A gain weight diet is one of the most effective tools to help naturally skinny and ectomorph guys build healthy muscle. Skinny guys and hardgainers amazingly burn up anything they feed their bodies, how though? Well, genetics plays a part in our bodies however a lot of the time it’s about eating enough. Hardgainers can start gaining weight just by eating more healthy food, the trick is figuring out how much food and more specifically what food. A junk filled diet will work, but those calories cause bad fat deposits to build up on the body and health problems. It does take time, ideally adding about 1-2 pounds a week is healthy so be prepared and patient, adding bulk too quickly will leave you with too much fat without muscle, and possibly even irreversible stretch marks.

So, calories, it’s all about the calories in a gain weight diet right? A big part is yes, and so is protein. The super equation to gaining weight is consuming more calories than you burn. So the 1st step is slowly increasing your calories to ease your body into it. The 2nd step is protein! Protein is the element that builds and repairs your muscles after your workout sessions. At least 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight is a good start. This can be upped and achieved with supplementation in the form of great tasting shakes or bars to carry with you. Start consuming high protein and foods and add them to your muscle building grocery list.

So you’ve got your protein and calories up, the 3rd step is to space out all this extra food your eating through the day. Look to eat 5-6 smaller meals in the day to avoid the bloated feeling from all that extra food of a gain weight diet, believe me it’s going to be a lot of extra food! Hardgainers, ectomorphs and skinny guys must eat big and eat healthy to see serious muscle gains and it can be done with dedication and consistency.

Something to beware of in a weight gain diet is keeping your fats in check, basically this means keeping an eye on the types of fats you’re consuming. Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats are the good fats, saturated fats are the fats to avoid as best you can. Avoid the fried stuff and junk foods if you can. High calorie, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables should play a big part in your gain weight diet so get them on your grocery list.

Workout! You need to be working out efficiently and getting some cardio in too to combat the excess of fats you will be consuming daily. Lean muscle mass is derived from working out hard and a gain weight diet in balance with each other. If you end up eating truckloads of food and consuming too many calories, unhealthy levels of fat will quickly start to build up. Make compound exercises a big part of your workouts, for example squats, dead-lifts, shoulder and the bench press, as they will utilize multiple muscle groups and are time proven mass builders!

The health benefits of a gain weight diet are there for all to see, the overall health of your body will drastically improve with all the healthy foods being consumed. Some of these are lowered blood pressure, improved circulation and cardiovascular performance. In the long term a gaining healthy weight also provides improved bone and skeletal strength in ectomorphs. Finally, don’t forget the amazing life changing confidence achieved in achieving the bodybuilding goals you make!

Rob Carlson is a personal fitness coach and a writer at Muscle Building For Skinny Guys , he has written various articles based specifically on helping hardgainers and ectomorphs to build healthy muscle, and offers advice and guidelines on how to gain body weight the healthy way.