Skinny guys and men often say they can eat whatever they want without gaining weight. They are sure that their high-speed metabolism is manna from heaven. They often say something like this: “My metabolism makes women just wildly jealous. I can eat any junk food without gaining a drop of excess weight.

The truth is, you're just not eating enough. It seems to you that you are overeating, but this, in most cases, is not so. Now let's figure out what a skinny guy can do to gain weight.

1. Track calories consumed

Skinny guys often overestimate what they eat. Pay attention to food labels, use a kitchen scale, and carefully track your daily calorie intake. In order to get the approximate amount of calories needed, you need to convert your weight into pounds and multiply this figure by 20. Only under this condition will you begin to gain weight.

1. For every centimeter of the transverse area of ​​​​your body should account for one kilogram of weight

If the weight is less, then you will still look thin. A sample minimum norm for a combination of height and weight looks something like this:

Height (cm)	Weight, kg)	Weight (lbs)
170	70	154
175	75	165
180	80	176
185	85	187
190	90	200

1. How to eat right to gain weight?

Eat every 3 hours.

1. Eat Nutrient-Rich Foods

100 grams of rice - 380 kcal. 100 grams of spinach - only 25 kcal. It will be easier to get enough calories in a day if you eat food filled with nutrients. Best Options:

• Pasta and spaghetti. 100 grams of pasta is about 380 kcal. It is easier to digest such a product than 100 grams of rice. Whole grain pasta is much healthier, but takes much longer to digest. Skinny guys can eat pasta and pasta made from white flour of the highest grade.
• Whole milk. If a small amount of body fat doesn't scare you, then drink 1 gallon (about 3.7 liters) of whole milk per day (milk is not included in the required daily calories). I have a few guys I know who managed to earn about 30 kilograms of healthy weight per year thanks to milk, subject to regular workouts in the gym three times a day.
• nuts. 100 grams of a mixture of nuts and peanut butter is 500 kcal. These 500 kcal are approximately 50% healthy fats and 25% protein. Use nut mixes for snacks and smear peanut butter on the sandwiches you take to school and work.
• Olive oil. Helps with heart disease and is a prevention against cancer. You can just drink it, add it to tomato paste and salads. One tablespoon - 100 kcal.

1. Get stronger

If you want to quickly go from skinny to jock, not skinny to fat. Engage in strength training. More strength means more muscles. If you don’t know where to start, contact the gym with an experienced trainer. But here are some more tips:

• The weight of sports equipment can be varied. Start with a light weight, focus on the technique of the exercise and the correct movements. Only after that start increasing the weight.
• complex exercises. Do exercises that will involve the entire body. Squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, bench presses, pull-ups, bent over presses.
• Squats. Exercises that involve the legs automatically engage the entire body. Regular weighted squats will get rid of your bony body forever.
• Rest. Muscles grow while you are resting, not exercising. You don't have to exercise every day. Sleep, drink two liters of water a day and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

1. Follow the plan

Failure to comply with the plan is tantamount to planned failure. Don't have time to cook your own meals regularly and food at school and work is of poor quality and too expensive? Prepare food in advance and take it with you.

• Go shopping regularly. Don't skip meals. Calculate in advance on the weekend how much food you need for the week and purchase everything at once.
• Prepare ahead of time. Prepare lunch as soon as you prepare breakfast. All this will take about 40 minutes and you will not have to waste time during the day thinking about what would be healthy to eat.
• Don't complicate things. Prepare double portions in advance, take half-eaten portions with you to work. Do not try to constantly invent something new, do not waste time.
• Take food with you. Containers with ready-made meals for work and school, a mixture of nuts for the cinema, protein shakes for the gym.

1. Track your progress

Success breeds success. If you know for sure that you will never return to your skinny physique, you continue to feel confident and motivated. Track all your activities.

• Watch your calories. Calculate everything and write it down in a diary. Strictly adhere to the volumes of the drawn up plan.
• Weigh yourself weekly. Are you gaining weight? Don't change anything and keep following the plan. Not gaining weight? Increase your daily calorie intake by 500 kcal.
• Take pictures. The mirror is subjective. But photographs rarely lie. Take pictures a couple of times a month. This way you can objectively evaluate your progress.
• Do not forget about the complexity of strength training. If you can hold your weight by 1.5 times while squatting, you will never be skinny again.

Diet for weight gain

This is a sample of a 3500 kcal diet for lean guys weighing approximately 81 kilograms (180 pounds). So if you weigh about 61 kilograms (135 pounds), this diet will not be suitable for you (well, unless you carry yourself out daily in the gym). Any diet is individual and should be based on your needs.

• Breakfast: 100 grams of oatmeal, 50 grams of raisins, one serving of yogurt.
• Snack: 100 grams of mixed nuts or one liter of milk or canned tuna sandwich.
• Lunch: 200 grams of spaghetti made from white flour of the highest grade with bolognese sauce and parmesan.
• Snack: 100 grams of nuts or a liter of milk or a tuna sandwich.
• Post workout shake: 1.5 cups whey + 60 grams oatmeal + milk + banana.
• Dinner: 200 grams of spaghetti made from white flour of the highest grade with bolognese sauce and parmesan.
• Before going to bed: cottage cheese, berries, flax seeds, fish oil.

From the point of view of science, being unnecessarily thin means being underweight. This corresponds to a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5.

BMI is equal to a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. For example, my height is 1.84 meters, and my weight is 107 kilograms. BMI is 31, which means that I have obesity of the first degree.

As you understand, the BMI is the lower, the greater the mass of a person. The formula is extremely primitive and does not take into account the qualitative composition of these same kilograms. If you are not friends with sports and weigh a centner with a penny, then everything is sad. If, with the same mass, you press one and a half of your weight from the chest, this is a completely different story.

In the case of low weight, BMI is more indicative. It doesn't matter if it's fat or muscle. You don't have either.

According to American studies, only 1% of men are underweight. Among women there are 2.4%. However, gender in this case does not matter, because health problems due to underweight can occur in everyone.

The impact of underweight on health

The problems of fat people are obvious, everyone knows about them. Thin people, except when they are outright sickly in appearance, appear healthy, but scientific research shows a different picture.

What can cause underweight

Not only genes and heredity. Sometimes this is a very specific disease that a person does not suspect.

• Eating disorders. This includes anorexia nervosa, the intentional desire of a person to reduce their weight as much as possible.
• Problems with the thyroid gland. Hyperthyroidism - an overactive thyroid gland - can lead to unhealthy weight loss.
• Celiac disease, also known as celiac disease, is an acute form of gluten intolerance.
• Diabetes of the first type.
• Infections.

The problems listed above will not go away on their own, and self-medication will hurt even more. Therefore, the first and main advice for a person suffering from a lack of body weight is a visit to the doctor, especially if the signs of weight loss appeared from a certain point in time and did not bother before.

The right way to eat

Perhaps there are more? This is the surest way, but thoughtlessly pouring yourself with sweet drinks, absorbing kilograms of cakes with chebureks, is a guaranteed undermining of health. Outwardly healthy people, without deviations in weight, receive terrible diagnoses, which are usually companions of severe forms of obesity. All because of bad food.

The thesis “there is more” needs to be specified. "Eat more healthy food." That's better.

However, even eating exceptionally healthy food, you need to think about the end result. You don't want to just be fat. Yes, and the very concept of "healthy fat" somehow does not fit well in the head.

Mass gain in one way or another implies an increase in both adipose and muscle tissue, and therefore the problem cannot be solved by eating alone. You still have to make friends with the sport, but more on that later.

Calorie surplus

The fundamental law of mass gain is a calorie surplus. Get more calories than you burn. If you ignore this basis, then all other efforts will be in vain.

Finding the point where you reach a calorie surplus is very easy. At first, you will not need anything but food, scales and patience.

Every day you need to eat more than yesterday.

Don't speed up too much. After some time, you will notice that the body weight graph slowly but surely went up. So you've achieved a calorie surplus.

Now you need to turn to the calorie calculator and find out the numerical value of the daily calorie intake at which your body began to gain weight. Just add up the calorie content of everything eaten per day. Based on this data, you can freely change your diet, focusing on the total calorie content.

If the mass growth has not stopped, then it makes no sense to continue to greatly increase the calorie content. A surplus of 300-500 kcal is enough for a slow, confident weight gain. With an excess of 700-1,000 kcal, you will recover much faster.

At this stage, it is much more important to convince yourself that in the future this approach to nutrition will become the norm for you. In fact, you will have to change the way you think about food for the rest of your life. Psychologically, this is difficult, but without turning a new approach to eating into a habit, all that has been achieved will inevitably be lost.

Protein

Protein is the most important nutrient. Building material for your body and muscles in particular. No matter how you experiment with the menu, it is important to respect the protein rate. Unfortunately, protein is not only the most necessary, but also very satisfying. Increasing the amount of protein in your diet will make it harder for you to meet your calorie intake, but there is no alternative way to achieve the desired result.

When gaining mass, your daily protein intake will be like that of athletes - from 1.5 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Protein-rich foods are always the most expensive, but delicious. Meat, fish, eggs, milk, legumes, nuts. Here are your best friends. There is one hack that makes it easier to achieve the daily protein requirement to the desired value. This is a quality sports nutrition. It is also expensive, but whey or multi-component protein between meals and casein before bed will give a very good bonus. In any case, you will come to the sports pit when you start playing sports, but you can get to know this interesting world a little earlier.

Carbohydrates, fats, number of meals

Don't limit yourself to anything. A nice feature of mass gain is complete freedom in choosing food, as long as it is healthy. Do not listen to crazy people talking about the dangers of animal fat. We are omnivores, we need all fats - both animal and vegetable. And complex carbohydrates. Lots of complex carbohydrates.

Try to bring the diet up to 4 grams of complex carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day. Difficult but real. In addition, deliciously cooked porridge is very cool.

You should make friends with cereals, pasta, potatoes and bread.

And here, too, there is a sports pit hack -. Much has been written about them on specialized sites.

With meals, everything is very simple. The more often, the better. At least three full meals a day with high-calorie snacks in between.

High-calorie foods and supplements

With insufficient appetite, you will start looking for the most high-calorie food. There is a risk of going down to fast food. In fact, there are alternatives. Much more high-calorie and very useful.

A high-calorie food is called a food with a maximum ratio of energy value and mass / volume. Such food takes up little space in the stomach, it is easier to eat.

• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts).
• Dried fruits.
• Fatty dairy products.
• Vegetable oil (olive and avocado oil).
• Cereals.
• Fat meat.
• Potato.
• Dark chocolate.
• Avocado.
• Peanut butter.

Unfortunately, the desire to maximize the calorie content of the diet will force you to limit yourself to vegetables, but in any case, do not give them up completely.

When choosing fruits, try to pay attention to those that need to be chewed less.

A little more about food

• Eating more is easier if you eat more often.
• Do not drink before meals, leave room for food.
• Want to drink? Try milk instead of water.
• The larger the plate, the smaller the amount of food on it seems.
• Coffee tastes better with cream.

Power sports

Excess calories allow you to gain weight. The only question is where you want to see these kilograms. In the sides or in the muscles? If you like the second, then welcome to the world of sports for the thin.

Sport, no matter how you feel about it, is an equally important factor in the right way. Suffice it to say that sport greatly increases appetite, and you really want to learn how to eat more.

First we go to the doctor and make sure that there are no serious obstacles to playing sports. No one is forcing you to break records right away. Power sports are measured progress.

You will do fewer sets and reps, but with more weight.

Naturally, we must not forget about cardio, but in your case, the emphasis will be on strength training. The emphasis on cardio is all about burning calories, and you don't need to waste energy.

If funds allow, then first it is better to contact a professional trainer. He will explain and show the basics, and over time you yourself will begin to understand everything.

Hello friends! Although in fairness it’s worth addressing today not to them, but to the skinny ones, because I want to talk about how to gain weight for a thin guy.

If you plan to be offended, then don't. After all, none of us is born Hercules and Apollos, and the bulk of the population has to invest in it for years to get a beautiful body. Therefore, in a normal rocking chair, it is quite normal to see crowds of skinny guys who are strenuously pulling dumbbells and barbells. And with due perseverance and determination, in a couple of years they achieve good results.

A little lower, we will just analyze with you how to make the body beautiful and embossed.

How to make your body embossed?

Let's be honest: no motivating articles, no recommendations and messages to the audience will work if you do not have the desire. A great desire to improve myself. It is worth adding a systematic approach to classes here, because even if you practice once a week with frantic zeal, there will be no results.

The second item on your list is food. The third is training. The fourth point may seem strange, but it is also very important. I'm talking about rest.

So, if you are determined and feel the strength to overcome the fear of mocking looks in the hall, then we begin. And trust me, you will actually see ironic grins when you first step up to the dumbbell row and start pulling ridiculous weights. Your technique will leave much to be desired for a long time, because no one can do everything at once perfectly.

In this case, it is probably worth using the services of an experienced coach. He will tell you all the necessary nuances of performing exercises that will help you gain muscle mass. In fact, it is enough to take 8 or 10 personal training sessions. Do not rush to use the services of the first instructor you see.

Take a look at how they work with their clients. How attentive they are to them and how long they are ready to explain the rules for working on simulators and with other equipment. A good coach will definitely tell you not only about the complex of classes, but also about proper nutrition. If you find an excellent specialist, then consider that half of the work is already in your pocket. Well, you should not wait for the first results in a month.

It will take a long time to notice the first shifts. In fact, you will begin to observe real changes in the mirror only after two, and in some cases even after three months. Only in a year you will be able to gain 10 or 15 extra pounds of muscle mass.

On the other hand, it is quite possible to do this, although not quickly. Among other things, when they see in the gym that you are really focused on the result, then mocking looks will be replaced by respectful ones and you will surely find friends and associates who will prompt, help and insure during difficult exercises.

How to eat right?

I have already said above that a well-planned diet is almost the main component of training. The most important thing you need to understand about nutrition is the mysterious and perhaps unknown word - surplus.

In fact, it means that you will receive an excess of calories. There are various formulas, for example, the Harris-Benedict equation, in which, taking into account the weight, height and age of a man or woman, the required level of energy received is calculated. You can also find automatic calculators on the net, where you don’t have to sit and pore over formulas.

You can also multiply the weight by 30, so we also get the approximate number of calories needed.

But on average it is 1500-2000 kcal for women and 2000-2500 for men. So, in order for you to form this very surplus, you will need to eat 15% or 20% more than these indicators, that is, about 500 calories above the norm.

Some recommendations may apply to body type. As you know, there are three of them - these are ectomorph (thin, tall with a fast metabolism), (full, loose, prone to accumulating fat) and mesomorph (excellent metabolism, average physique).

Naturally, if it's fast enough and allows you to handle extra energy well, then it could be 1,000 excess calories. But endomorphs cannot exceed the threshold figure of 500 kcal.

In addition, I also advise you to eat often, so that the body has a regular supply of additional energy. This will allow him to literally think that good times have come and it is already possible to build muscle instead of fat.

However, portions should be small, the interval between meals should not exceed 4 hours.

Watch the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Nutritionists advise that these be the following numbers: 30% protein, 60% carbohydrates, and the rest is left for fats.

Based on this, we conclude that proteins should be lean. It can be chicken breast, turkey, sea fish, veal or beef. Don't forget other types of protein foods, too, such as dairy, eggs, legumes, and seafood.

Choose also complex carbohydrates, for the processing of which the body will spend a lot of energy. They will also help you to ensure a long-lasting feeling of satiety. This includes rice, buckwheat and other cereals. It is allowed to use pasta made from durum wheat.

I will give you an average example of a diet for a day, and you yourself plan based on these recommendations.

• For breakfast at 9.30 eat 100 grams of oatmeal with a banana.
• 11.30 - second breakfast - 50 grams of buckwheat, 50 gr. fish or meat, vegetable salad.
• 14.00 - 100 gr. buckwheat or rice, 100 gr. meat, vegetable salad.
• 16.00 - 50 grams of rice, 3 eggs, vegetables.
• 18.00 - if you are after a workout, then any fast carbohydrates and a protein shake are acceptable.

• 19.00 - 100 grams of rice or buckwheat, 150 grams of meat, 1-2 boiled eggs, vegetables.
• 21.00 - snack: 50 grams of meat, 3 eggs and vegetables.
• 23.00 - a pack of cottage cheese or a protein shake.

We shift the intake of carbohydrates to the first half of the day, but in the second it is preferable to eat protein foods. Food should be natural and extremely fresh.

There is no need to work hard in the gym every day, 3 times a week is enough. If you follow the above recommendations, you will gain about half a kilogram of muscle mass during this period.

By the way, friends! When you start building muscle mass, don't forget to adjust your calorie intake based on the extra pounds you've gained. That is, if you weighed 75 kilograms, and became 80, then we will definitely throw in additional calories.

Plan your workouts the right way

Of course, if your body receives an excess amount of calories, it will begin to store them in fat. To prevent this from happening, you need to engage in strength training. You will have to seriously invest in building your body in the first year or a year and a half, and then, if you wish, you can simply maintain your current physical shape.

In order for the anabolic hormones that stimulate muscle growth to constantly enter the bloodstream, you must regularly experience stress during training. Trying to adapt the body will build muscle mass.

If we talk about specific exercises, then the basic complexes are rightfully considered the most massive. For skinny guys, the most relevant will be basic exercises, such as squats with a barbell, or deadlift, as well as a bench press from the chest.

Keep in mind that especially in the initial stages, your main task is to master the technique of performing the exercise, and only then put a lot of weight on the shells. Focus first on multi-repetitions with light weights.

The program of basic exercises can also include pull-ups and push-ups on the uneven bars, and others.

Remember that training more than once every 2 or 3 days does not make sense. In a shorter time, your muscles simply will not have time to recover. Never forget about a full warm-up, which will prepare your muscles for the upcoming loads.

All exercises are done for 4-5 sets of 6-8 repetitions.

Learning to rest!

We have not analyzed only the last point regarding the rest. A little higher, I already said that your muscle tissues as a result of training are not only stressed, but also receive microtrauma. The body needs time to heal and strengthen them, as a rule, it is from 24 to 48 hours.

Also, do not forget about a long and sound sleep. Lack of sleep can quickly nullify all your progress. Therefore, friends: 8-9 hours of good sleep every day.

Change the training complex approximately every 2-3 months so that the muscles do not get used to the same type of load. It is also advisable to gradually increase the working weight.

Exhausting cardio is not for you, especially if you are in the active stage of mass gain. The only acceptable option is short anaerobic loads on rest days from strength training. In general, there is no truth in the legs if we apply this proverb to running, walking or riding a stationary bike.

It is very important to strike a balance between strength training and rest. Overtraining is just as bad as lack of sleep.

Here you read, you read my thoughts and think: “Maybe I can dig somewhere else? It’s not enough for me, I want to know more.” No problem. Straightaway I send you a link, here is only the most useful, proven and important:

That's all for today. I want to finish with a reminder that who does not change does not move forward.

I look forward to seeing you again, miss you and hope you remember to visit here and recommend this blog to your friends.

This article will be of interest to all thin young people, because it will talk about how to gain weight for a thin guy. Here you will be provided with all the necessary information regarding muscle growth in conjunction with your great desire to work on yourself. Without this, it will not be possible to achieve any outstanding success in this matter.

What is important when gaining weight lean

The main criteria for success in gaining muscle mass are:

• desire, focus on results and patience
• proper nutrition

The desire to increase your own weight in order to get rid of thinness should radiate from every cell in your body. Those people who are very eager to gain muscle mass eventually achieve their cherished goal!

Faith in the result is also extremely important, with which it is easier to follow the chosen path. As motivation, there are many examples of real people who have turned from skinny teenagers into owners of beautiful pumped up bodies. If they could, then you can, subject to all of the above points. Gaining weight is not very difficult, it is enough just to remove all restrictions from the head.

Immediately set yourself up for the fact that there will be no instant result. All the widely advertised methods of pumping muscles in a couple of weeks, a month, etc. is a useless waste of time. The first real results can be observed only after 2-3 months. Well, really noticeable transformations will be no less than a year later. If we talk about specific numbers, then in 12 months it is quite possible to gain 10-15 kg. This fact should cheer you up.)

How to eat right

• getting more calories than you spend (15-20% above your norm)
• frequent meals - every 3-4 hours, in small portions
• regular consumption of vegetables and water
• the correct ratio of proteins / fats / carbohydrates (25-30% / 10-15% / 60%)
• natural food at the heart of the diet

Constantly track your weight - every week at the same time. Too frequent weight control does not make sense. An increase of 500-800 g per month indicates a qualitative increase in mass (for you specifically, this is the minimum amount of fat and the maximum of new muscle fibers). Use a training diary.

Nutrition must be carried out in accordance with certain rules. In the morning, eat simple carbohydrates (sweets, fruits, juices). This will compensate for the nightly costs of your body. During sleep, a lot of energy is spent, which supports all the processes occurring in the body. A very important place in the diet is occupied by proteins that are directly involved in the creation of muscle structure. As a conclusion from the above - during the day the basis of your diet is proteins and complex carbohydrates. Eat proteins in equal portions throughout the day. Before going to bed, it is better to drink a casein shake or eat low-fat cottage cheese. This type of protein will be slowly released in the body, thereby preventing catabolic processes.

Training process for mass recruitment

Without training, it is impossible to gain high-quality muscle mass. All the extra calories that you get in the absence of training will go into fat. Without a doubt, this is not the mass that you would like to gain.

The body of thin people does not tolerate physical activity very well. Therefore, make sure that the workouts are no more than an hour. Do more basic exercises, which include:

• sit-ups
• bench press
• deadlift
• pull-ups
• arm curls
• push-ups from the floor and on the uneven bars

During the first two weeks, it is necessary to master only the technique of these exercises. Do high reps with low weights. Thus, you train your muscles to contract correctly, strengthen your joints and ligaments, and also establish a neuromuscular connection.

Basic exercises with the correct execution technique and a constant increase in the progression of loads will make your muscles grow by leaps and bounds. It is the base that causes a surge of hormones necessary in bodybuilding - testosterone and growth hormone. And adding to this high-quality nutrition and good rest, you can absolutely pump up muscles.

As for the frequency of training, then going to the gym three times a day will be the best option to start with.

Between training days, you should allocate one day for rest. Don't skip workouts. Compliance with the regime and proper nutrition will be the key to your success!

It is important to regularly receive training stress, which contributes to the release of anabolic hormones into the bloodstream. Without them, it will not be possible to achieve tangible results in mass and strength. In order for the body to build muscle volume, stress must be constant. Only in this case, the body will get used to the loads through muscle growth.

If you suddenly feel that you do not have time to recover (the body is broken, the muscles hurt a lot, there is no mood to pull the "iron"), then skip the workout. Rest as much as needed, remember to overtrain. Remember to warm up before training and warm-up approaches.

By training according to this scheme for 6-12 months, you will lay a powerful foundation for further growth. In addition, you will definitely increase body weight, and feel the improvement in your health. Then you can think about things like split training and periodization.

Which sports nutrition to choose for mass gain

The importance of sports nutrition is often overstated. These are not anabolic steroids, so you can not expect a rapid increase in strength and muscle mass. First of all, these are ordinary food products that in one way or another are able to supplement your natural food. This group of supplements includes:

1. Protein. High protein formulas are widely popular in bodybuilding due to the priority of this ingredient in this sport. There are several types of it:

• whey (fast protein for taking in the morning and immediately after training);
• casein (slow, for use before bedtime);
• soy (with an average time of action);
• egg (also medium).

For athletes, the first three types should be a priority.

2. Gainer. These are carbohydrate-protein mixtures designed for accelerated weight gain. The composition of the product includes proteins and fast carbohydrates, so this mixture is perfect for ectomorphs in the morning and after training. Gainer will help you in gaining the desired weight and gaining a strong physical form.

3. Amino acids. This component is able to prevent catabolic processes in your body. They can be taken during or after strength training.

4. Creatine. Increases endurance and strength performance.

Resting right and growing

Since it is quite difficult for a thin guy to gain weight, you should take care of it as much as possible. Get rid of unnecessary stress and stress in your life as much as possible. The only thing you can afford is short cardio workouts, carried out at the same interval on the days of rest from exercise (2-3 times a week). Cardio workouts for skinny people should not go on for too long.

Also, don't underestimate the importance of sleep. Fall asleep as early as possible - before 23.00, and wake up without an alarm clock. It is in this case that the body will receive the recovery it needs for a good rest. Sleep should be given about 8 hours of time. In order to fall asleep quickly and not toss and turn in bed from side to side, it is important to learn one simple rule: severe body fatigue contributes to falling asleep quickly. Therefore, try to get tired more.

But do not overdo it in this matter. An excess of physical activity will cause metabolic disorders and insomnia. Therefore, do all workouts in the gym for no longer than one hour, without taking into account the warm-up time. To sleep soundly, spend as much time outdoors as possible during the day.

Conclusion

This article provides simple answers to the question of how to gain mass for a thin guy. Based on the four principles described above, you will stop being skinny and finally start gaining the treasured muscle mass.

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This instruction will tell you step by step how to quickly gain weight for a thin guy or man. Here you will find a nutrition plan and a training program. We will talk in detail about the nuances and implementation of exercises.

This guide will teach you:

1. How to determine the number of calories consumed.
2. How to change your diet so that you start gaining mass without harm to your health.
3. What to eat to build muscle.
4. How to eat enough calories even when you're not hungry.
5. How to train properly.
6. What sports nutrition supplements to use.

I used to be skinny. Very skinny. And I can't figure out why I can't gain weight.

Also, I was so-called skinny but fat (skin, bone, fat and no muscle). Despite my love of exercise, I looked terrible. It was impossible to see me without a T-shirt and I wanted to get better and pump up as soon as possible.

Mass gain was very difficult for me. Sometimes it seemed to me that I was constantly eating: from dusk to dawn. And despite this, I weighed only 63-65 kilograms. This went on throughout my school years.

In the two and a half years after I graduated from high school, by the time I was 20, my life had changed dramatically. My weight was 86 kilograms of pure muscle. I was stronger than I could imagine. Girls began to pay attention to me.

Sounds like I'm exaggerating trying to sell something. But believe me, everything that is written in this article is the pure truth. I will tell you how to get better quickly without harm to health and the use of dubious means, and you will not need to buy anything.

Why can't I gain mass?

Below I will tell you how to train and eat properly in order to gain quality muscle mass, but I will say right away that most skinny guys are similar in that they spend a lot of time playing football or a similar sport. Looking back, I clearly understand what I was doing wrong and why I could not add mass. Here is the main reason for my failures:

Too much cardio I practiced too much. Too much. In the summer, I spent whole days on the street: running, playing football or basketball, swimming.

When I wasn't outdoors, I continued to do cardio exercises: climbing stairs, jumping rope, even aerobics. It was normal for me to run 5 kilometers in a day, then run up the stairs for 45 minutes and play football for another 4 hours.

That was the problem: of course, I was in shape thanks to frequent sports, but at that time I had to consume a huge amount of calories. I didn’t know that too frequent active sports do not increase muscle mass and you think now I will say that I should have completely stopped exercising? Not at all. Cardio has a beneficial effect on overall health. The problem was that there was a lot of it and this prevented the growth of new muscle fibers due to the high energy consumption.

There are a number of studies on this topic. A recent meta-analysis on the effect of cardio exercise on strength training concluded:

The study showed that the interference effect of endurance training lies in the direction, frequency and duration of these exercises.

In other words, if you do a lot of cardio during strength training, you will not be able to gain mass, because the body does not have enough energy to increase the number of muscle fibers. The more cardio, the more calories you need to consume to get better.

If your goal is to increase weight and build lean muscle mass, then you should moderate your cardio ardor.

If you are prone to thinness, you are underweight and it’s hard to increase the reading on the scales by at least a kilogram (people with this type of physique are called ectomorphs), then try to do cardio no more than 20-30 minutes and no more than 3-4 times a day. week. If you're an athlete or lead a very active lifestyle and can't easily give up cardio, then you should reconsider your diet.

Not enough food

Most skinny guys think they're eating enough, but actually have a hard time imagining their daily diet. They simply do not know what a strengthened diet is according to the regimen and how to properly compose a diet. Instead of thinking, I recommend writing down everything you eat in a day for a week. Do not try to change your eating habits: do not try to eat more or less than usual. At this stage, you need to figure out how many calories you are consuming in order to get a starting point for growth. To quickly gain muscle mass, you need to significantly increase the calorie intake, but at the same time not go too far so as not to start swimming in fat.

At the end of the week, analyze the collected data. Determine how many calories you consume per day on average. If you need help, there are now many websites and books on the web that detail the nutritional information for most possible foods.

How much did you get? More than 3000 kcal per day? I assume that in a day you eat less than you think.

Increasing body weight, like any other activity, takes time. If you want to put together a really good basketball team, then you need to spend some time practicing. If you want to play a recently released Xbox game, then you will also need to spend time on this.

If you want to achieve results, then you need to take the time to analyze your habits and make a nutrition plan.

Few power loads

Increasing workload is the key to success. "Workouts" is not a magical way to build muscle. If you don't force your body to get stronger, then your attempts to gain weight will fail. The body must see the reason why it needs to become bigger and stronger, which is not energetically beneficial.

When you work to your limits, you encourage muscle growth (if you consume the right amount of nutrients).

As a teenager, I often did exercises with my own weight: push-ups, rocked the press. Unfortunately, I always used the same working weights during the exercises, week after week, year after year. I did not build any muscle mass then.

I didn’t know much, no one told me that, it turns out, our body quickly adapts to the load. I sincerely believed that I would "inflate" the muscles of the chest and biceps without straining constantly changing the load of dumbbells and barbells.

What should skinny guys do?

So, we have determined that thin guys need:

1. Stop doing so much cardio
2. More to eat
3. Become much stronger than they are now

The issue with cardio is the easiest to solve. We can quite control the load. Therefore, let's move on to the next step of our transformation and find out how to gain weight for a thin guy without harm to health and while maintaining the result.

This section provides step-by-step instructions for building muscle without harm to health. If you have any questions about nutrition feel free to ask in the comments.

Step 1 - Analyze your current diet

This step is very important. Do not skip it and do not try to determine the average calorie intake "by eye".

The truth is that most thin children think they eat enough. But few of them can say exactly how many calories they consume per day. This uncertainty is a significant part of the existing problem.

If you do not see progress in the growth of strength and mass, then clearly you need to take some action. You have two options:

1. Leave everything as it is, estimate the number of calories consumed by eye and hope that you can gain at least a kilogram of weight.
2. Take control. Determine the calorie content of the daily diet, if necessary, adjust and adhere to the created plan.

It is clear that the only option is the second one. Shall we start?

Arm yourself with a notebook, computer, tablet or phone. Write down everything you eat and drink during the day. If you're not sure about portion sizes, choose something that makes sense to you. For example.

• Fist-sized portion of potatoes.
• Half box of pasta.
• An almost full large glass of milk.

Then, using the counting service and calculator, determine how many calories you received for this week. Some values ​​will still have to be set at random, but this is an integral part of learning. Don't worry if you can't record your weekly diet with 100% accuracy. That's not the point. Your goal is to start learning something about the nutritional value of foods, their calorie content, and so on.

Now calculate the daily average. How many calories do you consume per day? 2200? 2500? Is the amount received higher or lower than you expected?

Step 2 - Adjust your diet

It's time to structure your meal plan. Let's figure out what to eat. Start with this:

• calories. Add 500 kcal to the amount obtained in the first step.
• Protein. Make sure you consume at least 180 grams of protein per day.
• Fats. About 20% of your daily diet should contain healthy fats.
• Carbohydrates. Fill the rest of your daily intake with carbohydrates - fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc.

It is good if you eat more than 180 grams of protein per day. Studies have shown that 150 grams of protein per day is enough for muscle growth. But keep in mind that you are now underweight, so it is better to eat a little more protein than a little less.

High protein intake is safe for the body if you do not have kidney problems. In addition, it will help you eat balanced and not depend on carbohydrates. It's pretty hard to force yourself to eat a heavy, high-carb meal if you're not at all hungry.

The recommended 20% body fat should also be considered as a minimum. Fat has a high energy value, it contains 9 calories per gram, while white and carbohydrates - 4 grams. What does it mean? This means that by increasing your fat intake, you can easily meet your daily calorie intake.

If you find it difficult to eat this much food, increase your daily fat intake to 40%. So you can easily complete your plan without forcing yourself to eat an extra serving.

Step 3 - Define Your Goals

Your goal is 1 kilogram per month. Some may think that this is "slow". But in a year you can gain up to 12 kilograms, and in 2 years - 25 kilograms.

By following these instructions, training properly and increasing strength, you will gain a "healthy" weight. In just two years, you will build a significant amount of muscle mass and look amazing.

Perhaps some of you want to add results as soon as possible. For some, this is quite real, but more often than not, such a set is due to fat, not muscle. The human body can only build a certain amount of muscle per day, week, month. The more aggressively you approach weight gain, the less time you want to spend on it, the more likely it is that in the end you will become the owner of a solid body fat.

And this is not at all what you need!

First two weeks

Ignore the pounds you gain in the first two weeks. During this time, you increase your intake of carbohydrates and most likely sodium. Your body retains a lot more water. Don't worry, it's not the "fast" fat we talked about earlier.

After two weeks the situation is back to normal. The next two weeks will show the real state of affairs. Based on the results of the third and fourth weeks, make the necessary adjustments:

• Weight loss. - Danger! Add another 750 kcal to your daily intake. Start the countdown again: ignore the first two weeks, start analyzing from the third.
• The weight doesn't change. - Add 500 calories. Re-evaluate the growth rate at weeks 3 and 4. Make additional adjustments if necessary.
• The weight is slowly added. - Add 250 calories per day. Re-evaluate the results at 3 and 4 weeks. Make additional adjustments if necessary.
• Optimal growth. Don't change anything, stick to the current plan.
• Rapid weight gain. – Reduce your daily calorie intake by 250 kcal. Re-evaluate the effectiveness of the diet after two weeks.

Proper nutrition

Now about specific foods for weight gain. Choose fresh foods that have not been cooked and cook for yourself. These foods are nutrient-rich, efficient and economical, with a high calorie density. And today they can be found in any store.

Best Products

You can add a small portion of these foods to one of your main meals or as a snack. All of these foods are high in calories (and delicious). In this case, you will not feel heaviness in the stomach.

Product		A portion	calories
Protein products
Minced meat, cooked, lean		100g	305
Bacon, thinly sliced		2 slices	122
Chicken wings, with skin		4 wings	394
Chicken legs with skin		1 ham	337
Pork chop		2 chops, 200 grams	436
eggs, large		2 eggs	156
Steak		280 grams	544
Salmon		100g	233
beef brisket		100g	246
Pork sausages		100g	384
Fruits and vegetables
Bananas	1 large		121
Grape	20		70
Avocado	1 cup		234
A pineapple	1 cup		83
Orange	1 large		86
Pear	1 large		133
Sweet potato	1 large		159
Potato	200 grams		142
Nuts and legumes
Peanut butter	2 tablespoons		188
Peanut	50 grams		321
Almond	50 grams		328
pistachios	50 grams		316
Peas	1 cup		125
black beans	1 cup		220
Dairy
Milk	1 cup		146
Oil	2 pieces		72
Whipped cream	50 grams		205
Cream cheese	25 grams		99
Cheddar cheese	50 grams		228
Cheese Pigtail	1 slice		80
Cottage cheese	1 cup		216
Carbohydrates and grains
Brown rice, cooked	1 cup		216
Quinoa, cooked	1 cup		222
White rice, cooked	1 cup		242
Spaghetti, cooked	1 cup		182
White bread	1 slice		78
Oils and more
Olive oil	1 tablespoon		120
Coconut oil	1 tablespoon		117
Pizza	1 piece		1,267
Hamburger	1 burger		400
Burrito with beef and beans	1 burrito		290

A little bit about junk food

You are young, slender and you have no problems with hubbub. If you don’t want to eat a ton of junk food in one sitting, then 10-15% of your daily diet can be fast food, chips, energy drinks, cookies without harm to health. It may even help speed up the process.

The main thing is balance. If the majority of your diet consists of wholesome, nutrient-dense foods, then nothing bad will happen if you indulge yourself a little.

Sports Nutrition Supplements

Now let's move on to sports nutrition supplements for mass gain. For the first step of a training program, the following supplements can be used to help build muscle and speed up recovery:

• Multivitamins
• Fish fat
• Whey Protein
• Gainer (if necessary)

Gainers provide plenty of calories and are handy for times when you don't have time to cook or when you've missed a meal.

By the second step of the training program, your diet will already be adjusted. It's time to introduce other popular supplements:

• Creatine
• Pre-workout complexes
• Post-workout complexes

You can also use a range of supplements, depending on your needs (age, sleep duration, stress levels, low testosterone, slow recovery, etc.)

• Antioxidants
• Joint Health Supplements
• Recovery
• For sexual health
• From sleep disorders
• From stress
• To increase testosterone levels
• Protein Bars
• Replacing whole meals

Protein shake for ectomorphs

"Protein shake" is the easiest and fastest way to get the required calorie intake. The Mass Gaining Protein Shake Recipe below has 1066 calories. You can drink it once a day. Just add all the ingredients to a blender, blend and enjoy.

• 450 grams of milk - 292 calories
• 2 scoops of protein - 320 calories
• 50 grams of heavy cream - 205 calories
• 1 large banana - 121 calories
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter - 188 calories

Protein shake recipes at home

To increase the calorie intake, we will tell you how to prepare a protein shake at home. We have prepared several recipes that differ only in ingredients. The method of preparation is always the same - mix everything in a blender and drink 1-2 times a day.

Recipe number 1 (classic version):

• a glass of milk
• 100 g cottage cheese
• 1 banana.

Recipe #2

• 1 half glass of milk
• 2 tbsp powdered milk
• 2 egg whites
• 1 st. a spoonful of any jam

To gain weight by building muscle instead of fat, add 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil to this smoothie. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are contained in linseed oils, promote protein synthesis in the body.

Recipe #3

• 50 g cottage cheese
• a glass of milk
• 1 egg white without yolk
• 2 tbsp sweet syrup

If there is, then you can add 25 g of whey protein or milk powder to the cocktail, and replace the syrup with frozen berries or fresh fruit. The daily portion of this protein shake is 600-800 g. Consume half in the morning between breakfast and lunch, and the second between lunch and dinner or after training. Drinking a shake provides an additional 60-80 grams of protein per day.

Recipe #4

• incomplete glass of kefir
• 1 tbsp honey
• a handful of any nuts
• 1 raw egg

Recipe number 5

A very unusual recipe for a protein-carbohydrate cocktail for muscle growth.

• 100 g chopped dried mushrooms
• 50 g mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 50 g homemade cheese
• 100 g grated boiled potatoes

Such a cocktail should be taken 45 minutes before the start of a workout to get a boost of energy.

Recipe #6

• 1.5 cups low fat milk
• 4 tbsp. spoons of egg powder
• 1/3 cup dry milk
• 1/3 cup condensed milk
• 2 tbsp. spoons of cocoa powder
• half a banana

Recipe number 7

• juice of half a lemon
• 120 g sour cream
• 60 g sunflower oil
• 100 g orange juice
• 1 egg yolk
• 25 g cherry jam

Recipe number 8

• 2 pear tubers
• 100 g apple juice
• 1 spoon of brewer's yeast
• 1 walnut

3 step weight training plan

Now that you've figured out nutrition, it's time to figure out how to properly train for mass growth.

Muscle hypertrophy requires:

• Consistency - Don't miss a visit to the gym. Consistency plays an important role in building muscle.
• Load progression - Get stronger every day. Don't look for excuses. You can not "easily and simply" build muscle.
• Good Workout – Do the best exercises available.
• Patience - Muscles grow over the years. Don't expect results in a week. You can achieve amazing results in two years, so stay on track.

This three-step plan is just one of the possible ways to gain muscle mass. Combine this training program with proper nutrition and you can quickly increase weight.

This plan is done in 3 steps:

• Step 1 - Preparation. At this stage, you are preparing for the upcoming heavy loads. It lasts a month. Start with one set for each exercise. After a couple of weeks, increase the number of approaches to two.
• Step 2 - Construction phase. During this phase of the 5 month time frame, you will begin to gain muscle mass.
• Step 3 - The "pumping" phase. The last step of the workout. Do it until you decide to move even further.

Need to know:

• For each approach, perform the maximum number of repetitions, until the legs give way or the arms weaken.
• Use the same working weight for each set.
• There is a "minimum rep" for each exercise. If you can meet this minimum, then for the next three sets, use more weight. For example, the exercise states that the “minimum reps” is 8, if you can do 8 reps, then next time take a heavier barbell or dumbbell or do more reps.

Step 1 - Preparation

For the first two weeks, do one set of each exercise. At week 3-4, increase the number of approaches to two.

Start with small weights. Add only when you can achieve "minimum reps"

Increase the load gradually. Gaining muscle mass is a marathon, not a sprint.

You will train 3 days a week

• 1 day - training
• Day 2 - rest
• Day 3 - training
• Day 4 - rest
• Day 5 - training
• Day 6 - rest
• Day 7 - rest

1 step – Preparation
Training
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Squats	1/2	10/10
Bench press	1/2	10/10
Deadlift on straight legs	1/2	10/10
Seated chest press	1/2	10/10
Bent over pull	1/2	10/10
French bench press	1/2	10/10
Pull-ups / Rows of the upper block to the chest	1/2	10/10
Lifting dumbbells for biceps	1/2	10/10
Leg curl	1/2	10/10
Lifting on socks while sitting	1/2	10/10
Twisting lying on the floor	1/2	10/10

Step 2 – Construction Phase

Continue with the weights you used during the first step of preparation. For those exercises that were not in the first step, start with light working weights, gradually increasing them.

Train 3 days a week, on the same schedule as in the first 4 weeks.

• Day 1 - Workout A
• Day 2 - rest
• Day 3 - Workout B
• Day 4 - rest
• Day 5 - workout B
• Day 6 - rest
• Day 7 - rest

Step 2 – Construction Phase
workout A
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Squats	3	8
Bench press	3	8
Bent over pull	3	8
Seated Dumbbell Press	3	8
Leg curl	3	10
French bench press	3	8
Lifting dumbbells for biceps	3	8
Rise on socks standing	3	10
Twisting with weights	3	15
Step 2 – Construction Phase
workout B
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Romanian draft	3	8
Leg curl	3	10
Breeding arms with dumbbells in an incline	3	10
	3	8
	3	10
Extension of arms on the block	3	8
	3	8
Shrugs with a barbell	3	10
Tilts to the side	3	15

Step 2 – Construction Phase
workout B
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
leg press	3	15
Breeding hands with dumbbells lying down	3	8
	3	8
Seated Barbell Press	3	8
Leg curl	3	10
Push-ups from the uneven bars or Dumbbell row from behind the head while sitting	3	8
Bending the arms on the Scott bench	3	8
Lifting on socks while sitting	3	10
	3	15/60 sec

Step 3 - The "pumping" phase

The third step is more intense and starts with a deadlift and 20 reps of squats. Do no more than 20 repetitions of squats, do not increase the load for this exercise.

Workouts are distributed according to the following principle: Monday is the hardest day. Wednesday - light isolated exercises. Friday - medium load.

• Day 1 - Workout A - hard
• Day 2 - rest
• Day 3 - Workout B - Easy
• Day 4 - rest
• Day 5 - Workout B - Intermediate
• Day 6 - rest
• Day 7 - rest

Step 3 - The "pumping" phase
Workout A
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Squats	3	6
Bench press	3	6
Bent over pull	3	6
Seated Barbell Press	3	6
Romanian draft	3	6
Barbell Dips or French Bench Press	3	8
Barbell Bicep Curl	3	8
Lifting on socks while sitting	3	10
Twisting with weights	3	15
Step 3 - The "pumping" phase
Workout B
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Deadlift	3	5
Flattening dumbbells lying down or Flattening hands in the simulator "butterfly"	3	10
leg extension	3	10
Pull-ups or Pull-ups of the upper block to the chest	3	10
Incline Dumbbell Reverse Raise	3	10
Extension of arms on the block	3	10
Exercise for biceps "hammer"	3	8
Shrugs with a barbell	3	8
Side bends with dumbbell	3	10

Step 3 - The "pumping" phase
Workout B
Exercise	Number of approaches	Minimum reps
Squats	2	20
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8
Dumbbell row to the belt with one hand	3	8
Arnold press	3	8
Leg curl	3	10
Dumbbell row from behind the head while sitting	3	8
Lifting dumbbells for biceps	3	8
Rise on socks standing	3	10
Twisting on the upper block "Prayer" or Plank	3	15/60 sec