Muscle-Building for Skinny Guys
We Help Hardgainers, Skinny & Skinny-Fat Guys Bulk Up
For the past 12 years, we've specialized in helping skinny guys build muscle, get strong, and gain weight. People say it's a small niche, but if this bulk goes according to plan, we'll soon be the biggest community 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 thin strength coach who'd already gained 60 pounds. We also helped our other business partner, Jared Polowick, gain 50 pounds.
We're the founders of Bony to Beastly (for skinny men), Bony to Bombshell (for skinny women), and Outlift. We've helped over 10,000 skinny people build muscle, with clients ranging from college students to senior citizens, MDs to PhDs, and office workers all way the way up to college, professional, and Olympic athletes.
The proof is in the smoothie, too. We consistently get the best bulking transformations on the internet. Check out these muscle-building transformations from guys doing the Bony to Beastly Program.
Bigger, Stronger, & Fitter
Bony guys are defined by their scaffolding. We're here to help you fill out that frame with muscle, reaping all the long-term health and fitness benefits as you bulk up.
- Maybe you're a "hardgainer," where no matter how much you eat, you can't gain weight. You aren't crazy. There's genetic variation in stomach size, appetite, and metabolism. Many of us are genetically predisposed to thinness. We need to find a diet that suits us.
- Maybe you're an "ectomorph," with thinner wrists and narrower shoulders, worried your frame can't support muscle growth. We had that same fear. It isn't true. Thin guys tend to be able to build muscle faster than other body types.
- Maybe you're skinny-fat, getting bigger and smaller without ever getting leaner or stronger. That's frustrating. You're one of the rare few who eats the right amount of food, yet it's being stored as fat instead of muscle. We need to reverse that, and we can.
We're the Costco of muscle. You can find anything you want, but everything is in bulk. We write about how to eat a healthy weight-gain diet, how to train for muscle size, and how to live a lifestyle that supports muscle, strength, and overall fitness.
If you want us to walk you through the entire process of bulking up, check out our Bony to Beastly Program. We'll teach you everything you need to know, including diet, training, and lifestyle. We'll answer all your questions, give you feedback along the way, and support you through every step of the process. Your results are fully guaranteed.
We've also written hundreds of free articles about how to build muscle, eat a good diet, and live a healthy lifestyle. Feel free to drop a comment. I answer all of them.
Thin Genetics
Thin guys often have different genetics, giving us different struggles and goals and influencing how we eat, lift, and live.
- Why is it so Hard to Gain Weight?
- Do Skinny People Have Faster Metabolisms?
- How to Eat More Calories
- How to Know If You're Skinny
- Is the Ectomorph Body Type Real?
- What Is Skinny Fatness?
- The Best Skinny Fat Workout, Diet, and Lifestyle
- Should Skinny Guys Use Mass Gainers?
The Art of Bulking
The only way to get bigger is to gain weight. The best way to gain weight is to prioritize muscle growth—to bulk. Nobody knows bulking better than we do.
- How to Bulk
- What's Dirty Bulking?
- What's Clean Bulking?
- What Are Newbie Gains?
- How to Build Muscle FAST
- How to Build Muscle LEANLY
- What's the Best Way to Bulk Up?
- How Long Should You Bulk For?
- How Many Calories Should You Eat?
- What Bulking Results Can You Expect?
- How Much Fat Will You Gain While Bulking?
- How Fast Should Skinny Guys Gain Weight?
- Why Aren't You Gaining Weight in a Calorie Surplus?
- The Best Muscle-Building Programs for Skinny Guys
How to Train Your Muscles
One of the best ways to improve your results is to improve your training. The more muscle growth you can stimulate, the more calories your muscles will gobble up, leaving fewer to store as body fat. We'll show you how to stimulate more growth.
Plus, you may want to develop a certain muscle. Perhaps you're tired of having a thin neck, lanky arms, or a small chest. The best way to develop a specific muscle is to train it. We'll show you how.
- The Best Workout Routine for Skinny Beginners
- The Full-Body Workout Guide
- The Best Workout Splits for Building Muscle
- How Many Reps to Do Per Set
- How Long to Rest Between Sets
- How Often to Lift Weights
- How Fast to Lift & Lower Weights
- How to Build Broader Shoulders
- How to Train Your Side Delts
- How to Build a Thicker Neck
- How to Build a Bigger Chest
- How to Build a Bigger Back
- How to Build Bigger Arms
- How to Build Bigger Forearms
- How to Build Bigger Abs
How to Eat a Good Diet
It isn't hard to learn about how to eat a nutritious diet. However, most of that advice is for overweight people struggling to lose weight. We have the opposite problem. We need an abundant diet that's rich in calories and nutrients, supporting our health and muscle growth.
- How to Eat a Good Bulking Diet
- The Best Bulking Meals & Recipes
- How to Improve Digestion While Bulking
- How Many Calories Does it Take to Gain Weight
- The Best Bulking Foods
- How to Make a Healthy, High-Calorie Bulking Smoothie
- How Much Protein Should You Eat at Breakfast?
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good For Building Muscle?
- Is Keto Good for Building Muscle?
How to Build Muscle at Home
Gyms are great, but you can build just as much muscle at home. I've bulked with adjustable dumbbells in my small apartment. Now I lift weights in my barbell home gym. In a pinch, you can even bulk with bodyweight workouts. You can use whatever you have, but be smart about it.
- How to Build a Dumbbell Home Gym
- How to Build a Barbell Home Gym
- How to Build Muscle with Bodyweight Workouts
- Calisthenics vs Weights for Building Muscle
- Are Resistance Bands Good for Building Muscle?
How to Improve Your Appearance
I know, I know. We're supposed to work out to develop our inner beauty and fortitude. But it doesn't hurt to look great while we do it. Most of the advice on the internet is either politically correct or distorted by the manosphere. That's why we've consulted with the top attractiveness researchers and conducted our own surveys.
How to Get Leaner, Fitter & Healthier
All of our articles consider health and fitness. We're not in the bodybuilding or powerlifting scene. We're part of the fitness industry. We're natural lifters who want to be strong, fit, and healthy. Still, there are two things naturally thin guys need to know:
- Should You Do Cardio While Bulking?
- Can Cardio Kill Muscle Gains?
- How to Maintain Your Gains After Bulking
- Is Bulking Healthy?
- How to Cut
Muscle-Building Supplements
Supplements are overrated but helpful. We don't sell supplements or use any affiliate links, keeping our supplement recommendations as unbiased as possible.
- The Best Muscle-Building Supplements for Skinny Guys
- How Well Does Creatine Actually Work?
- The Creatine Guide for Skinny Guys
- Can Collagen Help You Build Muscle?
- How Much Protein Powder Can You Have Per Day?
- The Best Time to Have a Protein Shake
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 Articles
What is Bulking Season?
Bulking season is the time of year when you intentionally gain weight to support muscle growth. It’s part of a long tradition of setting aside certain parts of the year for performance and other parts of the year for improvement. There’s a surprising amount of wisdom in that tradition. It’s…
Read MoreAre Carbs Good for Building Muscle? Yes, Here’s Why
Most people associate muscle growth with protein, but classic bodybuilding diets contain up to 60% carbohydrates. These diets get far more of their calories from starchy carbs like oats, rice, beans, potatoes, and pasta. Is that the correct approach? Are carbs actually good for building muscle? Interestingly, that’s the same…
Read MoreShould You Do Cardio While Bulking? Yes, Sort Of
Hypertrophy training is designed to stimulate muscle growth. You adapt by growing bigger, stronger muscles, but it won’t improve your cardiorespiratory health very much. Cardio makes you fitter. You adapt to draw more blood into your heart, build more blood vessels, and produce more energy in your mitochondria. It’s great…
Read MoreShould Skinny Guys Use Mass Gainers?
Mass gainers, also known as weight gainers, are popular with skinny guys trying to bulk up. They’re especially popular with “hardgainers” whose metabolisms make it difficult to gain weight. I’m a naturally skinny guy myself, and I’ve always found it nearly impossible to get into a sustainable calorie surplus. I’ve…
Read MoreThe Best Protein Powder for Bulking (2024)
I’ll tell you the best protein powder for bulking, but you might be asking the wrong question. Protein is an important part of a balanced bulking diet, and protein powder is an easy way to get that protein, but you might be thinking of a weight gainer. Weight gainers are…
Read MoreThe Best Workout Routine for Skinny Beginners
Most skinny guys are eager to build muscle fast. I don’t blame them. I was the same way. When I weighed 130 pounds, with a BMI under 17, I was sick of being skinny. I wanted to get out of that situation as quickly as possible. The best way to…
Read MoreHow to Build a Thicker Neck (Even if It’s Skinny)
I always hated how skinny my neck was. When I was at my skinniest, my neck circumference was 14 inches. After bulking up and gaining 60 pounds, it grew to 14.25 inches. Clearly, the compound lifts I was doing weren’t developing my neck muscles. That’s where neck training comes in.…
Read MoreThe Skinny Fat Workout & Diet Guide
Skinny fat is when you’re overfat but undermuscled, giving you a normal BMI but an unhealthy body composition. It’s when you’re not quite fat but not quite skinny, either. The good news is you aren’t overeating or undereating, so you won’t need to force yourself to eat more food (bulking)…
Read MoreWhat is the Skinny Fat Body Type? Not Skinny But Not Fat
“Skinny fat” is the casual term for someone with normal-weight obesity, also known as Metabolically Obese Normal Weight (MONW). It’s when you aren’t quite skinny but aren’t quite fat, either. More specifically, it’s an abundance of visceral fat combined with a paucity of muscle mass, both of which can cause…
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.