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Actually some decent information here if you’re like me (skinny midget with not an ounce of knowledge,) good to see

I was very slim for a long time, and while I’m certainly not a big guy now, I’ve put on enough weight to feel about right for my height.

The way I did it was with swimming. I started going about 4 or 5 times a week. I had no interest in spending time in a gym lifting weights as to be honest… it’s boring as hell. Swimming is fun, I wanted to get better at it anyway, and it is a good workout.

You don’t get massive muscle gains from it. Water has a little resistance when you move through it, so a skinny guy will gain from swimming while a reasonable muscular guy probably won’t get much out of it except for the cardio aspect. Swimming breaststroke makes your chest and shoulders pop out which is something a skinny guy really needs rather that just having slightly bigger biceps.

Anyway, the reason why it works for me is simply because I’d go swimming, have a protein shake after (simply for recovery purposes) but I’d be so much more hungry than normal, so I’d eat more, which ultimately is what increases your weight. You also get tired from swimming, so you will sleep earlier / better which also helps.

At some point in the near future I will upgrade my swimming membership to a gym membership as I would like my arms to get a bit bigger and swimming doesn’t really help so much with that, but i’d highly recommend if you’re a skinny guy, to take up regular swimming, even if you do both gym work and swimming together. It’s hard putting on weight as a super skinny guy, and the information all over the net doesn’t seem to work for that body type, but swimming did it for me. Also getting a healthy dose of cardio out of it which is generally good as well!

The summary would be:

Swimming is an all-round muscle workout because the water adds resistance.
Swimming makes you hungry so you eat more.
Swimming makes you sleepy so you sleep more.
Swimming keeps you generally fit.
Swimming is fun.

Swimming won’t make you a really big dude, but if you’re one of those really skinny guys, you will see some pretty substantial gains. Even if you’re not a good swimmer (I was pretty shit) you will still workout pretty well. You don’t have to swim a million lengths, you just need to swim as much as you can :).

This is quite interesting, so many different opinions – pretty much as always when it comes to fitness. I’ll leave my 2 cents here if anyone cares. My knowledge is based on about 3 years of actual bodybuilding orientated workouts at the gym 6 months of jobbing at said gym and I also wrote a 18 page coursework about sports nutrition.

As others have already said it really comes down to what you want to achieve primarily: Gain muscle at any cost (you’ll always put on fat if you bulk properly) ? Lean out ? Gain muscle while getting leaner (obviously this is what most beginners prefer but its also the most difficult imo) ?
I’ll cover those topics quickly i don’t want to repeat a whole bunch of things others have said.
Basics: 1g carbs/protein = 4kcal; 1g fats = 9kcal

1. Classic Bulk: A classic bulk usually means that you will be eating at a quite significant calorie surplus although for a beginner 250 – 350 kcal a day on your basic caloric intake per day should be enough. The characteristics for a classic bulk are quite fast mass gain which is caused by increase muscle but also fat mass. Usually your macros (macros-nutrient-ratios) will be around 40-40-20 on a classic bulk meaning 40% of your caloric intake will be carbohydrates (carbs), another 40% will be of protein and the other 20% will be of fats.
You should keep track of your bodyweight and your bodyfat if your bodyfat is going up to fast (usually happens when you gain more than roughly 1 pound of weight per week) you may need to cut back on the calories.

2. Lean bulk: A lean bulk for someone that has already been bodybuilding is usually a way to increase size without getting out of shape so lets say for someone who has started to bulk a bit late and doesnt want to have their amazing abs and all the rest covered by a bit of fat which a classic bulk brings. However for someone who is just starting this is an opportunity to experience how your body changes when you eat right and train right, the downside is – your gains will be much slower, round about half a pound per week at max. Usually a lean bulk with follow macros similar to these – 50-30-20 (these values can obviously be variated, these are just what i used and others i know) so 50carbs 30 protein and 20fats, this may seem weird cause you take in more carbs and less protein but it has its reasons. Contrary to the classic bulk you really need to keep track of your nutrition on this one, your carbs are higher to cover up your energy costs at the gym and for the cardio, the protein should be roughly around the 30% but if you find them to be far of from 0,8g – 1g per pound of bodyweight than you better go by that rule. So yeah, this bulk requires you to eat high quality carbs, such as white/brown rice normal/sweet potatoes beans (these are more for protein but overall a great food) and so on, pretty much everything that isnt overly processed and has complex carbs. You also gotta make sure you get in some proper fats and fatty acids to make sure your muscles recover properly (omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, nuts, avocado, fish).
3. Leaning out: This is simple but the hardest for most :D In its basic its really just eating at a calorie deficit while keeping your workouts up and maybe increasing the cardio a bit however i would definitely not recommend this for a beginner.

Concidering everything it also comes down to how good you are in shape atm, are you super skinny even though you stuff your face with everything you can find ? That would mean you are more of an ectomorph meaning your metabolism is very high and you can surely do a classic bulk without putting to much fat on. Are you naturally quite strong but not fat (i mean this as in you have quite a good base physique even though you never did anything ? That mean you might be a mesomorph meaning you put on muscle really easy, in that case a lean bulk should be very sufficient. Worst case you get fat even when you look at that chocolate bar in the shelf. That would probably mean your metabolism is quite low and you are an endomorph in that case you should still consider a lean bulk because the more muscle on a body the more calories it burns while doing nothing.
This maybe be a bit to much into detail but the truth of the matter is i only just scratched the surface of the topic. I didnt even cover workouts yet but generally 5×5 is a decent system however i prefer the classic way of lifting. Muscle hypertrophy “works best” with rather low rest times 30s – 1min and a mid range of repetitions per set so about min 8 – 12 reps per set with the sets around 3-4 sets per exercise generally if you do about 3-4 exercises per muscle group (like chest, lats, quads) you should be fine for a beginner, this also comes down to how often you will go to the gym and which split you will be using but thats to much detail.
If you are really into it and want to know more you can add me on steam, i dont mind helping you out a bit, hopefully i didnt scare you of with this wall of text :D

Shifty

Thanks a lot for some of these posts, had a lot more good advise than I expected! :)

Quoted from beta

What are your goals, lift more? tone up? put on some muscle?

How old are you? weight? etc …can’t believe people just said eat more without even asking the simple stuff.

I’m very skinny, been going to the gym for about a week now and can feel some muscle for example in my arms but before going to the gym when I tensed my arms I coudn’t feel anything just to put into perspective of how skinny I was/am.

My main aim is to just look fit and healthy, I don’t want to have a massive body builders body – just want to have some muscle, and generally just feel happy with my body (don’t really feel comfortable wearing a T shirt at the moment). I used to be really healthy when I was younger, enjoyed sports and my stamina was quite good. I want to get back my fitness, and regain my stamina so I can do again what I enjoyed when I was younger (hiking, swimming, cycling etc).

I’m 21, 5″10 and just over 10 stone (65kg).

Quoted from Shintaz

[…]

o/

If you’re putting on weight, eat more than you work off. Seems simple, but due to budget problems, I couldn’t gain weight for a good few months (I don’t use creatine etc, I just eat fuckin lots if I can). If you have budget problems like I did (was/still am a student), then don’t be afraid to take a day off working out and just eat stuff. I was losing fat, but I wasn’t gaining mass, due to me working harder than I was consuming.

Also, when building, do 5×5 sets (I think someone posted it earlier) and use the heaviest weights you can – ones that make you want to die after finishing a set. Never don’t finish a set – if you can’t finish it on a specific weight, move down 2kg (or w/e) and continue straight away (that’s also great for mentality, never leaving a set unfinished).

For specific mass-building exercises, talk to somebody that really knows about it (by the looks of things, Trane’s your guy). A lot of this thread is about diet and not workout, and which workouts you do is highly important. Free weights > machines is about all I can tell you.

P.S: Not sure who it was, but the guy that said “there’s no point in cardio” – I wouldn’t agree. Losing weight is a lot harder than gaining it. If you don’t do cardio, you’ll get stronger, but your stamina will go to shit. Don’t focus on cardio as much as weights, but go for a ~10-15 minute jog a few times a week.

P.P.S: I know more about toning/fat loss than I do about building, so when you get to that stage, hit me up.

Cheers, money is definetely something that is putting me off! I’ve got a friend whos telling me to buy some mass gainer which is like £55 and it lasts him about 3 weeks and thats him giving himself less servings than he should. I don’t really have the money to be spending loads.

Quoted from AcidReniX

I was very slim for a long time, and while I’m certainly not a big guy now, I’ve put on enough weight to feel about right for my height.

The way I did it was with swimming. I started going about 4 or 5 times a week. I had no interest in spending time in a gym lifting weights as to be honest… it’s boring as hell. Swimming is fun, I wanted to get better at it anyway, and it is a good workout.

You don’t get massive muscle gains from it. Water has a little resistance when you move through it, so a skinny guy will gain from swimming while a reasonable muscular guy probably won’t get much out of it except for the cardio aspect. Swimming breaststroke makes your chest and shoulders pop out which is something a skinny guy really needs rather that just having slightly bigger biceps.

Anyway, the reason why it works for me is simply because I’d go swimming, have a protein shake after (simply for recovery purposes) but I’d be so much more hungry than normal, so I’d eat more, which ultimately is what increases your weight. You also get tired from swimming, so you will sleep earlier / better which also helps.

At some point in the near future I will upgrade my swimming membership to a gym membership as I would like my arms to get a bit bigger and swimming doesn’t really help so much with that, but i’d highly recommend if you’re a skinny guy, to take up regular swimming, even if you do both gym work and swimming together. It’s hard putting on weight as a super skinny guy, and the information all over the net doesn’t seem to work for that body type, but swimming did it for me. Also getting a healthy dose of cardio out of it which is generally good as well!

The summary would be:

Swimming is an all-round muscle workout because the water adds resistance.
Swimming makes you hungry so you eat more.
Swimming makes you sleepy so you sleep more.
Swimming keeps you generally fit.
Swimming is fun.

Swimming won’t make you a really big dude, but if you’re one of those really skinny guys, you will see some pretty substantial gains. Even if you’re not a good swimmer (I was pretty shit) you will still workout pretty well. You don’t have to swim a million lengths, you just need to swim as much as you can :).

Awesome, swimming is something I definetely want to get better at and do more of. Have always been concerned though as I’ve got people telling me not to do cardio etc as I won’t gain muscle as quick but tbh I want to get fit too, and improve stamina too. Swimming seems like a good thing to do…

Quoted from Shifty

This is quite interesting, so many different opinions – pretty much as always when it comes to fitness. I’ll leave my 2 cents here if anyone cares. My knowledge is based on about 3 years of actual bodybuilding orientated workouts at the gym 6 months of jobbing at said gym and I also wrote a 18 page coursework about sports nutrition.

As others have already said it really comes down to what you want to achieve primarily: Gain muscle at any cost (you’ll always put on fat if you bulk properly) ? Lean out ? Gain muscle while getting leaner (obviously this is what most beginners prefer but its also the most difficult imo) ?
I’ll cover those topics quickly i don’t want to repeat a whole bunch of things others have said.
Basics: 1g carbs/protein = 4kcal; 1g fats = 9kcal

1. Classic Bulk: A classic bulk usually means that you will be eating at a quite significant calorie surplus although for a beginner 250 – 350 kcal a day on your basic caloric intake per day should be enough. The characteristics for a classic bulk are quite fast mass gain which is caused by increase muscle but also fat mass. Usually your macros (macros-nutrient-ratios) will be around 40-40-20 on a classic bulk meaning 40% of your caloric intake will be carbohydrates (carbs), another 40% will be of protein and the other 20% will be of fats.
You should keep track of your bodyweight and your bodyfat if your bodyfat is going up to fast (usually happens when you gain more than roughly 1 pound of weight per week) you may need to cut back on the calories.

2. Lean bulk: A lean bulk for someone that has already been bodybuilding is usually a way to increase size without getting out of shape so lets say for someone who has started to bulk a bit late and doesnt want to have their amazing abs and all the rest covered by a bit of fat which a classic bulk brings. However for someone who is just starting this is an opportunity to experience how your body changes when you eat right and train right, the downside is – your gains will be much slower, round about half a pound per week at max. Usually a lean bulk with follow macros similar to these – 50-30-20 (these values can obviously be variated, these are just what i used and others i know) so 50carbs 30 protein and 20fats, this may seem weird cause you take in more carbs and less protein but it has its reasons. Contrary to the classic bulk you really need to keep track of your nutrition on this one, your carbs are higher to cover up your energy costs at the gym and for the cardio, the protein should be roughly around the 30% but if you find them to be far of from 0,8g – 1g per pound of bodyweight than you better go by that rule. So yeah, this bulk requires you to eat high quality carbs, such as white/brown rice normal/sweet potatoes beans (these are more for protein but overall a great food) and so on, pretty much everything that isnt overly processed and has complex carbs. You also gotta make sure you get in some proper fats and fatty acids to make sure your muscles recover properly (omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, nuts, avocado, fish).
3. Leaning out: This is simple but the hardest for most :D In its basic its really just eating at a calorie deficit while keeping your workouts up and maybe increasing the cardio a bit however i would definitely not recommend this for a beginner.

Concidering everything it also comes down to how good you are in shape atm, are you super skinny even though you stuff your face with everything you can find ? That would mean you are more of an ectomorph meaning your metabolism is very high and you can surely do a classic bulk without putting to much fat on. Are you naturally quite strong but not fat (i mean this as in you have quite a good base physique even though you never did anything ? That mean you might be a mesomorph meaning you put on muscle really easy, in that case a lean bulk should be very sufficient. Worst case you get fat even when you look at that chocolate bar in the shelf. That would probably mean your metabolism is quite low and you are an endomorph in that case you should still consider a lean bulk because the more muscle on a body the more calories it burns while doing nothing.
This maybe be a bit to much into detail but the truth of the matter is i only just scratched the surface of the topic. I didnt even cover workouts yet but generally 5×5 is a decent system however i prefer the classic way of lifting. Muscle hypertrophy “works best” with rather low rest times 30s – 1min and a mid range of repetitions per set so about min 8 – 12 reps per set with the sets around 3-4 sets per exercise generally if you do about 3-4 exercises per muscle group (like chest, lats, quads) you should be fine for a beginner, this also comes down to how often you will go to the gym and which split you will be using but thats to much detail.
If you are really into it and want to know more you can add me on steam, i dont mind helping you out a bit, hopefully i didnt scare you of with this wall of text :D

Shifty

Thanks for your wall of text. :) Very insightful. Thanks

rippetoe bruv, look it up

http://scoobysworkshop.com/

check this site. Go to Men’s workout plans. You got loads of stuff in here. Also what to eat, drink, what shakes are good ect. From personal experience, the site is legit^^. Also, don’t eat any Creatin pills. Side-effects can be quite brutal (massive headaches, poor eyesight)

bean – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6640815

If you google you can find more. but its kind of common sense.

check out “You are your own gym”.