It can often be challenging to eat the required grams of protein needed for packing on muscle tissue.

Meat is expensive, especially for high quality meats so, protein supplements can be a handy way to get enough protein daily.

General Recommendations

The majority of your protein should come from nutritious, whole food sources and protein supplements should be used as just that, a supplement.

Guys that are constantly sucking on a protein shake and eating protein bars are wasting their money and hurting their bodies. Many protein supplements contain a lot of additives and carbs!

I recommend finding a protein that’s as pure as possible and one that doesn’t taste like a McDonald’s milkshake. Buy pure protein with no added sugar. Then mix this into a fruit smoothie or some yogurt.

Here are they most common protein supplement powders available.

Whey Protein

This is the most common protein supplement and it is made from cow’s milk. Although it’s the cheapest, it’s also one of the dirtier proteins because of the additives it can contain and the environmental impact the dairy industry has on the planet.

Nutrition of a standard sugar free variety:

• Serving size: 29.4 grams
• Calories: 120
• Fat: 1 gram
• Sugar: 1 gram
• Protein: 24 grams

Here’s a good whey protein if you want to order it online.
NOW Whey Protein – 10 Lbs. – Natural Vanilla

Hemp Protein

This protein is gaining popularity because of it’s sustainability and purity. Tri-athlete Brandon Brazier swears by this protein as the way he builds muscle as a vegan. It has less protein per gram, but higher concentrated powders can be found.

Nutrition of a sugar-free hemp protein:

• Serving size: 30 grams
• Calories: 120
• Fat: 3 grams ( Omega-3 .8g, Omega-6 2g, Omega-9 .3g)
• Carbs: 7 grams
• Sugar: 0 grams
• Fiber: 6 grams
• Protein: 15 grams

Here’s a good hemp protein if you want to order it online.
Nutiva Organic Hemp Protein 15g – 3 Lbs. – Unflavored

Soy Protein

This is also a popular choice but mainly among women. There’s some evidence that large quantities of soy protein can be bad for men because of the natural plant estrogens soy contains.

Nutrition of a standard sugar-free soy variety:

• Serving size: 31.5 grams
• Fat: 0 grams
• Carbs: 2 grams
• Fiber: 0 grams
• Protein: 25 grams

Here’s a good soy protein if you want to order it online.
NOW Soy Protein Isolate – Non-GMO – 2 Lbs. – Natural Vanilla

Conclusions

There are also other varieties like rice protein and egg protein powders and blends of whey and casein that can be good as well.

Just be sure to find a quality product and make sure the majority of your muscle building and weight gaining diet is from whole food.

They mostly picture professional fitness models and body builders who live at the gym and are paid to endorse products.

Good Points

Now I’m not saying that everything in these magazines is useless. There are some good tips and advice contained in them.

Often they can give you great suggestions for targeting a muscle group or adding new exercises to your routine. They also can give you some good recipes and nutrition advice.

You just have to use some common sense and weed out what’s biased and what’s the truth.

The Ugly

So here’s how it works. The magazines publish information and pictures that appeal to those that want to gain muscle and get ripped. The supplement companies pay millions of dollars to display their ads.

These ads often have exaggerated claims of the supplements effectiveness and the models displayed using the supplement did not get that way by using them. After all, they are counting on the average guys and gals to buy their products.

Guys that are already buff know that to get ripped takes hard work and solid nutrition. There are no magic bullets.

While some supplements my help you squeeze out a few more reps or provide extra protein, you still have to do 99.9% of the work.

Bottom Line

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Find a good muscle building program to follow, spend your money on real food instead of lots of supplements and magazines.

Set realistic goals and stay dedicated and consistant. You will get there and eventually have the body you are striving for.

What do you think? Have you been enticed by supplement ads in weightlifting magazines

The bad news is that it can affect your future workouts if not treated. The faster you recover from soreness, the quicker you will be able to continue your progress.

What Causes Muscle Soreness?

When you are working your muscles harder or longer than the rate oxygen can be supplied to the muscle tissue for the burning of glucose, the muscles must switch into anaerobic respiration.

This is how the muscles can keep pumping even after all available oxygen is used up. Unfortunately, this process isn’t as efficient and the by-product is lactic acid.

Lactic acid builds up in the muscles until it can be flushed out causing soreness.

How to Recover Quicker?

I always found prevention is best. Ease into workout routines slowly or new exercises slowly. Don’t go gun ho right off the bat or you will be very sore. Gradually build up your reps and weight.

If it’s too late and you are already sore, the best way to get over the soreness quicker is to drink plenty of water, do some stretching, and do light exercises that activate the sore muscle groups.

This will pump the lactic acid from the muscle tissue and allow them to feel normal again.

Vibration Training

If your gym has a vibration plate like PowerPlate, this also is a good way to get rid of soreness. I’ve found that the vibrations help clear the muscles of the lactic acid, allowing for quicker recovery.

Here is a video about how to relieve the muscle soreness and tightness and boost the performance of your next session.

This can lead to a natural plateau where you stop making progress in your workouts.

You know the drill, legs on Tuesdays, biceps on Wednesdays and so on.

Your body adapts pretty quickly to routine so you have to keep it guessing.

Steps for Preventing Muscle Gain Stalls

1. Do a variety of exercises, not just the same ones all the time.
2. Alternate weight training with some strength training.
3. Every 3 to 4 weeks take 5 to 7 days off and do nothing weight training wise.
4. Increase the amount of weight you are lifting even if it means less reps.
5. Put some “power moves” into your routine, these activate many muscle groups at once.

Of the above steps, I’ve found that taking a break and doing a variety of exercises has worked best for me.  Also, make sure you are keeping your nutrition up. Muscles can’t grow if they don’t have raw materials needed for development.

Above all, dont give up, you’ll get there!

Click below for a short video on how to avoid this scenario from happening to you and how to break Workout Plateaus if they do happen.

While it is not a scientific measurement, it will give you a starting point.

For a more accurate measure see this body fat percentage calculator.

Instead of giving you a lot of hype he breaks it down in to a simple to use program.

What Makes It Special

There are lots of programs out there that can teach you how to build muscle by telling you which exercises to do, how often to do them, and how long you need to rest between each work out. The key with The Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer is more concerned with feeding your body right to help your muscles grow. So what does that mean for you, it means you’ll have the nutritional base that you need to make your body pack on the lean muscles that will give you that hard, ripped look you’ve been wanting.

This program is a little different from anything else on the market because it takes into account your specific somatotype, better known to the rest of us lay people as body type. Every body is different so using a cookie cutter work out and nutritional program isn’t the way to ensure that you are getting the right nutrition for your work out.

What you’ll get when you order Kyle’s program is a base system that tells you what nutrition you need to build the muscles that you’ve always wanted. This is a computer based, excel type system. All you have to do is plug in the appropriate information and it will fill in the rest. You do not have to be proficient at using computers or software to be able to master this simple to use system.

Once you’ve populated your information you’ll be provided with 3 meal plans that are simple to make and perfectly balanced for your nutritional needs. The great part is you’ll know their nutritionally balanced because Kyle is a certified nutritionist so his information is guaranteed to be completely accurate.

Bonus Items

As with most of these programs there are some bonus items included in the package. The first item is the Somanabolic Weight Training guide. This is what takes this program from being a purely nutritional supplement to a full on muscle building guide. In it you’ll find the best work outs for your body type. Everything revolves around your body type and this is no exception. You’ll get the moves that you need to build the lean muscles that you are interested in.

Also included is the Somanabolic Supplementation guide. This guide lists which supplements will help you to achieve your ripped look so there is no more guess work. He cautions that are only a few real supplements out there that will help you. He also promises to expose the not so great supplements so that you aren’t confused down the road.

The final extra is the 7 Days out book. This book will guide you will help you how to get that look ripped in under a week. It holds the key work outs and nutritional information that you need to look larger, more ripped in only 7-Days, something he calls “Mirror Magic”.

If you’re looking for something that is quick and effective then you might want to give the Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer a try. It’ll give you the permanent results that you are looking for. It is completely affordable. Just like anything to make this worse you have to follow it completely but it is a great way to grow the muscles that you have always dreamed of.

Promising to be biologically superior to other muscle building techniques, this program sets out to teach you how to burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, not an easy feat.

What Makes it Special

Unlike other muscle building techniques on the market the Lean Hybrid Muscle focuses on the “Type 3” lean hybrid muscle. This allows you to lose the fat while building the muscle. This is accomplished through a combination of heavy lifting and resistance cardio.

Since the goal of this program is to shed the pounds as well as build muscle you may not see the explosion of muscle that you might in other programs but it is a great way to get rid of those “puffy” muscles and get the rock hard muscles that you’ve been longing for. By using this program you’ll be able to burn over 100% more fat that you would with other programs.

Diet is key

As with most of these types of programs the Lean Hybrid Muscle routine also focuses on your diet. The diet is designed to force the body to use body fat as energy. By cycling days of over feeding and under feeding your body will learn to burn only the fat that it has stored. You will also learn how to cycle your nutritional intake throughout the week so that your muscles will be fueled consistently.

Another highlight of this program is that anyone can use it. The instructions are so simple to follow that no matter what your body type you can get results. You don’t have to be an expert lifter either to follow this guide. It is great for the seasoned lifter and for the newbie all at the same time. It just takes dedication and sticking to the prescribed routine and you will see results.

The Whole Package

The Lean Hybrid Muscle system has a lot to offer. It comes with the Lean Hybrid Muscle Manual. This manual will give you the step by step instructions on how to get started with your new workout routine. It’s simple to follow and it’s to the point instruction makes it great for beginners. You’ll get information on everything from design, genetics, to motivation in this one handy guide.

When you order this program you’ll also get the Lean Hybrid Muscles Training Logs. This book will give you all the information that you need to do the workouts right the first time. The instructions will help you figure out what is best for you and your body type and it will help you start burning fat and gaining muscle from day one.

The program also includes the Lean Hybrid Muscles Diet Manual. This will help you get the diet in gear from day one as well. This program hinges on both diet and lifting to burn the fat and build the muscle simultaneously. The Diet Manual can help you make sure that you are eating the right things in order to get your muscles the right nutrition so that they can explode.

To help keep your diet n the right track is the No Calorie Counting Meal Plan. This will help you find easy to make meals and guess what you  don’t have to try to figure out the calorie content of any of them. No one likes trying to keep up with the calorie count and this book makes sure you don’t get frustrated trying.

The Lean Hybrid Muscle plan is a good sound plan. Combining weights, restrictive cardio and diet you can cut the fat and gain the muscle. It just takes a lot of dedication, so this plan is only for the very serious builder.

Did you know that nutrition is responsible for approximately 75% of your results? Scary when you think that unless you’re following a nutritionist’s guidelines then you probably aren’t getting the right nutrition.

Dave Ruel has come up with the Anabolic Cooking Cookbook to solve that problem.

What Makes It Special

The Anabolic Cooking Cookbook is a different kind of cookbook. It will help you to prepare tasty, healthy meals so that you don’t fall off of your muscle gaining wagon. This book breaks through the 5 misconceptions about cooking and eating for bodybuilding.

You can afford to go to the store, buy healthy foods, and still have money left over. This book shows you how to find exactly what you need. He also lays out an easy to follow guide that will help you to make your own dinners that are tasty and help you build the muscles you dream of. There is no reason to have to cheat on your diet if you have tasty filling foods.

These meals are convenient to fix and won’t take too much of your time. By following the instructions you make your own meals. Prepackaged and takeout meals ultimately cost more money per serving than if you bought the ingredients and made it yourself.

This book will also tell you how to prepare all your meals for the week in less than 3 hours. And there is a wide variety of recipes so you won’t get bored anytime soon.

You will learn how to manage things like shopping for food, meal plans, and even the meals you’ll eat while you’re out and about. The book will guide you through the step by step method of cooking each meal, a virtual class, and tell you what tools you’ll need to do it all. You don’t have to have a lot of money to be able to use the Anabolic Cooking Cookbook.

The Complete Package

This Anabolic Cooking Cookbook includes several items. First off is the cookbook itself. It contains delicious, not bland and boring, recipes. These are completely healthy meals that help enhance muscles and promote fat loss. Each of the two hundred recipes are perfect for you and your entire family. Just because you’re trying to build muscle doesn’t mean that these meals aren’t perfect for the kids.

You’ll also get the Quick Start Nutrition and Cooking Guide. This guide is written in a simple matter so that you can get to cooking quickly. It explains what you need to look for in your food and exactly what’s in it, and how to read the recipe and understand it. It also teaches you how to prepare a week’s worth of meals in less than 3 hours.

The package also contains the Anabolic Cooking Meal Plans for Lean Muscle Mass gains. These include meal plans for a wide variety of caloric intakes. Everybody’s body is different so just because a friend takes a 2500 calorie diet doesn’t mean that you will. Following what fits your lifestyle and you’ll see results.

You will also get the Optimum Fat loss meal plans and the Optimum Maximizer Advanced Calorie Calculator. These tools will help you follow your diet, build muscle and lose the fat. The Fat loss guide will help you eat foods that will help you burn the body fat while the calorie calculator helps you maintain your caloric intake.

Bonuses Galore

As with most of these programs you can enjoy three free bonuses.  The first of which is the Anabolicious Post Workout Shakes guide gives you all the recipies you need to replenish your energy level and help your muscle to begin repair. The second bonus is Dave’s review of supplements, The Ugly Truth About Supplements, which tells why they don’t work. He also reveals the handful that does work. Finally you’ll receive the Anabolic Cooking Training and Food Log which will help you keep a track of everything.

It’s a great way to shake up the dull recipe scene. While it doesn’t come with any work out instructions you can use this in addition to the routine you already have going. Nutrition is key to having the muscles you long for.

Through his teen and college years he struggled just like you. It took a lot of research but he has come up with the Muscle Gaining Secrets to help you pack on the muscle mass.

And you can do it without all those expensive supplements that cost a lot of money but give you little in the way of results.

What Makes It Special

The Muscle Gaining Secrets program offers something that many different programs don’t, less gym time. Jason’s innovative program will allow you to spend less time in the gym and still get the results that you long for. Many of his routines take less than an hour. In forty-five minutes, 3 days a week you can get ripped. He promises twice the results in half the time by following his simple program.

Another great thing about Jason’s program is that he isn’t expecting you to purchase a bunch of supplements. Most of those body building supplements don’t work like they say they do anyway. You won’t end up spending thousands of dollars on worthless pills and powders. Many of these powders and pills are actually working against you when it comes to trying to build muscle.

No Steroids! That’s right this is a completely natural workout that has been proven to build muscle mass. You don’t have to worry about being advised to take those harmful dangerous chemicals that many of the professionals use. Jason will show you how to increase your testosterone levels naturally which, in turn, will help you build the muscle that you’ve always wanted.

The Package

The Muscle Gaining Secrets package is pretty extensive. For starters you’ll get the Muscle Gaining Secrets Master manual. This e-book will tell you everything you need to know to go from skinny, girly man to buff muscle man in just a few months. It is an easy to follow guide that will get you going the direction you need to be going. This can help you break that barrier that you’ve been facing. Some guys are just born with the genetics that keep them from being ripped, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t challenge your genes.

With the Master Manual you’ll also receive the Muscle Gaining Secrets Maximum Mass in Minimum Time Workout Plan. This guide will help you cut your workout routine down to just 45 minutes a day and only three days a week. In this guide you’ll learn the proper rest periods that will help to increase muscle growth. You won’t be able to grow any muscle mass unless you not only work your muscles right but you have to rest them correctly too, and this guide will help you learn the difference.

In addition to the Master Manual and the Workout Guide you’ll receive all the nutritional information you need. The nice part of this feature is that eating right is a huge part of gaining and maintaining the appropriate weight. It’s simple to follow and easy to understand just like the rest of the instructions and guides in this system. It also offers a wider array of options here. You’re not expected to maintain a 2,500 calorie diet, the guide ranges from 2,000 calories all the way up to 6,000 calories so if you need those extra calories don’t sweat it. It’s also doctor approved so no worries there.

Everyone Likes Bonuses

The Muscle Gaining Secrets system comes with lots of extras too. These extras include the Supplement Report, a hand piece of research that tells the truth about those useless substances you’ve been using. You also get the Growth Tracker software that helps you track your progress. Since pictures really are worth a thousand words the Exercise Database is extremely handy to give you detailed photos and descriptions of 100 different exercises, it’ll help you ensure you’re doing it right.

You also get the audio course, 10 minute meal cookbook and a one month subscription to the Renegade Inner Circle for additional coaching. You also get lifetime updates to any of the e-books.

Since it would cost you thousands of dollars to have a personal trainer help you with all these areas the fee is quiet reasonable. It comes with everything you need to be able to add the mass you need. And this method is natural, no artificial supplements that don’t help you and no dangerous chemicals polluting your body. Taking a look at Jason’s site is a testament to how well this product works.

Of course this isn’t always easy when you are cursed with a scrawny torso, skinny arms, and chicken legs.

Skinny guys have the Advantage!

Believe it or not, skinny guys have a distinct advantage to building lean muscle. While the naturally big guys might already be blessed with muscle mass, they have to work twice as hard to avoid belly fat and over-eating.

Thin people on the other hand already have high metabolism and low body fat indexes. This eliminates the concern for fat gain. With a few tweaks to your diet and workout routine you will notice results significantly faster than the average man.

Where to Start

This website is filled with helpful articles and videos on the best ways to build muscle fast. Our two top featured bodybuilding authors were both scrawny punching bags who dramatically increased their muscle mass with natural techniques.

Recommended Muscle Building Programs For Skinny Guys
	Muscle Maximizer Kyle Leon has believes that nutrition is more important than training. By eating right, while you work out you can get the ripped look that you’ve always dreamed about. A specially designed approach is what he believes is the answer. Without using the right nutrition for your body then you won’t be able to get the ripped look you want. If you are looking for something that is customized to your body then Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer is the workout and nutritional set for you. Check out all the testimonies!	Rating:
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	No-Nonsense Muscle Building by Vince DelMonte Vince Del Monte is one of the best known muscle building experts in the world. Formerly a distance runner and tri-athlete, Vince never thought he would ever grow out of his 150 pound shell. But after developing his own system of weight and muscle gain techniques, he transformed himself into a Canadian Fitness Model champion. He now makes a living as a fitness model, personal trainer, and acclaimed author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain.	Rating:
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	The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System Sean Nalewanyj is a natural bodybuilding expert who writes regularly for the top fitness magazines and websites. Like so many others, Sean suffered through his high school years as the skinny kid who could never match the strength of his peers. He has since dedicated his life to researching and implementing a drug-free approach to bodybuilding. His book The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System has become one of the most popular muscle gain programs on the internet.	Rating:
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	Muscle Gaining Secrets If you’ve tried everything to gain mass then you’re not alone. Jason Ferruggia has been there and done that. Through his teen and college years he struggled just like you. It took a lot of research but he has come up with the Muscle Gaining Secrets to help you pack on the muscle mass. And you can do it without all those expensive supplements that cost a lot of money but give you little in the way of results.	Rating:
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	Lean Hybrid Muscle For those who are dedicated to making a difference in their body then the Lean Hybrid Muscle plan is a sure bet. Developed by strong man Elliott Hulse, this system allows you to burn fat while building muscle. Yes it can be done. By combining diet, lifting, and cardio you can shed the fat and become ripped at the same time.	Rating:
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	Anabolic Cooking If you’re tired of eating boiled chicken and steamed broccoli then you have options. Dave Ruel’s Anabolic Cooking Cookbook is designed to help you maintain your healthy diet and provide the nutrition your body needs to get completely ripped.	Rating:
		Read our review

If you are looking for a complete workout and meal plan for skinny guys, then check out the Top Muscle Building Guides. You will also find solid beginners advice in our weight training videos and muscle building tips.

All you need to succeed is a little organization and the ability to stay motivated. There is no reason why skinny guys can’t build the same muscle mass as other men. It just takes a slightly different approach.