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The 5 Things Keeping You Skinny Fat (And How to Fix Them)

by Jon Mango
Mar 17, 2026
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If you're skinny fat, it means three things:

You're lazy.
You're ignorant.
And it's all your fault.

But the good news is — I have your solution.

In this breakdown, I'm going to walk you through the five key things that cause someone to become skinny fat, stay skinny fat, and how to fix each of them so you can completely transform the way you look, feel, and perform.

And before we get started, there's actually a silver lining here.

If you're skinny fat, that's good news.

Because it means you're doing literally everything wrong.

That might sound harsh, but it also means something important:

Fixing a few key things can completely change your physique.

Let's start fixing them.


1. Training: You're Just Moving Weights

Training is massively underrated when it comes to building a great physique.

People love to say things like:

“Building muscle is 80% nutrition and 20% training.”

That’s nonsense.

Nutrition, sleep, recovery, and stress management all support training.

But training is the stimulus that actually builds muscle.

And most skinny fat people aren't training.

They're just moving weights from point A to point B.

That might build the first five pounds of muscle in your life — which you probably won't even notice.

But after that, it stops working.

Skinny fat lifters typically make these mistakes:

  • Chasing soreness

  • Chasing pumps

  • Using short rest times to elevate heart rate

  • Treating lifting like cardio

  • Not tracking progressive overload

They think a workout was good because they got sweaty or sore.

That's not how muscle growth works.


How To Fix Your Training

You need to start training with intention.

You're not going to the gym to exercise.

You're going there to train deliberately.

Train Close to Failure

A set should look like this:

You're pushing.

The reps are getting harder.

You're pushing again.

They get harder.

Then suddenly the bar speed slows involuntarily.

That slowing of the concentric phase — when the weight slows down no matter how hard you push — is one of the best indicators you're actually stimulating muscle growth.

That’s where the stimulus happens.


Use Moderate Volume

You don't need endless sets.

You don't need drop sets and pump chasing.

If you train properly, moderate volume works best.


Take Proper Rest Times

You are not doing cardio with weights.

Your heart rate should actually be relatively low between sets.

I trained with someone recently and they said:

“Wow, my heart rate is usually way higher during my workouts.”

Good.

It shouldn't be.

Your heart rate might spike after a brutal set of hack squats or Bulgarian splits, but if you're doing curls and your heart rate is sky high, something is wrong.


Maintain Clean Form

As you approach failure, your body will try to cheat.

You’ll start twisting, bouncing, or shifting load to other muscles.

Don’t do that.

Keep your form clean even when the set gets difficult so the stimulus stays where it belongs.


Track Progressive Overload

This is the single best indicator that you're building muscle.

Track your lifts.

Use apps like:

  • Gravitus (iPhone)

  • Heavy (Android)

Track your weight, reps, and progress week to week.

If those numbers go up over time, you're likely building muscle.

Fixing your training alone will make a huge difference.

After all, you're skinny fat because you're skinny — you don't have enough muscle.

Next let's look at the nutrition aspect of things.

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