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How to Get Taller, Wider Biceps

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When it comes to building taller, wider biceps; there’s something you need to know about training them. You see, the biceps is a two headed muscle. There is the inner, short head of the biceps which is responsible for the fullness and width of the biceps. Then, there is the outer, long head of the biceps which is more responsible for the biceps peak, or height.

If you want to recruit one of these heads more than the other, I would recommend that you look in the mirror when doing any of your curls. Why? Well, what you see, is what you train.

If the inside of your biceps are showing in the mirror more than the outside, you are influencing the short head of the biceps more effectively. The same goes for the outside of the biceps; this would mean you are doing the same thing, but for the long head instead.

Now, don’t think you can isolate one head of the biceps more than the other, as both heads will be targeted on any kind of curl. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t influence one more than the other and that comes down to how you train your biceps.

For more tips on building muscle, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

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For complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

How to Get Lean From ANY Body Fat Level

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The best way for you to use this video is to identify the body fat percentage bracket where you are right now. You will also want to see where dropping down into the next lower bracket. Also, you will want to watch the bracket immediately above you too. This will be your long term goal.

With that said, we start at the top, in the upper 30 percent bf percentage. Without knowing the specific individual it is possible to make some generalized assessments of what may be contributing to their higher body fat levels. They likely are not physically active, or if so, are not doing it with any consistency or with enough effort to cause a change. They likely also eat and drink whatever they want, when they want.

Now, to get lean, you can’t make the desirable body fat level your immediate goal. Instead, I want you to look at the very next bracket and make that your immediate goal. Doing this will ensure success as you make your way from a high body fat percentage to the lowest percentage you want to achieve.

For more tips on how to get lean, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

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For complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.

How to Build Big Legs WITHOUT Heavy Squats

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When it comes to building bigger legs, you have likely been taught that you should always squat heavy and go lighter on the accessory movements. If you have been doing this and your legs still aren’t growing, then I implore you to flip the script and change things up.

In fact, if you haven’t done light squats and high rep squats before, this is exactly rhetorical change that is bound to to spark the most gains by doing so.

Add a few 15, 20 or even 25 rep sets for squats into your leg training and you will see a huge difference in the size of your legs. On the other hand, instead of just doing light lunges and Bulgarian split squats, opt to train these leg exercises heavy for just the spark you need for more leg growth.

Even the legendary “King of Quads” Tom Platz would incorporate these light weight, high rep squat sets into his routine to help build the massive legs he showed on stage.

Take note, however, that even though the weight is lighter and the reps are higher, these sets are not easy by any means. In fact, they are downright grueling. Not only will your legs be taxed, but your lungs as well as you will be breathing hard by the 15th rep.

For more tips on building muscle, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

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Get Your Workout & Meal Plan:
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For complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

The ONLY “How to Lose Weight” Video You’ll Need This Year (SERIOUSLY!)

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If you want to lose weight in 2025 then here are four simple steps that you will want to use to drop body fat and get in shape fast. This video will show you the exact amounts of protein, water and carbs that you will want to eat if you are interested in losing weight in the new year.

It starts with recognizing where you struggle with eating right now. 99 out of 100 people tend to have difficulties with carbohydrates, either in eating too many of them or not knowing how to stop eating them once they start. That said, carbohydrates are a critical part of a well rounded nutrition plan. This is especially true for athletes who rely on carbs to fuel their bodies and performance. So I’m not saying that you should avoid them all together as that would be a big mistake.

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Instead, you need to know how to create an eating plan that includes carbs but gives you strategies for overcoming the two most common pitfalls of carbs in the diet plan. These are overeating and grazing.

To combat the desire to constantly grab small amounts of food throughout the day you will find that adopting an intermittent fasting approach will be a great way to start learning the habits needed to decrease your grazing. Now you won’t have to do this forever, unless you decide that this lifestyle works for you long term.

Instead, start with a short term adoption of either an 8, 6 or 4 hour eating window. It is going to be best to start with the least restrictive window which would be 8 hours. It is within this 8 hour window that you will allow yourself to eat. For the remaining 16 hours of the day you will not. It is important to note that the most success with this strategy is going to come by offsetting this window with the hours that are most troublesome for you right now in terms of grazing.

As you start to see success with this intermittent fasting approach you can increase the restricted eating window to 6 hours.

Now, if your problem is that you are having trouble with portion sizes and overeating then the best approach for you to adopt as a strategy for getting on track is the plate division method. Imagine the plate that you are staring down at as a clock. Make note of the times nine o’clock and nine twenty. This is going to create three separate portions on your plate. The second largest portion should be occupied by lean protein like chicken, fish or lean beef. The largest portion should be occupied by fibrous carbohydrates like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, squash or other green leafy vegetables. The smallest portion, but still one quarter of your plate, should be reserved for your starchy carbs like pasta, rice, or beans.

The dedication to protein on your plate is going to not only help with satiety but most importantly, control the type of weight loss that you are experiencing in 2025. It is not enough to just lose weight fast. You want to be sure that the weight that is lost is coming from stored body fat and not from the lean muscle tissue that actively helps to keep your metabolism elevated and capable of burning more calories at rest.

On this note then it is important that you aim to get 1.0g to 1.2g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. If you were a 160lb person this would mean that you would want a minimum of 160 grams of protein per day with upwards of 200 grams if able.

Protein helps to control the type of weight lost. Sure, the law of thermodynamics states that if calories in is less than calories out then you are going to lose weight, but from where is the question. You want to be sure that the loss is coming from body fat and not lean muscle tissue.

To this end you also want to be sure that you are staying hydrated. Aim for .5 ounces of water per pound of bodyweight on the absolute low end with up to .75 or even 1 ounce per pound of bodyweight on the high end.

The hydrated muscle is not only going to look and perform better but it is going to keep your mental acuity and focus up which will help you to maintain the commitment to doing the steps above correctly.

If you want to lose weight in 2025 and get in the best shape of your life, then you’ll want to visit athleanx.com via the link above and use the program selector to find the best diet / meal plan and workout program for you. Check out the page for a free resource of some of the carbs that you can enjoy in your meal plans right now.

For more videos on how to get lean and the best body fat percentages for men and women, remember to subscribe to our channel via the link above and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

How to Eat to Get Lean (OR SHREDDED!)

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When it comes to getting lean, there is one non-negotiable that needs to be understood. Even more so than food choices and that is consistency. I say that consistency is non-negotiable simply because making the right choices in your nutrition every once in a while is not going to get you lean. To get lean and to stay at a low body fat percentage, you will need to be consistent in those good choices.

Some people don’t feel like having a body fat percentage as low as mine as that will likely require more deprivation than is needed to be lean in the first place. Unfortunately, deprivation is one of the key reasons why I see people fail in their pursuit of lower body fat. However, you don’t need deprivation to be lean and look great.

I think that most people will probably be most comfortable sitting around 10-15% body fat because the nutritional choices that need to be made in order to get there and maintain that level requires far less deprivation. This is important because in order to get lean and stay lean, you need to be able to consistently maintain your eating patterns.

Make no mistake, to get lean and stay lean, you need to make good nutritional choices, but it’s not that same as trying to achieve 6% body fat. While certainly achievable to reach and maintain, it is likely much more difficult for the average person than aiming for the 10-15% range.

For more nutrition advice and eating guides, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

You can subscribe to this channel here –

Get Your Workout & Meal Plan:
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For complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

How to Get Bigger, More Vascular Forearms (JUST DO THIS)

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If you’ve been wondering how to get bigger, more vascular forearms, then you have come to the right place. In this video, I am going to show you exactly how to make the veins in your forearms more prominent while adding size to them at the same time. Not only that, but I am going to give a quick forearms building routine that you can do with nothing but an empty barbell.

Getting vascular forearms first and foremost comes down to nutrition, but not quite to the level you might think. To see the vein on the lower abs would require you to be at extremely low levels of body fat whereas the skin on the forearms is naturally much thinner. This means that you will not have to reach extremely low levels of body fat for them to become visible which makes this much easier to achieve.

How does supplementation play a role in forearm vascularity? Well, it depends on what you take. Many preworkouts will contain ingredients that will improve vascularity and pump. The two major ingredients responsible for this are L-arginine and L-citruline. These work as nitric oxide boosters and vasodilators, with citrulline being a bit more effective than arginine.

What about getting bigger forearms? How do we build big forearms with veins popping out of them? That comes down to the type of training that you are doing. Most dedicated forearm training comes in the form of dumbbell wrist curls and wrist extensions, done with very light weight. Unfortunately, this is not going to be enough to develop large, competed developed forearms. In fact, to train all the muscles of the forearms, you need to hit all the functions of the forearms as well.

This is easy to do once you know how to do them. Just grab a resistance band or a cable attachment and use resistance against the function of the forearm that you are going to be training. These functions include wrist flexion and extension, ulnar deviation, radial deviation, forearm supination and forearm pronation. The direction you move against resistance will help to build bigger, stronger, more impressive forearms that will allow for prominent veins to show off your hard work. Now, it doesn’t matter if you do this with cables or bands, either way it is going to completely train your forearms.

These are not the only exercises you can do, however. I have shown before the barbell / kettlebell roller. Simply attach a band to the handle of a kettlebell or dumbbell, wrap the other end around the collar of a barbell in a rack, and then roll the barbell forwards or backwards make the weight travel upwards towards to bar. Once it reaches the top, slowly lower it down to continue the burn in your forearms. I promise you, if you’ve never tried this, it’s a great option for building bigger, stronger, more vascular forearms.

You also have the option of more isometric exercises such as the dead arm hang or a farmers carry. Both exercises are more than just forearm builders however. The dead arm hang has a host of benefits such as improved shoulder health and mobility, mental toughness, and all important spinal decompression. The farmers carry is carries many of the same benefits but will also improve your stamina and conditioning. So, if you are short on time and don’t have the option to train every function of your forearms, then opting for carries or hangs will be the best bang for your buck exercises you can do.

If you are going to stick with wrist curls and wrist extensions done with a dumbbell, then I would implore you to include a few sets of heavy weight as well. We know that muscles respond to both heavy and light weight, but if you are continuously using light weights to build big forearms, then you are going to need a novel stimulus at some point and one of the easiest ways to do that is to simply increase the weight and decrease the amount of reps you are doing.

If you are looking for a super fast forearm workout that you can do to make your forearms visibly pumped and more vascular in just two minutes, then follow the routine I am doing at the end of the video with nothing but an empty barbell to make your forearms pop.

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If you are looking for a step-by-step workout program with a meal plan included, be sure to head over to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the program that best matches your current training goal and ability levels.

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Gain Muscle WITHOUT Getting Fat (HERE’S HOW)

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Many people want to know how to gain muscle without bulking and cutting or getting fat along the way. In this video, I’m going to show you a step by step guide to building muscle while remaining lean and having low body fat levels. As someone who has done this myself for many years, I know exactly how to teach you to do the same thing.

It starts by calculating out your daily maintenance level of calories. There are many complicated ways to do this but I think we can keep it simple and still have this be a really effective way to finding the right starting place. If you can see your abs, even just a little bit, when you look in the mirror then you will multiply your weight in pounds by 15 to obtain your first crack at maintenance.

If you cannot see your abs, then you are obviously at a higher body fat level and will want to multiply your weight in pounds by 12.

From here, try to eat consistently for the next 2 weeks and assess what is happening to your body weight and/or body fat levels. If you notice that you are gaining too much fat then you will want to cut your calculated maintenance level down by 10 percent, eat at this new level for two more weeks, and re-assess. If you steady out your levels at this point then you have effectively determined your baseline.

If you find that you are losing too much weight and not building muscle, then you would want to increase your calculated calorie total by 10 percent and once again reassess after two weeks.

From here, you have to answer the question of how quickly you desire to build muscle and how much tolerance you have for gaining a little bit of body fat. Obviously, this is the point where you are going to have to be honest about your physique goals and the speed at which you are looking for noticeable muscle gaining results.

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Let’s take three levels of calorie surplus to compare the effects of each one.

You can eat in a very modest 100 calorie surplus each day. The issue with this is that the amount of calories that your body has in excess to help build muscle is going to be present but low enough that the rate at which you will build muscle is going to be slower. Keep in mind, this does not mean that you will not be gaining. It just means that it will take a longer time.

The good news about this approach however is that the majority of weight gained here is going to be muscle rather than fat. In fact, science shows that around 90 percent of the weight gained when in a small 100 calorie surplus is lean muscle and only 10 percent of that is body fat.

If we move up to a 300 calorie surplus a couple of things start to happen. First, we have a faster rate of muscle growth. That said, you will see a higher percentage of body fat making up the total weight gain. Here again, science suggests that about 30 percent of the weight gain is from body fat added but still 70 percent muscle growth.

If we move even higher, to a surplus of 500 calories, we once again see a faster rate of muscle gain but also body fat accrual. At this degree of calorie surplus we have more body fat accumulation – approximately 50 percent of the total weight gained.

So if you were going to try and determine how much of a calorie surplus you wanted you would have to consider your tolerance for adding body fat and the rate that you wanted to see a bulkier body. The issue with this is that many people start to develop some habits during the bulk that makes it harder for them to successfully cut later on.

This is where bulking and cutting can become problematic for many and taking the much more modest approach to increasing calories seems to be a more long term successful approach to take.

Be sure to eat approximately the same way throughout the trial period. This means, trying to keep your macros proportionately the same. The thermic effect of food results in a higher metabolic cost to digesting proteins as there are carbs and fats.

You also want to be sure that you are not eating out vs home too much during the trial as this will likely result in some big calculation mistakes.

The bottom line is, you can definitely gain muscle without getting fat or having to bulk. Sure, it will take a little extra time but when you consider the long haul and how much healthier you will be in the big picture along the way to making your gains, I believe it is the best approach.

If you’re looking for a step by step meal plan that will help you build muscle and lose fat at the same time, be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link above and choose the program that best suits your physique goals using the program selector tool.

For more videos on how to bulk and cut properly and the best way to eat to build muscle without getting fat, remember to subscribe to our channel via the link above and remember to turn on your modifications so you never miss a new video when published.

How To Do Cardio (Without Losing Muscle)

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“Cardio is killing your gains!”

Probably not.

Early science said that because weight lifting is anabolic and cardio is catabolic, then cardio will burn your muscle away.

But since then, higher quality, long-term research has shown you can balance cardio and lifting, as long as you do three things:

First: you do your cardio after weight training or at a separate time. It’s totally fine to do a quick, 5-10 minute cardio warm-up before lifting, but if you do your full blown cardio session before weights, you might take a strength hit.

Second: When doing high-intensity cardio, try to go for low-impact options like cycling or the elliptical. High-impact cardio like running and basketball are still great, just try to separate them from leg days by at least a day or two, and don’t overdo them.

Third: Monitor your strength. If you notice it dropping, you might be overdoing cardio. Tone back on the intensity or the amount.

BUT! Most importantly: even if there’s a little interference, you’ll still make great gains as long as you’re lifting consistently, sleeping well and eating enough.

How to Do a 1-Arm Pushup (3 SIMPLE STEPS!)

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Have you ever wished you could do a 1 arm pushup but fell flat on your face every time you tried? Well, I’ve got good news for you. If you can do 15 normal pushups with perfect form, then you can already do one armed pushups.

It’s all about the mechanics you use on this chest exercise and you must make sure you get them right if you want to start repping them out.

First, make sure that you turn the hand that’s on the ground inward about 45 degrees.

Do not worry about shoulder internal rotation here. That is going to get fixed in step three.

Second, place the foot on the opposite side as far away from the body as is comfortable. This will establish a good counterbalance and make the pushup easier to execute.

Finally, as you start lowering your chest to the ground make sure to rotate it towards the wide leg. This, as mentioned, will normalize the rotation in the shoulder joint and alleviate any stress that would have been there from step one.

Not only this, but the combination of all three of these moves puts your body into perfect balance and allows the biomechanics of the exercise to work in your favor.

Far too often people just don’t know how to align their bodies in space to do the exercise effectively. Again, it’s not really a strength issue that is holding you back. It’s the lack of proper mechanics that are preventing you from using the proper leverage to execute one arm pushups properly.

If you are looking for more tutorials on calisthenic exercises like the one armed pushup or single arm pushup, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

You can subscribe to this channel here –

For complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

How to Get That “MIDDLE” Chest Line (No Bullsh*t Guide)

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If you have a problem with the middle chest line between your pecs, you will want to know how to fix your flat inner chest. You might know it as the inner chest or the middle chest, but the line between the two pecs is often a problem for people. In this video, I am going to discuss the inner chest problem and what you can do about it to make your chest look bigger and better.

The middle chest line that divides your pecs from each other is something that can make a chest look big or small, depending on the size of the gap between the pecs. The main problem that people usually have when it comes to the inner chest is that there is too much separation, making the pecs stand further away from each other and giving them a small appearance.

So how do you fix a flat inner chest?

It starts with your genetics. First and foremost, there is a finger test that you can perform to determine the distance between your pecs based on their insertions on the sternum. Simply run your pointer finger up and down the line between the inner pecs. You will be able to feel where the muscle fibers insert into the sternum along with any possible gaps or shortened insertions where the pec doesn’t run all the way to the middle.

The closer the attachment of the chest to the sternum, the less wide the gap will appear between the pecs.

Unfortunately, when it comes to genetics, there is no changing the muscle insertions.

Genetics also play a role in the fact that there may be deformities in the sternum. A crooked sternum or one that is caved in, such as in pectus excavatum, will give the inner chest a less than ideal appearance.

If you have seen a Scott Steiner’s chest, you might be worried that that is what you are destined for. Don’t worry, the appearance of Steiner’s pecs likely comes from nerve damage occurring from his wrestling career.

If you have a middle chest problem, your diet and nutrition may play a role in making it look better. A smaller chest with lower levels of body fat are going to create a better looking chest than a big one that is covered in body fat. Why? Lower levels of body fat actually increase the appearance of muscularity. This means that at the right level of leanness, your chest could actually look bigger and better.

The appearance of a bigger, more muscular chest will actually help to make that inner chest separation look way better.

Finally, fixing the inner chest problem requires you to train your chest and relies on knowing the right way to do so.

Basic chest exercises are great for building a bigger chest; these include the barbell bench press, dumbbell bench press, weight dips, and weight pushups just to name a few. While the basics are good for progressive overload and getting stronger … they are lacking somewhere.

These chest exercises are limited when it comes to one main function of the chest – adduction of the arms. Being able to bring the arm closer to the midline of the inner chest will help to activate more muscle fibers and train the chest through its full function.

An example of an exercise that trains the chest through adduction is a simple cable crossover.

When it comes to training the chest, it’s not only what exercises you choose, but how you do them that matters, especially if you have an inner chest problem.

I find that the chest is the laziest muscle in the body; too often the shoulders and triceps take over the brunt of the work that the pecs are supposed to be doing. In order to get the most out of your chest exercises, try slowing them down. Slower reps lead to not only more stability, but allow you to really focus on the muscles you are trying to work meaning you will be getting better chest activation.

There is also the presence of non-spanning muscle fibers in the chest. The more you contract your pecs, especially through adduction, the more that these fibers become active. If you can get these non-spanning muscle fibers to contract as well, you will have a stronger contraction of the chest.

Remember, focusing on trying to target that inner chest line is unnecessary. If you follow these simple principles and make them the focus of your chest training, you will have a better looking chest that will take the attention off the middle chest line.

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For more ways to make sure that you are getting the most out of your chest workouts, be sure to stay tuned to this channel are remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

For complete step-by-step workout programs that help you to build muscle using science backed principles, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.