Workouts For Skinny Guys

If hitting the gym on the regular isn’t resulting in the swelling silhouette you envisioned, you may not be sending your muscles the right message. Key variables in your training — sets, reps, weight, rest —determine the outcome of your efforts, so it’s important to ensure those factors are aligned towards your goal.

Here, created using a combination of high volume, varying weight, and controlled rest periods, you’ll find a simple and effective muscle-building workout plan, designed to pack mass onto your entire body. “For the skinny dude, this is a great workout to put on some serious muscle,” says celebrity trainer and elite endurance athlete Alex Isaly, the architect behind this bulk-up blueprint.

The workouts in this program are programmed to increase muscle size and strength using a popular muscle-building methodology called “drop sets.” Unlike regular sets, which follow a uniform rep scheme (e.g. three sets of 10 reps), drop sets decrease in reps as you go (e.g. three sets: 12, 10, 8 reps, and so on).

“The added stress on the muscles amplifies muscle growth, Isaly says. “Drop sets activate the deepest muscle fibers, leading to maximum growth.”

The three workouts in this program can be used as standalone sessions to target specific muscle groups, or performed consecutively (and yes, repeatedly) with 1–2 rest days between workouts as an ongoing full-body workout plan.

How It Works

Find yourself a bench and grab three sets of dumbbells — that’s all you’ll ever need for any workout in this plan. You want to be able to do no more than 12 reps of a given exercise with your heaviest pair of dumbbells. “Each set of weights should be heavy enough to take you to failure on the last couple of reps,” Isaly says.

Rest for 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between exercises.

The Workouts

Function: Muscle growth, strength
Modality: Drop sets
Intensity: Medium to high
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Target: Full body Equipment:
Dumbbells, adjustable bench

• Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
• Workout 2: Back, Biceps, Abs
• Workout 3: Legs

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Block 1: Chest

• Decline Bench Press (12, 10, 8)
• Flat Bench Press (12, 10, 8)
• Incline Bench Press (12, 10, 8)
• Flat Bench Fly (12, 10, 8)
• Incline Bench Fly (12, 10, 8)

Block 2: Shoulders

• Front Raise (12, 10, 8)
• Seated Lateral Raise (12, 10, 8)
• Seated Rear Delt Fly (12, 10, 8)
• Seated Overhead Press (12, 10, 8)

Block 3: Triceps

• Seated Single-Arm Triceps Extension (12, 10, 8)
• Skullcrushers (12, 10, 8)
• Bodyweight Dips (Until failure)

Day 2: Back, Biceps, and Abs

Block 1: Back

• Bent-over Reverse Fly (12, 10, 8)
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Row (12, 10, 8)
• Wide-Grip Pullups (Until failure)
• Supermans (Until failure)

Block 2: Biceps

• Incline Bench Bicep Curls (12, 10, 8)
• Cross-body Hammer Curls (12, 10, 8)

Block 3: Abs

• Russian Dumbbell Twist (15, 15)
• Dumbbell Crunch (15, 15)
• Dumbbell Toe Touch (15, 15)

Day 3: Legs

• Dumbbell Step-Up (12, 10, 8)
• Dumbbell Squat (12, 10, 8)
• Dumbbell Calf Raise (12, 10, 8)
• Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift (12, 10, 8)