World Magazine 2024
For skinny guys, building muscle can seem impossible. Most skinny guys who are just starting out in the gym end up quitting when they don’t see results immediately. The fact of the matter is that skinny guys have to work harder than easy gainers. For this reason, there are certain methods that thin men must use to build a muscular physique.
The purpose of this article is to introduce you to some effective methods that will help you to build momentum. Once you begin to see the results rolling in, you’ll be hooked. And getting hooked is what it takes to carve out the body of your dreams.
Table of Contents
1. Fitness Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Skinny guys who are serious about building a muscular physique must always remember that the journey is long. If you’re going to take the natural route – and you should – you’re going to have to put in years to build an impressive physique.
In other words, there’s no shortcut to magically building muscle. However, by training smart and staying dedicated, you’ll undoubtedly take big steps. If this doesn’t sound like something you’re willing to commit to, unfortunately, building a muscular physique isn’t for you.
Even easy gainers have to put in the work at the gym to sculpt attractive male physiques. No one wakes up in the morning, does a few pushups, and suddenly looks ripped. The key takeaway is that you must be interested in the journey more so than the end goal.
2. Overload Your Calories
There’s absolutely no way for guys with a high metabolism to gain mass without overloading their calorie intake. While easy gainers may need to keep track of their calories, skinny guys need to overload their calories to gain mass in any way that they can.
Yes, any bulking journey involves gaining fat along with muscle, but that’s just part of the process. For hard gainers, it’s even more important to push your calories to the limit, especially as you begin to see gains.
Once you begin to see gains while overloading your calories, only then will you break past plateaus. Think of it this way, without gaining weight, you won’t be able to add weight to your lifts. And without adding weight to your lifts, you won’t gain muscle. So, getting enough calories to bulk up is one of the most important parts of the journey.
3. Beware of Protein-Fueled Sales Tactics
When you’re skinny, protein is only part of your dietary needs. When you’re first starting out, you’ll see every type of protein getting crammed down your throat by every imaginable company. They all want you to think that their protein is the best for various reasons.
In reality, carbs and fat are just as, if not more, important than protein for skinny guys. Particularly carbs because without pumping up your carb intake, you’ll never get any serious mass gains. If you take a look at mass-building powders, you’ll see that carbs are one of the main ingredients.
For instance, one carb that’s great for bulking up is waxy maize, and this is available as a separate powder to add to your protein shake. All in all, if you get caught up in the protein hype, you’ll almost assuredly never gain any serious bulk for a more muscular physique. The best you’ll be able to do is look somewhat more cut or add a bit of bulk to your current physique.
4. Know Your Hormones
One of the quickest ways to never gain muscle is a low testosterone problem due to an unhealthy diet and/or lifestyle. Unhealthy habits such as drinking alcohol, smoking, and regularly eating fast food can all lead to low testosterone. There’s a good chance that you might even be skinny fat.
Skinny fat is when you appear to be skinny, but you have more fat than muscle. If you’ve ever looked around at the beach, you’ve likely seen a lot of skinny-fat men without realizing it. Low testosterone and skinny fat can go hand in hand. Oftentimes, you’ll see men with fat camping out around the gut and love handles.
The trick here is to focus on getting your hormones in check by following the next tip, getting your diet right, and radically changing your life. In the low-T space, you’ll see products such as Nugenix and other “T boosters” that promise to raise testosterone levels. One blogger wrote an interesting Nugenix review found here that explains why there are better choices than Nugenix.
All in all, the key point is to focus on taking a holistic approach to getting your T levels in check rather than relying on a magic pill. Also, it’s not a bad idea to check your hormone levels to see if you need improvement. Because seeing confirmation of low T levels will help motivate you to get your hormones in check.
5. Stick to Complex Exercises
Now, the best tip for last. As a skinny guy who wants to build a muscular physique, you absolutely must stick to complex exercises. Complex exercises are mandatory for building foundational muscle mass throughout your body. Unlike isolation exercises, complex movements are ones that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
The king of complex exercises is the squat. When you’re serious about gaining muscle, then you must get serious about your squats. When you start, use an Olympic 7’ barbell with no weight on it. Then, for each session, add a bit of weight to the bar.
As you progress up the ladder, you’ll build overall strength along with more muscle mass. In addition to squats, the overhead press, bench press, deadlifts, and rows should all be a part of your routine. Performing these exercises along with overloading your calories is a surefire way to build a muscular physique.
Only once you’re satisfied with your mass gains should you begin to focus on cutting and isolation exercises.
Conclusion
This is the perfect outline on how to build a muscular physique for skinny guys. Of course, diet and exercise are always going to be the two most important factors. The main thing for skinny guys is to not fall in love with the protein sales pitches, overload calories, and focus on complex exercises. Additionally, it’s always helpful to know your hormone levels to keep tabs on your progress.
