Jacked Notes #7 - Small Weights, Small Muscles.

The fitness industry has mastered one thing: distracting lifters with arguments that don’t really move the needle.

• "Is 12 reps better than 10?"

• "How many reps is best for hypertrophy? 8, 10, or 12?"

• "Does the cable angle change upper chest activation?"

• "Should you train 2 reps from failure or 1?"

When I was a beginner I was stuck in the content consumption trap for years.

Youtube videos, podcasts, books, articles, forums, etc...

I was obsessed.

The crazy part? All that did was leave me more confused than ever.

And yeah, I built some muscle.
But I was always second-guessing.
Always changing things.
Never really sure if what I was doing was right.

That’s the trap most guys fall into,
They confuse information with progress.

But none of those micro-optimizations matter if you're still weak and changing your routine every other week.

And here's a good example:

You want a bigger chest, but you’re still benching 135lbs.

And instead of fixing that, you’re obsessing over cable angles and fly variations.

Why would your chest be big if you’re moving small weight?

No tweak or isolation hack is going to do what adding 90 pounds to your bench will.

Take that 135 bench to 225.

That’s what actually builds your chest.

And I'm not telling you to become a powerlifter.

BUT, I am telling you that the most important gauge to getting jacked is increasing your strength in a moderate rep range.
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The real reason most beginners stay small and confused?

They're overcomplicating everything and avoiding the basics.

If your workouts start with isolation fluff and you're wondering why you're still small, here's your answer:

You haven't gotten strong yet.

Isolation exercises aren't bad, but they don't build the base.

They're the finishing touch.

If all you ever do is isolation, you're polishing a statue you haven't even carved yet.

If you want to get jacked... Start with compound movements. bench, incline press, rows, squats, deadlifts, overhead presses.

Get brutally strong on them first.

This is exactly how I built my physique and what I teach, step by step in my Average To Jacked Program.

I promise you:

• If your bench goes from 135 to 225+ for reps, your chest will be bigger.

• If your squat goes from 135 to 315+ for reps, your legs will be bigger.

• If your deadlift jumps from 225 to 405+ for reps, your entire posterior chain will grow.

This isn't rocket science. But the massive amount of information in the fitness industry has made it seem like it 🤷‍♂️

You don't need another podcast or YouTube breakdown. You don't need the perfect cable variation to grow or some magical rep range.

You need to pick a handful of compound lifts, prioritize them at the start of the workout and spend the next year getting stronger on them.

Hope you guys enjoyed this week's issue of Jacked Notes!

Have an awesome weekend.

—Eric

👇

P.S. If you’re sick of spinning your wheels and want one of the simplest workout plans on the planet that removes all the guesswork, that’s why I built the Average to Jacked Blueprint.

​Grab it here.