As a naturally skinny person myself who struggled like crazy to pack on some pounds, I can’t tell you how many times I nearly pulled my hair out in frustration screaming “why can’t I gain weight?!”

It didn’t matter how much I willed it or changed my daily lifestyle, I’d weigh myself on the scales a few weeks after starting a new training routine that I thought would make the difference…only to see the needle stay on the same darn number as before I started! Arrrggghhh! Pure frustration!

Now, while some folks will tut and tell you to be grateful that you are naturally slim, I won’t do the same. In fact, I’m gonna tell you what you need to do to change your situation and gain weight.

I’ve found that there are 3 major things you need to know in order to stop wondering “why can’t I gain weight” and actually start packing some meat on them bones.

Poor Approach To Diet
In general, the biggest reason folks are constantly wondering “why can’t I gain weight?” is simply that their diet plan is insufficient for someone with a naturally high metabolic rate.

This is so common, and I think I know the reason…most of the media and society is obsessed with LOSING weight, that it can be difficult to find credible sources on how to GAIN weight.

Increasing your daily calorie intake AND meal time frequency is essential to putting on more weight and beating your skinny demons. People like us with a fast metabolism need to eat about 6 times per day in order to keep our system stable and healthy. This increased calorie intake will aid your body’s ability to perform better in your workouts and gain muscle mass faster.

What do you mean you’re not working out?

Inappropriate Training Routine
The secret to gaining weight in a healthy manner is by following a solid workout plan consistently to gain muscle mass and a toned body. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it is in your interest to focus on this aspect in your weekly schedules.

However, following any old routine you find in a magazine is not enough…and this is the second biggest reason skinny folks are asking themselves “why can’t I gain weight?”

You see, not every exercise is created equal, and thus, neither is every training routine. Different body types require different routines, as do different experience levels. A pro bodybuilder is going to be working out a LOT differently to a guy who is stepping into the gym for the first time.

For skinny folks, the best kind of workout they can perform is one designed for ectomorphs and hardgainers, and will consist primarily of compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups – stimulating more muscle per rep and helping you gain muscle mass faster.

Things like Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts are the sort of thing I’m talking about. Focus on a core of these, and keep your workouts intense – 45 mins to an hour is enough…no need for marathon sessions down the gym as this will only cause fatigue and result in you struggling to gain muscle.

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Inadequate Sleeping Pattern / High Stress Levels
A highly overlooked but increasingly important factor in a skinny person’s ability to gain weight is their inadequate sleeping pattern and / or high stress levels.

You see, natural anabolic growth hormones are produced when we reach deep sleep resulting in better muscle tissue repair, faster muscle growth and easier weight gain. This process usually happens after around 4 hours or so.

On the contrary, poor disturbed sleep and high stress levels result in an overproduction of a catabolic hormone called Cortisol which results in less muscular tissue repair (in some cases muscular atrophy), and a faster metabolic rate. This will only hamper your ability to gain weight.

Ask yourself, could your current sleeping pattern be a major reason why you can’t gain weight? Are you under stress, or finding it difficult to get a good night’s rest?

Make a good sleeping pattern part of your daily routine and eliminate as much stress as possible from your life…I know, I know, easier said than done, right?

Your exercise routine will go some way in helping you to de-stress and get a proper night’s sleep.

At some point in their quest to build muscles, most folks will experience a feeling that they are overtraining. This is usually due to the idea that “more is better”, and the more time spent in the gym the faster you’ll grow muscle.

This is incorrect, since building muscle mass requires regular and disciplined rest and recovery times in order for your body to rebuild the damaged muscle fibres and get bigger. You cannot force your body to grow faster by bombarding it with daily training sessions, and this will almost definitely lead to overtraining.

As I discussed in my previous article on the dangers of overtraining, the consequences of overtraining can be very nasty, not only for your overall health, but also your ability to build and maintain muscle mass. Therefore knowing how to avoid overtraining in your bodybuilding workout routines can help you to avoid this kind of self-sabotage.

Below are the 3 most important ways of how to avoid overtraining in your weight training and exercise workouts. Read them thoroughly and consider whether you need to incorporate them into your current routine.

How To Avoid Overtraining #1 – Proper Training Volume

Knowing how much weight to lift, how many reps and sets can be tough, particularly for beginners but is essential in order to avoid overtraining. Each person is different so it is difficult to give exact figures of what you need to be doing.

The key though is to test your own body and see what is right for you. When you enter the gym for your next workout, see whether you are outdoing your previous session…if you are struggling to reach your previous rep numbers, and feel fatigued then it is likely that you are risking overtraining.

Remember, the goal of each of your workouts should be to improve and get stronger each time. If you are not able to improve on your previous training volume then you need to look at why that is.

How To Avoid Overtraining #2 – Stay Focused On Your Diet and Nutrition Plan

Many folks think that overtraining is only caused or aggravated in the gym. However, the reality is that it often happens outside of the gym too…namely in the kitchen. Poor diet, or a poor attitude to nutrition is another cause of overtraining, since what you eat ultimately determines your ability to build muscle and your recovery times.

To avoid overtraining you need to place a large importance on your diet and nutrition. Don’t skip breakfast as this will cause your body to begin the breakdown of your existing muscle tissue for energy. Eat regularly and at designated times of the day in order to keep your metabolism consistent, and ensure a regular supply of energy to your body – getting hungry is no good for building muscle mass. I recommend 6 meals per day at regular 3 hour intervals…so something like 7am, 10pm, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm, or whatever fits your current schedule.

Also, try to have the day’s largest meal within an hour or so of your workout, as this will ensure that your body does not go too long without nutrition.

How To Avoid Overtraining #3 – Disciplined Rest and Recovery Time

As mentioned at the beginning of this article the idea that “more is better” is not only prevalent in society but extremely commonplace in the gym. If you want to know one of the best ways of how to avoid overtraining, then you need to take a disciplined approach to your rest and recovery time.

Insufficient rest between workouts is one of the most common ways to overtrain. Muscles are built during rest, particularly deep sleep when our natural anabolic hormone levels reach their highest, and the muscle tissue is repaired and strengthened. Lack of sleep and/or lack of “off days” from your workouts will only serve to make the muscle building process more difficult.

As a general rule you should not be working out the same muscle group two days in a row, as you will almost certainly be overtraining like this. Even if you missed a workout that week and are trying to catch up, it is better to just missed it and start fresh next week, rather than playing catch up.

I prefer 3–4 all-body workouts per week which allows one to two days’ rest in between, and minimizes the chances of overtraining.

Overtraining is common among bodybuilders at all levels, but beginners can be particularly susceptible since a) their bodies are not accustomed to the training, and b) their lack of experience may convince them that training as much as possible is the way to build muscle…”no pain, no gain”, right?

Unfortunately, unscrupulous companies looking to make a fast buck will often have the beginner bodybuilder wondering if the secret to all their muscle building troubles lies in those “magic pills” that they are trying to flog at 50 bucks a pop!

Let’s be clear that the secret of how to make your muscles bigger healthily and naturally is not in training your muscles as much as is humanly possible, but progressively overloading the muscle for an allotted time, and then allowing it the time to recover and repair itself…

“The muscle building process happens when we rest, not while we are working out”

Rest is absolutely essential to build muscle mass. This means that any workout program that is getting you to work the same muscle group 2 days in a row is probably not allowing you sufficient time to rest and recover. This can lead to the symptoms of overtraining which if not dealt with early can not only result in less muscular development, but also serious injury, fatigue, illness, and muscle loss.

(Read this blog post to find out more about how much rest to get between workouts)

There are many dangers of overtraining. Below are 3 major negative effects that overtraining can have on your body and overall health:

Chronic Fatigue

If you are feeling constantly tired, or you tire very easily then you may want to look at whether you are overtraining in your bodybuilding workout routines, as it can be caused by this.

Chronic fatigue is so much more than just tiredness, as it can result in irritability, poor performance at work and other tasks, family disputes and arguments, and the inability to sleep properly at night (hence even less chance of muscle growth). Yep, even though you may feel as tired as ever, fatigue can cause stress levels in the other areas of your life to increase which disturbs your whole system.

Fatigue is also responsible for a weak appetite, which will seriously hamper your chances of building muscle.

Decrease in Testosterone and Other Hormone Levels

Testosterone is needed to help us build muscle. By following a solid bodybuilding workout routine schedule we can naturally increase our testosterone levels helping us to build muscle faster.

So, training more will give us more testosterone and faster muscle growth, right? WRONG!

Overtraining in our workouts will actually cause us to decrease our testosterone levels making muscle building that much tougher. Combine this with an increase in cortisol levels due to overtraining and you’ve got a recipe for muscle tissue loss.

Tendon and Tissue Damage

Overtraining can cause long term damage to muscle tissue, tendons and joints, since there is insufficient recovery time to allow the natural healing process. There will also be an increased level of lactic acid in your system which can aggravate and increase the tissue damage.

This can lead to long term health problems and joint pain, early onset of arthritis, and other issues.

Now that we have identified the main dangers of overtraining, let’s take a little look at how to avoid overtraining