3 Things That Helped Me Pack on Muscle Mass

For more than 40 years, bodybuilding has been a major part of my life. It has been a hobby, an obsession, and at times, a personal war.

Over that span, I have completely changed my body. I went from skinny-fat, weak, and frustrated to carrying a lot more muscle and being stronger than most people will ever be.

But none of that happened by accident.

I had to learn the hard way.

Back in 1981, when I was 14 years old, I got my first weight set. It was one of those old plastic and concrete sets. I had no coach, no plan, no real understanding of training, and no clue what I was doing.

Still, I trained.

Somehow, through instinct, stubbornness, or just teenage ignorance, I put together what I thought was a routine. I benched. I incline benched. I curled. And of course, I did sit-ups.

That was pretty much the whole program.

There was no progression. No structure. No real attempt to add weight over time. I just lifted because I thought lifting would magically make me bigger.

It didn’t.

For four years, I trained in my bedroom and got nowhere. I remained the same small-boned, skinny-fat kid I had always been. No muscle. No impressive strength. No real change.

A Prisoner of Bad Genetics?

My genetics were not exactly a gift from the muscle-building gods.

When you look at natural bodybuilding, one thing becomes pretty clear. People with larger frames and thicker bone structures usually have more room to carry muscle mass. Had I known that back in 1984, I probably would have wanted to quit on the spot.

I had tiny wrists, small fingers, narrow ankles, and an unbelievably small waist. But I was not lean. I was soft. I carried fat without having any muscle to hold things together.

I was skinny, but I was also fat.

At 12 years old, I already had man-boobs. With clothes on, I didn’t look obese or anything dramatic. But without a shirt, I looked like a skeleton covered in loose fat.

The strange part is that I loved exercise.

If you had looked at my body, you might have assumed I hated physical activity. That couldn’t have been more wrong. I lived to move. I jogged. I sprinted. I played baseball and basketball. I did push-ups, step-ups, jump rope, and lifted weights.

I say this seriously: there probably were not many teenagers exercising more than I was.

But when I entered college in 1986, I still looked terrible. Thin. Soft. Weak-looking. No muscle to speak of.

Then everything changed.

I went to a small college in a tiny town in New Mexico. I didn’t have a car, and there wasn’t much to do on campus unless you wanted to drink. To make things even worse, the ratio of guys to women was about eight to one.

So boredom took over.

I started walking around campus just to have something to do. Eventually, I found the weight room.

And it was a real weight room.

Even better, it was almost always empty.

That was the turning point.

I decided I was not going to waste the opportunity. I bought bodybuilding books and magazines. I started learning exercises. I built a real routine. I trained with purpose for the first time in my life.

And I never looked back.

Within six months, people were asking me if I was on steroids.

During my first year, I gained more than 25 pounds of muscle. By the end of my second year of serious training, I had added roughly 40 pounds of muscle and was bench pressing over 300 pounds for reps.

Not bad for a guy who, just a few years earlier, struggled to bench 95 pounds for reps.

So what changed?

Was I secretly blessed with amazing genetics?

No.

I was not some hidden easy gainer waiting to be discovered. I was still the same small-boned, skinny-fat guy. The difference was that I finally started doing the right things.

And that brings us to the real point.

The 3 Big Secrets

Secret 1: The Squat

This might not sound exciting, but it is the truth.

The squat builds muscle.

During my first year of serious training, I attacked the squat. I went from never doing the movement to deep squatting more than 315 pounds for reps within about six months.

The impact was massive.

My quads exploded. But it wasn’t just my legs. My entire body started growing.

Some people like to say one exercise cannot make the whole body grow. Maybe that sounds good on paper, but it was not my experience. Heavy, hard, progressive squatting changed everything.

A brutal squat workout does something to the body that curls and cable work simply cannot match.

Common sense should tell you that loading 300 or 400 pounds on your back and fighting through hard reps creates a very different growth demand than a few casual sets of arm work.

I am not saying curls are useless. I am saying they are not the foundation.

For years, I rarely did more than a few sets of direct biceps work per week, and my arms still grew to 18 inches. Why? Because my whole body was being forced to grow through heavy, progressive training.

Secret 2: Progression

This one is simple, but most lifters still miss it.

You have to get stronger over time.

Try to add reps. Try to add weight. Try to improve your performance from workout to workout. That is how you force the body to adapt.

Progression is not a cute training tip. It is the backbone of muscle building.

Before you worry about advanced techniques, fancy splits, pump methods, tempo tricks, or whatever else is being sold this week, master progression.

Do not waste sets.

Do not just go through the motions.

When you train, push for more. More reps. More weight. Better execution. More control. More total quality work over time.

Progression beats almost everything else.

Secret 3: Food

When I got to college, I suddenly had access to the school cafeteria.

Every day was a buffet.

And I ate.

Growing up, we didn’t have much money. That is not an exaggeration. My father left when I was eight years old. My mother worked hard to support us, but there was never much to go around.

Food was limited.

So when I reached college and suddenly had unlimited access to meals, it felt like paradise. I ate like a maniac.

And then something incredible happened.

I gained muscle and lost fat.

After about a year, I looked like a completely different person. I was no longer the small-boned, skinny-fat kid who had walked onto campus. I had muscle. I had shape. I was leaner. I finally looked like someone who lifted.

The lesson was obvious.

You have to eat enough to grow.

That does not mean you need to eat like a slob. It does not mean you should force-feed yourself junk all day. But if you are constantly under-eating, your body is not going to build much muscle.

Training creates the demand.

Food helps build the result.

40 Years Later

Over the last 40 years, I have gained a ton of muscle.

I have deadlifted 700 pounds, squatted close to 640, and benched 430.

I look nothing like the frustrated, skinny-fat kid I used to be. And when I look back, the biggest reasons are not complicated.

Squats.

Progression.

Food.

Are there other factors involved? Of course.

Rest matters. Exercise selection matters. Consistency matters. Supplements can help a little when the big rocks are already in place.

But none of that replaces the basics.

If you master the three lessons in this article, you will grow.

I promise you.