How to build muscle as a Skinny person/Ectomorph?

If you’re a skinny person and feel low as to why you’re not able to build muscle, no matter what you do, then this blog is for you.

If you’re wondering, the reason behind why you're skinny is the fact that your metabolism is on fire,ie it works really fast and thus burns a whole load of calories more than the average person, therefore no matter how much you try to eat, you feel as if you’ll never be able to gain size.

However, the upside to this is that when you work hard & do build size, you’ll hit the jackpot. You’ll be one of the most visually appealing people with the extremely ripped & shredded body(with abs popping) because your body will take care of the fat, you won’t need to work extra to remove that. You’re gonna be living your dreams at ease when you get there, but you’ll need to work extremely hard & smart to get there.

So now let's talk about what all you need to do to get your dream physique.

1. Workout

First, let's face the facts, the odds are against you to put on size. Your body just isn’t designed to have a lot of muscle & fat due to that fast metabolism. So in order to achieve that, you need to workout with extreme intensity in order to ensure muscle damage. Remember that every rep is gonna count, make sure to read our other blogs here and here to know how you can maximize your intensity. You can’t push a lot of volume of weight, but you must have intensity. Now let's talk about the characteristics of the kind of workouts you need to do.

1. Heavy - Reps – 6-10

   Go heavy almost all the time, perform negative reps with the help of a partner.
   
   

2. Rest time

   Rest about 2-2.5 mins b/w each set, and 3-4 mins b/w each exercise. Yeah, you read that right, rest longer to cause more muscle damage & burn lesser calories.
   
   

3. Frequency

   Your frequency to go to the gym, ie how many times you go to the gym a week is limited. 3-4 days a week is maximum, rest is all rest for growth. If you go to often, you’ll burn too many calories & thus you won’t be able to grow.
   
   

4. Exercise type

   You’re gonna perform more compound exercises instead of isolation exercises. Compound exercises are multi-joint exercises, like bench press, standing barbell curls etc vs preacher curls. Isolation exercises are the shaper lifts, that help give better shape & definition to your muscles. You can work on these later, as of right now, these aren’t required that much for you.
   Also, no supersets and drop-sets. No need to train for cuts as of now. Just focus on compound exercises.
   
   

5. Cardio

   No cardio at all, you can perform HIIT sometimes if you wanna train for endurance, but not necessary. You’re never gonna spend 50 mins on the treadmill, just don’t do it.

2. Diet

Be more focused on diet than on the workouts. Now regarding your caloric intake in the beginning -
(Your bodyweight in pounds) x 22 = Your daily calories intake

You need to be eating 1 solid meal every 2.5-3 hours, no matter if you’re hungry or not. And if you're going liquid, then you need a liquid meal after every 1.5 hours. Also before sleeping, put in a meal replacement high protein shake, add in casein protein if you want. You want your body to use the food in your stomach for energy, not your internal storage reserve of energy.

You need to be eating soo much, that you’re gaining at least 1 pound of weight per week. Measure your weight every Sunday morning, or any other fixed day per week. On that day, 1^st thing in the morning, wake up, don’t eat/drink anything, go to the washroom and then measure your true weight.

And don’t worry about fat, just eat & count your calories. Here's a great calories counter. Later, one week you’ll notice that you didn’t gain 1 pound of weight in that week, so then, increase your daily calories by 500 calories. And keep repeating this cycle by adding 500 calories to your daily intake as soon as you stop gaining a pound of weight a week.

Off your total caloric intake, 50% should be carbohydrates, 25 protein, 25% fat. The healthier food you eat, the better & faster you’re going to transform. In short. Pay special focus on carbs as it’s the easiest fuel for your body to burn.

Conclusion

Remember your priorities –

1^st priority – Diet
2^nd – Workout
3^rd – Rest, b/w sets, workouts, sleep(7 hours), etc

Remember, follow these steps the right way and you're destined for success. Judge yourself after 6 months or 1 year & not 1 month. Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint, work hard, long, be natural and live your life.

Trust me, once you get the physique, you’ll love it. As an ectomorph, you’ll always be lean, ripped & cut, life’s gonna be good. Focus on the future, not on the daily pain.

Eat big, be big. And of course.

Stay Devoted.