The Live Large TV Backstory : Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Headed Next

“Live Large TV” was not always the exclusive, educational and highly-entertaining group of thousands of members that it is now. In fact, it used to be just little ole me. Emphasis on little. You see, way back in 2002, I was a scrawny kid with a dream. As much as I would like to say that I planned on “Live Large TV” from the beginning, I just wanted to get buff. Sorry.

Learning Like a Consumer

I am willing to admit that I learn from my mistakes. I started out like everyone else, at a gym, hoping for a miracle. I watched a close friend learn like a consumer. He bought every magazine, read every article, hired every trainer and tried every trick in the book. It led to a lot of confusion and few results. I didn’t know much then, but I knew enough to know that I needed to take a different route.

Finding a Mentor

Enter an amazing mentor that busted every myth of bodybuilding and really opened my eyes. Everything that I thought was true, everything that my friend read in those magazines, was wrong. In fact, after 24 weeks of doing everything completely different than what the so-called experts said, I gained 41 pounds of lean muscle mass. To paraphrase Smith-Barney, I got that body the old-fashioned way, I earned it. No drugs. No supplements. I continued my progress until I reached a ripped 195 pounds and an extraordinary 4% body fat. I looked good enough to become a WBFF Pro-Fitness Model. Score one for the little guy.

Change is Good

I don’t know about you, but I never stop learning. I can’t help it. I want to tweak my workouts, to test theories, to change techniques as I learn more. The concept is still the same, the ideas are still there. It’s just the methods and techniques that have evolved. They still get results, just better, more efficient results. Change is good.

“The more you learn, the more you grow…” right?!

The YouTube Experiment
I decided to document my training, nutrition habits and even my overall mindset towards living large in my career, relationships and life. Before I knew it there were 20 episodes, ranging from 20 to 40 minutes each. Like so many people, I thought, “YouTube!”

I uploaded the episodes and things were great. Sure, I had a couple of rude comments, but there are always trolls hanging out at YouTube. I just ignored them. Then, one day I logged into my account only to find out that all my hard work was deleted. The reason? Inappropriate Content. I was blown away. There are videos of many, MANY inappropriate things on YouTube, but me? Wow!

The “Live Large TV” Family

To say I was upset is an understatement. I was sad. I was angry. Most of all, I was confused. I didn’t know what to do next. Luckily, the “Live Large TV” subscribers are like a really big, extended family. I asked for help and they responded in droves. An overwhelming 70% of my 120,000 regular newsletter readers said they wanted to keep seeing “Live Large TV” and were willing to pay for it. It was the perfect solution. I no longer had to deal with the arbitrary nature of YouTube and my viewers no longer had to deal with internet trolls, spammers and negative energy. Win-win.

Moving Forward

We now have a paid platform to keep the idiots out and the “Living Large TV” family together. Everyone, and I truly mean everyone, is committed to learning, growing and improving. It is just the most supportive group of people on the net. Have you ever heard the phrase …

“You are the sum of the 5 people you hang out with the most”

Basically, it means that if your top 5 friends are healthy and fit, then, in all likelihood, you are, too. Hanging out with people who want to live their lives well, positive and LARGE will help you do the same. That’s just one of the benefits of this great group of people that I have come to know. General awesomeness. It’s contagious.

Get Ready for Season 3
Are you tired of all the hype on the net? Confused? Fed up? Relax. You’re in the right place now. My goal is to help you re-gain control and transform your body into the leanest, strongest physique you can have. If you have ever wondered…

• How long should I train?
• How hard should I train?
• How often should I train?
• What exercises should I do?
• How many sets should I do?
• How many reps are best?
• How fast should I move the weight?

… then we can help. Each episode in Season 3 is dedicated to a different training variable. From sets to reps, from tempo to recovery, we are covering it all. I want to teach you everything that I know. Think of it as paying it forward. I had a great mentor show me the way and I am just returning the favor. You will learn the skills and knowledge to know not just what works, but why it works.

Get your all access pass to “Live Large TV” and join the thousands of others that are finally learning how to transform their bodies successfully. This skinny kid did and, for about the price of a greasy cheeseburger, you can, too

Five Rare Muscle Building Tips For Skinny Guys

I'm going to share five rare muscle building tips for skinny guys who want to build muscle quickly and naturally. The information below will require you to read with an open mind and really think about what you are reading and why it works.

Tip #1 For Skinny Guys: Clarify your goals

Here is what most skinny guys say, “I want to gain a lot of mass!” Can you be any more vague? A better goal is, “I want to gain 14 pounds of muscle by July 1st.”  You need specific and measurable goals if you ever want to see them become real.

Tip #2 For Skinny Guys: Train on a stable surface 

Trying to build your chest up on a stability ball is a big waste of time. Unstable surfaces are more neurologically challenging but you are not overloading your “core” muscles with sufficient stimulus to trigger growth.

Let’s compare a supine dumbbell chest press on a ball versus a dumbbell chest press on a bench.  During a dumbbell chest press on a ball, most skinny guys will barely be able to press 50 pounds a side and the unstable surface will result in triggering the lateral stabilizer motor units you don’t need to keep you from flipping off the ball, so it reduces neural drive from the muscles you do need and are trying to improve (pecs, shoulder flexors and triceps).  Whenever the body recognizes an unstable foundation for force production, its force generating output is down-regulated accordingly.  In short, overloading the muscle is required to stimulate new muscle growth so why limit the load? There’s no point!

Tip #3 For Skinny Guys: Stop believing, “You got to shock the body.”

Even today, you’ll hear this quote come up in gyms, forums, infomercials and other media with the belief that “you have to tear down the muscle and then build it back up.”  But is this true? Absolutely, the catalyst for change is variation from your norm level of fitness. But the idea that one has to annihilate one’s tissues and physiological/neurological processes must be brought to question. 

Is getting a sun burn necessary to experience a tan? Does increased bone density require a fracture? Do calluses require lacerations? When seeking adaptation, the goal should be to seek out least amount of unaccustomed activity. In fact, you want the stimulus to be virtually imperceptible as an increased challenge. This would be considered the ideal stimulus for the most immediate adaptation response, especially in the beginning.  In weight training, we strive to increase our loads approximately 2% each workout. Anything more and you’ll move more towards microscopic tissue damage and associated signs to injury including delayed onset muscle soreness, edema and lengthy recovery period.

 Tip #4 For Skinny Guys: More is less! 

90% of people use volume as the primary stressor and get the result they seek 10% of the time. 10% of people use intensity as the primary stressor and get the results they seek 90% of the time.

This training principle extends from tip #3, and stresses that for many instances, you will get a quicker training effect from doing a smaller amount of training.  In short, you will see more results when doing less training.

Tip #5 For Skinny Guys: Always ask, “Is there anything I can do before this… to better prepare for this… to lesson the leap?”

Can running have a positive influence on your health? Of course, but the level of participation is key. Why do people spend months recovering from a marathon? Was 26.2 miles the perfect distance for each of those 20,000 people to run on that given day at that time of the day?  There are many variables that must be progressed based on what you are currently accustomed to.  Here are some areas of progression that must be considered:

• From none to some
• From sloppy to controlled
• From small range of motion to large range of motion
• From stable surface to unstable surface
• From light to heavy
• From slow to fast
• From minimal volume to more volume
• From minimal effort to maximal effort

Understand that “micro progressions” are not “wimpy”. It simply means, “You’ve got to earn the right to do more, go faster, lift heavier etc. Controlling everything you do is the key!” It’s not about how much you do but HOW WELL you do it!  Remember, we’re trying to get a sun tan, not a sun burn!

Workout for skinny guys

Skinny guys have been lead to believe they need to spend more and more time in the gym to build big muscles. The reality is that skinny guys should train less and eat more. Skinny guy muscle building should be approached the same way they would approach getting a sun tan.

Why Sunlight Is Like Working Out For Skinny Guys

Exposure to sunlight does not instantly produce a tan just like exposure to weight training does not instantly produce muscle. The ultraviolet radiation in sunlight stimulates melanocytes in the skin to produce more melanin as a protective mechanism, darkening the skin.

The same situation arises when you expose exercise stress to your body - the greater the exercise stress the greater the stimulus for super compensation to occur.  If you go to the beach while there are clouds covering the sun, you can be outside all day long and not experience any tanning effects.  Exercise stress is the same. You can spend the entire day in the gym working out and if the stimulus is not sufficient you will not see much if anything in terms of improvements. However, if the exercise stress is sufficient, very little is required to see new gains.

The Minimum Effective Dose

Our bodies have a limit to how much stress we can handle within a period of time. Up to a certain point ultraviolet radiation can produce a nice looking tan. Beyond a certain point, the skin is damaged and results in a burn.  Up to a certain point in a workout, intense exercise stress will create the potential for new size, strength and stamina but beyond a certain point will lead to exhaustion that can result in overtraining or injury.

The training effect is the desired goal of the training. The training effect could be anything from increased relative strength to muscle endurance.  The training effect is not experienced until you recover from the training. If you sun tanned for five minutes, your body needs time to recover from that five minutes before you expose it to six minutes.  Failure to respect these recovery needs can lead to overtraining, plateau or becoming weaker.

The Skinny Guy Is Unique

Just like darker skinned individuals can tolerate a longer duration in the sun compared to someone with lighter skin, some skinny guys can do a higher frequency of training before overtraining.  Determining the optimal training volume, intensity and frequency is a topic covered in depth of Season 3 of Live Large TV and there are many training theories to consider in finding what’s optimal for you. Ultimately, experimentation and accurate record keeping are the only way to will determine how to individualize the different training variables for success.

The Skinny Guy Workout

Monday

• Deadlifts 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 20 - 90 seconds rest between sets - 411 tempo
• Chin Ups 1 x 30 sec negative, 1 x 20 second negative, 1 x 10 second negative, 1 x bodyweight, 1 x bodyweight
• Military Press 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 20 - 90 seconds rest between sets - 311 temp

Wednesday

1. Incline Biceps Curls 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 6, 1 x 12 – 90 seconds rest between sets - 411 tempo
2. Lying Triceps Extension 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 6, 1 x 12 – 90 seconds rest between sets - 411 tempo
3. Barbell Shrug 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 1o, 1 x 8, 1 x 15 - 60 seconds rest between sets - 311 tempo
4. Standing Calve Raise 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 6, 1 x 12 - 60 seconds rest between sets - 311 tempo
5. Stability Ball Crunch 5 x 5 - 15 seconds rest between sets – 505 tempo

Friday 

1. Squats   1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 20 - 90 seconds rest between sets - 411 tempo
2. Bench Press 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 20 - 90 seconds rest between sets - 311 tempo
3. Seated Row 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 6, 1 x 20 - 90 seconds rest between sets - 311 tempo

Why Is This Workout Effective? 

1. Lower volume. Each body part gets approximately five sets a week. Classic hypertrophy programs rely on closer to 10-25 sets a body part so this allows opportunity to increase the intensity, a variable that can stimulate new muscle if it’s been neglected.

2.  Broad-spectrum of rep ranges. 6-12 reps creates the desire training effect of hypertrophy and by having one back off set in each exercise we ensure we don’t de train the quality, muscular endurance.

3. Longer rest ranges err on the higher side for hypertrophy to ensure you can stimulate the high threshold motor units each set.

4. Balance between all the primary movements of the body. Their is equal volume between horizontal pulling and horizontal pushing moves, vertical pulling and vertical pushing, quad and hip and upper arm.

5. The Principle of Kaizen, constant and never ending improvement, can be applied each workout. Small changes gradually lead to bigger changes long term. The goal of every weight set should be to increase your loads 2% from set to set and to start each workout 2% heavier than your previous workout. This allows us to experience progressive overload, a critical ingredient for muscle growth.

Even if you’re not a skinny guy, this workout can act as an excellent way to stimulate new gains by dropping the volume and increasing the intensity. Don’t make any assumptions until you’ve given it an honest shot!