Not all men with ripped bodies started from being fat and then becoming hunky. A lot of them journeyed through their skinny teen years, until they discovered the gym. Some other guys already started adulthood when they realized having flat chest, flat butt, and stick-thin arms and legs are not sexy. Especially if they have beer belly.
Gaining weight is not as easy as some people may think. If food doesn’t appeal to you much, even if you can eat anything you want, it would be difficult to gain weight. And if you think that being skinny is healthy, you’re not entirely right. If you don’t exercise and all you do is slouch on the couch and eat junk food, you’re definitely harming your body.
If you’re scrawny and you’re thinking you have to gain weight first before going to the gym, then you need to change your mindset. You might not be able to step inside the gym for years if you wait to add some pounds first. Gaining that mass and muscle don’t have to take too long, and you can start the process today.
What can you do to build mass and muscle?
Workout
The common misconception is that you’ll lose more weight if you work out. That’s not entirely wrong. The right statement however, is that you’ll lose more weight if you focus on the wrong exercises and don’t eat the right food.
In order to build mass and muscle, you need to become stronger. Visit a fitness club, like World Gym or Las Vegas Athletic Club, and see the programs they offer to help you achieve your goals. You will find out that their trainers and gym equipment are perfectly suited to get you building your muscles. Don’t be conscious about exercising, thinking you’ll be surrounded by muscle men and sexy women; in fact, you’ll see a lot of people having the same situation as you.
When you start working out, don’t think about lifting heavy weights right away, because you’ll just tear your muscles. Know the muscle groups you’ll need to focus on each day you’re at the gym. For example, on day one, do chest and bicep exercises; on day two, focus on shoulders and legs; and on day three, you can do back and triceps exercises. After warm-up, begin with lifting light weights; you can add more weights on your next visits.
It is also important to remember that what you need to build is a well-proportioned or balanced physique. Some men only focus on their chest and arms—don’t do the same mistake. Do compound exercises, like dips, reverse grip bent-over barbell rows, bench presses, deadlifts, and barbell squats. Don’t forget to have a leg day in your workout week to ensure you’ll not maintain those chicken legs.
Exercise regularly. Train your muscles frequently, but do not overtrain. You can do squats and bench presses twice a week. It would also be better to train your muscles several times a week, than simply once a week.
Eat healthy
Once you begin working out, you’ll become hungry, and that’s a good thing. You’ll finally have that craving that eluded you for years. Your food doesn’t have to be expensive; you could gain weight by eating cheap foods, such as:
Eggs
Eggs are great when you need to put on weight quickly. Eggs are high in essential energy, nutrients, and calories to get you going through the day. Don’t eat too much eggs, though, as they are also high in cholesterol.
Tuna
Tuna is rich in proteins and healthy fats and essential oils.
Soy milk
A tall glass of soy milk is a quick source of energy. It contains calories and protein, so if you could drink two glasses a day, that would be beneficial for you.
The other foods you can eat are rice, granola, peanut butter, nuts, bananas, avocado, dark chocolate, cheese, and soy beans, among many others. Be careful when taking supplements because overdoing them can cause damage to your liver. If you notice any side effects, stop using them or consult your doctor.
Rest.
Your body needs to recuperate, whether you’re just new to working out in the gym or a frequent gym goer. Take days off because your muscles need them to recover. What you need to develop is a routine and you need to stick to it if you want to gain mass and muscles.
For better results, you can workout three to four times every week. Besides, training six times a week might be too difficult to sustain if your work and family schedules are full. You’ll also need time for your hobbies, or books and movies, or out of town trips. You wouldn’t want to over tire yourself because you may just fall off the band wagon and not return to the gym anymore.