Obesity is a serious epidemic in the USA and all over the world and it is estimated that over 35% of all Americans are obese. On the other end of the spectrum are the underweight. These are the skinny kids and even adults that just can’t seem to put on any weight. In the fitness world, we call these individuals “hard-gainers”.
They eat and they eat and they eat some more but seem to always stay thin and small. In this article we’ll teach you how to not be part of any of these groups and how to bulk up fast. As hard on a person’s self esteem as obesity is, being severely underweight can be just as tough to deal with.
These are the individuals that will spend countless hours searching online for a solution and how to bulk up muscle. They will spend hundreds of dollars each month on the most expensive supplements hoping for a miracle product to reach their goals.
4 Steps to Bulking Up Faster
- Find your maintenance level of calorie input and increase it
- Learn what the proper ratio of proteins, carbs, and fat is for you
- Perform compound exercises and lift heavy weights
- Get plenty of rest
I was this guy in high school. I wasn’t the 120lb kid but I wasn’t much over 150lbs and I couldn’t stand it. All I wanted to do was get bigger. Make my body look like those athletes and actors I saw on TV. They had the muscle bulk I always wanted.
I searched and searched the magazines for a solution (remember, this was in the early 90’s before the internet so magazines were the reading method of choice) but all I found were steroid using bodybuilders that had unrealistic methods of bulking up. I followed these “bonehead” methods and all it got my was fat.
After all, taking in thousands and thousands of empty “junk calories” wasn’t the way to get where I wanted. Over the years and a lot of trial and error later, I have put together the best tips how to bulk up fast for skinny guys.
Increase Your Calorie Intake
Get a food scale and use it! If you have no clue on how many calories you are taking in, you’re waisting your time. I use this particular food scale every day and it makes everything so much easier.
Increase your calories. This is my most important tip. The one that will determine your success. The thing that will determine if you bulk up your muscle or stay skinny and underweight. Every person has a maintenance level of calories one needs to eat each day.
To find your level of maintenance amount of calories, just multiply your body weight x 10. There are a lot of different methods to find this amount but I prefer this one for it’s simplicity.
For example, a 200 lb man would need roughly 2000 calories a day to maintain his weight even if he sat around and did nothing all day. After you have determined your maintenance amount of calories needed, you need to increase that number.
I would start with 2500 calories a day for a few days to get your body used to the change. After a few days, if you feel comfortable, raise your calories to 3000 and so on.
Protein, Carbs, and Fat Ratio
Using the same 200 lb man, he should keep his protein at 1-2 g per body weight per day throughout his bulk phase.
That is 200-250 grams per day. Protein is measured out at 4 calories per gram so that is 800-1000 calories per day of protein.
The number of carbs is always increased during a bulk phase.
That 200 lb man could start by taking in 250-300 grams of carbs per day. Carbs are measured at 4 calories per gram, so that is 1000-1200 calories per day of carbohydrates. So far that is 1800-2200 calories per day for this 200 lb man.
Fats are measured out as 9 calories per fat gram so the rest of your calories should come from fats. Eat as healthy as possible. There is nothing worse than putting in all this work to bulk up your muscles, only to put on loads of fat.
Lose the burgers, lose the fries, lose the sodas and lose the junk food.
Know How to Exercise
Perform compound exercises and lift heavy during this phase. The benefits of using compound lifts during your workouts while in a bulk phase are numerous.
Why Compound Exercises Are Best for Bulking up
- Compound exercises use more muscles to complete the lifts than isolation movements
- Because you use more muscles during compound lifts, you can lift heavier weights
Both are very important when trying to gain muscular size during a bulk phase. Some examples of compound exercises are bench press, military press, deadlifts, squats and bent over rows.
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
Get plenty of rest. You will be eating more food and you will be working your muscles with the heaviest weights possible so you need to maximize your recovery.
Get plenty of sleep because your body needs recovery time.
If you don’t recover properly, you will not grow! Short naps during the day could help and making sure you are getting all of your proper nutrients in your diet is essential.
There you have it. Kiss your skinny days goodbye. These are the 4 most important tips on how to bulk up fast.
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