While most of the population struggles to lose weight to get shredded, there’s a minority of individuals who need to gain weight to get jacked. These guys are often overlooked simply because there are not as many of them, and many fitness tips won’t apply quite as well to people who have such difficulty gaining weight and muscle.
As someone who falls into this camp myself, and has now achieved a physique I am proud of, I feel qualified to talk about this.
First and foremost, skinny guys need to understand the importance of a caloric surplus.
You can’t build a house without bricks, and you can’t build muscle without fuel.
Prioritize foods with high caloric density like dairy, pastas, and meats. Don’t go for the super lean meats: you can afford the extra calories from fat. Fast food might not be the healthiest in terms of nutrients, but it can be very calorie-dense for pretty cheap. Two McDoubles have about 45g of protein and roughly 800 calories while only costing $4.00.
Sleep is a crucial component of muscle gaining.
During deep sleep, your body releases growth hormones that aid in the repair and growth of muscle tissue. Aim for at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night. This isn’t just about feeling rested; it’s about giving your body the time it needs to build itself back stronger. While training preps the body to build muscle, resting and recovery is when the muscle actually gets built. If you aren’t resting, you aren’t building.
When it comes to training, intensity is key.
Many people mistakenly believe that only lifting heavier weights is the most effective way to bulk up. While increasing weight is a form of progressive overload and should not be disregarded, it’s not the end-all-be-all.
What’s been more and more demonstrated to be important is maximizing the stretch at the bottom portion of every movement. This stretch creates muscle tension and activates more muscle fibers, leading to effective hypertrophy. Do NOT neglect a full range of motion. For example, when doing bicep curls, focus on the stretch at the bottom rather than how heavy the dumbbell is. A full range of motion, while also ensuring a controlled eccentric (lowering the weight), will ensure the best bang for your buck with every exercise you perform.
While the weight you lift might not be as crucial as the intensity, progressive overload remains the overarching goal.
This means that over time, you should be lifting more weight, performing more reps, or increasing your workout’s intensity. It’s this consistent challenge and adaptation that leads to muscle growth. Just don’t chase after increasing the weight as soon as you can. Only increase the weight when you can perform the desired rep count with a full range of motion and in a controlled manner.
The fundamentals are by far the most vital part of training.
Advanced tactics and techniques are not necessary if the basics are mastered. Bulking up as a skinny guy is not just about eating more or lifting heavier; it’s a three-pronged approach that involves a high-calorie diet, adequate sleep/recovery, and a practical understanding and application of workout intensity. By prioritizing high-caloric density foods, ensuring you get sufficient sleep, focusing on the intensity and range of motion in your workouts, and gradually increasing the weight over time, you set yourself up for sustainable and effective muscle growth.
P.S. On a technical note, while hardgainers do not technically exist (you have found people saying hardgainers are a myth), in practice they do. There are plenty of people who find themselves struggling with gaining muscle no matter how much they train or eat. While there isn’t anything that technically categorizes them as a hardgainer, they practically are exactly that. They don’t need some special technique or approach to achieve their goals: they just need a strategy built for them.
