How to gain weight and strength (for skinny guys)?

Congrats on winning the genetics lottery. It seems like you could eat all you want without gaining any weight. But you need some meat on your bones. So what can you do? Here's my life lesson learned.

Advice from Captain Obvious: Eat more, show up, work hard

These may sound like clichés, but they are direct and to the point. But this blog is not about what, but how. My approach focuses on macro and commitment. I do not focus on most efficient/effective, because those approaches tend to be much harder for you to commit to. Sure, you could follow the Chris Hemsworth workout and look like Thor. But will you be able to work out until your arms fall off for 6 days a week for the rest of your life? People that try to lose weight don't have problem losing it, they have problem keeping it off. When the diet plan they adopt is too restrictive, they can't resist the temptation for the rest of their lives. So instead of jumping off a cliff, focus on steps that you can commit to. These steps can still be large steps, but be realistic of what you can keep doing, there's no magic shortcut. Remember, you can always do more afterwards. You are more likely to sustain a gradual habitual lifestyle change than an abrupt one.

Gaining weight

It's straight forward to gain weight: eat more calaries. There are a lot of health guides telling you what to cook and eat. But to me, that's too complicated. So here's what I did:

My goal was to eat a minimum of 1000 calories surplus per day.

• I kept my lunch and dinner plans identical. Changing this would have been annoying (which means hard to commit)
• I want something brainless (easier to commit), milk and eggs were my answer
• I eat 2 eggs (200kcal) and 16oz of milk (300kcal) for breakfast
• I drink 2-3 glasses of milk after dinner before I sleep (600-900 kcal)

I gained 25 lbs in 5 months doing this. The key is find something that you can do and commit. A method could be very effective, but if you can't sustain it, it won't work.

At the moment, I want to gain slightly more weight. So I drink an extra 2 soylents (400kcal each): one after lunch, one after I leave work. Boom, that's 800kcal surplus a day.

Technically, you could do the opposite to lose weight.

Gaining strength

tl;dr: There is no shortcut.

It's very easy to fall into the trap of believing there is this magic workout program/routine and look amazing. What they don't tell you about "6 min abs workout" is that they need to be extremely intense and you need to do them as long as you want to maintain them. So again, can you commit to these habits?

Show Up

Personally, I avoid 4 day or 6 day programs because there's no way I have the time to maintain that. If you do, then go for it. Committing to showing up consistently is half the battle (or 80% or 90% depending who you ask or quote).

Work Hard

Once you get there, work!

“A well built physique is a status symbol. It reflects you worked hard for it, no money can buy it. You cannot borrow it, you cannot inherit it, you cannot steal it. You cannot hold onto it without constant work. It shows discipline, it shows self respect, it shows patience, work ethic and passion. That is why I do what I do.” ― Arnold Schwarzenegger

There is an endless amount of literature and bro-science online advocating the best and quickest way to get buff. If you have been paying attention, I don't read too much into that noise. For me, it's challenge yourself without getting hurt. It's imperative for you to push yourself to make gains. But it's equally important that you don't get hurt because your recovery will set you back a significant amount of time (rest and then building up back to your normal weights). The rest don't matter as much as you think.

What's the optimal number of reps? You can find a lot of bro-science and actual science that advocate for various reps. Ultimately, they fall within a certain range: around 5-12. I don't worry about the "optimal" number, I worry about doing the reps. I mix them up from time to time (see periodization).

What's the optimal program? It depends on you. If you need a starting point, Starting Strength and its variant 5x5 is very popular for beginners. Find something that you could commit to. I stop doing squats and deadlifts because I don't want to pull my back (it happened twice over 5 years, but that's still 2 times too many). My current routine is a 2-day a week push-pull variant.

My journey so far

So these are the before and after photos at 3.5 years. I gained 25 lbs over the first 5 months, follow by two sprints to gain 5 lbs each. Other than that, my weight doesn't fluxuate much.