Is Going From Being Skinny to Gaining Weight Fast Really Achievable? (What's The Best Approach?)

Often times it can almost cause a brain freeze in people who are skinny and want to gain weight when they hear from their friends and colleagues who want to lose weight. The natural thought that comes to mind is "Give it to me!" Because if you are naturally skinny you know that gaining weight fast is not something that you have been able to do in the past, and you may even be a little sceptical about how possible it really is.

Even if you aren't sceptical (perhaps because you haven't been trying very long), you are still aware of how difficult it is for you to gain any pounds, because you yourself have been faced with the reality of it for your whole life. You eat fatty food, a cream cake or lots of chips, and yet you never seem to gain weight.

You exercise with weights all the time and yet whilst you may feel good, you never look any different. And yet you know other people who train for two weeks and look like Mr Universe! It's just not fair.

The best approach to take if you find yourself in this position is to first of all realise that the reason that you haven't succeeded up until now is most likely because you have been following the advice dished out by people who are not naturally skinny, and have no problems gaining weight, and so simply are not on the same page as you.

So you first of all need to bin everything you have already tried, and instead try new approaches from people who are naturally skinny, but found ways to gain weight quickly.

They do exist and if you seek them out then your results will very quickly improve.

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Muscle Gain Secrets From The Man With 23 Inch Biceps

I was flipping through an old muscle magazine last night and spotted a picture of Bill Pettis.

If you don't recognize the name, Bill Pettis was a bodybuilder who built himself quite possibly the largest arms of his era.

Rumor has it they measured 23 and 1/4 inches. (I say rumor has it because nobody really knows if arm measurements are accurate since most bodybuilders are prone to inflating the truth just a bit.)

But even if you don't believe the numbers, the pictures don't lie. Any way you slice it his arms were HUGE.

And strong too. He could curl 225 pounds and could use a whopping 340 pounds in the standing triceps press.

But what really caught my eye was how he ate:

While most bodybuilders still swear by the six meals a day method, Bill ate just two meals per day. He'd eat around 3-4 eggs per day and a hefty portion of bacon, steak, fish, chicken, vegetables and some fruit.

For supplements, he'd have some protein powder, brewer's yeast and also desiccated liver tablets.

His training was high volume -- he'd do dozens of sets of heavy barbell curls, along with plenty of triceps work. In fact, he'd do about twice as much triceps work as he did biceps exercises.

The reason? The triceps contains more muscle than the biceps muscle group so by working the triceps you can increase overall arm size faster.

You might not be able to build 23 inch biceps like Bill Pettis but by following the tips in this article you too can increase your arm size and start stretching out your t-shirt sleeves.

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Powerful Ways To Increase Your Grip Pinch Strength

Grip pinch strength is not what most people work on when they try to increase their grip strength. They mostly want to show off with a powerful handshake.

But, since you're here, you must know the true value of working pinch strength. Any pinching action, from holding an envelope to trying to wake yourself up from a dream to lifting a stack of plates, is governed by this strength.

Why is Pinch Strength Important?

Grip pinch strength is important for developing a complete, strong, and healthy grip. Also, it comes in handy if you need to pinch anything really hard.

Crushing, pinching, and opening the hand/fingers are the 3 major actions that your grip does normally. You should work all of them for full grip strength, but also because you want to keep your hand healthy. Strengthening one hand muscle group and not the others will not only hinder your progress, but may also cause you some real pain later on.

And I know it's hard work to work all 3, but that's life. Rise to the occasion.

Pinching Weight Plates

This is the easiest exercise for grip pinch strength, as far as equipment goes. As far as how hard it will be for you, lets just say it's normally a humbling experience.

Grab two weight plates at the gym and position them with their flat sides together. Then pinch them together with one hand as hard as you can while lifting them up into the air. Hold that for as long as you can, and then set them down when your grip is starting to wobble and spasm from exhaustion.

Titan's Telegraph Key

This is a specialized tool for developing grip pinch strength that is made by iron Mind inc., and is really one of the best ways to improve your pinch strength.

As the name implies, this small weight training machine looks like a telegraph, except that it is much larger. Almost like a small seesaw. The top of the telegraph is a metal plate where you put your fingers, and on the other end you stack weights. Then, you put your thumb under it and squeeze the top and bottom of the telegraph together - lifting the weight that you've stacked on the other side of the seesaw top half.

While confusing to explain, it is another simple method of working on your grip strength. Pinch the two parts of the telegraph together and just keep adding weight.

How Else Can You Work Your Grip Strength?

Those 2 methods will really improve your grip pinch strength. But only if you put the time and energy into them. If you're lazy about it - well, you're just lazy and nothing good will happen.

If you just work your grip for 10-20 minutes, 2-3 times a week, you will be surprised at who much stronger you can make your grip. It's not easy like eating cake, but it's simple and defiantly doable.

If you want some more info about improving any kind of grip strength, check out the resources below. If you put in the energy, they will make you much stronger.

I'm Aaron McCloud and I run Complete Strength Training, a site devoted to providing high quality information about strength training. To get more info about improving your grip strength, check out this page on grip strength exercise tips and techniques. I've been lifting heavy things and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while, so there's a lot of info about how to get stronger, more powerful, and more ripped. - Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

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