Workout tips for someone skinny

[Ceams_]

Heyy, I'm 19, 1,82m, and recently I returned to the gym. I've been into 3 different gyms in the past few years but seen little progress.

My main goal is to gain muscle since I'm already skinny enough. I'm reading starting strength and talked about it (the little I've read) to my coach and he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle. He also told me to eat an awful load of carbs which I'm not used to but it seems necessary.

Any tips?

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle.

That's why you have rest days. The problem I have with SS and stronglifts styled workouts thought is they assume increasing the weight by 5, 10lbs or more every week is a good idea. Even for a beginner this is stupid and unrealistic imo.

Tbh I've kind of given up on workout programs in favor of developing your own routine based on your strengths & weaknesses while also accounting for what you like, since you want to be able to stick with it in the long run.

What matters most of all is your genetics and diet. Since you can't control the former, the latter matters a lot. There are mixed thoughts on eating lots of carbs - it does give you more energy and will help you recover from the depleted glycogen, but carbs are very easy to overconsume and you can easily get skinnyfat on them. I'd aim for a high protein, moderate fat, moderate carb diet if you're skinny.

 

[Ceams_]

That's why you have rest days. The problem I have with SS and stronglifts styled workouts thought is they assume increasing the weight by 5, 10lbs or more every week is a good idea. Even for a beginner this is stupid and unrealistic imo.

Tbh I've kind of given up on workout programs in favor of developing your own routine based on your strengths & weaknesses while also accounting for what you like, since you want to be able to stick with it in the long run.

What matters most of all is your genetics and diet. Since you can't control the former, the latter matters a lot. There are mixed thoughts on eating lots of carbs - it does give you more energy and will help you recover from the depleted glycogen, but carbs are very easy to overconsume and you can easily get skinnyfat on them. I'd aim for a high protein, moderate fat, moderate carb diet if you're skinny.

Thank you so much, I think I'll give SS a try.
It blows my mind that people eat a Tupperware full of carbs every meal, like.. m8 you're gonna get old af.

 

[Poonstra]

Give SS a try for 3 month and see how you like it. Don't modify the program. If done properly it will give you awesome gains.
As for nutrition, eat a gram of protein per pound of body weight. The rest of your calories can be fat and carbs. With an intense program like SS go for a surplus of 400 calories, you can't do it on 2800.

 

[Exil]

Heyy, I'm 19, 1,82m, and recently I returned to the gym. I've been into 3 different gyms in the past few years but seen little progress.

My main goal is to gain muscle since I'm already skinny enough. I'm reading starting strength and talked about it (the little I've read) to my coach and he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle. He also told me to eat an awful load of carbs which I'm not used to but it seems necessary.

Any tips?

Rest days just as important as actually working out. It's when you rest that muscle actually swells and grows.

You need to eat right and sleep solidly every night also. Different muscle groups are really important too and vary your exercises.

Up your weight every 2 weeks or so and you'll start seeing results. When first starting out, try not to focus too much on reps and what others around you are lifting.

Focus on getting that extra rep and stop for a while when you physically can't lift. 2-3 minutes of rest can usually allow another set or two to be completed and make sure you stay hydrated.

 

[Redwolf]

I use a weight lifting program called body beast. You can find it on Amazon. It's a series of workout videos that will teach you how to lift with minimal equipment. A simple bench and dumbbells. It has worked great for me. It also comes with a book on how and what to eat.

 

[Bible_Belt]

My main goal is to gain muscle since I'm already skinny enough. I'm reading starting strength and talked about it (the little I've read) to my coach and he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle. He also told me to eat an awful load of carbs which I'm not used to but it seems necessary.

What does he coach? I have no idea what he is thinking by telling you to eat a lot of carbs. Most people eat too many carbs, especially processed carbs, which is what is largely behind our poor public health. Carbs can be important at extremely high activity levels, but I think most people here will tell you that protein is more important. I would encourage you to start reading more about healthy food in general. Whfoods.com has a good list with links to scientific research.

As far as gaining mass, I am no expert, but I think you want high weight, low reps. Warm up and stretch appropriately beforehand.

 

[Ceams_]

Give SS a try for 3 month and see how you like it. Don't modify the program. If done properly it will give you awesome gains.
As for nutrition, eat a gram of protein per pound of body weight. The rest of your calories can be fat and carbs. With an intense program like SS go for a surplus of 400 calories, you can't do it on 2800.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Regarding SS, can I do squats in the multi-power or is it not the same?

 

[7onriverI f]

eat big, train big, sleep big, get big!

 

[Poonstra]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Regarding SS, can I do squats in the multi-power or is it not the same?

No it's not the same. Don't use the smith/multi-power machine, only a barbell. The balancing needed for a proper execution of a full squat is important to create a strong physique. If you're afraid to weight is to much use saftey pins.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Heyy, I'm 19, 1,82m, and recently I returned to the gym. I've been into 3 different gyms in the past few years but seen little progress.

My main goal is to gain muscle since I'm already skinny enough. I'm reading starting strength and talked about it (the little I've read) to my coach and he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle. He also told me to eat an awful load of carbs which I'm not used to but it seems necessary.

Any tips?

For someone cutting down, they say it's 80% diet 20% excersize, for someone bulking up it's the same. Someone cutting down might consume 500 less calories than normal, each and every day. For you trying to go the opposite direction, you will need a surplus of 500 or so calories, per day - most of it protein.

Strength training for all the major body parts, coupled with excess protein will cause the muscles to over compensate and grow. It takes time.

The story you hear of guys blowing up quickly are roids and a lot of it is water which is lost after the roids, or it was fat which will need to be stripped off to see the muscle. Muscle growth takes time. Imagine even a 1 LB cut of steak. Imagine if that was on your body. Now imagine a 1LB cut of steak applied to your body every 2 or 3 weeks. That's what could b e possible in the first year or so for a strength training newbie.

 

[Poonani Maker]

pullups, do your max in the morning, max in the afternoon, and max in the evening every day (with 2-3 days off a week) over 3 months you'll see drastic change

 

[EyeBRollin]

pullups, do your max in the morning, max in the afternoon, and max in the evening every day (with 2-3 days off a week) over 3 months you'll see drastic change

That’s too much volume.

OP, starting strength is a good program. Follow it and let it play out. Make sure you eat and sleep enough. Good luck!

 

[Machine10033]

My advice is don’t over complicate things. You need to break down and stimulate a muscle for it to grow. If you don’t put it under enough stress it will not adapt.

I work one body part per week. I always alter my weights and rep scheme. I do 3/4 sets per exercise and on every set but the last set I stop a few reps short of complete failure. My last set no matter what goes to complete and utter failure.... for me failure is usually 3-5 reps past the point where you think you should stop. That set to failure puts enough stress on the muscle to stimulate growth.... provided you get enough rest and nutrients to allow full recovery.

food... your skinny so you gotta figure you have an above Average metabolism. Again I keep this simple. I eat lean ground beef, flank steak, ground bison, chicken breasts, turkey breasts and salmon as my protein. Rice, veggies and sweet potatoes as my carb source and avocados, peanut butter and fish as my fat source.

I eat 6 means a day 4 with a protein /carb source and my last 2 protein and fat source.

I know what measurements give me certain calories. Cutting each meal is between 400-500 calories and gives me about 3000 calories which is maintenance for me... i then throw in cardio and burn about 600 calories to create my deficit.

Bulking each meal is 600-700 calories and gives me close to 4000 calories a day. I add those extra calories with another scoop of rice or carb serving during my meals.

you need to find your metabolic baseline and this takes time. You will need to try and eat 3000-4000 calories a day for a few weeks and see if your gaining weight Or losing weight. If your gaining then you have found a caloric count that is giving you a sufficient surplus for growth. You will need to do this over a few weeks and if after 6-7 weeks your up a good 5 pounds you have found your bulking range. You will eventually stop gaining weight as your caloric needs increase with the added mass.... I simply add another meal of about 500-600 calories and see if I start gaining again and if not I eat more. In my opinion the diet is the biggest part of getting ripped and strong. The gym is the easiest part !

 

[switch7]

Starting strength is ok but it concentrated on strength and not size. Hypertrophy is more likely between 8 to 12 reps. Still, ss is a good place to learn the basic lifts so 3 months doing that then maybe up the rep range if you aren’t seeing results.

im a skinny frame so I get your struggle with gaining muscle. My advice is:

- count your calories and protein, make sure you are getting roughly the right amount every day. Have a meal plan,

- meal prep, make your food in advance in batches, will make it a lot easier to not miss meals or substitute them for substandard alternatives

- realise the guys you see on Instagram and YouTube who got huge in 12 months are on steroids and don’t compare yourself to that. In your first year you might gain 6 pounds of muscle, and maybe 2 or 3 a year after that. That’s the reality, it takes years to build up a good physique

- try and train each body part TWICE a week. That’s when the magic starts to happen. So if you do an upper body lower body split that’s 4 sessions a week.

 

[skinnyguy]

If you guys know how to build muscle mass while the gyms are closed let me know.

I would go in and try to lift heavy, but that seems impossible now.

 

[switch7]

6 pounds of muscle gained in a year!? Are you kidding me?

Maybe OP just needs the right program. I took a hint from Pook back in the day and used his recommended program. It really works. I gained 30lbs of muscle in 3 months. And I'm planning to start the program again soon, once I have a job and money.

How to gain weight and build muscle mass fast!

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fastmusclegain.com

30 lbs of muscle in 3 months lmao. If so you are in the 99.99 percentile of genetics. The average male can gain about 40 - 50 lbs of muscle, in a LIFETIME.

 

[Jack12345]

been into 3 different gyms in the past few years but seen little progress

Found that buying the neccessary equipment home is better long term investment. I bought mine 8 yrs ago, have moved 4 times since then and it still serves me. Especially today you see why this is best way to go

my coach and he said that doing the same exercises every time doesn't allow the muscle to rest therefore I won't be gaining muscle

Right. You need to separate muscle group exercises in order to let the muscles to rest

 

[Matthew42979]

Eating healthy is necessary for building your muscle mass. If you hate any food then you must try the alternate one. But doing workout without proper diet, can't be much effective for achieving fitness goals.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Compound lifts and eat lots of high quality food.