that moment).

That won’t help.

But spend a week deliberating mixing it up. Then go back to your regularly scheduled routine and you’ll be right back on track.

Make sure you know what you want, and then design a plan to get there.

-Steve

PS: If you want a nice shiny app to tell you EXACTLY how many seps and reps to do, our shiny new app will do just that!

You can sign-up for a free 7-day trial to Nerd Fitness Journey, which will build a workout around your experience level!

Jump in right here:

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All photo citations: Evel Knievel, Me riding a bicycle, Bicylelifter, Project Story 1/3

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Steve Kamb

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November 22, 2022
Get Your First Pull-up or Chin-up! 30-Day Pull up Progression | Nerd Fitness

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Pull-ups are my favorite exercise of all time.

But what if you can’t do a pull-up yet?

The answer: read this ultimate guide on getting your first pull–up ASAP!

We have helped hundreds of Online Coaching Clients get their first pull-up, and we’ll cover our exact strategies below!

As part of our Strength Training 101 series, we give you an exact plan to follow leading you to your very first full pull-up:

If you can already do a pull-up (woot!), you might want to check out our article on proper pull-up form, although we’ll cover a lot of the same material here.

Let’s do this thang.

Tips on How to Start Doing Pull-Ups

In the video above, Coach Jim walks you through the exact progression system we use with our coaching clients who want to get their first pull-up (or chin-up).

Before we get into exercises to progress into a pull-up, let’s chat about some general strategies.

Consider the following three points when attempting to get your first chin-up or pull-up:

#1) This should hopefully be obvious, but the more you weigh, the more you have to lift in order to complete a pull-up.

If you’re truly serious about completing a pull-up, start by getting your diet under control.

As we say here at Nerd Fitness, 80-90% of weight loss comes down to what you eat (#4 in the Rules of the Rebellion).

Here are some resources to help you with weight loss:

#2) MAKE YOUR “PULL” EXERCISES A PRIORITY. A lot of people do every other exercise before doing any back-related exercises, if they do any at all.

After warming up properly, your first exercise should always be the stuff that you want to work on the most – in this case, it’ll be your back muscles.

Until you get your first pull-up done, focus on the back exercises detailed in the levels and workouts in this guide.

#3) The progression we outline is a path that works for most people, but does NOT need to be followed to a T.

We give sample sets and reps and when to move up, but if you feel like you can progress sooner or want to try doing full pull-ups sooner than we recommend, that’s OKAY.

This is the slower progression method, where some people will want to do fewer reps and progress to the next levels sooner – that’s okay.

We recommend moving up to the next level when you can do 3 sets of 8 reps of a particular exercise. If you want the accelerated path, move on up as faster as you can do 3 sets of 5 reps. You do you boo.

Want someone to build you a custom-made progression plan for doing your first pull-up? Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program will do just that, plus your coach can review your movements through our app so you’ll know your training correctly and safely.

Level 1 Pull-up Workout: Bent Over Dumbbell Rows

We’re going to start with bent-over dumbbell rows, the most basic of back exercises, in case you’re starting from ABSOLUTELY square one.

Level 1 Pull-up Workout:

Bent-over dumbbell rows: 8 reps for each arm (or as many as you can do)

Rest for a 2-minute break

Do another set

Repeat until you hit 3 sets

What weight should you start out with initially?

Whatever allows you to get to at least 5 reps a set.

Once you can do 3 sets of 8 reps (each arm), it’s time to pick up a heavier dumbbell.

This will allow you to get stronger and stronger.

Make sure you give yourself at least 48 hours until you do the Level 1 Dumbbell Rows again, so you can include these dumbbell rows for your workouts on:

As soon as you can do 3 sets of 8 reps, it’s time to move up to a heavier dumbbell.

Once you can lift a 25-pound (10kg) dumbbell or heavier, consider moving up to the next level.

If you are a little bit bigger than the average bear, you might want to stick with this step until you lose a little bit more weight and get stronger – maybe go to 35 or 40-pound (18kg) dumbbells.

Want help designing your own workout routine? I’ve got two options for you.

The first is to head over to “Build Your Own Workout Routine” and get your hands dirty. Our guide will walk you through building a full-body exercise program in 10 simple steps.

The second is to have a Nerd Fitness Coach do all the heavy lifting for you (not really, you still have to lift stuff), by having them build you a tailor-made workout routine:

Level 2 Pull-Up Workout: Inverted Bodyweight Rows

Bodyweight rows are the PERFECT precursor to pull-ups – they work the same muscles, and have you lifting your own bodyweight, just at a different angle.

For this level, we’ll provide you with two options: You can also make adjustments.

OPTION A: IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A GYM OR WANT TO JOIN A GYM:

You can follow the rest of this workout as part of our 6-Level Gym workout guide, which will help you go from total gym newbie to pull-up progressing badass!

At your gym, find your Smith Machine and set the bar at about chest height.

A higher bar makes the exercise easier to start:

And as you get stronger, you can set the bar lower:

Here’s a whole post I did on inverted bodyweight rows.

Here’s how to do an inverted bodyweight row:

Set the bar at a height where it’s challenging for you to complete 3 sets of 8 reps with two minutes of rest between sets.

Clench your butt and keep your abs tight and body straight throughout the exercise.

Pull your shoulder blades down and back towards each other (like you’re trying to pinch a pencil between them behind your back).

Focus your mind on PULLING with your arms.

Pull until your chest touches the bar (not your neck).

As soon as you can complete all 3 sets of 8 reps, set the bar heigh lower to make the exercise more difficult.

If it helps, here is a video demonstration with gymnastic rings, but you can start with a bar as displayed in the images below.

If you need to make the exercise less challenging, bend your knees and put your feet flat on the ground:

Level 2 sample workout routine:

Monday – 3 sets of 8 reps of overhand bodyweight rows

Wednesday – 3 sets of 8 reps of underhand bodyweight rows (hands reversed)

Friday – 3 sets of 8 reps of overhand bodyweight rows

(And then go underhand, overhand, underhand the following week)

As soon as you’re doing bodyweight rows where your body is at a 45-degree angle or lower, you can progress to Level 3.

OPTION B: IF YOU DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO A GYM FOR INVERTED ROWS:

You have 4 paths here:

1) Purchase a door frame pull-up bar, hang a pair of gymnastic rings from them. And then follow the same advice as above!

2) Use your kitchen table for rows (BE CAREFUL):

3) Do inverted rows between a couple chairs, as we walk you through in How to Do Pull-ups Without a Bar:

4) Move up to Level 3 and progress with caution there.

If you are struggling with rows, you’re not sure you’re doing them correctly, or you’re not sure how to progress to the next level, check out our 1-on-1 coaching program.

It’s the type of program that helped single mom Leslie lose 100+ pounds and start training with gymnastic rings and handstands!

Level 3 Pull-Up Workout: Assisted Pull-Ups

Okay! It’s time to get to ACTUAL pull-ups here! Personally, I don’t like using the assisted pull-up machine in a gym as it doesn’t give you the full feeling of a pull-up, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

Instead, I recommend doing one of these alternatives:

#1) Assisted Pull-ups with a chair

Either one foot or two on the chair, depending on your needs. Your feet are ONLY there for support, use your upper body as much as possible.

You can also use a box or similar-sized object for the same result:

#2)Assisted Pull-ups with exercise band:

You can get different types of exercise bands with different levels of strength, or a variety pack for easy progression.

Put your foot in the exercise band and pull yourself up.

#3) Assisted pull-ups with a partner:

Have a friend hold your feet behind you and help you complete each rep. Have them use the least amount of help possible to get you through your workouts.

Here’s how to do an assisted pull-up:

Clench your butt and keep your abs tight throughout the exercise – try not to swing like crazy.

Keep your shoulder blades pinched behind you throughout the movement and focus on PULLING the bar down with your arms.

Use the least amount of assistance that you can handle – as soon as you can do multiple pull-ups with both feet on the chair, switch to just one foot.

If you’re using an exercise band, try to get a few bands of varying tension so you can decrease the resistance as you get stronger.

As soon as you can do 3 sets of 8 with assistance, it’s time to move on to Level 4.

For another reference, Coach Jim and Staci show you how to do a variation of assisted chin-up right here:

This is probably the TOUGHEST level before getting your pull-ups. If you get stuck on “assisted pull-ups” and “assisted chin-ups”, you’re not alone. This is where most people get stuck.

We work hand-in-hand with people like you to get them their first pull-up in our Online Coaching Program. If you don’t know how to fit these movements into your workouts, or you just want somebody to give you the exact workout to follow every day, we got you!

Finally, a workout that includes Level 3 pull-up exercises

Monday – Assisted Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Wednesday – Inverted Bodyweight Rows – 3 sets of 8 reps

Friday – Assisted Chin Ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

This will help you ramp up to Level 4.

Level 4 Pull-Up Workout: Top holds and Bar Hangs

Alright, so we’ve started off great! We’re working those pulling muscles and assisted variations – but an actual chin-up might feel miles (or kilometers) away.

Heck, just even holding onto the bar may be a challenge without some assistance.

What should we do now?

How about we work on holding onto the bar!?!

Before we work on doing full range, unassisted chin-ups or pull-ups, it’s really helpful to be strong and confident in holding unassisted parts of the movement.

This is where Top Holds and Bar Hangs come in!

#1) A Top Hold is exactly what it sounds like – we hold the top position of the chin-up or pull-up for several seconds (5 to 10). You’ll likely find holding the top of the chin-up (palms facing you) easier than the pull-up.

This is definitely something that you want to first do assisted. We’ll then work to transfer more weight – bit by bit over several workouts – off our feet and onto our arms until we’re holding ourselves unassisted at the top.

Using a band is a good option for assisted chin-ups, but using a box, bench, or another sturdy object will be a better option here.

It will allow you to shift that weight onto your arms a little easier.

That said, if all you have is a band for this exercise then that’s ok! Look to use thinner and thinner bands, while lifting the feet and knees up a bit to further reduce assistance (as the band won’t be stretched as far).

#2) On the other side of the movement, we have the Bar Hang…which is pretty much what it sounds like too!

To perform a bar hang:

Grab the bar with palms facing towards you or away from you. You’ll likely find hanging with palms facing away from you to be a bit more comfortable. Either direction will help strengthen up your grip.

Just like with the top hold, you’ll want to start assisted then work to shift your weight from your feet onto your arms until you’re hanging unassisted.

To further supercharge this exercise: once you are hanging unassisted, work on retracting your shoulders down away from your ears.

Like so:

And so:

This small movement is TOUGH (and you can even practice it assisted) but getting strong here will set your shoulders in an even better position for your first chin-up/pull-up.

We’ll look to hang from the bar (assisted or unassisted) for a total time of 30 seconds to 1 minute. At first this time may be broken up into several sets (e.g., 10 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds), but you should eventually work up to one full set.

So how should we integrate either of these into our training?

#1) For the Top Holds, do this at the start of your workout (after your warm-up) for 3 sets of 5 seconds. Make sure you give it your all! Really squeeze the muscles tight and put as much weight on the arms as possible!

With all that effort, you’ll want to give yourself 30 seconds to a minute rest in-between. I know that sounds like a lot for just 5 seconds of work – but if you were working hard enough, you’ll need it!

#2) For the Bar Hang, do this at the end of your workout for 30 seconds to a minute. Again, look to complete this in as few sets as possible, while making the exercise as challenging as possible. Move from assisted to unassisted, with the shoulders retracted downwards.

If you have to take a break during the bar hang time, then take enough rest so that the next hold is productive.

Here Are the Exercises You Can Include for Your Level 4 Workout Routine:

Monday:

Top Hold (Assisted or Unassisted) – 4 sets of 5 seconds

Assisted Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 repetitions

Bar Hang (Assisted or Unassisted) – 30 seconds total time

Wednesday:

Top hold (Assisted or Unassisted) – 4 sets of 5-10 seconds

Bodyweight Rows – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Assisted or Unassisted) – 30 to 60 seconds total time

Friday –

Top Hold (Assisted or Unassisted) – 4 sets of 5 seconds

Assisted Chin-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Assisted or Unassisted) – 30 seconds total time

When you’re able to perform the Top Holds and Bar Hangs unassisted, then it’s time to move to the next level!!!

LEVEL 4.5 PULL-UP WORKOUT: (THE HIDDEN LEVEL)

What’s this??? Secret hidden exercises?

I just wanted to bring your attention to a great addition to any of these workouts – especially as things really ramp up.

Ready for it?

It’s . . . the front plank!

The front plank (or any of your favorite midsection stabilization exercises) is a great exercise to do, should holding a Top Hold or a Bar Hang prove tough.

If you haven’t already felt it during the previous pull-up workouts – your middle needs to be involved too!

During a pull-up or chin-up, if we squeeze through the midsection and glutes, the nearby muscles are able to contract stronger through a phenomenon known as muscle irradiation.

Besides sounding like something the Fantastic Four encountered in space, this cool “trick” can help engaged nearby muscles in the midsection, including those big back muscles that pull us up!

You can see muscle irradiation for yourself if you’ve ever been asked to flex your biceps for someone. You’ll instinctually squeeze your hand tight, because it helps the biceps engage stronger!

If needed, throw in some front planks work near the end of your workout.

You can even start on your knees:

Look to hold 30 seconds to one minute of total time.

Alright, back to our regular scheduled programming!

Level 5 Pull-Up Workout: Negative Pull-Ups

Okay! We are now DANGEROUSLY close to getting our first pull-up!

The big step at this level is doing a negative pull-up:

Grab onto the bar with an overhand grip

Jump so your chest is touching

Slowly lower yourself under control until you’re at the bottom of the movement.

WARNING: This can be very dangerous if you’re very overweight, which is why I’d recommend moving slowly through steps 1-3 first.

However, once you have a decent amount of back strength (which you got from Levels 1, 2, and 3), doing negatives is a great way to build arm and back strength.

You have two options for negative pull-ups:

Hop up on a chair to get above the bar and then lower yourself back down. The name of the game is “in control.”

Jump above the pull-up bar, and then begin to lower yourself back down IN CONTROL.

You don’t need to lower yourself so slowly that one repetition destroys you…lower yourself at a controlled speed – Counting to “three Mississippi” during the movement is a good tempo.

Here are the exercises you can include for your Level 5 Workout Routine:

Monday:

Negative Pull-ups – 4 sets of 1 rep

Assisted Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 30 seconds total time

Wednesday:

Top Hold (Unassisted) – 4 sets of 5-10 seconds

Bodyweight Rows – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 60 seconds total time

Friday:

Negative Chin-ups – 4 sets of 1 rep

Assisted Chin-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 30 seconds total time

Once you’re doing all of the negative repetitions in each exercise…you’re ready to do a pull-up.

As you’ll see above, we’re giving you the “pull” exercises if you are building your own workout. If you want a good beginner gym workout program, these movements will fit in perfectly.

Alternatively, we can do all of the heavy lifting for you (well, not ALL the heavy lifting) – we’ll create a specific workout so all you have to do is log into your NF Coaching App each morning and do the workout your coach prescribed!

Level 6 – Doing Your First Pull-up or Chin-up

OH BOY! My dear Rebel, it’s time for a…

At this point you have two options:

A chin-up is when you grab the bar with an underhand grip with your palms facing towards you.

Many find chin-ups slightly easier than…

A pull-up is when you grab the bar with your palms facing away from you. Seeing as this is a pull-up guide…

HOW TO DO A PULL-UP, STEP-BY-STEP:

Grab the bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, with your hands facing away from you.

Start from a dead hang.

Engage your shoulders, pull them down and back towards each other (like you are pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades!)

Flex your stomach, pull your body until your chest touches the bar.

Slight pause, yell out “I’m a champion!”

Lower yourself all the way back down to a dead hang.

We cover all of this and more in our post “How to Do a Proper Pull-Up,” but the above will get you started

Depending on your weight, your level of fitness and strength, and how far along you are in these progressions, you might be able to start with even more than one pull-up.

At this point, you can be a full Gym Class Hero by following a Gym Workout with these movements in there for your “pull” exercises:

Level 6 routine weekly schedule:

Monday:

Pull-ups – 4 sets of 1-2 reps (move onto the next exercise if you can’t perform a rep)

Assisted Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 60 seconds total time

Wednesday:

Negative Chin-ups – 4 sets of 1 rep

Bodyweight Rows – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 60 seconds total time

Friday:

Chin-ups – 4 sets of 1-2 reps (move onto the next exercise if you can’t perform a rep)

Assisted Chin-ups – 3 sets of 8 reps

Bar Hang (Unassisted) – 60 seconds total time

Congratulations! You’re now doing pull-ups. Make sure you watch that video above to make sure you’re doing pull-ups with proper form. Nearly everybody does them incorrectly, with bad form.

Want to make sure you have proper form with your pull-ups? Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching program! Our spiffy mobile app lets you send video of your pull-ups directly to your coach, who will provide feedback so you can perfect your technique.

They’ll also build a workout program that’s custom to your situation, which will have you doing sets of 10 pull-ups in NO time!

Level 7 – Advanced Pull-up Moves

Once you’re able to do 3 sets of 10 pull-ups or chin-ups, you have a few options:

OPTION #A: Continue to get better at doing more reps – 3 sets of 12, 3 sets of 15, 4 sets of 20, etc.

OPTION #B: Start doing other types of pull-ups.

Here are some advanced pull-ups you can try:

#1) WIDE GRIP PULL-UPS (grab the bar WAY out with both hands):

#3) SIDE TO SIDE PULL-UPS

#4) RING PULL-UPS

#5) TOWEL PULL-UPS (Great for grip strength)

OPTION #C) Add weight with a weight belt and do weighted pull-ups or weighted chin-ups:

Personally, my favorite thing to do in a gym is weighted pull-ups; if you’re at this level and interested in doing so, here’s what you need to do:

Get a weight belt. I bought this one on Amazon and it’s worked out incredibly well for me. I’ve tried doing the whole “put weights in a backpack” and it certainly works, but the angle of the weights hanging off your back is weird. With a weight belt, the weight hangs down between your legs (not a euphemism) so it feels more natural.

Add small amounts at a time. Most gyms will have 2.5 lb (roughly 1kg) weights; you might feel stupid putting on a big weight belt and only hanging a tiny weight off it, but you need to start somewhere.

Consistently add more weight. I’ll warm up with two sets of 5 pull-ups with no extra weight, and then do 3 sets of 5 weighted pull-ups. If I can complete all 3 sets of 5 reps (with my chin over the bar for every rep), I’ll make a note to add 2.5 or 5lbs (1 or 2kg) to my weight belt for the next time.

Here’s how to incorporate these Level 6 exercises into your gym workout routine:

Monday – Weighted Chin Ups – 3 sets of 5 reps

Wednesday – Elevated Feet Body Weight Rows – 3 sets of max repetitions

Friday – Wide Grip Pull-ups – 3 sets of maximum repetition

(The following week, I’d alternate by doing the chin-ups without weight, and then doing weighted pull-ups

Where do you go from here? How about working towards one of the most impressive exercises of all time? The MUSCLE UP (warning: uber advanced)!

Our new app, Nerd Fitness Journey, not only has an adventure to get you your first pull-up, but we’ll also show you exactly how to do cool bodyweight tricks like the muscle-up too. No guesswork needed here, just jump into the app and follow the missions and workouts for the day.

You can try your free trial TODAY, right here:

Lift Yourself Up (A Life With Pull-Ups)

No matter your starting point, you CAN do pull-ups.

And you WILL do pull-ups with this guide.

You don’t need to follow the progression above exactly – it’s merely one path that you can take in order to reach the promised land…where the pull-ups flow like wine and the women instinctively flock like the Salmon of Capistrano.

Just ask Christina, who can now do multiple sets of pull-ups – her story is incredible:

Or Bronwyn, who lost 50+ lbs and now does chin-ups with her daughter on her back!

For people looking for the next step, we’ve built 3 options that might float your boat:

1) If you are somebody that wants to get results like the women above and follow a tailor-made pull-up strength program designed around their life and goals, check out our popular 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program.

You’ll work with our certified NF instructors who will get to know you better than you know yourself, check your form, and program your workouts and nutrition for you.

#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). We even have an awesome adventure to help you get your first pull-up!

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join our free community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, and we’ll send you our free Strength 101 Guide, which you can get when you sign up in the box below:

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Follow the path that works for your schedule, your experience, and your level of comfort with this movement – there’s no shame in going slowly and progressing safely.

And if you’re gung ho about pull-ups, ready for negatives and trying to squirm for that first rep, feel free to go for it. Just be safe.

When you DO finally do a pull-up, I want to be the first to know – email me at steve@nerdfitness.com and tell me about it!

For the Rebellion,

-Steve

PS: Check out our other three articles on pull-ups:

PPS: Want to learn more? Read the rest of the Strength Training 101 series:

###

Photo Souce: Muscles that Move the Humerus

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Steve Kamb

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November 21, 2022
5 Best Strength Training Workouts for Beginners | Nerd Fitness

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Want to get strong like these LEGO lifters but don’t how to start?

In this Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training (part of our Strength 101 series), you’ll have both the confidence to start getting strong with resistance training AND a plan to follow.

These are the exact strategies we use with our Online Coaching Clients to help them start strength training, and I’m excited to cover everything you need.

We’ll be digging into the following:

By the way, we’ve combined this article along with the rest of our strength articles into a “Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know” guide.

Grab it free when you join the Rebellion by putting your email in the box below.

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

How Do I Start Strength Training?

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.

You’ll look back years from now and thank “Past You” for starting strength training today.

And I promise, you WILL strength train today.

After all, strength training or resistance training doesn’t need to be scary or overcomplicated!

Strength training really comes down to two things:

#1) Movement of any weight against “resistance”(including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.

#2) Progressive overload: doing slightly more than last time (lift heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and rebuild themselves. These microscopic tears (that don’t hurt) force your muscles to go through hypertrophy, meaning they grow bigger and stronger so they can meet the demands of the exercise.^[1]

Coach Jim explains the ins and outs of progressive overload in this video:

That’s all there is to it: do some resistance training and attempt to make it more and more challenging, and you’ll grow stronger.^[2]

This means if you drop down and do ONE knee push-up right now, technically you’ve done a strength training workout.

It also means if you then do TWO knee push-ups tomorrow, then you are officially following a strength training routine.

In other words…

Now, there are many different “strength training” and “resistance training” paths.

Like a “skill tree” in a video game (with branching paths and progressions), you can progress up one path, and mix and match movements from others depending on the situation.

These paths depend on your goals and what equipment you have available to you.

What Are Some Examples of Strength Training?

Let’s chat about a few different types of strength training.

#1) BODYWEIGHT TRAINING

Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”

Duh.

This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.

Why is this the best place to start? Two big reasons:

A) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:

B) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.

By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.

Now, it’s SCIENCE TIME!

While learning the movements with bodyweight exercises, you are allowing for proper communication to develop between your neuromuscular systems.

More efficient communication between your neuromuscular systems will result in something known as “proper motor unit recruitment.”

You may be asking yourself: what is a motor unit?

That’s okay because I was asking myself this same question.

A motor unit is a single motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates.

You can think of two different types of motor units:^[3]

We all have small motor units, meaning that a single motor neuron innervates relatively few muscle fibers, and these smaller motor units are good for precise and detailed movements (e.g., moving your fingers).

We all also have large motor units, meaning that a single motor neuron innervates hundreds of muscle fibers, and these larger motor units are good for generating a lot of force (e.g., getting larger muscle groups like the quads to generate a lot of force to help in sprinting).

When you start strength training, you really are helping your muscles communicate better together.^[4] This is why we recommend starting with bodyweight exercises, to help start this process.

However, bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.

For example, you can start with knee push-ups, then go to regular push-ups, then elevated push-ups, then even up to things like handstands and handstand push-ups.

You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).

#2) DUMBBELL TRAINING

Dumbbells are a great first step into the world of weight training and strength training:

Most gyms will have dumbbells, even if it’s a basic gym in your apartment complex.

A set of dumbbells doesn’t take up a lot of room, which means you can have a pair at home without a large footprint.

Dumbbells make it easy to add difficulty to a bodyweight movement: holding dumbbells while doing lunges, for example.

Dumbbell exercises can be less intimidating than barbell training for some, and are a step towards barbell training.

Dumbbells have an added stabilization challenge,^[4] and will point out muscle imbalances pretty easily (“oh my right arm is stronger than my left arm.”).

Dumbbells allow for single-arm and single-leg exercises to be performed. This can allow you to strengthen any muscle imbalances and can come in handy especially after an injury.

You can scale easily. Once the 10-pound weights become too easy, pick up the 15-pound ones!

#3) KETTLEBELL TRAINING

A kettlebell is essentially a cannonball with a handle on it. They come in any weight imaginable, don’t take up a lot of room, and can be used in dozens of ways for a great compact workout.

Our 20-minute kettlebell workout has 8 simple exercises you can do with just one weight.

Although there are “adjustable kettlebells,” you’ll most likely be working with a single kettlebell, and then adjusting your movements for “progressive overload” (making the workout slightly more difficult each time).

If you are a member of a gym, they’ll probably have multiple kettlebells that you can use to level up.

#4) BARBELL TRAINING

Regardless of sex or gender age, if your goal is to get strong quickly, use 20 seconds of courage and get comfortable training with a barbell (I’ll help you, I promise):

“Progressive overload” is easy – you simply add weights to either side of the bar, allowing you to progressively lift more and more weight each week.

It’s much easier to go heavy safely – especially for lower body movements like the squat and the deadlift.

The biggest downside to barbell training is that in order to train at home, you need to have purchased a squat rack, a barbell, a bench, and enough weights for your house or garage (which can be an expensive investment, especially when starting out!).

If not, you definitely will need to join a gym.

WHICH RESISTANCE TRAINING PATH IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Not sure which path to pick? You’re not alone – this stuff can be overwhelming. Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program. We get to know you and your goals, will check your form via video, and make adjustments based on your progress!

Which Strength Training Program is Right for Me?

So, what’s the best workout program to start as a beginner?

Realistically, it’s the one that you will ACTUALLY do.

Barbell training might be optimal in terms of building pure strength quickly, but if you don’t see yourself getting to the gym regularly – or you’re too self-conscious to enter the free weight section (for now) – no problem!

Start with bodyweight training.^[5]

Conversely, bodyweight training might seem convenient and easy to start now, but if you can’t motivate yourself to work out at home, you might be better off joining a gym.^[6]

So let’s get you a workout program!

As we cover in our “How to Find the Perfect Workout Plan (for you)”: MOST beginners will be best served by following a “full-body” or “total body” routine, 2 to 3 times per week, with a day of rest in between each workout.^[7]

This full-body workout will have 4-5 big compound movements.

A compound movement is an exercise that recruits LOTS of muscles simultaneously and forces your body to work in unison. These compound exercises are considered multi-joint exercises meaning that they involve more than a single muscle group.^[8]

An example would be the barbell squat, which recruits every muscle in your core, butt, and legs to work together to lift the weight.

This is WAY more efficient – and effective at building pure strength – than doing 5 different isolated leg exercises.^[9]

Why do 5 exercises when 1 exercise will get you better results in 20% of the time?

To answer your next question, let me tell you about how many sets and reps you should do as a beginner!

As we explain in our “How Many Sets and Reps” guide:

Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength.

Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size.

Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.^[10]

If you want more, Coach Jim breaks down different set and rep ranges in this video:

Many beginner strength programs will encourage you to keep things simple, doing just 5 sets of 5 reps for each exercise.

Personally, I encourage people to aim for a weight that they can lift for 8-10 reps. This gives you a chance to really work on your form and lift safely!

The max lifts will come later, my friend. You gotta learn to walk before you can run!

“Staci, which workout plan is best for me?”

It depends on your goals!

If your main goal is general fitness and fat loss, doing a circuit training workout will likely help you reach your goals (make sure you see our section below for “strength training for weight loss”).^[11]

If your main goal is to get stronger and/or put on muscle, following a more traditional, pure-strength-style gym workout is going to get you there faster.

TRUTH BOMB: ANY strength training workout will help you reach nearly any goal provided you do two things:

Eat correctly for your goals too. How you eat will account for 80-90% of your success or failure when it comes to weight loss or bulking up.^[12]

Increase the difficulty of your workouts. This is that “progressive overload” stuff we were talking about earlier. Doing 1 more bodyweight squat, lifting 5 more pounds, or completing your circuit 10 seconds faster than last workout. By forcing your body to constantly adapt, your muscles will never get complacent and have to keep burning extra calories and rebuilding themselves stronger.

Depending on your current situation, and how quickly you’re looking to cut through the “trial and error” and get expert guidance, I might have an interesting solution for you.

We have a pretty killer 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program here at Nerd Fitness. You’ll work with a coach that will build a workout program for your body type and goals, check your form to make sure you’re doing them safety, and even help plan out your nutrition too.

The 5 Best Beginner Strength Training Programs

“Alright Staci, are there any ‘out of the box’ beginner workout programs I can start following now?”

Yup! Let me share with you some of our suggestions:

Here are 5 resistance training workouts you can follow TODAY. Pick the level that you feel most comfortable with, and then level up when you feel ready:

#1) BEGINNER BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT:

Our Beginner Bodyweight Workout has a variety of rep ranges to promote endurance, strength, and cardiovascular health.

Complete one set of each exercise and then moving directly to the next exercise:

20 bodyweight squats

10 push-ups

20 walking lunges

10 dumbbell rows (using a gallon milk jug)

15-second plank

30 Jumping Jacks

Repeat for 3 rounds

Want to stick with bodyweight training? When you’re ready to level up, check out our advanced bodyweight training circuit.^[13]

Otherwise, you can move onto weight training when you feel comfortable!

#2A) BEGINNER NERD FITNESS DUMBBELL WORKOUT

If you are just getting started with dumbbells and you’re looking for a beginner workout program to follow, this is our Level 3 Gym Workout, “Dumbbell Division”:

10 goblet squats

10 push-ups

10 dumbbell rows per side

I knew you’d ask, so here is a Goblet Squat video explanation (from Nerd Fitness Prime):

And here is our video on how to do dumbbell rows:

#2B) BEGINNER NERD FITNESS KETTLEBELL WORKOUT

Our Beginner Kettlebell Routine is a workout you do anywhere you have room to swing a kettlebell.

So, probably not in a phone booth or a closet or a bathroom stall. But other than that, pretty much anywhere else.

Complete 3 Kettlebell Workout Circuits:

8 Halos (each side)

10 Goblet Squats

8 Overhead Presses (each side)

15 Kettlebell Swings

8 Bent Over Rows (each side)

6 Front Rack Reverse Lunge (per side)

#3) BARBELL TRAINING: 2 DAY WORKOUT SPLIT

As we cover in our “How to Train in a Gym” guide (where we take you from “lost sheep” to “barbell badass”), this routine is a much more focused weight training, strength-building workout that gets your feet wet with barbell training. Click on ANY exercise to learn how to do it properly.

NF BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT: DAY A

Do 3 rounds of:

NF BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT: DAY B

Do 3 rounds of:

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER POPULAR STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAMS?

#1) “Starting Strength” is considered the gold standard beginner barbell weight training program by many. We highly recommend you pick up the actual book if you are serious about barbell training – it’s one of the most important training books you can ever read.

#2) Strong Lifts 5X5: A solid workout program that starts you out very slow, with just the barbell, and helps you master form before you get too heavy. It also keeps things VERY easy with “do 5×5.” Strong Lifts has been around for a long time and is a solid program.

#3) Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1: This program allows you a little more freedom to do exercises that you enjoy, or work on personal weaknesses, because you choose some of the assistance work.

Note: You can modify any of the barbell training programs to be done with dumbbells, if that’s what you have at home!

Lastly, you can always write your own workout plan! I wrote my own workouts for a decade and it taught me a LOT about training and health.

We do have our own 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program where you’ll work with a coach that will build a strength training workout program for your body type and goals, check your form on each exercise via video, and even help you plan out your nutrition too.

How Much Weight Should I lift?

We have a FULL resource on how to determine your starting weight for lifting, but I’ll give you the gist here.

The simple-to-learn but tough-to-implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.

And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.

Here are two common questions on strength training:

#1) How much weight should I start with?

If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.

If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (By the way, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).

#2) How fast should I add weight to the bar?

Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”

Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) recommends a similar approach:^[14]

For less trained people (i.e., beginners), it is recommended that for upper body exercises you increase the load by 2 – 5 pounds and by 5 – 10 pounds for lower body exercises.

For more trained people (i.e., advanced), it is recommended that for upper body exercises you increase the load by 5 – 10 pounds or more and by 10 – 15 pounds or more for lower body exercises.

So go SLOW. Even slower than the NSCA recommends if needed.

Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week. It’s a big part of how he transformed (jokingly) from Steve Rogers to Captain America.

And if you are looking for this content in easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

The 9 Best Strength Training Exercises to Learn

If you’re new to all this “strength training” stuff, hopping into a program and going from zero to sixty might be a recipe for failure.

Instead, be patient, and take the time to learn these movements first.

I’m going to share with you the 9 best strength training exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!):

1. Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)

2. Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)

3. Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!

4. Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.

5. Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.

6. Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and great core workout.

7. Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.

8. Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!

9. Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than the chest.

All of the exercises listed above are considered functional (closed-chain) exercises. That means they relate to our everyday movements and can be used to predict our success in sports, recreational and occupational activities, and activities of daily living.^[15]

When attempting all of these above-listed exercises, aim to master the movement and perform the exercise through its entire range of motion (ROM).

Why?

Because it will decrease your risk for injury, activate all of the appropriate muscle groups, and result in greater muscle hypertrophy.^[16]

Let’s go over these now.

Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:

1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):

2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose: it is the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!

3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength: your back, biceps, and forearms.

4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)

5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips – warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength building exercises.

And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:

6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:

7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”

This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:

8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.

As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.

9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.

NOTE: All exercises were explained according to the guidelines that have been established by the NSCA.^[17]

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.

And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…

How to Know You’re Doing a Strength Training Movement Properly (Form Checks)

Always start out with just your body’s weight and make sure your movement is correct!

If it’s a barbell movement, use a broomstick (or PVC Pipe).

If it’s a dumbbell movement, use two sections of PVC or something else that is light and small to simulate a dumbbell.

When it comes to movements like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, bench press, your form is crucial. Develop good habits with lightweight and you will save yourself months of frustration later and will protect you from injury.^[18]

If you’re struggling with certain elements of a movement, don’t get frustrated! Remember, proper communication between your neuromuscular systems needs to develop.

Things will start to improve.^[19]

How do you know if your movement is correct?

Do regular video form checks! Record yourself and watch the video.

Alternatively, an expert reviewing your specific movement can be invaluable.

If you’re looking for someone who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your progress, you can check out our 1-on-1 Online Personal Training!

I’ve had an online coach for 4 years and it’s changed my life.

You could also get expert guidance in person: Look around at your local strength and conditioning gyms and see if you could hire a coach (here’s how to find a good personal trainer) for one or two sessions just to go over the basic movements.

If you can’t do either of those two options, no big deal! Videotape yourself and compare it to the videos here in the articles. You can also post your video to the form check section of the Nerd Fitness Forums.

When I started, I really liked practicing all of the movements at home because I could watch a video online at the same time as I was watching myself do it in a mirror. Studies have found this can actually help!^[20]

Strength Training for Weight Loss

So you’re looking to lose weight, and tired of hours of cardio (me too).

And you’re wondering if strength training for weight loss – by following one of the workouts in this guide is a viable solution.

Or, gasp – will strength training make you too bulky? (SPOILER: it won’t)

Yes, Strength training will help you lose weight IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:

Calorie restriction: eating fewer calories than you burn every day^[21]

Strength training with progressive overload (picking up heavier stuff)

As we point out in our “Cardio vs Intervals vs Weight Training” article, strength training is the MOST efficient method for weight loss.

Not only that, but you can find study after study after study that shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management when combined with “calorie restriction.”^[22]

As we cover in our “Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” article, here’s why eating a caloric deficit and strength training is SO magical when combined:

When you strength train – by picking up something heavy – your muscles are “broken down” during the exercise itself, and then they rebuild themselves stronger over the next 24-48 hours.

Guess what happens during those 24-48 hours?

Your body will divert as many calories consumed as necessary to “Rebuild Muscle!”^[23]

It also diverts additional calories to “Burn as Fuel” to handle this increased “muscle rebuilding” activity.

This means two amazing things:

Your metabolism is revved up for this time period, burning more calories than normal.

Rebuilding muscle is a calorie-taxing activity!

Not only that, but when you eat a caloric deficit, your body doesn’t have enough calories to fuel all the day’s activities. In these instances, your body will pull from your stored fat to make sure all the work still gets done.

This is the trifecta of physical transformation victory:

You get stronger and keep the muscle you have.

You burn through the fat you’re trying to get rid of.

You’re decreasing your body fat percent and keeping your muscle = look good naked.

In other words, strength training + eating right is the BEST path for weight loss out there! And yes, in certain situations, you can actually lose weight AND build muscle at the same time.

Coach Matt explains how to gain muscle WHILE losing fat in this video:

So how do you put this into practice? Pick one of the strength workouts in this article. Calculate your daily caloric needs. Learn about healthy eating. And start.

In other words…

Pick up something heavy, and eat a vegetable.

These are the types of things we work on with our 1-on-1 Coaching Clients: helping them lift weights confidently and eat correctly for their goals! Let us help you:

“Just Tell Me What Strength Training Program to Follow!”

Okay! Unless you are collecting underpants, you should now have a workout program you want to try out!

“Staci, this is a lot, can you just TELL me what to do?”

Okay fine.

Here are the steps again for you:

STEP #1: PICK YOUR WORKOUT PATH:

A) If YOU ARE TRAINING AT HOME. Pick one of these 3 based on what equipment you have:

B) IF YOU ARE TRAINING IN A GYM: Amazing! I love gyms.

Read our “How to train in a gym” guide and go from Level 1 to Level 6 over the next month. Gym closed? Here’s how to build a home gym.

STEP #2: TRY A NEW EXERCISE: In addition to following a workout program, I’m gonna push outside of your comfort zone – that’s where real growth happens.

Learn ONE new movement this week.

Pick one of the exercises below and try it out!

Here are 42 bodyweight exercises you can do too.

STEP #3) HIRE A YODA: If you are somebody that just wants to be told exactly what to, how to train for your goals, and are good at following directions, consider hiring a coach.

I’ve been working with an online coach since 2014 and it has changed my life – and I do this stuff for a living!

STEP #4) JOIN THE REBELLION! If you like how we do things around here at Nerd Fitness, we’d love to have you in our community of misfits, mutants, and rebels!

Sign up in the box below and I’ll send you our free Strength 101 guide:

Download our comprehensive guide

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

No matter what you do today:

Don’t be afraid of doing anything wrong – truth be told, the majority of the people in the gym don’t have any idea what they are doing, and are just as nervous as you are!

Muster up your 20 seconds of courage if you need to, and let me know in the comments how it goes!

What questions do you have about getting started?

So, what’s the biggest thing holding you back from starting strength training?

-Staci

PS – Check out the rest of the articles in our Strength Training 101 series:

photo source: LEGO bench pres, tonobalaguer © 123RF.com, Stormtroopers lifting, Chris Christian:Strongman, W_Minshull: Stormtroopers in Gym, Lego Lifting, Rainstorm, Kristina Alexanderson: Teddy Love,

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Staci Ardison

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October 19, 2022

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