We’ve all heard about guys who pack on slabs of lean muscle, and go from skinny to buff in a ridiculous amount of time… but just how is this possible?
Well, the truth is that everyone has the potential to pack on a ton of muscle in a very short period of time, but very few people do. Why is this?
I propose that most people don’t understand how to gain weight very rapidly… so, in this article, I’m going to explain exactly how to bulk up and go from skinny to buff in just months.
Skinny to Buff Transformation
Take a look at the results above. In the span of just two months, I was able to put on a whopping 21 pounds of muscle, and lose a whole 12 pounds of fat.
So, how did I accomplish my skinny to buff transformation? By following four simple principles I want to discuss today:
- Properly Diet
- Choose The Right Workout
- Use The Right Supplements
- Get Enough Recovery
Most guys don’t ever achieve the body of their dreams, because they don’t understand one of these four things. In fact, most guys don’t understand any of these four things at all.
With this in mind, let’s explore each one a little bit more in-depth.
Best Bulking Diet
If you want to bulk up fast, you need to understand how to eat the right foods. As they say, muscles are built in the kitchen, not in the gym.
There’s generally two types of diets for bulking:
- Clean Bulking Diet
- Dirty Bulking Diet
Each diet has pros and cons, depending on what your goals are. If you want to bulk up as fast as possible, consider looking at a good dirty bulk meal plan.
If you want to gain muscle a little bit slower, but gain less fat in the process, you can use what’s called a clean bulking diet, where you only eat clean bulking foods.
Personally, I recommend a clean bulking diet, because it’s far superior in terms of overall health and lean muscle growth. You can do what you wish, though.
Best Bulking Workout
The best workout is going to depend on your individual wants and needs, but in general, there’s a few different types of workouts you can look into.
The first, is a compound lift based workout. This would be workouts like Starting Strength, The Texas Method, or Stronglifts 5×5. All of these are great compound lift based workouts.
Another type of workout is one that’s more hypertrophy focused, or in other words, it’s focused on building big muscles rather than strong muscles.
In my opinion, you want a combination of both strength training and mass training to optimize your muscle growth and overall health.
One way you can do this is by having 1-2 strength days each week, and 2-3 mass days each week. For example, you might follow a routine like this:
- Day 1: Full Body Strength
- Day 2: Rest
- Day 3: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
- Day 4: Legs Hypertrophy
- Day 5: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
- Day 6: Rest
- Day 7: Rest
There’s a ton of different free workouts online you can check out, but what’s important is that it fits your own needs and time constraints, otherwise you won’t stick to it.
If you have poor knees, consider a workout routine specifically for knees. Squatting can sometimes be bad if you have wonky knees, so be sure to keep that in mind, as well.
Best Bulking Supplements
This is where the real magic happens. A lot of guys don’t understand the importance of taking supplements to supplement your diet, and those who do often use the wrong ones.
There’s a few big supplements you want to really focus on, however:
- Creatine Monohydrate
- Whey Protein Isolate or Concentrate
- Strong Pre Workout
- Good Multi-Vitamin
Everything else is optional, but these four supplements are highly important. You don’t technically need them to build muscle and lose fat, but they will quite literally 2x your gains.
For creatine monohydrate, nothing complicated is needed. Simply buying a powdered version of Optimum Nutrition’s creatine monohydrate will suffice.
If you buy the largest container, it will only end up costing you something like pennies a day – this is well worth it if you want to go from skinny to buff in a few months.
Next up is your whey protein. There’s two types of whey protein:
- Whey Protein Isolate
- Whey Protein Concentrate
For bulking up, a whey protein concentrate is best. It’s got slightly more calories, and a little bit of fat – and you need all the calories you can get if you want to bulk up fast.
Isolate is more for cutting, or for very lean bulks – and while I use it now, I am still sure to eat a ton of other calories and track all of my macronutrients.
The third supplement you want to look into is a pre-workout. Seriously, a good pre-workout can change your life, so look into some of the strongest pre-workouts on the market and pick one.
Personally, I recommend Nitraflex above all else. This is my go-to pre-workout, because it’s very strong and has great ingredients overall. On top of this, it also boosts your testosterone levels, which is just going to help you go from skinny to buff even faster.
Lastly, you want to invest in a good bodybuilding multi-vitamin. Far too many of our foods these days are devoid of any nutrients, due to monocropping and mass production.
One way you can replenish some of these nutrients in your diet is by getting a good multi-vitamin specifically for bodybuilding. I personally recommend Animal Pak and Orange Triad – both are great for bodybuilders and amateur gymgoers alike.
Recover Enough
The biggest mistake I see guys making is that they don’t get enough sleep. They work their ass off in the gym, and spend hours lifting weights, but then only sleep a few hours a night.
This is not acceptable. If you want to transform your physique from skinny to buff, you absolutely must be getting nine hours of sleep a night. If you don’t, you’re self-sabotaging.
Your body needs a full 9 hours of sleep a night to optimally recover, so be sure to budget your time well for this. Trust me, it will rapidly increase your gains more than anything else.
Muscles are broken down in the gym, given nutrients in the kitchen, and they’re built back up when you’re sleeping… so take my word for it, get enough sleep! Your gains will thank you later.
Summary
In conclusion, if you want to go from skinny to buff, then just follow these four simple tips and you will be jacked in no time. It’s easier said than done, though.
The biggest mistakes I see guys making are they don’t eat properly, and they don’t get enough recovery – these are the most common culprits of poor gains.
If you do in fact recover enough, eat properly, use the right supplements, and have a good workout routine, you’ll no doubt put on slabs of muscle in a very short period of time.
Transforming your physique takes discipline, focus, and a lot of effort… but don’t be afraid! I know that each and everyone of us is capable of doing it, with a little bit of motivation.
