How to bulk up for skinny guys

If you are a skinny guy who wants to learn how to bulk up and add muscle mass, you'll find plenty of information on the web. But lots of it is confusing, most of it is contradictory, and all of it seems to be hyping the latest gizmo that marketers want you to buy.

Fortunately, learning how to bulk up is not as difficult as internet marketers would have you believe. In fact, if you follow these three simple steps, you will succeed.

Eat enough so you add weight

If you don't add body weight steadily, all the weight lifting in the world won't make you bulk up. Instead, it will just tire you out, wear out your under-nourished joints, and waste your time.

You can't bulk up without putting on the pounds. Remember: lifting weights doesn't magically help skinny guys add muscle, but eating enough food to gain weight while also lifting heavy weights on a regular basis does. Don't lift without gaining weight, it's that simple.

If you are a skinny guy who wants to know how to bulk up, know that you won't succeed unless you eat 3500 calories or more per day. Keep track of your weight and make sure that you are gaining a pound per week. If not, you are wasting your time in the weight room.

Use heavy compound exercises

The mistake most skinny guys make when they try to bulk up is they focus on their arms. Doing bicep curls and triceps kickbacks is fine, but it won't put very much muscle on your body. Large, muscular lifters know that to get their arms bigger than fifteen inches or so, they have to bulk up their entire body including their legs.

You can't work one part of your body in isolation. Instead, you have to strengthen the body as a single unit. Unless you using compound movements like squats, overhead presses, pull-ups, and bench presses or dips, you won't be able to make very much progress. These lifts are classic bulk-up lifts that will cause your extra calories to go towards building muscle mass instead of fat. If you neglect them, you won't succeed.

Always increase your intensity

It isn't enough to hit the gym, do a few sets of curls, and leave. The way to bulk up is to lift heavy and make sure you're lifting more than you did the last time you worked out. This concept is known as overload and it's an essential part of any bulking program. Without overload, you are not building muscle mass, you're only burning calories.

Progressive overload -- making sure you lift more intensely each time you work out -- is at the heart of any bulking program that is targeted towards skinny guys. Don't waste time in the gym with easy workouts; if you really want to know how to bulk up, the answer is 'progressive overload'.

Would you like to learn more about every aspect of bulking up and adding muscle mass? Check out How to Bulk Up when you're ready for a site with no hype or sales pitch, just high-quality information for adults who want to make their own decisions about health and fitness.

(article origination site: How to bulk up for skinny guys)