Skinny Guy Struggling to Build Muscle - Any Advice?

• 

  scrimshaw on 19/04/2017 - 22:36

  +1

  It's not just workout, you also need to look at diet improvements.

  Try reading the FAQ at Reddit. A wealth of information already provided.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/index

• 

  airal3rt on 19/04/2017 - 22:40

  +2

  Eat more.

  Seriously, if you didn't put on a noticeable amount of muscle mass after a year of 3x weekly gym sessions you aren't at a high enough caloric surplus to be gaining mass. You're underestimating your caloric needs, start stacking up calorie-dense foods like peanut butter, avocado etc.

  I know it can be hard to eat more, like people who want to lose weight are struggling to eat less, because that's the pattern you are set in. But if you want to bulk up you need to get more calories into you day in and day out, no excuses.

  Even if your lifting routine was completely whack you'd notice some muscle groups in your upper body hypertrophying, while others stayed relatively the same(due to poor routine). I'm curious what your lifting numbers increased to over this time, bench/squat/deadlift etc, how much strength you gained.

  • 

    esty on 24/04/2017 - 16:48

    Lift consistently and eat consistently

    Chicken breast or beef ortuna
    Brown rice
    Brocoli or carrot or spinach

    5-6 times a day

    Thats all i ate.

    Before 186cm - 65kg
    Now 186cm - 90kg

    • 

      footyboy on 25/04/2017 - 07:18

      +1

      Why would your height have changed?

      • 

        casho on 19/01/2021 - 14:54

        the beef ortuna did it

• 

  smugmug on 19/04/2017 - 22:57

  +2

  You sound just like me (up to) 10 years ago. I am 181cm tall and weighed 55kg-60kg up until I was around 28.

  The only way to resolve your issue is to count calories. You probably think your calorie intake is high, but my guess is it isn't.

  Here's how you can approach this…

  Step 1:
  * set a target weight. Say for example: 75kg. Set milestones at 5kg increments, so your first target is to get to 65kg. Ignore how long it would take, just work towards that goal.

  Step 2:
  * work out the daily calories required to maintain your target weight (75kg), if you are active. Search for "calorie calculator" on Google. As an example, a lightly active 25 year old male of 180cm height requires 2,413 calories per day.

  Step 3:
  * count your calorie intake for a few days: keep a log of everything you eat and work out your average daily calorie intake. Search for "calories in foods" and measure your intake and read the labels.

  Step 4:
  * if there is a shortfall in your daily intake, make a plan to increase your intake to match your target. What worked for me was going from 3 meals per day, to 4 meals per day, supplemented with high calorie snacks in between and a protein shake.

  You will see results in 2-3 months guaranteed.
  If it seems like a lot of work, believe me it isn't. Plus, this is the best way to get into the habit of controlling your exact calorie intake and maintaining a target weight, whatever it may be.

  Good luck.

• 

  Donaldhump on 19/04/2017 - 23:06

  +7

  I've got a spare 30kg you can have

• 

  Save Medicare on 19/04/2017 - 23:37

  +1

  Avoid the roid

• 

  bighead on 20/04/2017 - 06:44

  Remember its not a race to get big. Rushing the training can provoke more injuries. have you considered a personal trainer?

• 

  Mika1234 on 20/04/2017 - 07:14

  +1

  As someone who was 60kg and 182cm, now 75kg. You have to change your perception of 'a lot of food'

  You are where you are because you dont have the drivers to eat like some people, so you need to consciously eat before you are hingry.

  Honestly counting calories is a waste at this point, if you make it that much work you wont do it. Just eat 5 times a day, whole clean foods and go from there.

  Dont gym more than 3-4 times a week. Gym is merely the stimuli, resting is the growth.

• 

  beaver2233 on 20/04/2017 - 09:32

  yep similar to me in terms of build. you have to eat fairly regularly. every 2 hours snacking etc. Mass gainers can be an easy (albeit expensive) way (one after gym and one before bed). I put on 5-6 kgs then went back to uni and lost it all in a month and sorta gave up haha.

• 

  pernunz on 20/04/2017 - 11:03

  +1

  There's a program called 5x5 (with a smartphone app) that I used to use and helped gain muscle quickly in a range of areas. It wants you to go to the gym every 2 days, alternating squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press and barbell rows. For each exercise, you typically do 5 sets of 5 reps of each at the maximum weight you can do 5 reps. Each time you go to the gym, you increase the weights. Within a month I went from squatting 60kg to squatting 110kg, along with other improvements.

  But, as others have said, you need to eat enough for your body to recover to a) build muscle and b) have the energy to go to the gym regularly.

  • 

    Certified Angus on 23/04/2017 - 11:23

    Stronglifts 5x5 is a great app, free version will get you going, only $10 to support the developer.

• 

  outlander on 20/04/2017 - 11:08

  Pretty much as above. Once I started eating I gained 20kg

  My idea of 'getting enough protein' went from a 95g tin of tuna to 600g beef everyday, and I'm finding even that isn't enough.

  • 

    datafellows on 20/04/2017 - 12:14

    600g beef a day might not be too healthy in long run. Your colon might not like it :)

    My mate was skinny and started to go gym and increased his protein intake by eating heaps egg whites. He grew a lot of muscle weight.

    Look what you eat but keep it healthy. I also would stay away made-in-china powdery "powerfoods" :)

• 

  djones145 on 20/04/2017 - 12:33

  "do ya lift bro"

  like others have said you need to pack in the protein!

  • 

    capslock janitor on 19/01/2021 - 10:58

    more carbs

• 

  MiniatureDino on 20/04/2017 - 15:32

  It depends on what type of injury you had and you have recovered completely or not. Keep in mind that you have to eat healthy with your daily workouts. Otherwise, it won't be possible to build muscles at a good rate.

  Now that you have a really fast metabolism (as already said), you should eat every two hours. But your diet should/must be healthy and balanced. I'm not asking you to eat and eat and become fat. What I am saying is that if you have taken a healthy and complete breakfast at 8 am then you should eat some fruit salad at 10 or 11. Then go ahead with a proper lunch whatever time you prefer 1 or 2. Then take some veg salad 2-3 hours after lunch. Take some juice, smoothie or a shake at the evening and end your day with a proper and balanced dinner. And do your daily gym as you are doing. It will probably work for you… Cheers!

• 

  SlavOz on 20/01/2021 - 19:19

  You are identical to me in height and weight.

  Honestly, I gave just gave up on trying a few years ago. Dont feel bad if you can't gain weight. We are actually the healthier ones - humans are agile creatures who should be spending most of their time standing. We were designed to be lightweight creatures. The problem is that everyone is so chunky these days, normal people are starting to look out of place.

  I'm self conscious about my tiny body too but it has it's benefits. I can eat as much as I want (I can actually eat more than my brother who is a pro athlete) without having to worry. I play a lot of physical sports and I have an easy advantage despite lacking in skill. It's actually much harder to knock someone down when they're skinny because they have better balance. Heavier people go down like a stack of bricks at the slightest interruption. And all my team mates are constantly getting injured or having to spend months recovering from a chronic pain in their joints (despite being in their 20s). Me, I've had some bad falls but never suffered an injury.

  If you're a house, you need to worry about falling over much more than a feather does :)