A Few Tips On How To Get Lean And Not Look Skinny
If you’ve ever been on a cutting phase or managed to get fairly lean then chances are that you noticed one thing in particular … you have to get awfully “skinny” and drop a considerable amount of weight to make any type of drastic change. Unfortunately this really isn’t much of a secret or new thought either … it’s not easy to get lean and not skinny. There are, however, ways to look bigger even with your shirt on, giving the perception that you are not as small as someone might think.
Probably you have heard of the shirt on vs shirt off theory?
Basically, you can look impressive with your shirt on or you can look impressive with your shirt off. Of course, if you’ve been lifting long enough and have stuck to a good diet you can certainly pull off a bit of both. But for the majority it’s a matter of choosing one look and really focusing on getting to that point.
Where the pitfall lies in getting lean is that you usually end up getting “skinny” as well.
In the past I’ve received comments from some of my friends along the lines of “Man, are you sick? You look skinny!” (exaggeration) While that certainly doesn’t feel great to hear, it can be fairly easy to handle if you know you can take your shirt off and impress the heck out of them.
On the other hand, I’ve heard comments from friends along the lines of “Man, you must be working out like a mad man. You look like Arnold” (even bigger exaggeration). What is funny is that when I’ve gotten comments like that it was mainly due to the fact that I had gained some weight from not eating as well as I should have … NOT because I had packed on a bunch of muscle!
Since after I first started cutting and received the skinny remarks I’ve been focusing on ways to avoid this problem. Don’t get me wrong, if you want to get ripped and toned you do (more often than not) have to lose body fat and get quite a bit smaller … even “skinny” in some people’s eyes.
What really helps though, is to add size where it matters most … where people can see even while you have your shirt on.
How To Get Lean Without Looking Skinny
The first thing that we need to consider in order to get lean, not skinny is the muscles that you are going to focus on building. What are these muscles? These are the ones that create a larger looking frame … and can be seen with your shirt on.
No quads … no hamstrings … heck, not even pecs or lats, but hear me out.
Yes, quads, hamstrings, pecs and lats are the 4 muscles that give you your most size. If someone asked me how to add a ton of muscle in as short of a time period as possible these are the muscles I would focus on. And yes, one of the most visually important muscle groups to looking good with your shirt off (other than your abs) is your pecs but they have little effect on making you look bigger with your shirt on.
Of course, there are guys walking around with huge pecs busting out of their shirts and they look “buff” but trust me, once their shirts come off they are not going to have visible abs and their pecs are going to look a bit like man boobs. These guys are going to be a far cry from lean!
The point is, if you are lean and toned then your pecs are going to look good with your shirt off. If they don’t, work on building your upper pecs first.
So focus on building these other muscles and you will create the perception of being bigger… even with your shirt on.
In the end, yes you are going to be lighter than normal if you want to get lean but you don’t have to look as light as you really are.
Admittedly, it sounds easy …
“Just add muscle to your shoulders and arms to make your upper body look bigger and add muscle to your calves to make your legs look bigger.”
But instead of simply building larger shoulders, bigger biceps and killer calves it makes more sense to build the part of the muscle that will give you the most drastic change in appearance. <- Tweet this
Typically I focus on building my outer shoulders, outer & lower biceps, outer & upper triceps, inner forearms and inner calves. These areas are what create the most distinct lines and give your muscles a bit of a pop.
Why not just the whole muscle? Honestly, that’s fine (and good long term) but if you can grow just the most noticeable area of the muscle first you will pull off the perception of being bigger, sooner.
Take for example the relationship that the bicep and shoulder have and how these work together to give your upper body the perception of size.
If you work your lower bicep and outer shoulder this creates more of a noticeable and distinct transition from the shoulder to arm. When you flex your bicep you may not have as big of a pop vertically, but when your arms are at your side (which is typically going to be the majority of the time) your biceps look larger because they are full where your upper arm meets your elbow. This creates a more distinct line from your bicep to your elbow … giving the appearance of it being larger.
Also, this carries over to making your shoulders look bigger. Since the “line” where your shoulder meets your upper arm is more distinct your shoulders are going to appear to be bigger than they really are.
Now don’t go to the extreme and completely eliminate working the back of your shoulders. You still need a degree of balance since there is more to your shoulder than just looking bigger, but you get the idea.
Once you’ve figured out how to get lean you know you look good with your shirt off. Now all you have to do is start building the size of your visible muscles and focusing on what will make them pop the most and you won’t look too skinny with your shirt on.
How about you … have you found that getting lean often goes hand-in-hand with “skinny” remarks? Do you have a plan of attack to combat this? Leave me a comment below, I’d love to hear your take!
Ryan
June 28, 2012 @ 4:00 pm
I just finished phase III of Rusty’s Visual Impact program. I leaned out a ton and was very happy with my look (still have some ab work) but I always receive the small and skinny comments lately. I just started the bonus phase and while I still plan on getting lean through diet and cardio I’m hoping that by now lifting for hypertrophy again with creatine that I will lean out more without getting smaller and if not get a ton bigger end up actually looking bigger as a result.
Kevin
June 28, 2012 @ 4:06 pm
Hey Ryan,
Yeah, I think to a degree it’s inevitable when it comes to getting truly lean but the bonus phase will certainly help.
You should be in a great place to start adding some size now that you’re more lean and toned, good job!
Ryan
June 29, 2012 @ 2:24 pm
(The Ryan Below is a different Ryan :)” just wanted to toss that out there it doesn’t look like I’m posting and replying like crazy. Kevin how do you think I should go about my cardio while adding back mass through hypertrophy and creatine? Should I do just as much as I was in Phase 3? I was doing anywhere between 15 mins of HIIT and 15 mins of LIT or 20/20 mins.
Kevin
August 2, 2012 @ 7:26 am
Wassup you crazy commenter 😉
Go back to your exact workout that you used in phase 1 … but keep the diet
low calorie like phase 3.
Ryan
June 29, 2012 @ 1:20 am
Kevin,
Great info again. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile as one of my goals for 2012 was to become a stud. (see http://www.ryaneggenberger.com/become-a-stud-update). The info here is great.
I like this post because it keeps the end goal in perspective (the “where am I going) so that all you have to do is work backwards (the “how am I going to get there”). These are great principles that you’ve applied to working out.
Keep up the good work and keep it coming! It’s great stuff.
Kevin
August 2, 2012 @ 7:27 am
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the compliment man! I will certainly do my best to keep the site going.
Dave - Not Your Averagefitnesstips
July 3, 2012 @ 11:35 am
Kevin,
Great article and certainly resonates with me. Like you, I’ve gotten similar comments on both sides. I find that the biggest detriment to getting lean and losing fat is that my neck and face get really skinny. It gives me the appearance of being really small in clothes. Now I’ve focused on maintaining a higher weight with a lot more muscle mass…unfortunately some extra fat as well but I’m hoping to trim that down gradually over time. Nice touch with the specific areas to focus on within each body part.
Dave
Kevin
August 2, 2012 @ 7:29 am
Thanks Dave. I’ve also noticed that getting smaller (fitting) clothes makes a big difference too. Not just your shirts but also pants. Funny thing, but it does work.
Also, just staying lean for a longer period of time works. Everybody (including yourself) is used to seeing at a heavier weight. Just stay lean and eventually that will look “normal.”
Siddharta1979
July 15, 2012 @ 12:17 pm
Great article; what exercises do you suggest to accomplish it?
Kevin
August 2, 2012 @ 7:40 am
If you checkout the muscle groups above, I’ve linked to articles with good exercises to follow. Hope that helps!
Siddharta1979
August 2, 2012 @ 7:44 am
Damn! Hadn’t seen that… thanks a lot!
Patrick
August 19, 2012 @ 8:26 am
Now that I realize those “skinny comments” are all originated from my skinny face alone, I feel pretty frustrated. I follow Visual Impact toward the end of phase 2 and get my body fat level to around 11%, and already see having a very skinny face.
Just focusing on several parts can only fix the frame and create a “larger” look. The main issue – the skinny face – is still there.
Can we find a way to strategically add water and fat to our face and fix this once and for all ?
Richard
January 16, 2013 @ 11:55 pm
I find if I cut my hair short on the sides my face/head looks a lot skinnier. I try to not cut my hair shorter than 3/4 in on the sides. This makes my head look wider and a lot better. 😀
Steve
January 17, 2013 @ 7:02 am
Thanks Kevin… this is a very informative post, and a problem I’ve been struggling on myself recently. Any idea on timeframe of how long it takes to actually build up those muscle groups? Because you could be leaning out way before these muscles even start to develop since muscle grows much slower than fat is burned.
zee
December 28, 2015 @ 4:03 am
great info. I workout shoulders,traps, calves only once a week. I think i should focus more on that instead of focusing on the overall body. I will hit them thrice a week from now on.