Packing on muscles may be easy for some people, but certainly not for skinny guys. If you don’t do it right, even years of weight lifting won’t do you any good. You have to know the hacks. And you’ve come to the right place!
Scrutinize Your Calories
From the evolutionary perspective, big muscles are actually a waste of energy because they need many calories to maintain. And being skinny is your body’s effort to curb its calorie need. But we’re pursuing the aesthetics here. Therefore, you need to feed it with calories more that it can burn.
According to a study by Columbia University, 2,270 to 3,630 calories per week can build as much as 1 pound of muscle. It means that you will have to eat at least 500 calories per day. Let’s say you’re practicing HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). Per session, you’ll be burning calories for around 700 calories during the sets. And in the post-workout period, you’ll lose another 290 calories. If you don’t eat at least 1000 calories per day, your body will lose your muscles. And to counter such an unwanted effect, you can opt for a workout that burns fewer calories, or you can eat more to surpass the calorie deficit.
Don’t Cut Carbohydrates
Protein is indeed essential for muscle growth, but it does not mean you should cut carbohydrates from your diet plan. Stored carbos are converted into ATP molecules, which are the fuel for your muscles during workouts. If your body lacks carbohydrates, you will fatigue faster, and you can’t stimulate your body to grow more muscles.
But this suggestion also does not mean that you can feast on high-carbs foods. Even though you are pursuing a bulked-up build, you want it to be lean and dry for the best aesthetics. And overeating carbs will lead you far away from that goal!
Be Smart with Supplements
Just to get real with you, those shredded, lean, and muscular look you find on many bodybuilders is not all ‘natural’. No matter how hard you exercise and control your diet, some builds are just too unrealistic to achieve. And thanks to science, we now have a safer alternative to artificial growth hormones!
Andarine belongs to SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators). And just like the name suggests, SARMs are less likely to harm your organs because they can be used to target your muscles specifically. But they are not without risks. You’d better consult a physician first before taking those compounds.
Put More Weight with Fewer Reps
To build more muscles in the body, you will have to condition it to adapt to lifting heavy weights. And you want that growth to be constantly stimulated. Therefore, once you feel like you can increase the weight during the lifting session, you should do it. Focus less on reps, and pay more attention to executing the lifts, which should last for at least 40 secs each. And never isolate one muscle group for one session. You need to work the entire muscles instead.