Train Like an Athlete by ATHLEAN-X (Video Podcast)

The one thing every skinny guy trying to build muscle will tell you is, it’s not easy. In this video, Jesse from ATHLEAN-X is going to take you through some of the successes and failures during his muscle building transformation that have gotten him to where he is now and are setting him up for greater mass gains in the near future.

If you are not aware of Jesse, you likely haven’t been watching the videos on this channel for very long. For those who are seeing him for the first time, it takes a glimpse back in time to appreciate just how far he has come with his body. Jesse started at just under 130 pounds of body weight. He was painfully skinny and very weak.

Beyond that however, Jesse had a history of head trauma that prevented him from leading a normal life and certainly made it difficult to engage in physical activity without repercussions. As a youth lacrosse player, he suffered multiple concussions which left him with severe post concussion syndrome and he was forced to stop playing all together. The risk of another concussion was too high and it was feared that any additional head trauma could lead to permanent brain damage.

As he began his quest to try and build muscle while still maintaining the athleticism and all around performance ability he had on the field, he was met with complications from exertion during lifting. Even the slightest amount of stress, strain, overtaxing of the body during a lift would leave him with a headache. Sometimes, he would even black out during a set which became an incredible risk to his health considering he would be doing this with weights in his hands or on his back.

Doctors forced him to scale back his training greatly while they helped him to identify the exact causes and triggers of his issues and how to better prepare for them over time. He essentially had to rebuild from the ground up. Not to mention, along with the neurological issues, Jesse brought with him a host of postural imbalances and dysfunction that further contributed to his disability and made proper form lifting a challenge.

Over the last couple years, he worked very hard on overcoming the postural imbalances that were holding him back. The fixing of his pelvic tilt, neck, rounded shoulders and thoracic extension limitations were key to getting him to function better everywhere, not just in the gym. In addition, while the body was being fixed the aggravation of his neurological symptoms was improving as well. Ultimately, in February of this year he was cleared to begin increasing the exertion of his training.

In just the last few months, Jesse has added a considerable amount of weight to his lifts and is performing them with good form and solid control due to the removal of compensations from his movement patterns from his early restricted work. His legs have grown in size and he is noticeably bigger in all areas of his physique. As you will see, he still has some things that he is struggling with while building muscle. Namely, his love of endurance training and long distance running combined with a healthy eating plan that makes it difficult for him to consume enough calories to put on extra muscle.

The bottom line however is, he is on the right track and continues to be a motivational figure for any skinny guy who ever struggled putting on muscle. The sky is the limit for him now that he is able to push himself in his training without restriction. I fully expect him to keep getting stronger, bigger and maintain his overall athleticism while continuing to be able to enjoy the athletic endeavors that have driven him to where he is today. We will all keep rooting for this skinny guy to keep overcoming the issues that have once held him back.

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