Muscle-Building for Skinny Guys
by Skinny Guys
We Help Hardgainers, Skinny & Skinny-Fat Guys Bulk Up
For the past ten years, we've specialized in helping so-called hardgainers, ectomorphs, skinny-fat, and regular skinny guys build muscle, get strong, and gain weight. People say it's a small niche. And they're right, it is. But give us a little more time. If this bulk goes according to plan, we'll soon be the biggest, most muscular niche on the internet.
I'm Shane Duquette, and I gained 55 pounds in a little over two years. I was lucky. I had the help of my business partner, Marco Walker-Ng, BHSc, PTS, PN, a naturally skinny strength coach who had already gained 63 pounds. We also helped our other business partner, Jared Polowick, gain 50 pounds. Not all of the weight we gained was muscle, but the vast majority of it was, and all of us finished looking leaner than when we started.
And then we founded Bony to Beastly (for skinny men), Bony to Bombshell (for skinny women), and Outlift (for post-skinny lifters), where we've spent the past ten years helping over 10,000 skinny people build muscle, with clients ranging from MDs to RDs to PhDs, from college students to senior citizens, and from office workers to our Canadian Olympic rugby team.
The proof is in the protein shake, too. Check out these absolutely gnarly muscle-building transformations from guys doing the Bony to Beastly Program.
How to Build Muscle, The Skinny Way
If you've been surfing the world wide web, searching for how to build muscle as a naturally skinny dude, hoping to find community, muscle, and everlasting abs—welcome! That's what we're all about.
- If you're a so-called hardgainer, where no matter how much you eat, you find it nigh impossible to gain weight, we hear ya. We've got an article on why it's so hard for us to gain weight.
- If you've got an "ectomorph" body type, with thinner wrists and narrower shoulders, and you worry that you won't ever be able to become visibly strong, we had that same fear. Fortunately, we actually tend to build muscle pretty well, especially while making our newbie gains.
- If you're skinny-fat, getting bigger and smaller without ever getting leaner or stronger, we've been there, and we can help you escape the skinny-fat trap.
- Or if you're just a regular dude who wishes he wasn't quite so thin, we can help you bulk up. That's what we do best, and we do it better than anyone else.
People call us the Costco of muscle. You can find anything you want, but everything is in bulk. We write about things like how to eat more calories, how to eat a good bulking diet, how to lift for maximal muscle growth, and how to make homemade weight gainers. You know, topics that skinny guys are interested in.
On being a skinny dude:
- What's an Ectomorph? Is That Even a Real Term?
- How Much of an Ectomorph Are You?
- How Fast Should Skinny Guys Gain Weight?
On training for muscle size, strength, and aesthetics:
- A Skinny Beginner's Guide to Lifting Weights
- How to Build an Attractive, Aesthetic Physique
- How to Build Broader Shoulders
- How to Build A Thicker Neck
- How to Build A Bigger Chest
- How to Build Bigger Arms
- How to Build Bigger Forearms
- The Skinny Guy's Guide to Getting Abs
- How Much Do Your Legs Impact Your Appearance?
On eating for lean muscle growth:
- The Conventional Bulking Diet Guide
- How to Eat More Calories
- The Best Bulking Foods
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good For Building Muscle?
- Is Keto Good for Building Muscle?
On training at home:
- How to Build Muscle with Bodyweight Workouts
- How to Build a Dumbbell Home Gym
- How to Build a Barbell Home Gym
- Are Resistance Bands Good for Building Muscle?
On fitness and health:
Kick back, relax, and enjoy some moderately heavy reading. We'll teach you everything you need to know to go from lean to mean, from stick to thick, from Bony to Beastly.
Our Recent Bulking Articles
How Long Should You Rest Between Sets to Build Muscle?
Rest times are often brushed aside. You’ll hear that they matter, sure, but that they aren’t one of the more important factors—that they’ll only have a negligible impact on your muscle growth. That’s not necessarily true. If we look at the research, using proper rest times can double your muscle…
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Does the Mind-Muscle Connection Actually Increase Muscle Growth?
Most bodybuilders absolutely swear by the mind-muscle connection. They slow their reps down, really focusing on squeezing the target muscle, feeling it do the work. The idea is that the better their connection with the muscle is, the better they’ll be able to engage their muscle fibers, and so the…
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Lifting With Momentum is Good, Actually
Lifting with momentum has a bad reputation, especially among bodybuilders. The concern is that if you lift explosively, or if you cheat, or heave, or swing, then you’ll make some parts of the lift too easy on the muscles you’re trying to train. I disagree with that idea, but there…
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How Fast Should You Lift & Lower Weights?
If you lift weights slowly, you can keep tension on your muscles for longer, but you won’t be able to lift as heavy. If you lift weights with a normal tempo, you can lift more weight, but you won’t be keeping tension on your muscles for as long. If you…
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How Does Arching on the Bench Press Affect Muscle Growth?
Most people arch when they do the bench press, especially if they come from a strength training or powerlifting background. It shortens the range of motion and gives our shoulders better leverage, allowing us to push more weight. But what if you aren’t a powerlifter? What if you aren’t just…
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Athlean-X Says One-Arm Rows Cause Hernias. Do They Really?
In one of Athlean-X’s latest videos, Jeff Cavaliere makes the argument—again—that the one-arm dumbbell row is the worst back exercise. He argues that if you put an asymmetrical strain on your groin, it can give you a hernia. And so, because the one-arm dumbbell row uses an asymmetrical stance, it…
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Should You Track Calories While Bulking?
If you ask a bulking guru if you should track calories while bulking, you’ll probably get one of two answers: If you’re serious about building muscle, you need to Police your calorie intake: You need to track every breath you take, every move you make, every vow you break, every…
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What Happens if You Don’t Eat Enough Protein While Bulking?
Your muscles aren’t made of just protein. They’re actually around 76% water (study). That isn’t to say protein isn’t important. It is. It’s just that since only a small portion of your muscles are made of protein, you actually don’t need to eat that much extra protein to maximize your…
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Is the 3/7 Method Good for Building Muscle?
A 2019 paper by Stragier and colleagues found that the 3/7 method stimulated more muscle growth than performing regular “straight” sets (study). They concluded that this new set/rep scheme was better than the conventional approach. But the paper has a major flaw.
Read MoreIf none of these articles tickle your fancy, we've got dozens more.
Or if you're ready to start building muscle, check out our bulking program.
