If you just recently decided to start gaining muscle you need to know the basics. Being hardgainer (aka the skinny guy) it’s a bit different from those who have always been well built guys. This post won’t go into great detail because it would be awfully long. I will go more in-depth with future posts. Let’s lay the basics:

1. EAT and eat A LOT

You need to eat 6 times a day. 5 times at minimum. We have a very fast metabolism and should eat each 2-3 hours. You can eat whatever you like (mostly) because we tend to not store much fat in our bodies. And it is a great advantage for us. We can eat whatever we like, like burgers, pizzas, etc. (I still stay away from them myself for most of the time though). Eating clean is best. Eat meat, eat vegetables, eat rice, pasta, fruits, nuts and drink milk. These foods have best value for those who want to gain muscle mass.

2. Don’t overdo cardio

Cardio is for those who want to loose weight or improve their stamina. You should warm up before a workout for 5 minutes, but you can’t exhaust yourself for 30 minutes each workout. It would be counter productive. Cardio burns calories and we need to get more calories than we consume during the day.

3. You grow when you rest NOT when you train

You don’t have to train 7 times a week. If you did and gave your body no rest you’d be losing weight and overtraining. It’s absolutely necessary to give much needed rest for your body. It’s best to give your body 48 hours of rest before next workout (from my own experience). 3 workouts per week are the best for skinny guys like us. Go to gym, work your butt off and then go back home, EAT and rest.

4. Give your body at least 8 hours of sleep

This is related to the last topic. You grow the most when you sleep. Body isn’t doing anything physical. I prefer to sleep 10 hours a day but the minimum all hardgainers should be getting is 8 hours of solid sleep. By the way, I like to get some naps during the day when I don’t have what to do if I don’t get solid 8 hours of sleep at night.

5. Get some whey gainer

It’s a supplement that helps you gain mass. You can provide your body with necessary nutrients when you don’t have the time to eat. Get some milk, whey gainer, use a shaker and take the shake to your job/school/etc. Since you should be eating each 2-3 hours but you can’t really do that at work this is great way to supply your body with calories you need. But remember it’s just a supplement. It doesn’t mean you can drink it six times a day and not eat normal food. No. You better eat lots of real food.

6. Drink a shake and eat straight after a workout

You absolutely must eat as soon as possible after a grueling workout. Drink a shake right after it and during the next hour eat a good meal. That hour after a workout is golden chance to supply muscles with as much nutrients as possible since most of it will go straight to muscles (to help repair them faster after workout).

7. Focus on compound movements

Forget machines! Free weights are the best! Squat is better than leg press. Bench press is better than presses in the machine, etc. We skinny guys need to get our testosterone amount in the blood up and compound movements that workout your whole body and not just a simple body part, are way better at that than the machines that only challenge one body part.

So these are the basics, you wont be gaining successfully if you don’t follow these. If you disagree leave a comment and let’s discuss it ;).

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Cheers,
Adrian

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