How To Gain Weight As A Skinny Guy Without Getting Fat

Want To Learn The Fastest Way To Gaining Weight Without Getting Fat? Read On….

I used to be a very skinny guy. When telling people what I looked like before I started working out, they usually don’t believe me until they see some old photos. It’s amazing how you can transform your body and if you’re reading this article chances are you want to transform yours, too. You want to gain weight.

Now I could tell you that gaining weight is easy all you need to do is eat more. But you know that already. What you want to learn instead is how to gain muscle mass and not fat. Now this goal is slightly more difficult to reach, because it requires more than just food. To get bigger and not fatter you need not only to eat properly but also train properly. In this article I will show you what exactly you need to focus on in your diet and workout to see amazing results fast.

Step 1 – Getting Bigger Not Fatter: Calorie Surplus is King!

It might sound obvious but unless you don’t provide your body with more calories than it regularly expands, you won’t see any increase in weight. Calories measure the energy stored in our food and if you don’t provide your body with enough energy to grow, it will simply stay at its current weight.

To avoid this mistake check out my article on How Many Calories Do I Need To Eat To Gain Muscle. It teaches you everything you need to know about the ideal calorie surplus and how to implement it in your diet. Once you have determined your optimal calorie intake, you want to come up with a smart diet plan that helps you gain weight while maximizing muscle growth and minimizing fat gains.

Step 2 – Getting Bigger Not Fatter: Watch Your Macros

You already know that you need to eat more, so let’s now cover what you should be eating. The key is to eat the right foods with the right amount of macro nutrition. A good starting point is having your daily calorie breakdown be 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat.

This ratio will provide you with plenty of carbs for increased strength in your workouts (more on that later) and enough protein to ensure an optimal rate of protein synthesis. If you are not sure where to get your macros from, here is a list of the perfect foods to cover your carbs, protein and fat intake:

Good Sources Of Carbohydrates:

Brown Rice

Whole Grain Pastas / Breads / Cereals

(Sweet) Potatoes

Quinoa

Oats and oatmeal

Vegetables

Seeds

Chia

Nuts

Yams

Lentils & Beans

Bad Sources Of Carbohydrates:

White Pasta / Bread

Bagels

Sweets and Candies

Processed potato / corn / rice products

Good Sources Of Protein:

Lean Chicken (Chicken Breast)

Fish (Tuna, Salmon, Halibut)

Lean Beef and Veal (Low Fat)

Cheese (Non-fat Mozzarella)

Yogurt

Milk

Eggs

Vegetarian/Vegan Sources Of Protein:

Green peas

Leafy greens

Quinoa

Seeds, Nuts & Beans

Chickpeas

Tofu

Hemp

Good Sources Of Fat:

Avocados

Eggs

Olive Oil

Nuts

Nut Butter

Fatty Fish

Dark Chocolate (in moderate amounts)

Coconuts and Coconut Oil

Bad Sources Of Fat:

Burgers

Pizza

Basically any fast-food

Frozen Foods

Potato Chips

Step 3 – Getting Bigger Not Fatter: Limit Cardio

As a skinny guy you are naturally lean. Oftentimes you’ll already have six-pack abs even without doing special ab exercises. That’s one advantage of having a lower than average body fat percentage. Due to its fast metabolism, your body burns calories like they’re nothing. However, that also means you have to consume more calories when wanting to reach a calorie surplus. This will only get worse if you do additional cardio.

Like most (former) skinny guys I’m not a big fan of eating huge amounts of food. If limiting my cardio means that I have to eat less, then that’s what I’m going to do. Don’t get me wrong, cardio is important. It’s a great way to train endurance for which your heart and lungs will thank you. But especially during a bulk it can really be counterproductive.

Step 4 – Getting Bigger Not Fatter: Follow A Workout Designed For Skinny Guys

Before we go over the aspects of the perfect skinny guy workout plan, here are some basic principles any muscle-building routine needs to incorporate:

Focus on compound movements, that target more than one muscle group at the same time.

Build you workout routine around the four major lifts – deadlift, squat, bench press and military press.

Use progressive overload to your advantage by increasing the weights over time.

And Warm up properly

Now the things that work especially for skinny guys looking to gain mass fast

Lower the rep range and increase the weight

Rep ranges of 6 – 8 for compound exercises work best for me, but I know of friends who train solely in the 4 – 6 rep range and see great results.

Take longer breaks between sets

The problem with heavy compound lift is that they take a toll on your central nervous system. The harder you go on your first few sets, the weaker you will feel during the rest of your workout. A great way to not kill yourself at the beginning of your workout (when you should be doing the heaviest exercise) is by taking longer breaks between sets. My sweet spot is around 3:30 minutes for the four major lifts.

–> Check out my article on The Ideal Workout For Skinny Guys To Build Muscle for more details.

Step 5 – Getting Bigger Not Fatter: Use the right supplements

Protein Powder

You don’t need a protein powder to build muscle, but it is a lot more convenient than eating high protein foods all the time, especially before and after a workout or when traveling. I recommend getting a simple but quality whey protein like the one I linked above.

Creatine

Creatine is an organic acid found in many foods (such as fish and beef). As a supplement, it will increase strength (thus build more overall muscle) and help you reduce muscle soreness after a workout. Myths about creatine causing kidney problems have been disproven by countless studies. For healthy adults, creatine has been shown to have no harmful side effects and only people who already suffered from kidney diseases reported problems from creatine supplementation.

What About Weight Gainers?

Weight gainer powders are usually a combination of both carbohydrates and protein, with most of them having a 2:1 ratio of the former to the latter. Your typical serving will have around 60 grams of carbs and 30 grams of protein. In theory they seem to be a great way to conveniently reach your daily calorie requirement. However, in practice most weight gainers are full of “empty calories” like added sugars or saturated fats.

They provide your body with little to no quality nutrients and will cause massive spikes to your insulin levels. Instead I recommend you make your own weight gainer shake by blending 1 cup of oats, a banana, 30 grams of protein powder with three cups of water. You can also add some low fat yogurt and/or nuts.