The Skinny Mans Muscle Plan
IVE BEEN CALLED A pencil, a string bean, skin and bones. Ive heard the three words no man who cares about his physique ever wants to hear: "You work out?" Trainers refer to us as ectomorphs�which sounds like something from Ghostbusters�to distinguish us from mesomorphs, the guys who always look like they work out even when they dont.My fellow ectomorphs and I prefer to call ourselves "hard gainers." We brush off the insults, chalk up our physiques to high metabolism, and take solace in the fact that some of us are good at endurance sports.
At least thats what I used to do. Then I had my Charles Atlas moment. But it wasnt a sand-kicking bully who made me want to become bigger and stronger. It was a former girlfriend who wanted to hire movers to carry her furniture into a new apartment because she was afraid Id hurt myself if I tried to help.I knew it was time to build strength and muscle. But before I could, I had to demolish five of the myths that hold skinny guys back. (Train hard. Get bigger. Try out The Spartacus Workout on DVD today.)
MYTH 1: An ectomorph cant gain muscle
I almost puked during a test of my maximum bench press. Martin Rooney, C.S.C.S., director of the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, explains why: "Lifting weights is a stimulus. It attacks your body�everything from your muscles to your nervous system," he says. "That was your body being challenged in a way its never been before. It isnt used to that kind of stress. Now your muscles will rebuild and prepare for the next attack."
Id need it: That first workout was humbling. At 6 feet tall and 146 pounds, I could deadlift just 105 pounds and bench press 95 pounds only three times. I could do 11 chinups, which isnt bad, and my 11.5 percent body fat would be the envy of many mesomorphs if they werent already laughing at my 12-inch upper-arm girth or my wimpy 20-inch vertical jump.
Rooney assured me that building up from this shaky platform would be difficult but not impossible, as long as I was willing to push myself. "Your body is an incredibly adaptive organism," he says. "Thats why every time you lift, you have to challenge yourself to provide a greater and greater jolt to shock your muscles into another round of rebuilding."
MYTH 2: No matter how much he eats, a hard gainer cant put on weight
If you think you eat enough to build muscle, try this experiment, courtesy of Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutritionist and Mens Health advisor from Thousand Oaks, California.
Pick a recent day that represents how you typically eat. Try to remember everything you consumed and run it all through a calorie calculator, like the one atnutritiondata.self.com. If youre like me, youll see a problem. I estimated that I ate about 2,000 calories a day, but it was really more like 1,700�nowhere near what I needed to maintain my existing muscle mass, let alone add to it. "Underweight people tend to overestimate their daily calorie intake," Aragon says. "Then they incorrectly attribute their low weight to a high metabolism."
So calories matter. But so do the sources of those calories, Aragon says. More food means higher levels of glucose circulating in your blood. That creates metabolic stress, leading to inflammation, and inflammation can lead to a whole host of problems, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. So trying to build a more muscular body with junk food is like trying to build a log cabin with wood drenched in lighter fluid.
Aragon directed me toward whole grains, which provide fiber that may help regulate blood glucose, and foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids to fight inflammation. But I still dreaded the answer to my next question: How much will I have to eat?