Weight training for tall skinny guys has always been something that has been a passion of mine. Why? Because I myself was a tall skinny guy. Now I am just a tall guy who has a little bit of muscle and isn’t very skinny anymore.
Being tall and skinny can sometimes be an unfortunate combination. If you are in this position, you have probably heard all sorts of negative terms to describe your physique. Scrawny, lanky, super skinny, etc…
I have heard it all when it comes to bad names.
One thing that I wish I knew back then was how to do proper weight training and build muscle. I spent so much time messing around the gym and not paying attention to what I was doing.
This article is going to teach you everything you need to do in order to get involved with weight training for tall skinny guys. If you want to build muscle, read until the end. You will find that putting on muscle and weight is a simple formula.
Choosing the right workout plan
Weight training for tall skinny guys is the same as weight training for any other person. The problem is that if you are skinny to begin with, you have a tendency to want to rush your results. This might ultimately lead to you trying to lift too heavy and injuring yourself.
Don’t be that person. There are also those who think that maybe they can workout every day of the week and that will be the best option. That isn’t going to work either.
The sweet spot for a tall skinny guy is to workout 3-4 days per week. As a tall skinny guy, you are going to need to ensure that you give your body adequate time to rest up. Otherwise, your muscles are not going to grow.
Ultimately, we want the muscles to grow. Therefore we must do what we have to do.
The right workout plan involves lifting weights with minimal cardio. Personally, I was able to put on 70 pounds over 3 years by weight training 3 days per week. If you are interested in the exact workout plan, it is called 3 Day Overload, and it is available in our app All Workouts: Personal Trainer (iOS | Google Play).
I used to be the guy that would workout 6 days per week with no results. I figured I just wasn’t working out enough. It turns out, I was overtraining, which can be a big problem for people trying to put on muscle.
If you don’t want to download our app, I highly recommend checking out our beginner bodybuilding routine for mass. It will be a great start on your journey to getting bigger.
Form over weight
You have probably heard many people talk about how having good form is more important than the amount of weight you are lifting. This is very important. Especially since we are talking about weight training for tall skinny guys.
Being tall and skinny, we have a strong disposition to joint injuries due to our long limbs and lack of supporting muscle. This is totally ok, but we need to take the proper steps in order to make sure that we are doing each exercise correctly.
Don’t swing your weights around or try to use your whole body to force it. The most important thing to do is focus on the muscles that you are working out.
If you want to learn the proper form for each exercise, be sure to download our app. We have illustrations and videos for over 100 exercises. We also have YouTube videos for multiple exercises like barbell bentover rows, dumbbell bench press, and deadlift.
Learning proper form is so important, that you don’t want to skip over this part. Just start off small, make sure you are doing each exercise correctly, and you will prevent future injuries.
It’s not just injuries that you are preventing either. You are going to ensure that your muscles grow in the right areas. And you won’t be worrying about an asymmetrical muscle structure.
Form is so important, that I would rather lift lighter weights and have perfect form over lifting heavier weights and having bad form. Weight is important. But form is significantly more important than the weight you are lifting.
Ensuring muscle growth through nutrition
Now, you have learned the importance of weight training for skinny guys. But it would be irresponsible to talk about building muscle without the inclusion of nutrition.
Without nutrition, you aren’t going to build an ounce of muscle. But what do I mean by nutrition? I am talking about eating enough calories to build muscle. Ultimately, this was the main reason that I struggled to put on muscle at first.
I thought I was eating a ton, but I wasn’t even close. How did I end up finding out that I wasn’t eating enough? I learned how to calculate my maintenance calories. I was shocked with the number, and I think a lot of you might be too.
Have you ever met one of those people that seems like they can put on muscle ridiculously easy? More often than not, they are eating at a caloric surplus. But here is the thing. Everyone has a different maintenance calorie number. So yours will be completely different from your friends.
Really what it comes down to is the fact that you cannot build muscle in a caloric deficit. And for tall skinny guys, you most likely have an extremely high maintenance calorie number. Therefore you will need to try hard to remain in a caloric surplus every single day.
When I first started monitoring my nutrition, I spent a ton of time trying to plan out all of my meals. It turns out, eating 3,600 calories per day is fairly difficult. That is why I came up with the 1000 calorie protein shake recipe.
If you are serious about putting on muscle, dial in your nutrition and make it happen.
Main Point: Weight training for tall skinny guys
It turns out that weight training for tall skinny guys is pretty much the same as weight training for anyone else. It is just going to take a little bit of extra care and a lot more calorie consumption than the average person.
Routines are extremely important. Not just for weight training, but also for nutrition.
Start by choosing a routine that works for you. Whether that is 3 days per week, 4 days per week, or 5 days per week, that is all up to you. I just recommend not going over 5 days per week. You need to give your muscles ample rest time.
Once you have a workout plan chosen, it’s time to focus on form. Remember that our app has a ton of illustrations and videos to ensure that you are performing each exercise correctly. Don’t skip this part. Form is very important.
Your last step is to make sure that you are eating enough food in order to build muscle. Finding out your maintenance calorie number is an essential step to making sure that you ultimately are eating at a caloric surplus.
A lot of tall skinny guys struggle with putting on weight because they don’t realize how many calories they need to be consuming. More often than not, you are probably not eating enough calories to put on muscle.
If you aren’t gaining a pound per week, you aren’t eating enough.
All in all, it is going to take time and conscious effort to implement this plan. But its roots are simple and proven.
Make sure you are being consistent, using great form, and eating enough calories. With this, your muscle growth will be unstoppable.
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