Skinny guys (and girls for that matter) have always had a difficult time gaining muscle mass. This is not for a lack of trying or motivation on your behalf but because the classical skinny body type has hardwired biological processes that inhibit muscle growth.

This does not mean skinny guys cannot build muscle however, it does not even mean you have to work that much harder than other body types to grow your muscles it just means you have to relearn what you know about bodybuilding and realize that the usual techniques that the bodybuilding industry tell you may not apply to your situation.

The first thing you must understand when researching how to gain muscle mass as a skinny guy is how your body works and is different from the other guys at the gym. To do this we can look at the the archetypical body types that humans broadly fall under.

• Endomorphs - The Endomorph is usually a bigger guy; extreme variants of this body type are usually round and soft with a big torso and shorter arms and legs than most. The Endomorph is the opposite of a skinny guy and has a lot of trouble losing weight as a lot of what they eat goes to fat due to their slow metabolism. They do find it easy to gain muscle mass however and many Endomorphs make excellent power lifters but always struggle to have lean muscles due to their weight gain tendencies.
• Mesomorphs - The Mesomorph is the halfway point between large and skinny, they are the prototypical athletes that find it relatively easy to gain muscle and lose weight as they have a well balanced metabolism that works well as long as their diet and exercise regime is not extreme.
• Ectomorph - If you are a naturally skinny guy or girl then you are an Ectomorph. The Ectomorph has a very fast metabolism that is the key to keeping you thin but is also the demon that destroys your efforts to gain muscle mass for exactly the same reason. This type also tends to have longer limbs and are lankier than others. 

While these are the three general types of bodies here are variations within them and grades of metabolisms that may not be as extreme on either end but taper towards the middle. If you are a hard gainer though and have always been skinny you would be broadly classified as an Ectomorph.

The key difference between the body types as you have probably worked out is your metabolism. The simplest explanation of metabolism is that it is the process that happens in the body where it converts food into energy that is then used to power the body, repair muscles, invigorate the brain, reduce toxins and much, much more. All in all an integral part of the body's workings.

Having a slow metabolism means that the energy that is produced is not burned away quickly. This means there is a lot of nutrients and chemicals in your body for a good length of time that can be used to grow muscles which is why an Endomorph who lifts weights can easily build mass. It also means that excess energy such as this is not used becomes stored as fat cells for 'future use'.

If you are a skinny guy then you have the opposite of this, a fast metabolism that burns through energy so fast that it leaves nothing left to repair and grow muscle mass as that energy is often used quickly or wasted in heat and other ways. This is the same reason you have very little fat because there is no energy left to store as fat.

The first thing you need to do when setting up a regime for weight and muscle gain is that as a skinny guy with a fast metabolism you need to eat more! Not just a little bit more abut you need to consume more of the things you really need to gain muscle which is calories and protein.

The problem most skinny people have with this is that they become too full too quickly before they can ingest the required calories which is why you need to pick and choose your foods carefully. It is recommended that you eat calorie dense food that does not fill you up as much but are bursting with energy such as:

• Avocado

• Whole Eggs

• Tuna & Salmon in Olive Oil

• Rice

• Pasta

• Potatoes

The reason this is important is because you need to overfill your furnace like metabolism so that it cannot burn through those calories so fast there is nothing left to feed the muscle. Once you intake enough energy and it is available to your body after a workout it gets busy and repairs and grows your muscles.

Now you understand the prime concepts of why it is hard to gain weight as a skinny guy and have a way to overcome this what else is needed? There is of course there is your exercise regime which is now the key to your bodybuilding success but before you hit the gym there is something else you MUST know before you waste hours of your time and energy hitting the weights!

REST

This is vitally important when building muscle for any body type. You may thing because you are a hard gainer than you need to train twice as hard as the others but this is bogus and false. Just as the body needs the energy and nutrients to build and repair the muscles after you exercise which is what triggers that reaction it needs time and rest to do this work.

There is no need to do weight lifting every day, give yourself a day or two in-between each workout to allow your body to increase your mass and also allow yourself to not become too exhausted and give you time to do everything else in your life! It is not quantity that counts in bodybuilding but QUALITY.

This applies more as you get more muscular and you train with more intensity however. At the start you should train within your means which may mean more time than at a later stage where you need more time to recover but the same principles apply that the body need recovery time. 

Now we come to the practical points; exactly how to workout. While there are a thousand different machines, weights, lifting styles and muscles to train the importance is HOW you train them. If you are just starting obviously you will not be able to lift much yet but you must not fall into the trap of not challenging yourself enough.

You see, simply put the muscles you want do not appear by doing the same repetitions over and over again if it does not BURN. The burn as many people put it is actually you hurting your muscles slightly, bringing in lots of blood to power them and actually damaging the tissue while doing it. This is not a bad thing though because this means the body needs to repair this muscle tissue and when it does so it makes it bigger!

The only way your body knows it need to grow its muscles is by trying to lift heavier weights so the biological parts of the body realize there is a need to be stronger and act in accordance to grow your muscles. It is a lot more complex than that but this is what you really need to know as a skinny guy trying to build muscle mass.

With this in mind try to aim for more intensity, heavier weights for less reps and continue to add weight as you see progress because doing the same weight again and again will not give any extra result.

While we have only scratched the surface of bodybuilding this guide should hopefully start giving you some positive results from your efforts.

There is much more than we could talk about such as diet plans, exercise and workout plans, pre and post workout routines and much more.

If you are interested in knowing more to give yourself the absolute best chance at gaining the body you want from the skinny body you have now you might want to have a look at Vince Delmonte's 'No Nonsense Muscle Building' which is a downloadable guide written by a former skinny guy who became a champion bodybuilder.

Click here to visit the site and see for yourself how this guide can transform you from scrawny to brawny fast!

OR

To click here to access Vince Delmontes Insane Muscle Gain FREE E-Report "The Top 20 Ways To Screw Up In The Gym"