Table of Contents
Weight gain is sometimes overshadowed by what many consider to be the more serious ailment, obesity, and weight reduction. While the latter may be connected with higher health hazards, the reality is that gaining weight for slender males may be a huge difficulty that is both irritating and troublesome.
The good news for all you lanky men is that gaining weight is easily within your grasp with careful planning, hard work, and, most importantly, consistency.
Carbohydrates are your best Chum.
Carbohydrates are the easiest macronutrient to ingest and should account for the bulk of your calorie intake (around 60 percent ). Anything and everything goes here, with the exception of refined sugar and processed foods. Consider buckets of pasta, potatoes, bread, rice, oats, and cereals; you name it, and you consume it in large quantities.
Pro Tips
- Top your food with cheese, seeds, nuts, and avocado
- Use mayo on sandwiches and in dips
- Use cream-based sauces
- Drizzle maple syrup or honey on your toast or pancakes
Protein
Despite what you may have heard or seen, you do not need to consume a lot of protein to gain weight. Protein that your body can’t use is eliminated, not saved for later use, unlike carbs.
As a general guideline, aim for 2 to 3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight and include a balanced dose of high-quality protein with each meal or snack.
A 70kg male, for example, should take 140-210 grams of protein each day.
Foods High In Fat and Calories
Fat has the highest calorie density of any macronutrient, at 9 calories per gram. You’ll have a far better chance of meeting your 3500+ daily calorie requirements if you include enough healthy fats and calorie-dense foods in your diet.
The following are the top calorie-dense foods:
- Full-fat Greek yogurt
- Nuts and nut butter
- Oily fish (Salmon)
- Whole milk
- Coconut oil
- Avocados
- Olive oil
- Cheese
- Eggs
The king of Calories Is Liquid Calories.
If the thought of consuming 2000 calories in one sitting makes you sick, put it in a blender and drink it down! Below is a recipe for a great smoothie that can help you bulk up:
- 2 Scoops of Protein powder
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter
- 500 ml whole milk
- 150g Oats
- 2 bananas
Nutritional content: 1802 calories, 187g carbs, 74g protein, 66g fat
Full-Fat Milk Is Recommended.
Whole milk, with roughly 60 calories per 100 mL, is a wonderful method to add calories to your diet.
If you’re lactose intolerant or prefer not to drink dairy, almond and oat milk are excellent calorie-dense plant-based substitutes.
Ensure that your kitchen Is Well-Stocked.
As simple as it may seem, it is critical to keep your cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer completely supplied with everything you require. You may prevent running out of food, skipping meals, and going hungry by giving your shopping run a little thought and additional planning.
Consume a Lot of Fruits and Vegetables.
While eating a lot of fruits and veggies isn’t always linked to weight gain, they’re filled with all the vitamins and minerals you’ll need to power your workouts and lifestyle. Not only that, but they’re usually high in fiber, which will aid in moving the excess food necessary to gain weight through your digestive system.
Nutrition Before and After a Workout
While you are what you eat, when you eat is as crucial for your fitness objectives. Your pre-and post-workout nourishment should be your top priority meal of the day when it comes to bulking up.
The pre-workout diet should focus on providing a healthy mix of protein and carbohydrates to your body (aim for a ratio of around 3:1 carbs to protein). If you deny your body of easily measurable energy during an exercise, it may search for other ways to meet its energy needs, such as burning fat and muscle for fuel. When you’re trying to gain weight, this is a major no-no.
Your body requires replenishment after an exercise to aid in muscle repair and growth. Aim for a healthy serving of fast-digesting carbohydrates and protein in the 5-60 minutes following your workout. (Again, a carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of roughly 3:1 is excellent). Fat should be avoided soon after an exercise since it might impede glucose absorption.
Supplements
While supplements should never be used to substitute a well-balanced diet, they can be incredibly beneficial to Ectomorphs. Especially when bulking when the prospect of yet another chicken breast, sweet potato, and a mountain of broccoli is too much to bear.
Transparent Labs has a great selection of supplements to help you meet your daily macronutrient objectives for muscle building without having to chew anything else.
Check out their muscle-building staples and vegan strength stacks.
For their high-quality all-natural plant-based performance supplements, we also recommend our friends at Performance Lab and Roar Ambition.
The Bulk Up food plan by The Skinny Guy
If the thought of consuming 3500 calories or more per day makes you squirm, don’t worry! We’ve put up a full-fledged BULK UP eating plan for all you slim men trying to bulk up.
Welcome to the bulk-up diet regimen of the Skinny Guy. This is the ideal food plan for Ectomorphs who want to gain major muscle mass and weight!
THE PLAN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING:
- A complete 7-day diet plan (to be followed until you achieve your desired weight and/or outcomes).
- Ectomorphs should follow a precisely calculated daily macronutrient split and accurate measurements to enhance weight gain and muscle building.
- For BIG results, try this tasty and very effective post-workout smoothie recipe!
- Suggestions for supplements
- Complements the Skinny Guy’s bulk-up training routine well.
Diet
Diet plays a significant role in most health and fitness goals, and weight gain is no exception. Especially for individuals wanting to gain muscle mass while dealing with a fast metabolism!
If your regular day of eating consists of a range of processed meals, frozen boxes, and a microwave, you’ll need to make some major dietary modifications if you want to gain weight.
Keep Track of your Calorie Consumption.
One of the primary issues that slim males face is their proclivity to overestimate the quantity of food they consume. You probably don’t eat as much as you preach, and you have a slim probability of gaining significant weight without completing the math.
Take out the scales and keep track of your calorie intake for a few days. Once you’ve figured out how much you’re presently eating, you can start making the necessary modifications to gain some weight.
Every day, Consume 3500 Calories or more.
Let’s set the bar at 3500 calories per day as a minimum. If you’re young, have a fast metabolism, or live a really busy lifestyle, you may need to set your goals much higher.
While eating 3500+ calories of junk food each day is quite simple. It is not possible to eat the same amount of high-quality food in the same length of time. Dedication, consistency, planning, and preparation are all required. Depending on your weight, you may need to eat every 2-3 hours, for a total of 6-10 meals each day. You might have to force yourself to eat even if you’re not hungry and eat till you can’t eat anymore. Gluttony isn’t listed among the seven deadly sins for no cause. The good news is that the more you consume, the more your body will adjust to the reduced quantities of food, making it easier over time.
Exercise
The slender man’s passport to bulging biceps and a fuller-looking body can be found in weight training. However, there are a few crucial considerations to make while training for better outcomes.
Workout Routine
It’s critical to understand why you’re going to the gym. Yes, we understand that your aim is to gain weight, but without a well-thought-out periodized workout plan to follow, your results will be restricted at best. To develop a highly successful weight training exercise, use the recommendations below or contact a personal trainer at the gym to design a tailored workout plan relevant to your goals.
Exercising in a Compound
Compound exercises should be the focus of your weight-training regimens if you want to get the most bang for your dollars. Compound workouts target the largest amount of muscle fibers, whereas isolated exercises like bicep curls and leg extensions are perfect for fine-tuning. As a consequence, the body produces more anabolic hormones (testosterone and growth hormone), which leads to considerably better muscle development outcomes.
Compound Activities that Promote Muscular Growth
- Squats (Front and back)
- Deadlifts are a type of exercise in which you lift (Traditional, Romanian, Sumo, etc)
- The bench press is a kind of resistance training (incline, flat, decline)
- Push-ups are a great way to start your day (incline, flat, decline)
- A series of rows (seated, standing, bent-over)
- Presses military (standing or seated)
- Squats and lunges in Bulgarian Split
- Pull-ups
Don’t Forget about Leg Day!
Many guys skip leg days because they are either A.) overly focused with beach muscles (chest, arms, and abs) or B.) have a poor pain tolerance. In either case, the end consequence is the same: an out-of-proportion body.
Lower-body workouts that involve a mix of complex exercises enhance growth hormone and testosterone levels more than any other exercise, jolting your body into greater overall muscular growth. Simply do it!!!
Sets, Rep Ranges, and Rest times
Sets
Start with three sets if you’re new to weight training and work your way up to five as your form, strength, and confidence improve.
Rep Ranges
While experimenting with different rep ranges is useful. Sticking to the 8-12 rep range for maximal hypertrophy has been proved time and time again when focusing on weight gain through the muscular building.
Rest times
While this is a contentious subject, the bulk of research says that 60-120 seconds of rest between sets is best for maximal muscle growth.
Cardio should be avoided.
Despite all of the health advantages of regular cardiovascular exercise, pounding the pavement on a treadmill for hours at a time is a recipe for weight gain. Especially if you’re trying to put on weight. Give it a pass for the time being unless you want to increase your calorie intake even more to meet your already massive calorie requirements.
Include one brief HIIT session in your weekly exercise plan if you can’t live without cardio.
Note: Regular exercise is good, such as a stroll, light cycling to work, hiking with your partner, working in the garden, and so on. Just don’t make cardio the main emphasis of your workout.
Rest
Forget about the no-days-off nonsense. You must relax in order to grow! This is something I can’t stress enough. Working exercise while your muscles are still recuperating will have negative consequences, no matter how driven you are to gain weight. For best results, wait at least 48 hours between workouts targeting the same muscle area.
The Bulk Up Exercise Regimen by The Skinny Guy
Don’t worry if you’re still unclear about how to work out for your body type. We’ve put up a full-fledged BULK UP strength training regimen for all you slim guys out there trying to bulk up your physique.
Welcome to the bulk-up training routine for the Skinny Guy. This is the ideal strength-training routine for Ectomorphs who want to bulk up!
CLICK HERE: FOR MORE READING ABOUT UPDATED TIME
THE PLAN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING:
- A 5-day training routine that is entirely comprehensive (to be repeated for 12 weeks or until you attain your goal weight and/or results).
- 5-day body split workouts – chest and triceps, back and biceps, legs, shoulders and calves, arms and abs – intended for optimum muscular growth.
- For BIG results, try this tasty and very effective post-workout smoothie recipe!
- Suggestions for supplements
- Complements the Skinny Guy’s bulk-up eating plan wonderfully.
