Have you asked yourself, is it possible to go from skinny to muscular? I spent 7 years asking myself the same question.
In fact, I was working out on and off that whole time. I would go to the gym for 3 months, and then get sick and have to take a month off. My consistency was perfect. I worked out 5 days per week without any good results.
Really, I was struggling to understand why I wasn’t getting results. I was pushing myself in the gym and doing all of the exercises with proper form. Unfortunately, getting sick was holding me back. It turns out, all of the high school and college drinking was hindering muscle growth.
In this article, I am going to give you the 4 steps that I had to implement in order to go from skinny to muscular.
For a little more background on me, I am a 6’1” male, who was 135lbs for the majority of high school and college. I don’t remember weighing myself before that. But I would suspect that I was lighter than 135lbs at 6’1” at one point.
Now, I hover between 185 and 190lbs, and I am happy with where my body is. I never feel insecure about how scrawny I was anymore. I never have to worry about getting turned down on a date because I am the skinniest person they know. Side note: I am happily married now.
Let’s get into what is going to make some seriously impressive changes in your life. Is it possible to go from skinny to muscular?
Step 1 – Make sure you are eating enough calories
The reason I put this as the first step, is because it is the definite reason that my body did not change during my first 7 years of working out. When I finally figured out how to eat properly, I was shocked with how much muscle I gained.
In the first year alone, I gained over 25 pounds of muscle. That growth continued into year 2, and year 3. I eventually was able to get up to 205 pounds in less than 3 years.
It was then that I decided I had a little too much muscle, and I cut down to my current weight. Being able to build TOO much muscle is a good thing.
Ready for the formula? Learn how to calculate your maintenance calories. Once you are able to do that, you will then be primed for muscle gains.
You will need to eat at a caloric surplus. That means that once you have your maintenance calories determined, you can start by eating 500 calories per day over maintenance. At this rate, you should be gaining at least a half pound per week.
If you aren’t gaining a half pound per week, it is time to up your calories. You will hear a lot of people talk about how important protein is. Yes, it is very important, BUT total calories could be more important.
You could be eating a ridiculous amount of protein, yet still fall under your total calorie intake goal. This means that you will still be losing weight. If you are like me, and struggle to eat enough calories, you might benefit from my 1,000 calorie protein shake recipe.
Step 2 – Make sure you are working out properly
The actual hardest part is out of the way. You have calculated your maintenance calories, and you are ready to start building muscle. But where do you start?
The best foundation for gaining muscle is working out 3-4 days per week, while keeping cardio to a minimum.
We all know that cardio is good for your cardiovascular health, but it is not good for building muscle. Doing lots of cardio will increase the amount of daily calories that you need to consume for muscle growth.
Weight training is all about just showing up, going through the motions, giving it your all, and repeating. If you are new to weight training, you will learn to love it.
If you are ready to get started, I recommend downloading our app, All Workouts: Personal Trainer (iOS | Google Play). We have FREE built in workout plans that will definitely help you go from skinny to jacked.
In fact, the exact workout plan that I created for myself to put on over 20 pounds of muscle per year is in this app. It is only a 3 day workout plan, and it is called “3 DAY OVERLOAD.” Don’t let the 3 day muscle building routine fool you. It is called overload for a reason!
If you don’t feel like downloading our app, I actually wrote out a whole entire 4 day workout routine for weight loss and muscle gain. I made a video for every exercise. Simply eliminate the HIIT workouts in this plan, and BOOM, you have your muscle building plan.
Step 3 – Build good exercise habits to go from skinny to muscular
Building good exercise habits is like making sure that there is a road to your destination.
This isn’t about proper workout form or nutrition, this is about making it easy to show up, and get the work done. Is there a gym close to your residence? Find a way to make it easy to go there. Even if it is just for 5 minutes per day.
You will need to make it easy to show up. If you don’t have a gym near you, or it’s just not convenient, you might consider building your own home gym.
When I started out, I was so embarrassed about my skinny body, that I ended up building my own home gym. In total, I spent about $1000. It might sound like a lot of money, but if you consider that the average gym in the United States costs about $40 per month, it paid for itself in under 2 years.
Building good exercise habits is all about showing up. You need to make sure that it is easy for you to get started and make it happen. Is it possible to go from skinny to muscular when you don’t have access to a gym, or cannot afford to build a home gym? Why yes! Checkout 15 workouts to build muscle at home with no weights.
Step 4 – Stay consistent
How many of us want to wake up tomorrow and be in the best shape of our lives? I know I do. If it were that easy though, everyone would be in perfect shape, and it would no longer be a symbol of dedication.
Do you remember when I said you should be able to gain a half pound per week? That doesn’t seem like a lot, does it? Well, does 26 pounds per year sound like a lot? 78 pounds in 3 years?
Believe me, that is a lot. And when you workout and eat enough with consistency, these are the type of results that you can expect.
Once you build the habits that encourage you to go to the gym, you will now need to focus on doing this over a long period of time. The results will be fabulous and the muscle you build will give you confidence you never thought you had.
Main Point – Is it possible to go from skinny to muscular?
You have made it this far, and you now know what it’s going to take. You tell me, is it possible to go from skinny to muscular?
If you have read this whole article, you know that it is 100% possible to go from skinny to muscular. Don’t be sold by the idea that there is a quick fix out there for you to get in perfect shape quickly. This leads to false expectations, and will ensure that you don’t follow through with your goals.
Focus first on understanding maintenance calories. This is going to be your foundation for building muscle.
Once you have your maintenance calories figured out, you can now move onto sticking to a workout plan. Weight training is the best thing to build muscle. If you want my 3 day per week workout plan that I created, download our app and find the “3 DAY OVERLOAD” plan.
Don’t forget about building good exercise habits and making sure that you stick to the plan for a long period of time.
You will not experience instant results. Consistency over time is going to sculpt your body into what you are looking for. Let us know what you are doing to get into the best shape of your life!
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