I was a skinny guy.

And I hated it.

I was weak.

Not attractive to females.

But I wanted to masculine.

I wanted to be big.

I wanted to be strong.

I wanted to look like someone you don't want to mess with.

And as cringe as that may sound, it's true.

This was me in December of 2023.

Now I'm not the skinniest guy in the world but to make up for it, I carried quite a bit of fat around.

I was skinny fat.

Not a good look.

Or at least I knew I could achieve a better look.

This was me 2 months ago: (I genuinely don't have a more recent pictures lol)

This is my 2-step framework to getting big as a skinny guy

I separate getting big into 2 phases.

In phase one we prioritize putting on as much muscle as possible.

In phase two we focus on cutting down so the muscle you built is actually visible.

Phase 1

1) Enter a calorie surplus

Building muscle is a process that requires energy and to get the most out of this process, you need to give your body enough energy to do that.

A calorie surplus means your daily energy intake is greater than your daily energy expenditure.

How big should the surplus be?

I recommend a surplus of just 250 calories.

The reason for that is you still get all the anabolic benefits of a surplus but you minimize extra fat gain.

The second reason is that a small surplus allows us to stay in this gaining phase for longer.

Think about it.

If you eat 500 calories rather than 250, you'll get fat much faster and you'll need to start cutting.

And that's a huge problem I see when it comes to bulking.

When it's time to bulk, all of a sudden people forget all they knew about nutrition and just eat what they lay their eyes on.

A relatively small surplus allows us to stay in this gaining phase longer, resulting in greater muscle growth.

2) How long should the gaining phase be?

Your gaining phase should last at least 8-12 months. (And your body fat % shouldn't go higher than 18%)

See, that's why your intake is so important.

Because if you just eat whatever you want, you can reach 18% body fat in 3-4 months.

That's no bueno because then you'll have to start cutting and hinder your growth.

So in the end, your calorie surplus shouldn't be so big that you'll have to terminate the gaining phase because you got fat too fast.

3) High protein intake

Protein breaks down into amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle tissue.

Essentially, without protein there's no way to build muscle.

So it's crucial we get enough of it to maximize muscle growth.

I recommend 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

80kg = 176 grams

High quality protein sources: beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, egg whites, whey protein, Greek yogurt.

4) Resistance training

Eating in a calorie surplus with a high protein intake is cool but not enough to result in muscle growth.

We need to signal the muscles that they need to grow bigger.

That's where resistance training comes in.

You train with weights, that causes mechanical tension, which essentially is a signal to your muscle to grow bigger so it can handle the stress it's being exposed to, better.

So now you know that you need resistance training to signal the muscles to grow bigger.

How much training should you do?

A couple of principles here:

I want you to train each muscle twice per week. (There are plenty of training splits that allow you to do that like a full body split, an upper lower split, PPL upper lower split, PPL split.)

You should do at least 10 sets per week for each muscle.

So at least 10 sets for chest per week, 10 sets for quads per week and so on.

Frequency doesn't matter as much as long as you train each muscle twice per week and get 10 sets per muscle per week.

Gaining phase conclusion

1) 250 calories surplus

2) At least 8-12 months in the gaining phase

3) High protein intake

4) Hard resistance training

This is how you get big as a skinny guy.

Now after 8-12 months of lean bulking, you've gained some fat and of course muscle.

But your muscle may not be very visible.

That's what phase two is about.

It's about cutting down to around 12% body fat so you can see the results of your hard work and so you can start a new gaining phase from a good position.

phase 2

After 8-12 months, it's time to cut down and get rid of the fat you gained during the gaining phase.

For that we need to enter a calorie deficit.

A 300-500 calorie deficit per day is great for most.

Now you want to stay in this cutting phase until you reach 12% body fat.

Why exactly 12%?

That's because you need to get lean enough so you can start a new gaining phase and stay in it for long enough.

Because if you started your gaining phase at 16% body fat, it wouldn't take you long before you reach 18% and need to cut again.

And going back and forth like that between bulking and cutting so often is no bueno.

That's it for today, thanks for reading!