Skinny guy wants to build muscle.

Hi I am a very skinny guy, I am classified as borderline anorexic on the height to weight ratio index (im over 6ft)
I want to build upper body muscle because at the moment I look like a skeleton, topless you can see every one of my ribs.

I am not unfit, I run regulary, but my aim is to build muscle.
I am on a very healthy diet, mostly fruit, vegetables, un-refined cereals and nuts. I eat small ammounts of meat, mostly chicken because red meat makes me lethargic.

I have started lifting weights which is going well.

I guess my main concern is that of diet. Is a high red-meat intake crucial for muscle development??? as I said before it makes me sleepy, so is there anything I can substitute for red meat? Also are there any vitamins or minerals you would recommend?

Any advice/input will be greatly appreciated, I realy have little knowledge on this topic. Thanks.

 

If you are looking to gain mass you need to up your intake of proteins and carbs. Red meat isn't the only thing that has proteins, but they are highly concentrated in red meat. Peanut butter, whey protein, soy protein, eggs whites, pastas.

And try to eat more frequently. Five small meals throughout the day.

Hope this helps a little.

http://www.p90xtreme.com

 

A lot of people don't seem to realize how pullups and pushups can tune your chest, abs, tricepts, biceps, and sholders. They are very difficult and the results are amazing. Pushups can benifit you more than a bench press can. Just google it.

Try to do the pyramid.

Do as many pull ups as you can. Then 2x that with pushups. Then 3x that with crunches.

If you complete the pyramid you'll do 110 pullups, 220 pushups, and 330 crunches.

Do your pullups then wait 30 seconds, pushups then 30 seconds and so on.
Do three reps at whatever your original count for the pullup was.
Regardless of what exercise you do make sure you drink lots of water and give your body time to rest if your sore. Always stretch before and after. Guarantee you can get results.

I bought this pullup bar for my door and these pushup handles so my wrists take no strain. Both of them work great.

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Gym-Total-Upper-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1279217199&sr=8-2"]Amazon.com: Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar: Sports & Outdoors

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fitness-PP6105-Pushup-Original/dp/B000KDM3BG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1279217638&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Perfect Pushup - Original: Sports & Outdoors

 

I would check into lifting heavy weights, about 2-3 times per week, and drop the running while you are lifting. Deadlifts and squats will pack muscle onto anybodys frame, keep you rep count around 20, and just one set at about 80% of your maximum in that lift. Take your time lifting, up to an hour for the workout, and Keep it simple, just a couple of exercises. Drop the red meat, and eat eggs and cheese, and drink whole milk, toss in some bread with your meals, and you will need Jenny Craig before you know it!

 

If you want to gain mass, ^ hes right you definetly want to drop all cardio. I would double your intake of food.. basically stuff your face at all meals. I would eat every 2 hours.. instead of the regular 3 meals a day. Chicken is a great source of protien, same with eggs. As for lifting.. if you just started i would start with around 15 reps for a good base, after about a month you would want to drop to around 8 reps, and so on till your using huge weights, and doing about 3-5 reps. As for supplements, i would definetly get a good multi vitamin, and some omega 3 fatty acids... and definetly some whey protien. Take the whey protien after every workout.. workout everyother day.. and you should put on some mass.

 

I feel you bro, I'm coming from the same position. I was 6 ft 130 pounds and skinny as shit lol. I eventually got fed up with being the skinny guy and started doing my research. I'll tell you what worked for me. (im 6ft, 150lbs now, all muscle)

1. EAT EAT EAT. This is the most important thing. Eat 6 small meals a day. You need to eat a meal every three hours. Make sure to get some carbs and protein with every meal. Fruit is good earlier in the day and after a workout, but avoid it at night. Lean cuts of meat like chicken breasts, turkey, fish, and lean red meat are all good. You certainly don't have to eat red meat all the time. It's hard to eat this much at first because your body isn't used to it. Start off just eating very small meals every three hours. Eventually you'll be eating more and more at each meal as your metabolism increases. Soon you'll be eating like a skinny fat man!

2. Lift hard, heavy, and regularly. I work out 4 times a week, two upper body days and two lower body days. You need to take all your exercises to failure, which means it shouldn't be physically possible for you to perform another rep. You also need to progressively overload your body, which means you must push yourself to lift heavier each and every workout. Get a planner and record your sets/reps/weight for each exercise every workout you do. Refer back to it on you next workout and make sure to beat it! Also, no workout should take you longer than an hour, any more time than this and it starts to get counter-productive and you're at risk for overtraining. If you want a good, well-designed workout plan to follow check out, http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/12-week-daily-bulking-trainer.htm

3. REST. When you're not in the gym, keep physical activity to a minimum. Get stoned (if thats your thing) and eat lots of food! Good foods though, not junk. Chill out, keep cardio minimal but do go ahead and do some maybe one day a week for health reasons.

4. SMART SUPPLEMENTATION. Supplements won't get you big, training and diet will. Supplements will however help you gain muscle faster and can provide you with some extra energy and nutrition. I would recommend a good athletic multivitamin (GNC Mega Men Sport is good and pretty cheap). Also get a good whey protein powder with glutamine and bcaa's (I use EAS Whey Protein). Creatine is also a safe and effective supplement that I would recommend, but just get the basic stuff as its cheaper and just as effective.

That's about all there is to it, if you can follow these four steps consistently and stick with it no matter what, you WILL gain some solid muscle. I know for fact because I did it and I'm continuing to make gains.

 

This is good info. The best thing you can do would be to find someone who knows what they're doing and learn how to do heavy compound lifts the right way.

Squats
Deadlifts
Overhead Press
Chinups (weighted eventually)
Dips (weighted ev.)
Barbell Rows

Definitely get some Whey Protein Powder and take a scoop before and after workouts with some carbs. If you can't do the lifts above, this is a list of priorities ranked in order of what you need to do most important to least important.

1. Eat protein and carbs throughout the day, all day (whole eggs, meat, whey protein, oatmeal, potatoes etc...)
2. Do pushups
3. Find a bar somewhere to do pullups
4. Do jump squats (jump up in the air as high as you can for 7-10)

if you want to get more serious than that P.M. me! We can talk about it and see what else you want to add. I really wanna help!

 

1) dont do cardio for more than 45 minutes at a time
2) make sure to work out (the harder you work the stronger you get) at least a couple times a week (best results would prob be from high weight low rep entire body workout)
3) eat a ton (best results would prob be from making sure a lot of it is protein...eggs, nuts, meat, fish, milk, cheese...a balanced diet helps too)

other than that, it just takes persistence and patience. stick with it for a few months and you should see results