Chad, from chadhowsefitness.com, transformed his body packing on 32 pounds of ripped athletic muscle – steroid free. Chad’s living proof that skinny guys can have a hard rock-solid body that will make your mates jealous as hell. We’re going to cover the big mistakes Chad made before his transformation, how you naturally can ramp up your testosterone and HGH and build lean muscle even if you think you’re too skinny or it’s just not possible.
Transcript Of Muscle Building Coaching Webinar
With Chad Howse
Mandy Gibbons: Hi. It’s Mandy Gibbons here, and I’m here today with Chad Howse. Chad transformed his body packing on 32 pounds of ripped athletic muscle in only 32 weeks, steroid free. And in today’s coaching lesson, we’re going to share with you how Chad actually went about doing this. So, get out your pads and pens, and start taking notes.
MG: Chad’s living proof that skinny guys can have a hard rock-solid body that will make your mates jealous as hell. We’re going to cover the big mistakes Chad made before his transformation. You’ll find they’re probably very similar to your situation. Plus, Chad is going to share in today’s coaching lesson how you can build lean muscle even if you think you’re too skinny or it’s just not possible. And because we’re not just about fitness here, we want you to bring on your sexy, so we’re also discussing the sweetener of Chad’s physical transformation and how it changed his success with the ladies and his career. In fact, Chad’s transformation spurred him to start chadhowsefitness.com and the Powerhouse Challenge, a website Chad has dedicated to helping people get in great shape, building a strong body and a strong life. So let’s get started.
MG: Chad, thanks so much for coming on board for our special mentor training call today.
Chad Howse: No problem at all. Anytime.
MG: So Chad, it sounds like you weren’t one of these genetic freaks that naturally packs on muscle quickly. How frustrating was that seeing others around you being able to and knowing that there must be a way around it? You just needed to find out how.
CH: It was really frustrating because I went to a school that was big into sports and I was big into sports. And I worked really, really hard. I played basketball in high school and actually hockey, a bit earlier on in high school. So, I worked really hard Like, I was in the gym training before school and after school, and I was busting my butt trying to get as strong as some of my friends were and so forth, but nothing really seemed to work. So, pretty frustrating. It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t do enough work. I probably overdid it. So yeah, it sucks.
[chuckle]
MG: Without getting all D and M here, growing up, I had some really close male friends who were super skinny, and I saw them go through so much crap watching our other buddies that we used to hang out with at parties and these guys were ripped as hell. And they used to pull the ladies in like rock stars. I’ve heard you mention this, Chad. You said you felt invisible and that’s the perfect word for it. Have you got any examples or stories that you can share with us of your own situation?
CH: Just like with parties when I was younger and stuff, I guess you go into high school and then into college, and I was skinny up until a couple years after college, I guess. But a lot of it had to do with my own view of myself, I think. There are lots of skinny guys with girlfriends, like very hot girlfriends, good-looking girlfriends and guys who get the ladies, and so forth. But I think when you’re skinny and you want to be somewhere else, you want to look like something else, a lot of it has to do with your own view of yourself. And so, I was surrounded by guys who were jocks and they were in great shape, and they had the confidence to go into a party and talk to whoever they wanted. And I just didn’t have that confidence. So, I think that’s the biggest thing is our own self-confidence. Not necessarily how people view us, but how we view ourselves that makes the biggest difference with ladies and so forth.
MG: Yeah, for sure. And so, what led you to discover the system that you use now to create your own awesome results?
CH: Well, after college… I played basketball in college. And then, I got an injury, and I took a year off. And then, instead of coming back to basketball, because I was told I couldn’t play basketball, I went into boxing. I started fighting. And a bit later on into my brief 2-year fighting career, I got a job as a trainer at a gym. And I looked… I was still skinny. Boxing, you need to be skinny kinda because you want to stay in your weight class. So, I had to keep my weight down which was pretty easy for me. But I went and searched out a gym, kind of like… Wanted to find a mentor that would show me the ropes of weight training and how to turn things around. I got a job at a gym that actually a couple pro… A pro football team and a professional hockey team trained at in my hometown. So then, I was under the tutelage of their head trainer. And their head trainer showed me a lot, and then, his teaching along with the boxing training that I was doing was kind of a perfect fit. So then, I took what I learned from him, and then, what I was learning from boxing, and I kind of put them in together and created this system.
MG: Cool.
CH: Yeah.
MG: And so, what are some of the biggest mistakes that you’ve made while trying to pack on muscle, and why is it that skinny guys should train differently from other body types? And would you mind giving us some specific examples of that?
CH: Well, when you’re skinny… Well, the conventional wisdom is always to do more. If you’re not succeeding at something, if you’re at school and you’re not getting good grades, you want to study more or you’re not making enough money, you want to work more. But weight training, you actually want to do less. If you have a faster metabolism, you want to take your training back a bit instead of lifting five, six days a week for an hour or two hours at a time like bodybuilders do, you want to go to three or four weight training sessions a week and cut those sessions down to 45 minutes or under. I found a lot of it had to do with hormones. So, when I was younger and when I was skinny, I was always going, going, going. And I wasn’t eating the right meals at the right time. So, I wasn’t putting my carbs before and after my workout. I wasn’t having enough carbs around my workout. So, that hampered my results. Also the training too much and focusing too much on the mere muscles or like working on biceps instead of working on the back and so forth. So, I think a lot of it has to do with over training and not focusing your meals at the right time. And so, when I dialed back my training, a lot of that changed.
MG: Awesome. Is it possible to pack on lean muscle and achieve a ripped and athletic look without bulking up with extra body fat so you don’t look like a mass of lump of lard? And you know what I’m talking about when I say that.
CH: Yeah, everyone… Conventional wisdom is that you have to bulk before you cut. So that’s what bodybuilders do, but they’re not for you. I can’t stand that. I don’t want to get… They get so fat and big, and then, cut down. But you don’t have to do that by any means. With my program, I gained 32 pounds in 32 weeks, but I didn’t… I actually dropped body fat percentage. A lot of that was again working really, really hard when I was in the gym, but I wasn’t going for two-hour workouts, just 45 minute workout. And a lot of it diet, diet’s huge. So, if I was going to cheat or have sugar or something like that, I’d have it later on in the day with, well like around my workout. Also, off day training I’d have a bit less food just because I’m not burning those calories and so forth. So, I’d say a lot of it is diet. A lot of it’s training. And then, cardio’s a big one too. When most people, they could stay in ripped, they think of long cardio. But I didn’t do any long running. Even when I was fighting, I cut that out towards the end of my fighting career. And I focused only on sprints, hill sprints, stair sprints and all that stuff. So, those are great. They boost your metabolism and help us maintain muscle when we’re trying to pack on pounds.
MG: Yeah, awesome. And I have to ask this question because I know members listening today will definitely want to know about this. You are not into steroids, and you didn’t use them for your own transformation. So, can hard gainers genuinely achieve button popping muscles naturally? And can you explain the techniques you use instead that members can put into actions to help them ramp up their testosterone and human growth hormone?
CH: Yeah. I’m not into… I don’t have anything wrong with steroids. If you want to take steroids, by all means, but I just don’t think the positives outweigh the negatives. I don’t like the diminished hormone production you’re gonna have after your on them scares me. I don’t want to get into that. But with our own natural testosterone, human growth hormone production, a lot of it can do with consuming fat. So, especially before bed and when we wake up, you can raise your testosterone levels a lot if you eat fat before bed and upon rising. So, one thing I did was I’d have a couple eggs or I’d have like four eggs when I wake up. Obviously, whole eggs with the yolk. I’d have three Brazil nuts. What are they? Walnuts are a great alternative too. Just have a handful of walnuts. Walnuts?
MG: Yeah, walnuts that’s right.
CH: And then, I’d have two to three pills or gel capsules of fish oil, and maybe like an avocado or something. But I’d have a high fat content in the morning. And then, before I went to bed I’d have the same thing. What that does is when we process saturated fats and monounsaturated fats, it raises our testosterone levels. And it raises it actually quite a bit. So, if you get into that routine of having fat before bed and fat upon rising, another thing to do is have a cold shower right when you wake up and a cold shower before you go to bed because heat around… Heat is not good for the testicles and so forth. It kills them. It’s just not good for testosterone production so like tight underwear and that kind of thing and hot showers in the morning isn’t good. So, I’m switching that up and changing it to cold and cold before you go to bed. It sucks, but it really helps the testosterone production as well. So, I did those two things.
MG: So, you pretty much NEED balls to save your balls.
CH: Exactly.
[laughter]
MG: Having cold showers in the morning.
CH: I haven’t talked about it on my site, but yeah.
[chuckle]
MG: Especially in winter, gee, that will be tough.
CH: Yeah, it sucks because the water gets colder in the winter. The pipes are colder especially up here. You could notice it. It’s freezing. But just… I’ve heard people say the… Ten minute showers, I can last… Maybe I’ll put like warm to wash and then I’ll do five minutes really, really cold. It sucks, but…
[chuckle]
MG: And then, you got to towel dry yourself super, super fast.
[chuckle]
CH: Exactly, yeah. And huddle up in front of the fire.
MG: Yeah. So, when it comes to testosterone and hormone-boosting supplements that we see being rammed in our faces all the time, what’s your expert… Your personal opinion on them, Chad? And are there any side effects from using them?
CH: There is… I’ve taken one. I think it’s Status with… Blue Star Nutraceuticals. They’re fine, but I think we could do more naturally than we can with those supplements. If you want to get your body producing testosterone more than you want something else to be producing testosterone. There are those two things and then 4-Hour Bodies… Like Tim Ferriss has a couple really good tips as well with boosting testosterone production. He has got a great chapter in there with that and there’s the shake that he uses of… I think it’s whole milk, two or three raw eggs, Chia seeds. There’s a ton of fat in this one shake that you have three times a week and it just sends your testosterone skyrocketing. I think there’s a lot more we can do with natural stuff. And then, yeah, supplements you have them for a period, and then, you want to cycle your supplements. You don’t want to be always having the same supplements all the time. But with diet, you can be eating that same stuff all the time. It’s not bad for you. So, I’d say save your money and just have fats before bed and upon rising, and try that shake. Check out Tim Ferriss’ book and have cold showers before you go to bed.
MG: Yeah. And that brings me onto the next question. I was going to ask you sort of what basic supplements do you recommend to assist with gaining lean muscles because we hear about Creatine and supplements like that a lot of folks are sort of told to take, especially when they want to build lean muscle.
CH: Yeah. Well, with me, the most important thing for me is getting a really good workout in because that’s what we’re doing. We’re breaking down muscle when we’re working out, and then, we’re trying to repair it. And we’re worth supplements and recovery. So, I want my supplements to do two things. One, to give me a great workout, which would be a pre-workout shake. I use Extreme Rush by Blue Star. I’ve had Blue Star Nutraceuticals. I’ve tried different ones, but some of them upset my stomach. This one’s pretty good. And it works. It gets you really amped for your workout. And then, the rest of the supplements, I want to be helping me with recovery. So, BCAA’s are great for… Especially when you do… You’re depleting your calorie. BCAA’s help you maintain muscle. Glutamine’s great. It helps you process protein. Carbs are great actually, a carb mix. I use Waxy Maize. It’s a good carb mix. It’s just a… It’s absorbed by your body a lot easier so it’ll carry that… It’ll spike your insulin and through that, it will carry the protein and all the glutamine, and all the nutrients or multivitamin to your muscles where your blood pumping, where you want them to go a lot faster than just pure sugar will. So, I have… I think I have 70 grams of carbs after a workout along with 30 or 40 grams of protein, and I have glutamine. But those are the basics. When you get beyond that, Creatine is good but you want to cycle it. And yeah, there’s lots of things you could take. But the basics, just the proteins, carbs, glutamine, BCAA’s if you want to, and the pre-workout. Oh, I suppose not weight but muscle building supplements, like vitamin D and fish oils are also great. So, I take those in the morning and before bed.
MG: Oh, cool.
CH: Yeah.
MG: And is there any vital sets that we haven’t covered that folks should be taking when structuring their training routine for building lean muscle?
CH: You want to balance your recovery. You want to make sure you’re getting the right amount of recovery. So, I like a four-day split, where I go the first two days are back to back. And then, you take a day off. Then the next, the day of training. And then, the day off, and then, the fourth day of training. So, then you get your sleep in between. I also… Another trick that’s good is you always want to get your eight hours of sleep because that’s where you’re going to recover the most. With taking a 20-minute nap after a workout’s really good too. It will help boost the human growth hormone which helps in recovery. And then, the split you want to use… A lot of guys… Another thing I was doing that was wrong that really messed me up when I was trying to pack on muscle and I wasn’t doing very well was my training splits. So, you look at body builders, they’ve got the chest and bi’s split or the back tri-split, or the quad split, the calves and they’ve got… They separate into body parts because they’re training five, six days a week and they are on a lot of steroids. So, they recover a lot faster. And they’re genetic freaks as is. They’re mesomorphs. They can pack on muscle while training two hours a day. But what I did was I changed it into an upper-lower split. So, I’ve got my lower body, then I follow it with an upper body day with… Which might be pull dominated. Then other lower body, and then, upper body data might be pushed dominated. So, you cover every muscles twice in the week, so you’re getting double the amount of recovery. And that’s a bit… Choosing the right split is huge when it comes to building new muscle mass.
MG: Yeah. I understand. When I had my photo shoot that I ended up over training, and I had to bring it right back, I sort of went a bit overboard with it and the amount of muscle that I actually lost from doing it, it took a good… probably 4 weeks to get back on track again?
CH: Yeah, recovery and training are both equally important. None of them more important than the other, so…
MG: Yeah. Free weights, body weights, exercise machines. What in your opinion are the best exercises for building lean muscle? And what exercises should you avoid like the plague?
CH: The best exercises, I think, are the ones that… They’re compound exercises, the ones that will activate the most muscle. So, you’re talking squats, which work the quads, glutes, hamstrings. Dead lifts are awesome, and then… Like others variations of each. And then, upper body, bench press, Yates row’s a great one, chin ups, anything that works more than one muscle group. Military press is good. And then, the ones you want to avoid like the plague… I think machines should be cut out. Don’t even go towards machines, their methods. A cable type machine which still gives you that kind of resistance, because if you’re using a machine as a guided plane and you’re not using all your muscles, and you might get imbalances because one arm is pushing tougher than the other. But if you’re using dumbbells or barbells, you can see that imbalance if one side of your body is stronger, so… Just avoid machines, and avoid too much isolation early on. But as you begin to pack on the muscle, you can add in more isolation like working on your biceps, triceps, calves and so forth as you start to see results.
MG: Chad, what kind of changes did you have to make to your diet other than what we’ve already discussed? And I’m talking like really specific steps that you can give to folks attending this coaching lesson today that they can apply to their own eating plan. And what’s the process behind these steps without getting too technical?
CH: Well, when I started out, I… My transformation was couple years ago. So, I’ve obviously learned a lot since then. And new stuff is always coming out. It’s not always the best stuff, but with my meal plan, it was just a matter of eating enough food. I ate a ton when I was boxing, but I was doing so much training that it didn’t matter. So, when I cut out the boxing and I cut my weight training schedule down, and really, really focused the majority of my carbs before and after my workout and had big breakfasts, big dinners and so forth, that’s when I started to pack on more muscle. And I think those two meals… Everyone says breakfast is the most important meal or whatever. I think the two meals before your work out and the meal after your workout are, by far, the most important meals because those are the ones that’s going to give your body something to burn while you’re training. It’s going to have the nutrients that will help you recover, and that’s both before and after your workout.
CH: So, I’d start on those two meals. With those two meals, you can have tasty stuff. My pre-workout meal is always French toast. So I have egg whites. I have a lot of egg whites, maybe like 10, 12, egg whites just get them in cartons. 2 or 3 slices of whole wheat toast, and then, you put… Just dip those in the egg whites with some vanilla extract. Put them on… You put cinnamon over them, you cook them. And then, use all natural maple syrup. So, what that does it will spike your insulin levels. Insulin’s an absorption hormone which will bring the protein… Help you absorb protein better. And so, then you will eat the high carbs, the low fats and the high proteins. Now you’re going to have fuel to burn during your workout. And after your workout, you want something of the same. You want to keep your fat low. You want to keep your proteins high and your carbs high, so you’re giving your body something to burn, and then, obviously, pack them full of nutrients if you can as well. You can add vegetables in there. That’s a great thing. But when you’re starting out, really focus on those two meals. And then, like we said earlier, have a lot of fat before you go to bed and when you wake up. Like, I eat actually quite a bit of fat in my diet. The only time I don’t eat fat is before and after my workout. So, those are two big lessons that I had to learn and they’ve helped me out a lot since.
MG: Yeah, that’s cool. And we’ve sort of covered a little bit about recovery. And there’s a saying that goes like this, “Your body does not build muscle while you’re in the gym, your body builds muscle while you’re resting.” So, why is rest so beneficial to gaining muscle?
CH: Well, when we’re lifting weights, we’re actually breaking down our muscle. So, what we’re doing is we’re creating little tears in our muscles. In order for us to gain muscle, we then need to repair those tears. That’s how muscle builds and expand, it gets bigger. So, the way to repair those muscles is to rest, recovery through nutrition and through sleep. So, when we’re sleeping, that’s when our body will use the nutrients, and really rest and repair those muscle fibers that we’ve broken down during training. So, that’s why it’s so important.
MG: Yeah. And Chad, your new body also racked up your confidence and ladies started approaching you at parties. And you were dating more, and it opened up a door to so many more opportunities for you, didn’t it? Including a successful career. So, what kind of difference or change or end results do the techniques that you’ve shared today have on your testosterone levels like in regards to libido and in general, towards your confidence levels? And you can be as forward as you like with your response because we’re going to discuss a lot of taboo topics in this membership site. So, you can go for it.
CH: Okay. [chuckle] Well, I think confidence is transferable. You look at Michael Jordan. He’s one of the greatest basketball players of all time. And he took his confidence in basketball, and he transferred it over to business. Now he’s really successful in business. So, the new body with me really helped my confidence in just everyday things, and especially with girls. But then, that transferred over to things like business, and I was able to speak my mind a lot more. I’m not afraid to approach girls by any means, or… Your true self begins to show that when you’re a bit more confident in how you look, and that led me to starting with the business and starting the site, and it’s really been transferable. And obviously, you have more strength and stamina, and you’re just a little more vibrant, which transfers over to other things with girls and so forth. You’re a bit more sexual when you’re more confident, I think. Like when you’re unconfident, you’re just scared to try anything new. When you’re confident you’re down to try whatever, so… And that translates into tons of different things.
MG: Yeah, we hear you.
[laughter]
CH: Yeah. It’s… I don’t know. Confidence is extremely transferable. And yeah, it’s good. It’s a lot better being confident than it is unconfident.
MG: Yeah, definitely. I just wanted to know what has been the best advice your mentors gave you?
CH: With regards to training, or…
MG: Like if there’s anything maybe that we haven’t covered already that you can think of that they may have recommended you do, or suggest to you that sort of really had a big impact on you.
CH: With training, one… A friend of mine actually said take a month off every… No, take a week off every month. When you’re game off, let it just… Take recovery to the next level and that was really, really beneficial, and something that very few people do, very few people take. When you get into training, very few people take a week off because they think that they’re going to be a week behind. But actually, when you take that week off and you come into the gym, it does wonders. You feel great. You recover. You take a mental break, and now you’re able to get back into the gym and attack your workout like you should be attacking them. So, that was probably one of the best pieces of advice I had with regards to training that I was given.
MG: For most folk it would be quite scary to take that week off once a month, wouldn’t it?
CH: Yeah. And over Christmas, a lot of people were asking, what’s the best thing I could do to stay in shape while Christmas was going on? And I would say, “Just take a week off.” If you’re going to cheat, cheat. Like, go all the way with it.
MG: Yeah.
CH: I took a week off. Actually, yeah, I took a week or two weeks off over Christmas and just enjoyed time with my family, and didn’t worry about training. Still went for a run and was active, but… So, maybe a mental break, too.
MG: Yeah, definitely. If you were starting over again, what would you do differently?
CH: I don’t know. Everything seemed to fall into place, just happened a bit later, which would’ve been nice to have had the physique a bit younger. But I don’t know if I would do anything differently. I learned the lessons I learned because of where I was. So, I think I’d keep them the same. I don’t think I’d change anything.
MG: That’s great!
CH: I think I like… I learned a lot being… Like, about confidence. And I think I’m able to help skinny guys or even people that are overweight and lacking at confidence because I’ve been there. So, I don’t think I’d change anything.
MG: Yup, yup. That makes perfect sense.
CH: Yeah.
[chuckle]
MG: And Chad, before we wrap up, is there anything else in particular that you’d like to share with members today?
CH: Yeah. I listen to my emails a lot. I get a lot of emails from people every day and most of them talk about… Either they… I ask them what their goals are, and I tell them how I’m going to help them reach the goals and so forth. And the two things I’d say are, one, a lot of people don’t set big enough goals, and, two, a lot of people aren’t hard enough on themselves. So what most people say they don’t have enough time to get their training in. And when I ask them how much time they have, they say four hours a week, which is more than enough. I was training four times a week for 45 minutes when I made my transformation. So, you don’t need all that much time. And then, with goals, I’d say set more audacious goals. Like, if you want to lose 100 pounds, if you really, really want to lose 100 pounds, that’s your dream goal, don’t set the goal to lose 20 pounds. Set the goal and lose 100 pounds. And like I think people should be even though with my business and with this… Like I set pretty audacious goals and I think other people should as well. And then create a plan to achieve them because it’s all doable. If you want to lose 100 pounds, you can easily do it. Not easily, it’s going to take a lot of dedication. But I’d say whatever your dream is, whatever your big goal is, set that because you’re going to want to reach that a lot more that you’re going to want to reach some puny, tiny goal that doesn’t mean a whole lot to you. And then… Yeah, then give it the respect of going… Sacrificing and working hard enough to make it come… Make it realized.
MG: And big goals are a lot more exciting too, aren’t they?
CH: Oh, yeah.
MG: Yeah.
CH: Especially with life and traveling, and business, fitness and stuff. Sweet, I like them.
MG: Yeah, me too. Chad, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your advice in today’s special mentor coaching lesson. And I know members who get a tremendous amount of value out of this. We’ve had so many requests for advice on building lean muscles for hard gainers. And if it’s okay with you, I just want to quickly provide your website details again to members. And that’s chadhowsefitness.com. That’s C-H-A-D-H-O-W-S-E-F-I-T-N-E-S-S dot com. That’s right isn’t it?
CH: Yup. All good and thank you.
MG: So, thanks again, Chad. It’s been awesome speaking with you today. And once again, this is Mandy Gibbons here and I’ll see you all in the next coaching lesson.
END
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