There is so much information that will tell you how to lose weight and gain muscle, but the simple truth is that this information does not apply to the skinny guy.
Unfortunately, the skinny guy must play be a different set of rules.
The typical bodybuilding magazine is packed full of the latest and greatest programs to build huge muscles while loading your body with supplements.
Stop reading bodybuilding magazines.
Stop listening to bodybuilders.
And stop using supplements.
All these things just take you further and further away from your goal to go from skinny to muscular.
Principle #1: Quality time at the grocery store Yes, you've heard right that you will have to eat better, eat more, and eat more often to gain muscle.
Forget last week's leftovers or the meal in a box that is waiting in the freezer.
What you will need to gain muscle is a healthy nutrition program that starts at the grocery store.
If you are skinny and have not been able to pack on the muscle then make sure you eat every three hours.
You should also try to eat bigger meals so and you can easily afford to double your calorie intake.
If you have been eating one sandwich for lunch, then make it two next time.
Instead of putting three slices of roast beef on the sandwich, put on six.
Spend the time at the grocery store wisely to select a variety of food.
It is easy to fall into the habit of eating the same breakfast day after day, or the same boring sandwich for each lunch at work.
Make sure that variety does not start and end with your training program, but that it extends to your nutritional program as well.
Plan ahead so that each meal consists of roughly the same amount of calories from the three basic food groups; 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates.
For the best results make breakfast your biggest meal of the day followed by the pre-workout and post-workout meals.
This will ensure the best muscle gain rather than fat gain.
Principle #2: Compound exercises Compound exercises are the biggest muscle builders.
For the biggest gains you will have to concentrate on the biggest muscles and hit them with compound exercises.
Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that require the use of multiple muscles or muscle groups during the execution of the exercise.
Using predominantly compound exercises will lead to more strength and therefore bigger muscles.
If you ever want to change your body from skinny to muscular, then compound exercises will no longer be optional, it must be mandatory.
Which compound exercises will provide the most benefit? oChest: Bench press, DB chest press oBack: Bent over barbell row, Chin ups oLegs: Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts oShoulders: Standing military press, Seated dumbbell shoulder press oBiceps: Standing barbell curls, Incline dumbbell curls oTriceps: Dips, Tricep press downs oAbdominals: Bicycle floor crunch, Weighted cable crunches Principle #3: Never more than 10 reps Humans have basically two different types of muscle fibers and it is important for skinny guys to train the right muscle fibers in order to gain bigger muscles.
Slow twitch muscle fibers are usually used for endurance exercises and will get used when muscle fatigue starts to set in.
The best option then is to make sure that you train the slow twitch muscle fiber as good as possible and prevent using more reps than what is necessary.
In order to gain the muscle you will have to stick to a heavy lifting routine that is build around 5 to 10 reps.
More than 10 reps will put your muscles into the endurance category and should be strictly forbidden for the skinny guy.
In order to become big you will have to lift big.
You are a hard gainer if you are skinny and the only way to change that is to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers in each and every set.
The heavier the weight, the more fast twitch muscle fibers will be recruited.
In order to make the most of this you will need to train with weights that are at least sixty percent of your one rep maximum.
If you are doing this correctly, then exceeding 10 reps will be almost impossible.
Principle #4: Do 3 to 5 sets per muscle group The bodybuilders and other people with the right genes are going to tell you to hit each muscle from every angle for hours a day.
Forget that advice since it has not resulted in significant muscle gain in the past and it will not change in the future.
For skinny guys a new set of rules will be necessary.
I like to increase the weight for each set.
This will mean that each consecutive set will require a bigger percentage of my one rep maximum weight.
Following the advice from principle 3, I will then start out with sixty percent of my one rep maximum for ten repetitions and increase the weight for each following set.
Remember that you want to shock the muscles into growth and not exhaust them.
Going beyond 4 or 5 sets will start to exhaust the muscles, using more slow twitch fibers and increasing recovery time.
If the recovery time is increased, then there will have to be a longer wait period before the same muscle can be exercised.
This will make it much more difficult to stick to a compound exercise routine.
That is why you see the bodybuilders using multiple exercises for one muscle group on a particular day and then wait for as long as one week before they train the same muscle group again.
Maximum gain will come from compound exercises and that means no more than 5 sets.
Principle #5: One exercise per muscle group The intent is to train a muscle just enough to shock it into growth so that you have more muscle the next time you visit the gym.
This can be accomplished by using just one exercise per muscle group.
One of the problems is that the focus must always remain on using the fast twitch muscle fibers only.
Any additional exercises for the same muscle group will require more and more slow twitch muscle fibers to be recruited because the muscle is already fatigued.
Smaller muscles will also be recruited to assist the bigger muscles and that will have a negative result of building strong, puny muscles.
Don't exhaust your muscles and don't over train your muscles.
Stick to one exercise per muscle group.
Exercise the muscle until you have reached the maximum weight and rep combination and then move onto the next muscle.
Now we have a few principles that we can use together to start building an exercise program.
Use compound exercises.
No more than 10 reps per set.
No more than 3 to 5 sets per muscle group.
And one exercise per muscle group.
Putting it together: 1RM for squat is 300 lbs, so the first set should be 60% (180 lbs) for 10 reps, the second and third set should be 85% (255 lbs), and the last two sets should be 95% (285 lbs).
Now that you have the beginnings of a good exercise program, what are the principles to keep building muscles? Principle #6: Short rest periods Training for muscle size will require shorter rest periods ranging from thirty to ninety seconds.
This will provide sufficient time for your metabolic system to recover and get the maximum benefit out of the next set or exercise.
The closer you train to the one rep maximum, the longer the rest periods should be to completely recover, so try to avoid going over a hundred percent effort and using three to five minutes to recover.
I always keep an eye on the watch in the gym to make sure I keep my rest periods around one minute.
If you don't have a big watch handy, then take your watch with, or better still take the stop watch.
Don't be like most guys that are having lengthy conversations in between sets or staring at the blonde that started her routine on the treadmill.
Rest between sets will have a definite impact on the results and resting one minute between sets is not the same as resting five minutes between sets.
If you don't keep the time between sets consistent from one workout to the next, then you will not be confident that lifting more weight is a result of stronger muscles or more rest.
Stay focused and take control of your resting periods so that a can track measurable progress.
Principle #7: Reduced workout time Increased work load will lead to increased muscle size.
Work load can be increased in multiple ways and one of the best ways is to reduce the resting time and doing your workout in a shorter period of time.
The amount of work in each workout is a function of the weight and the number of repetitions over time.
Just reducing the time between sets and moving on to the next muscle group quicker will result in more work done in a shorter period of time.
A lot is said about increasing the difficulty with each workout, but almost never will it include advice to reduce the time in the gym.
A simple way to accomplish a progressively more difficult workout would be to keep the weight constant but to use ninety seconds of rest on the first day, then sixty seconds the next day and thirty seconds the third day.
Increase the weight for the next visit to the gym, again starting with a ninety second resting period.
Don't be surprised if you struggle to complete the workout.
Using this method is definitely a humbling experience.
Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone to increase muscle density and take your fitness to a new level.
Principle #8: Increase weight regularly One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not to track your progress.
The first thing that you should pack in the gym bag is pencil and paper.
Nothing else is as important as a quality track record.
The only way to obtain this is by going prepared to the gym and write down exactly what was accomplished each time.
Sometimes it is difficult to remember the detail of the exercise you just completed, let alone the detail of an entire workout an hour later.
Pen and paper should be mandatory equipment in any gym bag.
Try to increase the weight each time you do the same exercise and you will quickly see an increase in strength and muscle size.
I aim to increase the weight with every visit.
That does mean that I sometimes cannot complete my full set of reps, but that leads to an increased effort with each workout.
If you cannot complete the whole set, then try the same weight the next time.
The results will come and the muscle growth will follow.
Write down the target for each exercise and track your results.
If you increase the weight by as little as 5% every two weeks then you will be lifting double the current weight within six months.
Have specific goals and make sure you record each workout so that you can track your progress.
Principle #9: Two consecutive days If you've read this far then you will understand that over training the muscles is always a bad idea.
The way to get the best out of your routine is to train for two consecutive days and then have one day of rest.
If you really want to extend it into a weekly cycle, then taking two days over the weekend is acceptable.
This will provide four days of training each week.
Taking a full rest day every two days will prevent overtraining and ensure the replenishment of energy reserves.
I know this is probably contradictory to what you've been told all along.
Remember this program is created to obtain different results from the previous failed attempts.
Principle #10: Change program every 4 weeks The horrible truth is that our bodies are programmed to adapt to changes.
If we keep using the same workout routine then our bodies will adapt and the progress will stop to be as dramatic.
I've shown two ways to make sure that the results keep coming by increasing the weight regularly and decreasing the resting time between consecutive workouts.
Another way to maintain a dramatic increase in strength and muscle size is to change your workout around every few weeks.
I try not to do it more often than every 4 weeks so that I have time to get progress out of each change.
An easy change would be to start the workout in reverse order.
Many people believe that you should always perform the workout from the biggest muscle to the smallest muscle and every workout follows the same progression.
Change it around and you will be surprised at the result.
If the workout is from bottom to top, then change it to be from top to bottom.
Another method is to use only barbells for the workout and then change to a dumbbell only workout.
The key is to make a significant change every four weeks.
Keep changing it and you will keep the results coming.
Conclusion This may all seem like a lot, but using these ten principles will get you on the fast track from skinny to muscular.
It is not enough to show up at the gym and just blindly throwing weights at your muscles.
Use these principles to gain more muscle mass in a shorter period of time.