My muscle building journey

I first joined a CrossFit gym in July 2023. However, I didn’t take it seriously at the time. I attended classes just to pass the time, convincing myself I was living a healthy lifestyle by working out. Unfortunately, the intensity of my workouts and the focus on proper nutrition were both lacking. As a result, I saw no progress and struggled with consistency. The silver lining was that I learned the correct techniques for each exercise, which gave me the confidence to lift on my own when there was no instructor. Another major advantage of this gym was its location—it was right next door to my workplace. This made it easy to eliminate any excuses; all I had to do was finish work, walk over to the gym, and get to training!

By December 2023, something clicked. With the end of the year approaching and my 25th birthday coming up, I wanted to be in my peak physical condition. I spent time researching muscle building and figuring out what I needed to change. I had a vision of transforming my body and I knew if I was going to make a change, it had to happen before I turned 25. My mindset toward working out shifted, and I began taking it much more seriously. It was winter, and the cold weather kept me indoors, with fewer social interactions. My days were spent working long hours, coming home to eat, and starting it all over again. Although my job was interesting, my routine was becoming monotonous. So, I decided to make a change. I started working out at least four times a week, but this time I skipped the gym classes (I had trouble waking up early and was often late) and instead did my own workouts after work, late in the evening. Afterwards, I’d go home and focus on eating well. As my workout intensity increased, so did my hunger. I made sure to eat more and focus on getting in extra protein.

I started noticing small changes almost immediately - my lifting capacity increased, and I was gaining size faster than I expected. This progress gave me all the motivation I needed to keep pushing forward!

As a vegetarian, getting enough protein in my diet was a challenge. The general rule of thumb is to consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which meant I needed around 130 grams of protein daily.

What worked for me was drinking protein shakes (milk + protein powder) and incorporating eggs into my diet (I'm not a strict vegetarian—I do eat eggs). While I didn’t track my protein intake precisely, I estimated it was around 100 grams a day—about 50 grams from my shake and roughly 36 grams from eating six eggs daily. Adding some yogurt and lentils helped bring my total to around 100-120 grams.

I also knew that to gain weight, I needed to increase my calorie intake. As an ectomorph (with a naturally skinny build), putting on weight was difficult. To overcome this, I started drinking a 700-1000 calorie shake every morning. I also made sure to eat as much as I could for lunch and dinner. This combination put me in a calorie surplus, helping me see rapid changes in my body.

It’s important to note that simply eating more without strength training won’t lead to the desired results. If you want to build muscle, you need both a solid workout routine and a proper diet. Doing one without the other will only result in fat or a 'skinny fat' physique!

I hit the gym about 3-4 times a week, and my routine was split into the following:

• Chest + Biceps
• Shoulders + Triceps
• Legs

I’d repeat this cycle, and recently, I’ve added back exercises to my routine, though it's still a relatively new addition.

To make the most of my early gains AKA newbee gains (when your body responds quickly to lifting), I focused on pushing myself during my workouts. Most of the exercises were taken to failure on the last set, followed by a dropset to failure. This approach felt great, so I stuck with it. For almost all exercises, I stuck to 8-12 reps, which helped me build muscle size through hypertrophy, rather than just focusing on strength. Whenever possible, I aimed for progressive overload, either increasing the weight or the number of reps per set, to keep getting stronger.

To keep things fun, I also worked on improving my calisthenics skills. I thought it was really cool and motivating to see progress over time. Some of the skills I’ve mastered now include:

• Pistol squats
• Dragon squats (on an elevated surface)
• Balance block pistol squats
• Pull-ups
• Muscle-ups (with a bit of bad form, still working on that!)
• And I’m currently working on my handstand (though I’ve been slacking a bit, but I’ll get there soon!)

There’s no shortage of fitness content out there, and some of the influencer's I follow include:

• Jeff Nippard (a science-based lifter)
• Tyler Path (who has a physique similar to mine and is very relatable)

The most important lesson I’ve learned is that showing up at the gym is more important than endlessly researching what to do. Even if you don’t know something, you can always ask for help at the gym. No matter how much content you consume, it won’t matter unless you actually implement it in your workouts.