Do This Exercise Every Day to Build Muscle (Skinny Guys)

[00:01] athleanx.com. So, I have an exercise for you skinny guys out there that is going talking about >> Are you talking about skinny Jessie? >> Remember me, circa 2016? >> that down, please? Yes, I remember you.

[00:14] looks like? All right, so what we're talking about is an exercise that Jessie himself used as one of the exercises that really built up his base to help build out his frame. It can fix not just your frame and your size, but also your

[00:28] >> Oh, you mean my posture like this? >> that's so ugly, Jessie. Yeah, yeah, all the above. What we're talking about is a carry, and specifically how to do it right, the right way to program it, the different variations that are best

[00:42] cover it all here today. And it starts with one of the biggest reasons of why skinny guys, because it accommodates your body to handling heavier weights on the system without particularly loading the system like, let's say in a squat.

[00:58] >> Oh, yeah. I had no shelf, and it was just on my bony scapula. >> Right, we hear about resting the bar on a shelf, but if there's no shelf and uncomfortable. Another reason why your deadlift actually rose faster than your

[01:11] same loads. So, what this does is it accommodates your body to handling progressive manner. We'll talk about how to load this specifically later. But, as in the carry, you're starting to feel more of that stress and stretch on the

[01:27] traps, in your hands, on your forearms, on your grip. Notably, actually, your what with those rows? >> Uh, handle heavier weights, and heavier >> it starts to feed into even the basic programming. And speaking of beginner

[01:41] perfect beginner workout that I'm giving away for free. Head over to athleanx.com/tbfree. You guys can grab that just for watching this video. The next huge benefit for me, as a physical therapist, is that

[01:53] this exercise helps to correct really bad posture. So, really bad posture. no, we don't have to see that again. >> Well, we do know how far Jesse came with A lot of it had to do with doing exercises like the carry that reinforce

[02:10] proper posture. So, how is that? Because you have to have good thoracic extension. You have to have shoulder back positioning. You have to be able to a weight, you don't want all the weight to be able to pull you down.

[02:23] >> What skinny guys often times do is, again, lacking muscle mass, they don't likely to succumb to the force of gravity. When they decide to do muscularity, they do what exercises? >> Pushing exercises. All day till your

[02:38] they're not thinking about doing rows. So, what happens is it only further contributes to that poor posture. This exercise, again, I'll break down how to do it specifically, will do exactly what you need to do to start reversing that

[02:51] forward tilt of your shoulders. The third big benefit to carries is that you can actually work them in as a great conditioning option. And it can replace >> Running. >> Like running. Like long distance

[03:03] those big muscle builders, as any marathon runner could tell you. But, there are alternative ways to condition your body, and they're both important. conditioning for a reason. So, the carry allows you to get your heart rate up

[03:17] after just even a few rounds, and it gives you an option that you could do on each workout day at the end, or you could do on a conditioning day, or as part of an entire day if you were to do this for 10 minutes or 15 minutes, and

[03:29] even on an off day because the stress here is pretty localized, it doesn't carry over from workout to workout. And fourth, when it comes to the specific stress that the carry applies that leads to this muscle growth, it is in the form

[03:42] of some of the stretch that we get on the traps, on those upper back, mid back muscles yeah, when you do the exercise. However, it is not the same as another the same type of stretch. >> Uh, the rack pull.

[03:56] rack pull can do the same thing, but from a much different position, which outlet syndrome. >> Yep, which is something I had symptoms of from doing so many rack pulls. >> compression anteriorly when you hold

[04:09] that in a second. But again, all exercises are not created equal just carrying weight. This one's a very specific exercise that involves carrying that leads to the muscle gains we're looking for without any of the

[04:23] unnecessary stresses, especially on that frail skinny body that you might have So, how do you do this right? And I mean exactly right. The first thing is the pick up. You do not want to set the dumbbells up in front of your body and

[04:36] pick them up from there like a deadlift. Instead, put the dumbbells on the side dumbbells up, you're putting yourself in the right position with your shoulders more easily held back because of that. The next thing is going to be the

[04:48] shoulders themselves as you fatigue. But fatigue here is going to show up as dumbbells start to drift out in front of your body. >> If you see that happening, it should be your instant reminder that you're not

[05:00] control over those backside muscles. Again, you're allowing the front side to dominate. Pull back and get those shoulder blades retracted, which leads us to the third point. It's not just about retracting your shoulder blades

[05:13] >> So have I. >> Head forward, shoulder blades pinched, but nothing happening with the most important bone in your body when you're sternum. If you can take your sternum

[05:25] taking this bone in your in your body right here in your chest and lift it as high as you can, that's going to restore thoracic extension and then allow for right position. The fourth thing actually comes in terms of the pacing of

[05:41] the exercise. Far too often people want to go for a long distance and they do choppy steps. They're ugly, unstable steps. Your carry should look really, >> And deliberate. >> And deliberate. Each step should be done

[05:55] with stability. So, I want you to take slower, more deliberate steps. If you do that, you're requiring more time in single-leg stance, which is applying more benefit to the exercise. Cuz as we put one leg up to take the next step,

[06:09] that opposite hip is having to hold your body level. That gluteus medius is choppy steps, I'm removing that requirement and one of the major >> Yeah, and as we know, stronger gluteus medius and stronger hips will prevent

[06:22] >> Right. So, all this stuff starts to feed into one gigantic reason why this The last thing would be if you're the legs start crossing up, then you want to deliberately contract your

[06:36] glutes. Consciously contract your glutes. Remember, your posterior chain from the waist down, too. Squeeze your right after you pick the dumbbells up, and maintain that contraction with every

[06:49] throughout the entire duration of the exercise. it's actually quite versatile, and there's a lot of variations that I separate benefit that you might want to consider. The first is something we call

[07:02] a gun carry. And here, you're shifting the load, yes, heavily to the arms, really the forearms and the brachialis, as you have to hold them in this >> And you got to use a lot less weight. >> You use a lot less weight. Again, it's

[07:16] not as much as it is with the dumbbells at your side, but there's a lot of stability, shoulder girdle stability, but it's just a different way to do the And I think skinny guys probably want to build up their arms, too. Jesse, the

[07:29] variations of that carry, and instead of carrying them both down at your sides, we have a one up, one down carry. Right away, as soon as you put any arm up over your head, the requirements of thoracic extension and mobility go up

[07:43] good thoracic mobility, you're going to find this to be very, very difficult, especially those poor postured beginners who started out. You'll definitely feel too, to maintain that. You could certainly take this up another level by

[07:56] literally raising one more dumbbell up overhead. Now, this double overhead carry, again, working the same things we just talked about, but even more so, more thoracic mobility into extension, more stability of the core, but again,

[08:08] guys is one worth doing as you're able to. Then, we can go kind of back to the beginning. Like, where could true beginners start? If they can't even handle heavier dumbbells, they could just start with plates, like you.

[08:21] reasons I built grip strength was doing pinch plate carries. grip in terms of forearm strength, but grip in terms of intrinsic finger strength. So, having to pinch the plates and walk with them, even 5-pounders can

[08:34] be quite a challenge. You can work from 5s to 10s to 25s up to 45s. And then, on start to be able to handle more and more weight, and you sort of exceed your dumbbell carrying capacity, that's where something like a trap bar works. So,

[08:47] now, as far as programming goes, how would you program this? There's a lot of Number one, you can measure in steps. You can measure in distance. You can measure in time. Those are three main ways to do this. Now, for me, I like to

[09:01] go steps because even if I don't have a place that I can walk for a long >> Yeah, and if you don't have a lot of space, you can just go a distance and >> And the turn around is a factor. For those wondering, when you do have to do

[09:16] to be single leg stance when you make the turn. They're a little bit more into it. When it comes to steps, I'd say 15 to 30 steps per set is a good place for beginners to start. That'd be somewhere around, let's say, 15 to 30

[09:30] yards, roughly, depending on right how long of a step you have. For time, 30 seconds is a good place to start, work up to 60 seconds. And And do this for multiple sets. 4 minutes in a day is plenty of work on this if you're going

[09:43] to do this in an everyday fashion. So, now, how much weight and what are we we take these sets to failure. As with most other things in the gym, you want long enough to create change. So, for me, failure's always measured in grip

[09:57] the dumbbells is really your main criteria. How much weight do you use? again, either the plates like you did, right in those 5s, 10s, and 25s, but once you start to use dumbbell weight, 25% of your body weight in each hand is

[10:13] where we recommend starting. So, if you're 160 lb, you're talking about 40 lb in each hand. And you work yourself up to 50% in each hand. You could go to those higher levels up to even 75% of your body weight in each hand or

[10:28] combined 150% of your body weight if you're doing it on the trap bar. If you is the exercise. >> my body like this. I mean, come on. I >> Just got out of college. Come >> No, no, okay. Show me the after. Cuz

[10:42] Jesse's transformation video, you can do that right here. If you want a program kick-started, it's actually free at athleanx.com/tbfree. that actually Jesse used to begin with. If you found the video helpful, guys,

[10:56] thumbs up below. Also, click subscribe if you haven't done so so you can make Guys, full programs and supplements available over at athleanx.com. See you available over at athleanx.com. See you soon.