The only book you'll ever need for building muscle
How many of us have spun our wheels in the pursuit of building muscle, getting next to no results despite turning up every week for the last 5 years?
That was me.
Turning up to the gym really isn’t enough.
You see, building muscle in principle, is easy. It’s just putting it into practice that’s hard. Turning up and doing the latest workout that you’ve hopped over to for that week may feel like you’re putting in maximum effort but in reality, you’re not.
This is why I decided to write my very own book.
Having been in this situation literally thousands of times throughout almost a decade of hitting the weight room, I knew I had to put my knowledge into writing.
The Bulking Blueprint: Building muscle made easy
Now obviously, I give lots of fitness info away for free on the blog, but this book is something else entirely.
So many guides out there talk around the subject and say a whole lot of nothing until they come to the conclusion of “there’s lots of great workouts out there so pick one that is best suited to you”, leaving us confused, disheartened and worst of all - no better off than before we read it.
I have absorbed so so so many books, articles, research papers, courses and videos on every aspect of health and wellbeing - hell, I’m a qualified personal trainer and sports psychologist! But although I have these nice certificates and am well versed in the theoretical side of things, nothing can replace experience.
Unfortunately, experience in what not to do is something I have in spades. Luckily though, I knuckled down and completely overhauled my approach to fitness, giving me a boatload of experience in what to do - correctly…
I have extracted the needles from various haystacks and put them into one big encyclopaedia that will give you the blueprint for building muscle quickly and efficiently.
This is; The Bulking Blueprint.
What does it offer?
The Bulking Blueprint is so much more than just a fitness book. It is an all encompassing wellbeing course that will improve just about every aspect of your life. From building solid slabs of muscle and crushing strength PR’s to how your grooming products affect testosterone, this book has got you covered.
We’ll walk through a few topics that include a lil extract from the book so you can get a feel for things - I’m nice like that.
The Big 4
The big 4 will form the core of everything we will go through in this book. It is absolutely essential that you perform these 4 exercises if you want to get big and strong.
Here’s an extract that outlines our #1 exercise in a little bit more detail;
“…Squat is king. Squat, then squat some more. The squat will build strength, mass and athleticism in your legs and through your core. It will teach you how to brace your body properly and to keep tight and solid under heavy resistance.
The one caveat to the squat is that it is almost impossible to get right on the first few attempts. It
took me years to master my squat. You will have to find a stance width that suits you, whether you would like to squat with the bar higher or lower on your back and a myriad of other little cues that will help you to build a competition worthy squat.
If you look at toddlers, they can squat down with ease, often staying in this position for prolonged
periods. So, why are we so bloody awful at it once we grow up? Well, because we all have bad
backs and tight hamstrings from being sedentary and craning to look at computers and phones all day…”
Nutrition
Equally, if not more important than your training plan is the nutrition that goes with it. The old sayings are there for all to see;
“You can’t out train a bad diet”
“Abs are made in the kitchen”
These are oldies but goldies and they are covered in depth during the nutrition section of the book, choc-full of tasty, easy recipes, a breakdown of essential macronutrients and how to split them up for optimal muscle growth.
Expect stuff like this;
“…Everyone loves to indulge in marathon 3-hour pump sessions but no one wants to eat to grow. ‘Eat to grow, bro’ is such an overused yet under-practiced phrase.
People think they’re smashing the calories, when in actual fact, they’re eating at or below their maintenance level.
Tracking your calories accurately and honestly is the only way to guarantee muscle gains in the long run. To do this, you must work out what your maintenance (total daily energy expenditure - or TDEE) is and then add 500 calories.
This way you will be gaining 1-2lbs every month. If you are gaining more, then you should probably scale your surplus down to around 250. If you are gaining less, up it to 750…”
Stress
Stress kills testosterone, it kills muscle building, it kills sleep and it will kill you.
We will be going through how to battle stress and how best to get rid of it once and for all.
Here is a little snippet on meditation to whet ye olde appetite;
“…Without a plan in place to deal with life’s hassles, you’re asking for trouble. The best tactic I have used when combatting stress is meditation.
The trick with meditation is to become aware of your body, breathing and thoughts. By recognising your thoughts and taking note of what is actually going through your mind, you become more conscious of your cognitions and therefore can exact more control over your reactions…”
Typical results
I pride myself on writing about practical topics that get my readers genuine results. I tend not to talk about tailoring things because you’re so very special - I give advice that works for everyone - period.
Although I can’t guarantee it, if you stick to this program like I outline in the book, you will more than likely experience all of the below.
Solid muscle
First and foremost, this book is called The Bulking Blueprint. If it didn’t add mass to your frame it wouldn’t be living up to its billing would it?
I’m not promising crazy results, but building muscle to the tune of one pound per month certainly isn’t unheard of. If you’re a beginner, expect closer to two pounds, maybe more.
Long-term strength
This book shows you a couple of training options for building fantastic strength.
The workout plans that I have included are the two very best when it comes to adding weight to the bar. The beauty of them both is that they work long term, with one starting you off and the other taking over once your progress slows down.
That means that they focus on consistent growth over time and don’t try to progress you too quickly, resulting in early plateaus.
Huge increases in testosterone
I consider testosterone to be my strong suit. Having built a bit of a reputation writing about niche and not so niche ways of boosting that fabled T, it would be remiss of me not to include a big fat section on how to supercharge it in this book wouldn’t it?
There are some great writers out there who cover testosterone and they all seem to talk a good game, but one thing they all have in common is that not a single one of them shows their blood work, and most importantly - their testosterone levels.
The NHS states that the normal range for testosterone is 10-29 nmol/dl, which can also be displayed as 288-836 ng/dl.
Here is a picture from a recent-ish study on the median decline testosterone levels in men over the past few decades:
And to compare, here are my results:
As you can see, my testosterone levels are 30.1 nmol/dl or 867 ng/dl- above even the highest part of the ‘normal’ range and over twice the amount of the median for today's males (even though the males observed were a good bit older).
My diet is far from perfect, I still get pretty stressed from time to time and I’d just had a stomach bug before testing, so these results could easily be a lot higher all factors considered.
I’m putting my neck on the line and showing that I walk the walk. No pseudo theoretical BS here.
The Bulking Blueprint lays out exactly how I did it.
You can get these sorts of results too. Expect benefits such as increased energy levels, better mood, improved sex drive, better recovery, deeper sleep and loads more.
You’ll be surprised at the night and day difference having high testosterone makes.
Improved mental wellbeing
A big factor of fitness isn’t just physical - there has been a huge push in recent times for the improvement of the mental side of things too.
Being physically active is one of the most effective ways to battle both depression and anxiety, with a relapse rate far better than that of prescription drugs - trust me, I wrote a paper on it!
Eating well, working out and seeing your progress first hand will give you a much more positive outlook on life. You will wake up feeling excited to better yourself, you’ll have more clarity, your work will improve and you’ll develop healthier relationships with both people and vices.
Less achy joints
If you follow the routines, recipes and correct workout form all outlined in the book, you may notice that your aches and pains that you’ve just become accustomed to over time have disappeared.
Contrary to popular belief, heavy weight training is good for joints. Add to that the inflammation busting foods and muscle & joint recovery plans and you’ll feel like a completely new person.
Building muscle that is strong and functional around your joints is also a great way to keep them healthier for longer, so you're in a win win situation really.
Future proof knowledge
This book doesn’t just tell you what you need to do, it explains in detail, exactly why you’re doing it and the benefits you’ll experience.
That way, you’re not in the dark, blindly following my guidance. You can make decisions based on the information provided and going forward, you can keep your habits up long term, leading to a happier, healthier life.
Where can I get a copy?
The book is available to download via on Kindle and Paperback. You can also directly download a PDF version from the blog here.
Don’t forget to leave a review if it transforms your life. Even if it doesn’t, I’m always open to hurtful comments from disgruntled online strangers so don’t be shy.
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