Skinny to buff - How to?

In modern times you mostly read about obesity, how to lose weight, size zero female models, best healthy diets etc. There is a group of people that you will never hear about in the media but take up and large population of people in the UK and that’s skinny guys who want to bulk up. This group of people claim to be able to eat as much as they like but always remain very boney and skinny and not know what to do to gain weight and bulk up.

There is an answer to this and it may not be something you like to hear but it is very simple as I am actually someone who falls into this category so I know what needs to be done. You have to be very persistent, patient, determined all in one if you really do want to achieve your goals and below I will show you how.

Diet

For an average male in the UK a man requires roughly 2000 calories per day. As a skinny guy it usually means the bodies metabolism is much faster so burns food at a quicker rate resulting in burning calories quicker for energy. This means increasing the calorie intake per day to around 3000 calories. This may be hard at first as your body wont be used to it but after that initial phase it will be normal and the body will start to bulk out.

On days of rest (when not training) all your meals should have a mixture of carbs and protein as the protein will build and repair muscle tissue where the carbs will fuel the muscles. On training days you will need an increase in protein throughout the day as the muscle will come under more strenuous activity so repair is essential. Eat 5-6 meals per day every 2-3 hours, as this will keep the metabolism fast preventing any food storing as fat and will keep calories entering the body throughout the day. Make sure you drink around 2 litres of water a day to flush out any toxins from the body.

Exercise

You will need to train 3-4 times a week separating the cardio from the weight bearing exercises. Cardio should be limited to 1 session a week for about 45 mins - 1 hour and mix up what you do each week to keep the heart healthy and the joints strong. When it comes to weight training forget endless bicep curls this is time wasting and will end up just burning more calories than needed and will do no good. Focus on working multiple joint exercises, which are squats, pull ups, chest press, shoulder press, deadlifts. Each exercise should be 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions resting about 2 mins between each set and 3 mins between exercises.

The workout should never ever ever ever last longer than 1 hour otherwise your body starts to burn muscle for energy, which means going in the opposite direction to what you want to go.

It isn’t rocket science trying to bulk up most of the time people expect results in 2 weeks then give up. This is where persistence, patients, determination come in as you need all of these. One final tip I will give you is this: Each time you go for a workout put something that is protein in your bag to eat or drink straight after your session. If you get protein into your body within 20 minutes of a workout the repair and building process starts much quicker and will fill you up slightly in time for your meal after the workout.

I hope this article gave you some helpful tips and don’t hesitate to email me if you require anymore advice. Otherwise I am a personal trainer in London opening my own gym just off Oxford street to be open early February 2010 so can train you if you require external help.

All the best

Article by Anthony Mayatt, Certified Personal trainer and Sports Scientist (Bsc Hons) - www.breathefitness.uk.com