How Calisthenics and Calculating My TDEE Helped Me Gain 20 Pounds of Muscle
Max Verzilli is 27 years old and lives in Boulder, Colorado as a maintenance foreman for a landscaping firm. After getting injured, he found himself looking and feeling weak. Here, in his own words, is how he pushed himself to get in the best shape of his life.
After suffering a back injury in early 2019, I took some time off from working out. In November of 2020 I looked in the mirror and thought I looked weak and fragile. That was the moment I decided I was done being weak and that I deserved the body I wanted.
The first change was to get back into a program that I liked and knew I could be consistent with. I mainly train calisthenics and am a big fan of the r/BodyWeightFitness community on Reddit and started with something very similar to their Recommended Routine but catered towards my goal of listening to my body.
For working out, I started with a three-day full body split. My upper body days included pull-ups, rows, push-ups, and dips, all on gym rings. Coming off of a knee injury as well, I took a slow approach with lower body and really focused on the basics and perfecting form while progressing slowly to allow my knee time to catch up.
Aside from bodyweight workouts, I was already a very active individual with cycling, snowboarding, and splitboarding, so I really needed to make sure I was eating enough too.
The only way my diet really evolved was an increase in volume. The biggest thing holding someone back trying to build muscle is diet. You can put in all the hard work you want but if you are not eating for proper recovery then you are going to get stagnant.
I calculated my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), added about 500 calories and just got to work eating. I don’t follow any specific diet, I just eat what works best for my body. Lots of eggs, bacon, cottage cheese, yogurt, chicken, steak, fruits, vegetables, peanut butter, and some occasional junk food like Pop-Tarts and ice cream sandwiches on days where I was lagging on my calories.
I spent a lot of time learning the basic of programming and progressive overload to understand the best way to go about building muscle. Most people just show up. do a bunch of exercises that don’t really go together, hop on the treadmill, get sweaty, and think they had a good workout. After a month of this and seeing no results they give up. Unfortunately this is a product of the fitness industry and social influences trying to get your views.
I would weigh myself first thing in the morning with minimal clothing and take my weekly average as my weight for the week. I was shooting to gain around 1 pound of weight every week. I saw my entire body—from my traps, lats, biceps, pecs, triceps, quads, hamstrings, glutes—change before my eyes. Although I would say my quads have not grown as much as I would have liked. They’re big muscles and you really have to work them which can be hard at home with minimal equipment.
Over the course of this past year following my diet and exercise regimen, I went from 130 to around 150. I feel a lot bulkier in the way I walk, the way I hold myself up, and my clothing fits a little more snug. It feels great! I am in the best shape of my life. I am confident and I am happy with the way I look. Everyone deserves their obtainable dream body.
Now I do a six-day push-pull-leg split that I am absolutely loving. Upper body days focus on compound movements with added weight for the focus of the work out then other movements with lower weight focused on form, time under tension, and really fatiguing those muscles. My lower body work is mainly done with kettlebells.
My advice to others is to find a program that looks best for your goals. Use progressive overload. Be consistent. And follow the Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) method for whatever weight goals you have.
Having goals was the biggest motivator for me. Having something I could measure and see. Progress pictures also helped me a lot. You usually don’t start to see progress for a month or two and that progress may be very slow at first. But when you go back to photos from six months ago and see how far you’ve come, it makes you want to push even harder.
The most difficult part for me was my diet, however. I love to push myself and calisthenics is fun so I have no issue working out most days. I rarely take a day off unless I really need it. But on days where I am bulking and eating 3,200 calories and work is busy, it can be hard to get those calories in. You have to eat big to get big.
My body and I have a much healthier relationship and I have very good mind muscle connection now. I love looking at myself and smiling. My confidence is through the roof and I notice people looking at me differently when I am out in public. When clothing fits you better, your confidence skyrockets, and as a result you will walk with your head held a little higher. People notice these things.
This lifestyle has become very important to my wellbeing and I don’t ever see myself not moving. I took a few easy weeks over the holidays to deload after a crazy year and busy season at work. Now it's back to the grind. This upcoming year will have a strong focus on skill movements like the handstand and front lever.
For those embarking on a fitness journey, set realistic goals for yourself. Take a lot of pictures, even if you feel silly. having older pictures to compare really shows the hard work you have been putting in. Remember it is not a race or a competition. Use movement as a celebration for what you can do and not a punishment for what you ate!
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