How To Get BIG...Now!

If you’re a skinny guy and you’ve been trying to pack on quality muscle mass to no avail, you might be feeling frustrated. This will certainly be the case if you've been working out and doing your best to eat and get big. What you need is a better plan. This article is designed to help skinny guys discover how to get bigger muscles the right way.

Realistic Expectations

The first step when planning out your ‘how to get big strategy’ is to set realistic goals. If you are a skinny guy, it’s quite probable that you have an ectomorph somatotype. This body structure is typified by a narrow chest and abdomen, long, thin legs and arms, and a fast metabolism. While it is certainly possible that an ectomorph can pack on muscle, he or she is unlikely to end up looking like Phil Health, who is a classic mesomorph. If you want to look to bodybuilders as your goal body, choose those who have a body structure like yours. For ectomorphs, the classic role model is Frank Zane. In terms of professional athletes, a lot of basketball players and triathletes tend to have the developed ectomorph physique.

Keep in mind too, that a person's body shape can change quite dramatically as they pass through puberty. A person who is a classic ectomorph at 16 may end up tending more towards a mesomorph at 25 as his bones get bigger and their testosterone levels peak. In fact, a lot of men do not fully mature physically until their 30s.

How to Get Big: Nutrition

Most guys who can’t figure out how to get bigger muscles simply aren’t eating enough quality food.

To get big you must eat big. If you don’t want to get fat though, you need to eat clean. That means avoiding what we can call empty calories. That includes fast foods. As a skinny person, you can eat a ton of McDonald's and not get fat. That’s because you are not giving your body the nutrients that it needs to grow. Unless you are giving your body the micronutrients that it needs, you can be in a state of malnutrition while pigging out on junk food.

The most important nutrition consideration is to feed your body with enough protein to build muscle. The average person trying to build muscle should be consuming between 2.2-2.7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. But if you’re a skinny guy, you should aim to eat 2.5 grams per kilo of your target weight.

So, let’s say that you're currently 70kg and your goal weight is 80 kg. That works out to 200 grams of protein per day.

In terms of protein type, you should be eating whole food sources built around chicken, tuna, salmon, red meat, and eggs. But you should also be taking one or two protein drinks each day and try opt for proteins that provide a sustained release of amino acids into your muscle cells. You will get an ideal blend of slow-release proteins in International Protein’s Extreme Mass protein powder. After your workout, you should take a whey protein isolate to get the aminos to your muscles quickly. For this, look to International Protein’s Amino Charged WPI.

As well as taking protein powder in the form of a shake, you should sprinkle it onto your oatmeal and add it to other desserts as this will help you to meet your increased calorie goal.

You also need to eat more calories overall. Again, the average guy's recommendation for muscle building is to add an extra 500 calories per day. As a skinny guy, though, you probably have a faster metabolism than most. So, you need to take in more than 500 calories per day. You will probably want to add between 750 and 1000 extra calories.

Let’s say that your daily caloric maintenance level is 2500 calories. If we add 800 calories to that, we chrome to 3300 calories per day. How you divide those meals in your how to get big eating plan is up to you. You may prefer to eat three larger meals or maybe your preference is to eat 5 or 6 smaller meals.

How to Get Big: Training

You will not build muscle by eating alone, no matter how much protein you are consuming. You also need to be working out to stress your muscle fibers. As a skinny guy, you want to keep your workouts short and sharp. Your goal for each workout should be to get in, smash the muscle, and then get out of the gym.

Your sets should be in the 8-12 rep range. Do four sets per exercise. Build your workouts around compound moves such as the:

• Squat
• Bench press
• Deadlift
• Barbell Row
• Overhead Press

Strive to increase the weights you are lifting every week while keeping in that key muscle-building range of 8-12 reps. Do not, however, push up your weights to the extent that you compromise your exercise form.

You should work out four times per week. A sample schedule would be to work your lower body and back on Monday and Thursday, and your chest, arms, and shoulders on Tuesday and Friday. The three days off that you have per week are vital to the recovery and muscle rebuilding process.

Cut back on your cardio to preserve calories. If you are wanting to put on muscle to supplement a sport, you will probably have to maintain some sort of cardio program. But if you are doing it purely for bodybuilding purposes, cut out cardio altogether as you are working to pack on muscle mass.

Goal Setting

When it comes to setting your ‘how to get big’ weight gain goals, work up in stepping stones. For example, if you are aiming to put on 20 kg of muscle, break that down so that it is more achievable in your mind. For example, you could set the goal of adding one kilo of muscle per week. As you meet your weekly goals, you will be a step closer to your overall goal and you will be feeding your motivation to keep going in the process.

How to Get Big: at Home

With the current COVID environment, you may be in a situation where you can’t get to the gym. So, how can you train to get big at home? Well, as we've already covered you need to focus on the basic compound exercises. That means you’ll need some basic equipment that will allow you to squat, bench deadlift, deadlift, and overhead press. For that, you’ll need a barbell, a good number of weights, a bench, and some adjustable dumbbells. You can pick all of that up for a few hundred bucks on eBay.

How to Get Big Key Points:

1. Consume 2.2-2.7 grams of protein per kg of your goal weight
2. Eat between 750-1000 calories more than your caloric maintenance level
3. Drink 1-2 protein shakes per day
4. Focus on compound exercises in the gym
5. Make your workouts short and sharp
6. Keep your rep range between 8-12
7. Do 4 sets per exercise
8. Train 4 days per week
9. Minimise cardio