I have posted countless times on MarineOCS.com on how to gain weight if you are overly skinny but the question always comes up every once in a while. Here is a guide to gain weight and it applies to everyone who feels he has a “fast metabolism”, is a “hard gainer” or simply doesn’t feel he is as big and strong as he should be.
Back in June 2008, after I had started training for OCS (mostly running) for a few weeks, I had found myself getting leaner and leaner (from running so much while eating the same amount of food). I was basically skin and bone at 5 foot 10 and 125 lbs. Back then, I did not know anything about the science of gaining or losing weight. Since a year ago, I have added over 20 lbs, I am now 5 foot 10 and 146 lbs and increasing almost every week. Still lean but fairly decent since I lost nearly 10 lbs while I was at OCS back in Fall 2008. So it is POSSIBLE. Don’t think that because you have been skinny all your life, you are bound to stay that way the rest of your life. The only things you need to accomplish your goal are motivation and dedication.
Food Intake:
Eating is at least 80% of all the work. Is it a surprise? There is no magical formula: You need to intake more calories than you spend each and every day. Depending on factors such as size, level of activity and what not, your body consumes between 2300 and 2500 calories a day on average. This means you need to eat 2300 to 2500 calories a day simply to maintain your weight. How do you gain weight, you need to pile extra-calories on top of those 2500 calories. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 3000 calories a day, that is an extra 500 calories. You need 3500 extra calories to gain a pound, hence you would gain a pound a week eating 3000 calories a day (500 x 7 = 3500).
Now, you may wonder why you are not gaining weight while you feel like you are stuffing yourself. The human body is extremely good at regulating your hunger so that you maintain your “normal” body weight over the long run. You have to push through this and eat more than you ever had, and not just in the course of one day, but in the course of months and months of eating more than you would like! Don’t get me wrong, you have to want it really bad!!! Instead of eating 3 times a day, you will need to eat 5 or 6 times smaller portions. You want to have food in your stomach continuously. You will want to puke but you will keep eating, day-in and day-out. This is the extent you will need to reach to start gaining weight!
In terms of what to eat, you need to eat a balanced and nutritious diet day-in and day-out. This means very little cheap calories from junk food. You want to have a solid amount of veggies and vegetables, eat lean meat, whole grains, and avoid processed food. You want to avoid fat and get your fat from olive oil, fish oil and nuts. I am not a proponent of mass gainers and other types of supplements. You want to go as natural as possible. You only have one body, take care of it as much as possible. I used to use whey protein and it helps but it’s definitely not a must. Drinking oversized servings of milk also help pack on the calories.
One thing that skinny people often slack on is breakfast. I use to not eat breakfast. Breakfast is HUGE. You want to get as much calories as possible in the morning so it’s easier the rest of the day to reach your daily goal.
Finally, you want to drink plenty of water. Up to a gallon a day. Hydration is continuous and I almost always wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak and hydrate.
Working-out
Eating is 80% of the work, pumping iron is the other 20% unless you want to turn into a big ball of fat. You will need to cut back on the cardio if you are doing any. What you want to focus on is lifting heavy weights and gaining muscle mass. Don’t use machines, they will make you injury-prone. Real men use free weights. It might be humbling to start at really low weights but you are doing it right, and no one give a rat’s ass OK?
There is three main exercises for the skinny guy that are must-do because they are compound exercises that use your largest muscle groups:
- Deadlift: Deadlifting will help you build your lower back
- Squat: The squat works your biggest muscles, your thighs and your butt!!! Most important of all exercises
- Bench press: Dumbell press is the way to go and work your chest, shoulders and triceps
Then work on whatever muscles you feel like working on that day (yea your favorite exercise the biceps curl if you want). Hit the gym three times a week. Allow two days of consecutive rest a week. Example: M W F and rest on the other days.
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