Best muscle building exercises for skinny guys

The 60-day plan below is designed specifically for ectomorphs, or “hard gainers.” It focuses on making you bigger and stronger.

To steal a line from strength coach Greg Nuckols: “To get stronger, you need to get bigger. And to get bigger, you need to get stronger. Training for one without the other doesn’t really make sense for most people.”

So in this routine, you’ll perform only a handful of big-muscle movements: squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. You’ll do these a lot. Every. Single. Workout.

That doesn’t mean you always have to “go heavy” with each exercise, every workout. But you won’t stray from them for 60 days straight because these are the movements that force your muscles to grow. They’re the exercises that will make it easier to overload your body as you grow stronger.

You might be thinking, Doing the same exercises over and over again sounds boring. And, sure, it might be. But exercise ADD doesn’t work. Boring works. For most guys, most of the time, staying consistent with the big lifts is going to create the best path to success.

Are you ready to say bye-bye to the skinny guy? Then let’s get started. But first, some ground rules. In order to get the best results, you need to follow these in addition to the workout plan.

The Rules

1. Limit your “cardio” to 1 to 2 per week. I’d never say to omit it altogether, but if putting on size is your goal, expending more calories is not going to help you. Performing one or two 30-minute sessions per week is more than enough. Do cardio on non-lifting days.

2. Eat! No, you’re not eating enough. (Find out What and When You Should Eat to Build Muscle.)

3. Eat more.

4. Do the 60-Day Skinny Man's Transformation Plan on the next page. Don’t alter the program in any way. Don’t add anything or take anything out. Follow it to a T.

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The 60-Day Skinny Man’s Transformation Plan

Do this: Perform each pair of exercises as a superset. Do one set of the first exercise, rest for the prescribed amount of time, and then do one set of the second exercise. Rest if noted, and then repeat. Continue until you’ve completed all of the sets for each exercise in the pair.

When you see a letter without a number next to it—such as “D”—do the exercise as a straight set. That is, do one set of the exercise, rest for the prescribed time, and then do another set.

Rest at least one day between workouts. Schedule a maximum of three training sessions per week.

WEEK 1

Follow set and rep prescriptions laid out below.

Day 1

A1. Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets of 5 reps

A2. Chinup: 2 sets of AMRAP (as many reps as possible). If you can’t perform a chinup, do a band-assisted version.

Rest 1 minute between exercises. Rest 90 seconds after the superset is complete.

B1. Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps
B2. Dumbbell Single-Arm Row: 3 sets of 10 reps per arm. Hold a 2-second pause at the top of each rep.

Only rest when needed. Rest 90 to 120 seconds after the superset is complete.

C1. Barbell Straight-Leg Deadlift: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

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