The Tao Of Big Gains: Mass Building Hacks to Help Skinny People Grow Weight

If you're skinny and sincerely surfing the web for legit advice on weight and muscle gain, your search has brought you to the right spot. Thank Google! With majority of dieting advice in the fitness community catering to the weight loss and bodybuilding audience, our featherweight brethren are bound to feel lost and confused. But here, you'll find diet and exercise tips (mostly diet) that actually work, if you are exclusively ectomorph--scientific term for our skinny pals, are looking to get in shape like Mr. Lee, and to permanently and sanely pack up a pound....lots of pounds!

Note: These strategies are hacks, not cheats. To make them work, you'll be needing to consistently and slowly incorporate them into your routine. They will help you bulk up easy, NOT quick!

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Are you, but, really an ectomorph....?

But first, how to know that your genetics, and not undernourishment, is the reason for your thin frame? The pointers below help you figure out:

· You're a 'hardgainer' (another slang in the business for ectomorphs), i.e. you find it difficult to gain weight or muscle, i.e. if you've tried.

· No matter what amount or kind of food you eat today, even junk stuff, your fast metabolism will digest and burn it all in a jiffy, without adding a single pound on you! With this ability you also make your girlfriends secretly jealous (it's a blessing and a curse!)

· Actually, you cannot eat much in one sitting because you have a small stomach, and your weight is also way below your BMI ideal weight.

· Your hips are visibly narrower than your shoulders

· You are built slender, and your limbs are long.

· When you wrap your wrist with the thumb and middle finger of the opposite hand, they touch and overlap, still leaving ample space for ant man to crawl under.

· You have a small chest and collarbone.

If you checked "hell yes!" for most of the above indicators, your dominant body type is 'ectomorph'. So if you want to grow into a bigger guy (or gal), you'll need to crunch and munch like one!

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So How To Gain Sustainable Weight If You're Skinny?

Caution: You'll have no excuses to not begin your weight gain journey after this section. Only proceed if you are ready!

Alright! So the simple advice is you simply have to lift often, and eat even more often. I suggest you take a day or two to take note of 3 things:

#1. What you eat typically

#2. How many calories you consume through your meals

#3. How active your daily lifestyle is

Your starting weight:

Choose a particular day of the week, like Sunday, for this. First thing in the morning, before drinking water, do a weight check. A simple weighing machine does the deed, but it'd be better if it's a digital one for more accuracy sake.

Use An App To Keep Track

Befriend an app (or site) like Myfitnesspal or Eatthismuch and leave all the counting and tracking to them. Log in your starting weight, set your target weight, your weight gain goals and daily level of activity, and your meal plan. The app will calculate how much calories and macros you should be having based on how much you burn, and how much water you must drink (more than 2litres.) Now just try to hit the daily mark of calories and protein. That's about all you need to begin!

As you gain up, update your app by the weekend so you get a new calorie goal to reach. Your calorie needs depend on how active your lifestyle is!

While the apps tell you how much calories you lose from your workout or lifestyle, if you also have an activity tracker (maybe Fitbit), those get your stats accurate to the dot. Although we don't need such precision yet.

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Ectomorph Weight Gain Protocol:

How To Eat A Lot!

Gaining weight isn't about eating a lot of food, but consuming plenty of calories. So you need additional calories--more or less 500 plus calories--than what you usually consume. This margin will also be given to you by the app. Gradually, your weight will climb up .25 kg (.5 lbs) to 1kg (2 lbs) per week.

Meals that have low caloric value and make you feel full too soon won't help make much difference on the weighing scale. So do the opposite! Eat foods that are more condensed in calories and don't feel too filling.

The apps may give you a meal plan, or you could build a list yourself. If you buy a packaged product, they usually give the whole nutritional information behind the pack. Or you could look it up online. Look for foods in your locality itself that easily form a part of your staple diet. We'll discuss what these "special" foods are, and see how to make a diet plan, in another article.

Basically, this is how your meals should be:

#1. High in calories. So choose your meals accordingly. Swap the low calorie ones for higher calorie alternatives.

#2. Less in fiber (about 10-15g fiber a day is a plenty), so you can get hungry and ready again in a short time.

#3. Less in water (like dried fruits instead of fresh ones). Also, try not to drink water before or during your meal.

#4. Cooked deep enough that they are easy to chew.

#5. It's even better if you can drink, rather than eat your meals, whenever you can. Blend the goodies into vegetable or fruit smoothies, milkshakes or juices. You'll secretly sneak in more calories before your tummy takes notice.

#6. Well rounded and healthy. A highly nutritious diet will increase your appetite, digestion and ability to eat properly.

#7. Make them tastier. Top your treats with tasty seasonings or condiments, or just plain old ketchup and mayo! We eat more when we enjoy, remember?! Interestingly, these toppings also have hidden calories that are helping you reach your aim. But because they aren't always healthy, have only a little bit of them..

Additional Weight Gain #Hacks

#8. Did you know, certain herbal and dietary supplements increase your appetite? They increase your urge to eat more. If you live in India, Chawanprash has that known effect, and it is available over the counter.

#9. Don't skip sleep. Even if your work or study demands overtime, try finishing up by the day. Night is for rest! Or you won't be able to digest the food properly.

#10. Surprisingly obvious hack: Workout! The more you exert yourself, break down muscle, and burn calories, the more fuel and stuff your body needs to repair and replenish itself. It will also help you sleep deeper because of the fatigue. Remember: Your body breaks when you work and builds when you rest. At least 7 hours quality sleep for most adults!

Important Tip: When you're eating in surplus, you have more energy, which means you may get fidgety, restless and walk around a lot which will make you lose calories. You may even skip meals unknowingly, because your body will try to maintain the same weight you naturally have been in. So it is essential to spend energy in a productive way by working out. Also, if you study or do some rigorous mental work, that too makes you hungrier! Good sleep becomes even more important if you're exercising your body and brain.

How Many Meals

Have 5 - 6 evenly sized meals, or if you like the traditional style then 3 major ones with few snacks and sips in between. But DO NOT skip meals and do not go long hours hungry, because you will lose those precious calories! That's why you should keep some snacks handy, so you can pull them out whenever you need to stock up.

How To Workout

If you want to grow big but lean like Mr. Lee, not skinny fat which is really unattractive, you should be working out. Choose a weight training regime which is slow paced, less aerobic (because that makes you lose fat), and which goes no longer than an hour. If you play a sport that has a lot of cardio, you might want to stop that for a while. Rather, hit the gym minimum 2 - 3 times a week to lift heavy!

A program like Bony to Beastly, which is specifically designed for skinny guys (the female version is Bony to Bombshell), would be swag for the task! You could also give Jeff Cavaliere of Athlean-X a try!

Poignant Point: Eating well is more important than the program you follow. But following a diet plan only makes sense if you are also working out regularly. Confusing, but true!

Your pre- and post- workout meals should be rich in carbs and protein. A lot of fatty foodstuffs are still NOT advisable, even though you hardly have any fat..!

How About Supplements

You can opt for an additional aid like a Mass Gainer or Whey Protein. However, supplements aren't substitutes for regular meals. Have them only if you are following a weight training schedule at least thrice a week, along with a well rounded diet.

Smart diet, punctual workout, persistence

and

patience! It pays off

Conclusion

A mass building diet isn't as difficult to create and follow through. You just need the persistence of one day at a time. Remember, even a tiny little gain in weight and muscle is progress! And should motivate you to go on. Be easy on yourself, but not light (see the pun there!)

Good news is, you can even "cheat" with a little junk ready-made food when you really have to. Just don't rely on it. You should aim for a fully healthy diet made of whole and, hopefully, organic foods.

Better news is, you only need to put up with this routine till you reach your desired weight. Then just set your goal in the app to 'maintaining' your newly increased weight. You will already have created a discipline in eating and working out so it won't be difficult at all It's also much easier to maintain, than gain.

To sum up:

« Lift heavy, min. 2 - 3 times a week

« Don't shy away from carbs--it's your main source of calories

« Meet your protein target; spread your protein intake evenly through every meal, rather than having it all at once--which is near impossible anyway!

« Workout hard and Sleep well. They are equally important for your body.

« Keep consistent track of your progress through your app, as you update your gains and stats weekly. Increase your calorie intake accordingly.

Okay! That's a "bulk" of good advice. Now make your gains the same.

Get big and burly!