Living Large. Vince Del Monte
and was getting stronger every week. I finally started to look like “one of the bigger guys,” and a few of my close friends would come up to me and say, “Yo, Vinny [notice they did not say “Yo, Skinny Vinny”]. You’re looking jacked, man!”
My mom even threw away my protein powder. After she witnessed her son transform so fast, she worried that the container in her kitchen was powdered steroids. My brothers just laughed at me with awe or begged, “Vince, flex your muscles,” when their friends came over. The compliments and recognition fueled my mission. I was starting to get what I had thought I could never have.
I continued to trust my body, trust the program, and stay focused on the six-month deadline when I would take my “after” photos. I was determined to capture my transformation on film. After I gained the first 20 pounds, I felt invincible and unstoppable! Over the next five months I gained another 20 pounds and became the talk of my gym.
I started testing out my tactics on my clients. Everyone I trained bulked up fast and got super shredded. They started referring to me as the “Skinny Guy Savior” and “Transformation Specialist.” Other trainers joked, “Vince is about to do another extreme makeover.”
Two years later, I began competing in natural fitness model shows (let me stress this is natural fitness, no steroids allowed). I placed seventeenth in my first show and then fifth in my next a few months later. A few years after that, I returned to the stage and earned my World Beauty Fashion and Fitness (WBFF) Pro Card, and I went on to compete at the World Championships against some of the best physiques in the business.
When I became known as “ripped” and “buff,” those words became central to my new identity. However, I was unaware that at that point, the muscle had more control over me than I had over the muscle.
While I was competing, my life revolved around my workouts, food, supplements, sleep, schedule, and competition outfits. I never missed a meal, and I never missed a workout. I took great pride in sticking to my plan, and I learned a lot about focus, consistency, and discipline; however, I let this goal control my entire life, which created a lot of selfishness and anxiety. It became sickening.
Although I looked damn good, I realized that I was heading down a road of never having enough. That’s when I realized I needed to start looking at muscular development differently. I needed to figure out how I could use my gains to serve others, and I’m going to teach you about that, too.
And so, this book is here to help you defeat your skinny genetics and build a body that is covered with head-turning muscle that you can be proud of, but not at the expense of your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health.
This book is here to help you defeat your skinny genetics and build a body that is covered with head-turning muscle that you can be proud of, but not at the expense of your physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health.
I know too painfully well about your trials and struggles to put on muscle. I know how it feels to walk into the gym where it seems like everyone is growing except you. I know what it’s like to go to the beach and wish you didn’t have to take your shirt off around cute girls, or to feel intimidated when you walk into a bar or club surrounded by guys who are more muscular than you. I know how annoying it is to not be able to find clothes that reveal a strong and proportioned body or to feel frustrated when you step into a confrontation and you don’t have enough respect for yourself to man up.
But finding your identity in how many “likes” you get on your shirtless Facebook selfies will suck your soul dry. Freaking out over a missed meal or the next meal, falling in love with the mirror, pushing through injuries that should be rested, revolving the day around me, me, me, leaves you isolated and obsessive.
Don’t worry. I’m not promoting any of that crap in here.
This book is about believing in yourself enough to build an empowering and well-proportioned physique that exceeds your body’s normal limits and represents you being in control of your life.
This book is about believing in yourself enough to build an empowering and well-proportioned physique that exceeds your body’s normal limits and represents you being in control of your life.
It’s about living large in the gym and in life.
When I talk about building life-changing muscle, I mean that along with the big biceps, you develop the self-confidence to approach the lady of your dreams when you see her. That you feel relaxed and at ease in the company of great men. That you become a man of strength and influence around your coworkers, employees, your spouse, children, parents, and friends.
Does having muscle give you all that? No. But going through the process of building it in a natural and sane way does.
Yes, it is possible. You can build the buff body you want without becoming obsessive, working out two hours a day, or spending thousands of dollars on supplements. And you definitely don’t need to screw around with steroids.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a skinny guy who calls himself a “hard-gainer.” It doesn’t matter if you’ve been training seriously for six months to a year and have little to show for it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had some initial success, but your gains have come to a screeching halt. It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape. It doesn’t matter if you’re suffering from “skinny-fat” syndrome. It doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner to weight training, already built and ready to take it to the next level, or making a comeback.
Whatever the case, you have no need to stress because soon you’ll learn how I overcame my genetics and built an exceptional physique, and how I’ve helped more than 150,000 others in 120 different countries who have bought my programs, and the 750,000+ people who follow me on Facebook and the 300,000 who subscribe to my YouTube channel do the same.
In May 2006, I released my first e-book, No-Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets to Insane Muscle Gain, and it went on to sell 81,300 copies in 120 countries and became the number-one-selling muscle-building e-book for skinny guys.
Since then I’ve released numerous digital programs, including The Live Large Inner Circle, Your Six Pack Quest, Maximize Your Muscle, 21-Day Fast Mass Building, Live Large TV, Stage Shredded Status, 1,000 Rep Muscle, The 7x7 Size & Strength Solution, Hypertrophy MAX, Get Juiced, 1-on-1 High Level Physique & Performance Coaching, The Vanity Specialization Programs, No-Nonsense Muscle Building 2.0, and Maximize Your Muscle 2.0.
As I write this, my first e-book is almost ten years old. That’s like a million years in “Internet time.”
I’ve learned a lot since then, and I’ve added a ton of upgrades based on new science that wasn’t available in 2006. Every claim I make and every recommendation I give is backed by the latest and best research. I’ve traveled the world speaking to today’s top experts. I’ve hired the best coaches. I’ve found the sources with the best research. I’ve tested the information on my own physique as well as the people I coach, so you don’t have to.
This book isn’t like anything else I’ve ever released. I’ve condensed the best information I’ve found to date and put it in a format to give you only usable content, with no fat—nothing but meat. This is a book you can bring anywhere you want and open it at any point to pull out muscle-building advice you can benefit from immediately.
I wrote this book because I want to give the muscle-building community an easy-to-read, portable resource where you can find the information you want fast, when you need it. It has a detailed table of contents, so you can look up the information you need, and get right to it. You don’t have to wade through pages and pages of fluff to find the one point you need to clarify or the one exercise you want to try next.
The goal of this book is simple: to help you pack on 30 pounds of life-changing muscle in the next 30 weeks . . . the natural way. It’s a big promise, and it’s doable . . . but it won’t be easy. (If you’ve already gained more than 30 pounds of rock-solid muscle since you began lifting, don’t expect another 30