Being skinny puts you at a disadvantage in the area of muscle building. Fact is, it is harder for skinny guys to pack on the lean muscle mass. Don’t be discouraged, though, as there are things you can do to (relatively) speed up the muscle building process.
Tip #1 – Keep light-weight work out of your weight training. To jump start the muscle building process, you should aim for intensity and not volume. Lifting heavy weights in fewer reps and sets will help you build muscle mass more effectively than lifting light weights in high repetitions. Just so that you know, lifting light weights in high repetitions is for defining muscles and not for building muscle mass. And you don’t need to build muscle definition (at least not yet) when you’re only starting out.
So, ditch the isolated exercises and focus on compound lifts/workouts like squats, bench presses, deadlifts, rows and military presses.
Tip #2 – Get Enough Rest
Get some rest after each workout and let your muscles recover. This is very important because your muscles only grow when they are given the chance to rest and recover. And the skinnier you are, the more rest you are going to need.
But, do not use this as an excuse for taking extended breaks between workouts. Get yourself on a good upper/lower or full body workout program and take a full day’s rest after each day of workout.
Tip #3 – Limit the Cardio
If there’s any advantage in being skinny, it’s not having to worry much about body fat. So, limit the cardio workouts for now.
Keep in mind that you need all the calories you can get at this point. So, use them wisely. If you really want to include some cardio in your workout program (for your general health’s sake), make sure you limit it to two or three twenty-minute sessions per week. And keep it at a low to moderate intensity. Save your precious calories for the weight room.
Tip #4 – Eat Right
If you want to build muscles and really grow them big, you’ve got to give them the proper building blocks to do so. Just to put extra emphasis on the importance of having a proper diet in growing muscles, 80% of your success actually depends on the food you eat. In a nutshell, you need lots of protein. In addition, you also need a constant supply of complex carbohydrates. Among the things you must include in your diet are egg whites, chicken and/or turkey breast, lean read meat, oatmeal (and other sources of complex carbs, such as pasta, bread, and corn), fish, beans and legumes, protein shakes, and other supplements.
