Why can’t you gain weight? Though there may be several reasons why you might be thin, the most obvious reason is because of your genetics. If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame, then you’ll probably have the same small body type. To a degree, your size can also be controlled by your metabolism.
Let’s understand it
If you’ve got a hard time gaining weight of any kind (fat or muscle) then you probably have a fast metabolism. That simply means your body burns calories at a faster than normal speed. You have to take this into consideration if you are thinking about a specific diet or training program. Is it geared towards someone with your metabolism and goal? As you know, there are several ways to train. Hundreds, thousands even. Some work and some don’t, but for the particular objective of gaining weight, there are a few UNIVERSAL items that all lanky men must do.
Though much of the information I cover here isn’t as”magical” as you might like, I consider these rules are the principles concerning weight gain. These are not all the answers, but they are definite elements that MUST be addressed in any successful weight reduction program. You need to be able to easily incorporate these principles into your existing program to make it more acceptable for your individual body and goals.
Take note
- Get the correct information when it comes to your SPECIFIC condition and goals. The first major problem I find in most people is the lack of proper information. Yes you are motivated and doing things, but your effort is wasted on wrong dieting and dieting info. Basically, lanky guys are taking advice from those who have never had a weight gain issue. Want to learn how to gain weight? Then find somebody who has walked your own shoes. Someone that has been where you’re.
- Set a particular goal and make a plan of attack. If you were to drive cross country to another town, would you just begin driving randomly, or would you plan a path that would get you fast and efficiently? Think of your plan as a road map and your goal as your destination. Without a plan and a particular goal you’ll be without focus and can easily get lost or side tracked. This happens more frequently than you know. I see lots of people in the gym just doing anything, or just eating anything — no strategy or specific aim. They wonder why they do not make progress. They’ve no focus. Having a particular program to follow permits you to take action every day. This activity is focused on especially getting you to your destination fast. There’s absolutely not any thinking, debating or imagining. You just do it. A particular plan offers necessary daily structure which not only keeps you on the road moving ahead, but in addition, it helps to develop good eating and training habits that will help you long after you’ve reached your destination.
- Have confidence in yourself and belief in what you’re doing. Let’s face it; we are living in a barbarous world. Hate and jealously is anywhere. For most people who begin a fitness program to enhance themselves, getting started will be half of the battle. The other half will be staying motivated during the continuous onslaught of negativity from other people. A few negative words can do serious damage if you permit it. The most insulting things you hear may be from friends, co-workers and acquaintances in the gym
Did you know?
People hate change. It makes them insecure, because they suddenly discover there is more to you than they were probably willing to admit. They fear that you might actually achieve your objective. It makes them seem less “superior”. Once you’ve begun your program, you should have faith and believe in what you’re doing. Stay focused and avoid overly critical or negative men and women. If you need to, keep your business to yourself. When I first started my schedule, I stopped talking about what I was doing since I got tired of hearing things like “you can not do this”, “that’s impossible”,”you are wasting your time and money”. Funny thing is, now those people are constantly bugging me for information. It’s your life. It’s your body. It’s your fantasy. Don’t allow your success or failure to rest in the hands of others.
Stop listening to every ridiculous piece of advice you hear in the gym or read on a message board. Recently a client of mine informed me that someone in the gym stated that he was training all wrong and he needed to train 5-6 days a week, and aim for more reps during his workout. Somewhere in the range of 15-20 reps per set.
The person giving the advice was quite confident about his recommendations, and he had an impressive body that typically elevates him to the elusive “listen to me if you wish to look like me” level at the gym. He was larger than my client, so even though my client’s “intellectual” mind understands that information is absurd; his “unrealistic dreamer” thoughts took this advice very seriously. So seriously that he changed his program and did not inform me until a week or so later.
Keep in mind
This particular person was making great progress on his current schedule, yet he allowed this 1 man’s comment to emphasise progress and convince him that his schedule was insufficient. This is a mistake and it showed in his lack of further progress. Moreover, do not judge the validity of what a person says by how they look. Just because the man is huge does not mean he’s spewing pertinent suggestions for you. Many people who have large physiques are large despite of the training, not for this. I understand some big guys that know very little about training and dieting correctly. They can do anything and still gain muscle; sadly we’re not that way, so we much approach things in a more intelligent manner.
This is the most difficult concept for many to grasp simply because it entails less action, rather than more. When we get inspired and start a brand new program, it is natural to want to do something. We want to train and train and train. Thinking all along that the longer you train, the more muscle you will build. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. More training doesn’t equal more muscle growth. Understand that the purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth. That takes very little time. Once that’s been completed, the muscle has to be repaired and muscle has to be built. That only happens when you’re resting.
Good to know
You don’t build muscle in the gym, you build muscle when resting! If you never give your body any essential “non active” time, when does it have a opportunity to build muscle? Now, add in the fact that you have a hard time gaining weight and the value of rest increases. Individuals that are naturally thin and have difficulty building muscle often require less training and more rest. Multi-jointed exercises are those that excite the maximum amounts of muscle fibers. Unlike isolation exercises that only work individual muscles, multi-jointed lifts operate a variety of muscle groups simultaneously.
For those needing to gain weight, this is perfect since these lifts put your body under the most amount of strain. This is the strain that will shock your nervous system and cause the best discharge of muscle building hormones. This results in increased muscle gain all around the body. You can still do some isolation work; nevertheless it shouldn’t be the focus of your workouts, and should only come after your multi-jointed lifting is complete.
Final note
Free weights are favored over machines for a number of reasons, but most importantly because they permit the stimulation of particular supporting muscle groups when coaching. Stimulating these stabilizer and synergistic muscles will enable you go get stronger, and ultimately build more muscle faster. Yes, some can probably still build massive amounts of muscle using machines, but why make it even more difficult if you already have a hard time gaining weight? Building mass entails lifting relatively heavy weight.
This is essential because the muscle fibers that cause the maximum amount of muscle size increase (called Type IIB) are best stimulated by the lifting of heavy weight. A heavy weight as one which only lets you execute 4-8 reps before your muscles fail. Using a lighter weight and doing more reps can excite some Type IIB fibers, but if you’ve got a hard time gaining weight, why make it harder? You will need to try to stimulate as many as possible with using heavy weights.
