If you are in that constant up and down repetitive cycle of trying to build muscle up, then you are probably one of the skinny guys that needs to follow these tips. Adding these techniques into your daily life will greatly improve your chances of putting on good quality, lean muscle, and keeping it on without having to work for it every day. If this sounds like you, read on.

We all know that calories are the staple to gaining and losing weight, but did you know, that as a skinny guy, it effects you more than anyone else, in hindering your ability to actually build up muscle? It isn't just a matter of stuffing as many calories into your face as possible. You will gain weight this way, but it is considered binge dieting (yes, even if you are eating too much, a diet is a diet) and you will lose the weight as soon as you realize you can't keep it up.

Getting the right types of calories will make the biggest difference in what type of weight and muscle you can build. I prefer to stick with a ratio of 25% protein, 15% fat, 60% carbs. This has allowed me to store 40 extra pounds in two years. Yes, it seems like a long time, but I had been struggling for four long years, gaining, and then losing again.

Even if you ate the proper ratio of food every day, you still aren't going to get every mineral and vitamin that your body requires. This is where taking a good multi vitamin will make up for the lack of nutrients in your muscle building diets. Taking a vitamin also increases your ability to repair muscle, and gives you a nice boost of energy – that lasts all day, and doesn't make you crash at the end. Other vitamins, like fish body oils, flax seed oil, and vitamin c are excellent for your body when you are trying to build muscle.

Supplements can be taken along with vitamins, to give your body the supreme boost in muscle building potential. Supplements are usually chemicals that your body will produce naturally, but you are able to take another form of it, to increase your bodies own store, or a supplement to increase your bodies ability to produce the certain chemical. What I mean is this, your body produces creatine in small amounts. Taking a creatine supplement will greatly increase your bodies stores of it, allowing you true explosive power in the gym.

If you aren't sleeping at least 7 hours a night, or can't see yourself being able to devote this kind of time to getting a good nights rest, you are probably not going to be able to keep the weight on.  This is something that you are going to have to do for the rest of your life.  When you are lifting weights regularly, your body needs to repair itself.  It does this while you are sleeping, and only when you are in the deepest level, REM sleep.  You have to devote a true 7 hours to sleep each night.

By choking your body of its prime repairing time window, you are greatly diminishing your ability to produce results.  You are going to feel this quicker than if you were to quit taking vitamins or supplements.  Also, when you start losing sleep, your energy depletes greatly.  Trust me, you are going to know when you aren't getting enough sleep.  It feels like the dreaded “plateau”.

It is a proven fact that water helps carry nutrients through your bloodstream, and that when you are dehydrated, your vein walls collapse in, decreasing blood flow. This is one of the prime ways to destroy your bodies ability to repair itself. If the vitamins and supplements that you are taking are unable to get inside of your muscles, what good is taking them in the first place? You need to drink at least one gallon of water per day, minimum. Get in the habit, now.

If you regularly partake in the social scene, you need to give it up.  Drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes kill your body, from the inside out.  Alcohol keeps your liver and kidneys from processing your blood properly, and will usually allow whatever vitamins and supplements you have taken to just simply pass right through, without taking in any of them.  Nicotine restricts your blood flow, and other drugs just do crazy things to your heart.  Why bother?  If you are seriously wanting to build muscle up, then do it the right way!