Skinny guys often wonder about how to grow muscles. There are a lot of programs that offer weight gaining tips for skinny guys as well. However, as a skinny guy, you may be reluctant to try these plans. Perhaps you’re concerned about gaining too much fat while doing these muscle building workouts. Maybe you just don’t possibly think you could eat as much as some routines recommend. You could even be wondering if these weight gaining tips are effective. As a relatively skinny guy myself, I’d like to offer an alternative skinny guy workout plan.
First off, congratulations on being skinny. Generally speaking, there are a lot less health problems associated with being skinny than there are with being overweight, aside from eating disorders. I won’t go as far to say it’s easier to gain muscle than it is to lose fat as either takes hard work and time. I’d like to discuss a popular skinny guy workout plan designed to add significant mass and then discuss another program that I think offers a better solution on how to grow muscles.
No-Nonsense Muscle Building
No-Nonsense Muscle Building is an extremely popular skinny guy workout program. Vince Delmonte was the prototypical skinny guy, weighing in at just 150lbs and known as “Skinny Vinny.” He gained 40lbs and became a champion fitness model. He continued bulking up and is now at 210lbs with 10% body fat.
This is certainly a great story for skinny guys. His website boasts numerous success stories for other skinny guys as well. However, the weight gaining tips that he proposes just aren’t right for me. While the muscle building workouts are better than most bodybuilding programs, I don’t agree with a lot of the diet recommendations. For starters, the number of recommended daily calories is through the roof…in excess of 5,000 calories for a 200lb individual. You certainly add muscle, but add a lot of fat as well.
This is of course the point of the “bulk and cut” approach where you gain a lot of muscle first and cut fat later. Just wait until your pants don’t fit any more though. How will you feel about being fat for 6 months? Faced with the prospect of an expanding waist line and buying all new clothes, I just couldn’t push any further. I didn’t look any better by rapidly adding 20lbs, and I felt more sluggish.
While I think No-Nonsense Muscle Building does offer its fair share of useful weight gaining tips, the program just doesn’t jive with my personal fitness goals. In essence, this will help you get the big and bulky look where as I prefer the lean and muscular look. That leads me to an alternative muscle building workout.
Visual Impact Muscle Building
Visual Impact Muscle Building was developed by Rusty Moore. This isn’t a program to help you gain 50lbs. This is designed to help you strategically add 10lbs of lean muscle. Realistically, this is the most muscle you can add within 6-12 months anyway, unless you’re a beginner. Even bodybuilders on steroids are lucky to add 15lbs in a year. Trust me, adding 10lbs of muscle in the right places will make you look twice as big, and you’ll still look great in clothes.
However, what I really like about this program is that it is designed to give you the Hollywood look. The program isn’t designed to build massive, “puffy” muscles; it’s designed to add really defined muscles like an Abercrombie model. Think of Taylor Lautner’s transformation for New Moon. Visual Impact utilizes a 3 phase approach designed to increase the size of your muscles and then increase the density of your muscles. Visual Impact doesn’t promote eating a huge excess of calories either.
Weight Gaining Tips for Skinny Guys
If you’re a skinny guy wondering how to grow muscles, my best advice is not to go overboard by recklessly eating thousands of calories over maintenance. Use a strength training routine to gradually add muscle in the right places while avoiding an expanding waist line. Even though it may be tempting, don’t aim for the bodybuilder look. Just look at the hottest celebrities, and you can see that most women prefer that lean, defined Hollywood look. Don’t get sucked in by muscle building workouts designed to add 50lbs rapidly, try a better skinny guy workout plan designed to add 10lbs of strategic muscle.