If you want any chance at building a physique, you must do your heavy squats, bench presses and deadlifts.
There simply is no other way to transform your body, so if you don’t like lifting heavy or you don’t have access to a squat rack, barbells and enough plates to give you a hernia, don’t even bother training.
OK, that was just a joke, although that joke is not far from most peoples’ reality.
I can’t believe the amount of times I’ve had skinny-fat guys tell me they did training routines similar to Starting Strength and StrongLifts 5×5, gained a ton of strength, yet made no visual changes to their physiques.
Or the amount of times I had keyboard warriors on reddit and barbell training forums tell me that lifting heavy weights is the only way you can build a great amount of muscle mass.
I was one of these guys not too long ago.
I trained hard for 2 years with heavy weights and added almost 800 pounds to my 4 main exercises: the deadlift, squat, bench press and overhead press.
I was a big believer in the big compound lifts and I thought that because I had read extensively about strength training online and in books, I was also qualified to give my friends training advice.
However, strength training clearly didn’t work for me.
Here’s a photo showing how I looked after adding 800 pounds to my 4 main lifts:
You can clearly see that I didn’t gain much muscle mass on my body.
Let me tell you this: If you’re a skinny-fat guy doing heavy barbell lifts with any other reason than simply getting stronger on these lifts or competing in powerlifting, you will get disappointed.
In 5 years of running this website I’ve coached hundreds of people and emailed with thousands.
Most of them had previously used heavy barbell training, but similarly to me they never got results with it.
To this day, I still haven’t seen a single skinny-fat success story on a program that focuses on the squat, bench press and deadlift. (I didn’t include the press here because I believe this is one of the best lifts skinny-fat guys can do).
In my case, getting stronger on the deadlift, squat and bench press mostly helped me build up the posterior chain muscles: Thighs, glutes, spinal erectors and traps.
These muscles are important for building an overall functional and strong looking physique.
However, these are not the muscles that transform your upper body proportions.
With the big compound exercises, you get most of the development in the quads, lower chest and posterior chain.
This results in you just becoming a bigger and bulkier version of your current self. Your proportions don’t change.
In the meanwhile, the muscles that make the biggest difference are neglected.
I’m talking about the lats, upper back, biceps, triceps, shoulders and upper chest.
These are the 6 most important muscle groups for skinny-fat guys because they change the proportions of your upper body.
When you develop the upper chest, your chest goes from having a triangle, feminine shape to a squared masculine shape.
When you maximise the size of your lats and shoulders, you get that upper body V-taper going.
When you maximise the size of your biceps and triceps, you complete the upper body look with powerful arms.
And finally, you do 2 important things to get your physique right:
- Use bodyweight exercises for your lower body to keep the lower body in proportion. Weighted leg exercises will most likely overdevelop your lower body and thereby make your upper body appear smaller.
- Avoid excessive ab work because ab muscles grow just like any other muscles. By doing too much ab work, you will thicken your waist with an extra 1-2 inches and that will make your shoulders appear smaller.
Here’s what your physique proportions will look like when you get this right:
(I know I don’t have the perfect physique and that I lack 6-pack abs, but I’ve gotten the best out of the genetics I was dealt).
To grow these target muscles to their maximum potential, you have to perform exercises where you can really feel those target muscles working.
And this is where the 3 most important bodyweight exercises for skinny-fat guys come into play: 1) The Chin Up, 2) The Diamond Push Up and 3) The Bodyweight Squat.
The chin up is known as one of the most effect exercises for building up both the lats, upper back and biceps and the diamond push up is one of the most effective exercises for building up the upper chest, shoulders and triceps.
The bodyweight squat is ideal because it will build up your strength, conditioning and mobility without overdeveloping your lower body or putting you at a high risk of injury.
After prescribing these three exercises to countless skinny-fat guys over the last 5 years, the conclusion is that these exercises produce much better result than popular weight training exercises such as bench presses, barbell rows, deadlifts and squats. (See success stories here)
Logically, this doesn’t make sense to some people, but now I’ll explain why bodyweight exercises produce superior results to weight exercises:
- Chin ups vs. barbell rows: Both exercises work similar muscle groups but the chin up uses a lot more lats and biceps whereas the rows use more upper back. The lats and biceps are a higher priority for changing your proportions than the upper back. The lats are the #1 most important muscle group for adding width to your shoulders and creating a V-tapered upper body.
- Diamond push ups vs. bench presses: Both exercises work similar muscle groups but the diamond push up uses a lot more triceps, shoulders, inner and upper chest whereas the bench presses uses mostly the lower chest. The triceps, upper and inner chest are higher priority for aesthetics than the lower chest.
- Bodyweight squats vs. barbell squats: Both exercises work the same muscle groups, but the bodyweight squats will naturally be done with higher reps and thereby provide the additional benefit of improving your conditioning. In addition, most skinny-fat guys lack the hip, hamstring and shoulder mobility to perform barbell squats safely, therefore the bodyweight squats are much safer to start off with.
So the key take away here is that: The 3 bodyweight exercises overall aren’t much better than the popular weight training exercises.
They’re just different tools used for a different purpose.
They just happen to be ideal for targeting all the weak points on a skinny-fat guy’s physique: The lats, biceps, triceps, upper chest, shoulders.
You could insert nearly any weight training exercise and compare them to the chin ups, diamond push ups and bodyweight squat but they wouldn’t produce the same result.
In general, to replace the 3 key bodyweight exercises, you would need 2-3 weight training exercises to replace each of them.
For example, with the chin up you may need to do barbell rows, lat pulldowns and dumbbell biceps curls to get a similar effect. (And no, lat pulldowns will not be a good replacement since it’s a much easier exercise).
Similarly, with the diamond push up you may need to do overhead presses, dumbbell incline flyes and triceps extensions to get a similar effect. (And again, close grip bench presses will not be a good replacement since it’s a much easier exercise).
So you would need to spend at least twice as long time training and be more intelligent about the way you program your training to get the same result.
This is why I recommend every skinny-fat guy starts off with those 3 exercises, with the only exception being those who have debilitating injuries.
If you have injuries that prevent you from doing chin ups and diamond push ups and bodyweight squats then by all means find other exercises that work better for you.
But if you can do those exercises pain free, I don’t see a reason to not do them.
In addition to targeting all the right muscles, the bodyweight exercises have several other benefits that I mentioned in my post Why Bodyweight Training is the Best Way to Transform the Skinny-Fat Physique (And Top Skinny-Fat Myths Debunked)
- They produce a stronger signalling effect than their weight training equivalents. (See examples of this in the post linked above).
- They can be done anywhere at any time. This makes it much easier to train 6 days per week which is one of the most important aspects of transforming your physique.
So what are the downsides of the 3 bodyweight exercises?
There are 3 big downsides:
- If your goal is to build big legs and glutes and your lower body doesn’t respond quickly to training, the bodyweight exercises simply won’t cut it. You can start off with bodyweight squats and lunges, but soon you will have to implement weight training.
- Certain muscle groups such as the triceps long head, medial and rear shoulders, upper back and traps will not be developed to their maximum size with bodyweight training. This is why I implement weight training with most of my Phase 2 clients.
- By continuously performing the same exercises everyday for years you can develop overuse injuries. This is again why I implement weight training with most of my Phase 2 clients. Cycling your exercises year around becomes more important as you get into your 2nd and 3rd year of serious training but it’s not essential in your 1st year where you will benefit more from having sharp focus on just a few exercises.
So there you have it guys.
Bodyweight training is by far the best way to get started, but it’s not the only way to train as you get further into your transformation.
As with most things, training isn’t all black and white. It has nuances and even within the skinny-fat body-type, there will be a lot of variation in regards to what program is optimal.
Be proud but stay hungry!
Oskar Faarkrog, ISSA Certified Trainer
Optimal Protein Intake: How Much Protein Do You Really Need?
Your suggested bodyweight routine is only pushups and pullups.
Why not just add pushups and pullups to a regular weightlifting routine (using light weights and high volume)? Then you get the best of both worlds.
What’s the benefit of only doing pushups and pullups and not doing ANY kind of weight lifting?
Hi Usman,
I include some target high rep dumbbell work in most of my Phase 1 clients training plans.
You are right, doing both is best. But if the push ups and pull ups are the main upper body exercises in the program, they will still yield +80% of results.
Oskar
I love your programme it is the only thing that gets my skinny fat body responding. The gains in the last 3 months are somewhat impressive,
I do have some problems though
I try not to push to complete failure I usually leave a rep left but I think I am overtraining , My sleep is bad after this workouts, even though I have only done 2 sets of 8 pull-ups and 2 sets between 20- 23 push ups. I usually leave one rep in the tank I train every other day with one day being cardio, so I only really train this program 3 days a week. i think I am overtraining. As I have a mild tingling sensation through the body for the next 36 hours
Can this one rep to failure once a week cause me to over train, I never push myself until I can’t do anymore, I always back of a little
I am a personal ego lifter even though I train by myself this is another reason I quit the gym, I think it is a more addiction to pushing my body to the max
The thing is yesterday I hit 9 reps on pull-ups to 90- 95% failure as I want to hit 9 reps, but I think I am giving myself bad insomnia and hammering my cns, I am doing maybe 1 set a week to 95% failure, any advise pleas
What about splitting my training to morning and night such as 1 set in the morning and 1 at night would this benefit the near failure training day?
Dan
Great to hear Dan! What’s your diet like? It might be the culprit
I am a skinny fat ectomorph. My body tends t =o accumulate a lot of fat in my butt and thighs. I have wide hips. (Totally not cool cause I am a male). I was wondering whether should I start a Keto diet to lose fats and improve overall body composition? Please help.
Hi Oskar, I’m finding myself in a situation similar to your own where I did plenty of stronglifts style training and improved strength and my weight went up, but I had nothing to show for it aesthetically. I can’t do a chin up or a diamond push up, I could probably knock out 20 standard push ups right now but because of a hip injury I haven’t been able to do any for a while because of the pain I get whenever I try to do some.
Fortunately I’m about to get the injury fixed and I’m going to use yourself as a blueprint for my training. I’m 5’7, 180lbs, I plan on losing 40lbs first which I think I can do in 3 months, then I want to gain 21lbs of muscle so I round out at 161lbs.
I especially like what you’ve said about diet and I just wanted to get your idea on this. I’ve always been a cereal or toast guy for breakfast, but the truth is I shouldn’t be going near wheat or oats as they play havoc with my stomach, so I’m going to be vigilante when it comes to that, so here was my general proposed meal plan.
Breakfast:
2x Bacon, 4x Sausage, 2x eggs, beans, tomatoes,
Lunch:
250g – 300g Chicken breast, likely with a mixture of rice, onions, peppers, mushrooms
Dinner:
Fish/Steak with potatoes and veg.
I’ve already cut sugar out of my tea and got down to one tsp in coffee, so I’m confident that starting with negative chins, normal push ups, squats with my eighteen month old daughter on my shoulders, and a few very low weight arm and shoulder moves (curls, arnold press, tricep extension) and some sprint drills (I want to get back to playing football), that I can drop the weight within three months then concentrate on getting my pull ups and diamond push ups numbers to respectable heights.
What do you think, any changes you might advise?
Thanks,
Brad
Oh and to add to that, those three meals will all be within 8 hours as I’ll be doing the 8 hours of eating, 16 hours of fasting deal.
Cheers,
Brad
Hey Brad,
Your diet looks solid.
I would start out with that and adjust based on your body’s response.
You want a diet that keeps bloating and other stomach problems to a minimum. Also, make sure to eat a lot of green vegetables, especially spinach.
Hey Oskar I’m 15 and have been following your program for a few months now. I’ve gone from 20% body fat down to about 12-13% I can see my abs when I flex with decent lighting so I think I’m lean enough to go on a bulk. Also I’m 6ft 130 pounds which I think is almost to light, but the thing is I’m ready to do the bulk and the grey skull weight lifting routine which you recommended in a difrent article. My problem is that I can only do about 2 chin ups my push-ups are not bad I can do about 20 and maybe 5 diamonds I also do a lot of negative pull ups so I want to know if I can start lifting now while working on my body weight exercises or if I should just keep doing body weight till I can 15 chin ups. Thank you and sorry I’m a little off topic
Hey Joe,
First of all, big congrats on starting at such an early age and achieving those results. It makes me happy to hear that my advice has helped you make progress.
How does it feel to finally see your abs?
At this point, the best strategy is to focus 100% on the bodyweight exercises while maintaining your body-fat level.
Once you reach 15 pull ups, you can progress directly into the Serge Nubret Pump Training linked below:
https://skinnyfattransformation.com/serge-nubret-pump-training/
The Serge Nubret Pump Training Program is the best free program I have for the Phase 2 of your transformation.
The reasoning to why you should skip GreySkull is that I have changed my transformation strategy for my clients from 5 phases to just 2 phases.
Phase 1: Shred fat and master bodyweight exercises.
Phase 2: Gain muscle mass in the right places through high volume bodybuilding training.
This has worked extremely well for clients such as Harshit Godha who completely transformed his body in 1 year:
https://skinnyfattransformation.com/skinny-fat-to-summer-body/
I wish you the best and keep me posted on your progress Joe.
Thanks Oskar I like the new training program much better and I’ll update you on my progress in about a year or two haha. I’ve got more motivation than ever before and I’m ready to work thank you so much for this site I’m finally feeling comfortable in my body and I’m excited to see where your advice and training can take me thanks again
Hey oskar! Thanks so much for sharing all this knowledge man! I’ve been on your program for 4 months with FANTASTIC results! Cant wait to complete six months and send you my transformation. My question is: my gf hás been wanting to start your program, but give more focus to legs than to back/chest. Do you think skinnyfat women can get good results with your approach to exercise/diet?
Much love from Brazil and a happy 2016.
Thanks Vinny, I definitely think so, I trained a woman with kids to get visible abs.
Hey Oscar
I have come across your blog very recently and its really interesting, so I was wondering if you can tell me where to start from and what to do step by step
P.s. I guess my body shape is pretty much like yours when you started
Thnx in advance
Hello oskaar, I am a fan of your website,i had a question for you, for optimal bicep growth, what is the best way to work them? Close grip pulling? Or plain bicep curls, lets say i wanna make my biceps as big as possible within 60 days, should i focus on bicep curls or close grip pull ups?
Also what would be the most effective high volume program for this goal?
Thanks in advance.
I would do both Richard. You can order a customized high volume program on this link: http://oskar-faarkrog-fitness-store.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/customized-workout-plan
What’s your opinions on crossfit?
I think it can be good conditioning for experienced lifters with a good strength base, but it’s not optimal for beginners.
Hey,first of all thanks for being an inspiration for everyone here.
I am 21 yrs old,my height is 5’10.5″ and my weight is 165pounds. I have a body shape just like you used to have when you started. And have bilateral gynecomastia although not very severe as I told my chest looks more or less like the yours used to look. I want to know till what extent can I shape my chest and make it look better and are there any chances of my chest getting worse If I follow your guidelines properly. I am ready to give my fullest to make the change happen.
Thanks :)
Your chest will get let’s say 60% better from following the tips here. If you want 100, you will have to add surgery. Does that make sense?
Hey Oscar
When do you know you’re ready to move unto phase 2 – muscle gain. I noticed I slimmed down my stomach but I still have some stubborn belly fat. Should I work hard to get rid of this belly fat then move unto the muscle gain stage or move straight away into the 2nd phase?
Cheers,
Joel
Joel, I would build muscle but it’s a personal decision.
Hello. I’m a fairly small guy, 165 cm, 60 kg, but with a very high body fat percentage (20% or even more), I did the Stronglifts 5×5 and really gained incredible amounts of strength (can’t deny that), but my physique hasn’t changed, or has gotten even worse. I could even send the pictures because I’m getting very desperate. What should I do?
Read through the FAQ and get on my newsletter. It will give you direction
I do agree mostly with what you are saying. But to me its not so much a question of whether stronglifts, or calisthenics objectively is better than the other etc. in building size.
Whilst you are right about guys like Mehdi and Mark Rippletoe etc., I personally do know people who became gained a lot of muscle and got ripped too. So for some body types it can do wonders. And also look at calisthenics gurus like Al Kavaldo who are not that big either.
BUT!
I agree that skinny fats get nothing out of stronglifts/starting strength. Calisthenics is definitely the way. Its the best way to wake up all your muscles correctly and getting the motor mechanics right.
Question:
Was it easy to correct your form on deadlifts when you returned to it after your bodyweight programme?
Shaun, do you think these people who gained a lot and muscle and got ripped on SL and SS would have gotten with practically any program out there? I’m asking this question, because it’s convenient to “support” the efficiency of a training program through select examples, but these select examples will rarely apply to most of us (especially not skinny-fat guys with sub-par genetics).
Regarding calisthenics: You’re right about Al Kavadlo and the likes. I know a few of guys like this. They’re strong and lean, but don’t look that muscular. This is mostly due to goals and diet. Al Kavadlo and the guys I know who look like him, train to become better at calisthenics movement, rather than building a great physique. For them, adding extra mass is a bad thing, because it will make them heavier and slow them down.
And yes, calisthenics has worked very well for my skinny-fat clients and many SFT-readers who never had success with programs such as SS and SL.
Regarding deadlifts: I haven’t done deadlifts for ages and I don’t recall correcting my form after doing my BW training (it’s been a long time now, so my memory might be off).
Do you think skinny fats should consume sugar & sweets? I’ve been reading your blog along with Anthony Mychal’s. Both of you share a lot of things in common, but Anthony doesn’t believe we should consume more than 20g of sugar or any at all (including fruits). However, I made an exception with pineapple each morning & I must say that I’m feeling better. Thanks for the advice. Also, my body has changed dramatically in a year. I was 5’7 & 180 pounds (mostly fat), but now I’m down to 152 pounds. I’m not yet on the solid base, but I’ll be there soon. Can’t wait to share my results.
Great to hear Sergio.
I believe the answer to that depends on a lot.
Everyone processes sugar differently, and the way you process sugar also changes along with your transformation.
The better shape you are in and the more you train, the more sugar you can usually eat.
I also believe that there’s a huge difference between sugar from fruit and candy you buy in 7-eleven.
I can eat a big bowl of fruit after training and nothing happens. Now, if I eat a bunch of candy from 7-eleven, I tend to see growth in my love handles overnight.
Hey Oscar! I have about 10lbs to lose im skinny fat. How should I go about cutting so I my testosterone and libido won’t fall. In other words, how can I diet and lose fat while keeping testosterone high. Thanks brother great website
hello,
I can do 8 chinups and 20 pushups but can’t do any pullups or diamond pushups.
What is the best way to be able to do them? please help
Do negative pull ups and get your push up reps even higher
Hey i wanted to know how do i lose those love handles, i have already made some dietary changes but what kind of exercises should i do??Doing oblique exercises made me look more broad at the middle.So what should i do??
Keep at the diet and you will get there. You won’t lose love handles through ab exercises.
So ive been reading your articles and find them very useful. I do have a question though. I enjoy lifting weights and have packed on about 50 lbs over 6 years. buuuut i am still skinny fat. Atleast in my head.
I have started throwing in more pullups and am in the military so do a fair number of pushups anyways. My question is. What is daily workouts like? how do you mix up your lifting and body weight training? do you do pullups and pushups every workout or just on chest and like back day for example? its really bothering me since implementing pullups. What do you recommend?
Hey Ricky, 50 pounds is a lot! I highly doubt you’re skinny-fat anymore.
I will upload yesterdays training to my YouTube with commentary then you can see exactly how I mix bodyweight exercises with weights.
Oskar,
As a long time follower, I totally understand the importance of body weight training for beginners, but do you think body weight exercises are enough for people who have the lean base?
Harshit
Hey Harshit! :)
Bodyweight exercises can be enough to gain muscle mass once you have the lean base. You just have to do them correctly: https://skinnyfattransformation.com/get-muscular-calisthenics/
However, I believe that weight training is better to gain muscle mass if you’re at the lean base and you have mastered bodyweight exercises because you can do more exercises, change the weight easily and isolate certain muscles better.
Very much agree with everything you’ve said. One of the things that SS and SL have going for them is that adding weight to these big movements each workout is very motivating. Aesthetic changes occur over a much longer period of time, so it’s easy to lose motivation if that is your only goal.
Sorry you replied
How to reach 20 push ups in a month beginning from 3?
What should be the set/rep scheme?
What would then be the best way to reach from 3 reps to 20 ?
This program: https://skinnyfattransformation.com/bodyweight-training-skinny-fat/
I definitely agree with possible injuries in 5×5 programs. I’m in my mid 20’s and did 5x5s + accessories for half a year. It helped me get stronger, but I injured my wrists while doing heavy bench presses, despite being careful with my form. Also, heavy squats don’t feel good for my knees either.
Now I do all my workouts in sets of 8-12 which puts much less stress on my joints, and I noticed that I recover better and feel no discomfort at all. Granted, my 1RM’s went down due to the high rep training, but I think I have better muscle:fat gain ratio on caloric surplus diet with 8-12 reps. Not too sure about that yet though.
Do you think that moderate weight training yields better muscle:fat ratio when “bulking”? Or do you think it’s more related to the degree of caloric surplus? The power lifters you used as examples are also known for eating a lot of food, and I doubt that they practiced “slow bulk” for physique.
I’m certain that using light and moderate weight is better for muscle gains because you can do more reps and use longer time-under-tension.
Is it possible to begin diamonds directly rather than normal push ups? I do not have access to a gym currently
Would 5×5 push ups be good to increase the reps?
Don’t skip the progressions or you might get injured and that will put you out of training for a long time. If you can’t do 20 push ups take out a month or two to get there first.
I have fat on lower chest.can you please tell me which excercise will reduce the fat on lower chest.
You reduce fat through dietary changes: https://skinnyfattransformation.com/lose-fat-without-starving/
Hey nice post man
Up to 5 chin ups slow and controlled
But can do only 3 push ups and then elbows began to hurt
Think you can help?
If your elbows hurt from push ups, try doing an incline chest press machine at the gym instead. It’s not worth continue with push ups and risking an injury.
Well Stronglifts and Starting Strength are strength building programs not bodybuilding programs.
Has anyone ever really said that you get great looking body with those programs?
I was recommended SS by the bodybuilding.com forums when I began training in February 2010 and my goal was to build a great body.
Throughout the past 2 years, I have had +100 SFT fans email me they were recommended these programs to transform their skinny-fat body (and there are probably even more than that who haven’t said anything).
You can find a lot of people stating that strength training programs are the “best way” to build a muscular physique and that bodybuilding training only works for enhanced lifters.
Heya oskar
I wanna know that what is your current workout schedule and how much weight do you use in the exercises that you do like shoulder press, rows, lateral raises, dumbbell presses, squats etc??
Plz tell oskar…..
I will post a video of today’s upper body workout with commentary before Sunday this week. Here’s a preview I posted today: https://vimeo.com/144626178
For standing shoulder presses, I can do about 70 KG / 155 LBS, otherwise I don’t know since I don’t lift heavy on any other exercises.
Great post, Oskar. Moving one’s bodyweight through space is so effective. Despite being able to do only 7 chins and 15 diamond pushups, I am already noticing great changes in my physique. The ripped look is so easy to achieve with calisthenics.
Great to hear Oscar!