I talk a lot about fat loss, mainly because that seems to be the goal for most people. But I also know a thing or two about muscle gain (just ask some of my clients).

In a (brief) nutshell:

1. The irrefutable law of muscle growth is progressive tension-overload. If you want to get bigger and stronger, you need to, in one form or another, be implementing progressive tension overload. This means you need to be lifting more weight or doing more reps at a given weight over time. If you were lifting 50kg for 10 reps a year ago, and today, you're still lifting 50kg for 10 reps – you haven't gained muscle.

You won't be able to progressively overload at every session.. this is totally normal so don't freak out. A good way to gauge progress is to compare month to month – are you stronger now than you were a month or two back? Yes – great, you're building muscle and strength. No? Then you're messing up and you need to take a look at why you're not progressing anymore.

2. You don't need to be in a calorie surplus to grow. But it definitely makes it easier, especially if you're a 'hardgainer.' You have to make a decision here:

• Do you want to stay lean year round and build muscle at a slower rate, or

• Do you want to build muscle and aren't too concerned about not looking as lean for a while?

If you choose the former, then accept your rate of muscle gain will be far slower; if you choose the latter, then accept you will not be as lean.

*** NB – When I say 'you don't need to be in a calorie surplus', I'm implying eating at calorie maintenance.

3. 'Hardgainers'. If you think you 'eat a lot' but 'just can't gain weight', guess what? You're not eating enough. So workout how many calories you need to grow; download a tracking app and track your food intake to ensure you're eating enough food.

4. Strength training is inherently anabolic. I've been saying this for so long now that even I want to punch myself in the face every time I say it. If your goal is to build muscle, strength training comes first, NOT your nutrition. This is in direct opposition to what some shitty supplement company told you because how else are they going to sell their MASS GAINER 9000? But it's true.

This doesn't mean you don't pay attention to your nutrition. What it means is: strength training is the driver of muscle growth, not how much food you're eating.

5. How many calories should you eat?

These are the guidelines I use with my clients.

• Men: 200-300 calories above maintenance.

• Women: 100-200 calories above maintenance.

Then we'll adjust based on how their body responds.

6. Don't get fat, dumbass. This is aimed at my male readers–the old school approach of eating a ton of food and calories to gain size is idiotic and misguided for those of us who aren't on that "special sauce". You can't force your body to build muscle by force-feeding it more calories; it's only going to lead to excess fat gain, which is going to lead to spending twice as long dieting to lose it, only to realise that you didn't even gain that much muscle (excess fat gain inhibits muscle growth) in the first place.

7. Train in a wide variety of rep ranges. Use low reps with heavier weights (3-5 reps); moderate reps with moderate weights (6-10 reps); and yes, even light weights with high reps (12-20+ reps).

8. Lagging body part solution: increase frequency. If you have a body part that isn't growing, increase the number of times you're hitting that body part per week (increased frequency).

9. Implement gaining breaks. Just like you'd take a 'diet break' during a fat loss diet, taking a break from eating in a surplus is beneficial. You can use this period to strip off some of the excess fat you'll have gained during the surplus, and it can help 'reset' appetite.

How often you take a gaining break will depend on you and your genetics (some people can eat in a surplus for longer without accumulating much excess fat; others, like me, gain fat pretty quickly. Alas, such is life). Generally speaking, these are my guidelines:

• Eat in a moderate surplus for 2-3 months aiming to gain 0.5-1% total bodyweight per week.

• Then take a gaining break for 4-6 weeks and eat at maintenance.

• And repeat.

10. Set protein intake slightly higher during a gaining phase.This is something I personally like to do and, please read this next part carefully, you don't have to do it.

But, I've found setting protein to ~1.2g/lb (versus 0.8-1g/lb) during a gaining phase can help reduce excess fat gains during a surplus. I should note that this is purely speculation (based on a few studies) and anecdote (myself and clients) and individual context needs to be considered.

For example, someone who's naturally lean and has a low appetite may struggle to consume enough calories to facilitate growth if protein intake is too high (due to the satiety effects of protein). In this case, setting protein to about 0.8-1g/lb will suffice.

However, if you're someone who gains fat pretty quickly when eating in a surplus and you don't struggle with a low appetite, this may be a useful strategy to mitigate excess fat gain.

11. Don't neglect your cardio. This may seem like an odd point in a post about muscle gain but I can't state how important it is. Don't let the fact you're trying to gain size have you neglect your cardiovascular health. This doesn't mean you start running marathons, but doing some form of cardio work (like brisk walking) can have profound benefits on your muscle gain endeavours as well as keeping you healthy.

It also encourages the 'eat more, move more' mantra that I'm a fan of. By increasing your daily activity you'll be able to consume more calories while minimising fat gain.

12. "Fatigue," "pain," and "sweat" are NOT indicators of a successful workout. A successful workout is one where you improved on the previous workout. Whether this be more reps, sets, weight lifted, better form, etc.

This doesn't mean don't train with intensity – DO train hard. But, I see far too many people equate how (bad) they feel with how successful or effective the workout was.

Remember: Focus on progression, not how bad you can make yourself feel.

13. Ladies: Just because your booty is 'burning' doesn't mean it's growing.

So, ditch the Insta-celeb plyometric nonsense and make squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hip thrusts the core of your programming.

Can you do those BOOTY BLASTER HIIT workouts? Sure. If you enjoy them, feel free to do them BUT as accessory work to the exercises I mentioned above.

Your glutes aren't immune to the law of progressive overload: aim to get stronger in the main lifts over time, consume adequate amounts of calories and protein to help facilitate growth and recovery, and your butt will grow.

So there we have it.. let the gains begin 💪