Why It’s Hard For Some People To Gain Weight

The simple answer to why it’s hard for some people to gain weight is genetics. Genetics control the make up of each person. Some people are genetically gifted and find it easy to gain muscle and lose fat. Some people find it hard to gain weight at all. And some people find it hard to lose weight.

Genetics also control your muscle fiber make-up, how big and strong you can get and how fast you can gain muscle also.

Different Body Types

There are three different body types of people in the world. These are called somatotypes. They are ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. I will break down each body type below.

Ectomorphs

- Ectomorphs are skinny people. They generally have a hard time gaining any weight of any kind. This is because they have a high metabolism. The higher your motabilism, the harder it will be for you to gain weight. Ectomorphs typically have low body fat levels, low muscle levels and small bone size.

Mesomorphs

- Mesomorphs are the genetically lucky somatotype in my opinion. Mesomorphs have low to meduim body fat levels, medium to high muscle levels and high bone density. They typically find it fairly easy to gain muscle and lose body fat.

Endomorphs

- Endomorphs are typically overweight people. They have medium to high fat and muscle levels and high bone density. The find it hard to lose weight of any kind and gain fat easily. This is generally because they have a slow metabolism.

Most people who want to gain muscle fall into the ectomorph genetic category. Whilst you can’t change your somatotype, you can combat against it and gain weight by eating right, training right and getting enough rest for your muscles to grow.

Your Metabolisms Role In Gaining Muscle

A fast metabolism will generally have a negative effect on building muscle. The faster your metabolism, the harder it will be for you to gain weight. Have you ever noticed that skinny people can eat junk food whenever they want and don’t have to worry about gaining weight? That’s because whenever they eat, their metabolism burns off the calories of their food quickly and they hardly gain a pound. The opposite goes for people with slow metabolisms.

When gaining muscle, you must eat properly though. You can’t gain muscle by eating junk food just because there are plenty of calories in it. You must intake lots of high quality lean protein, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats (yes, some fats are ESSENTIAL in gaining lean muscle). I will go into more detail on nutrients further on in the site.

Rest is also essential in gaining weight. The more activity you do, the more calories you’re burning. Calories are needed to help your muscles heal and get bigger. I strongly advise against cardio exercise when on a muscle gaining program as you’ll be burning valuable calories needed to make your muscles bigger. Always remember, cardio is for fat loss, not muscle gain.

How Muscle Fibers Are Made Up

There are three types of muscle fibers in each muscle. Each person will have a different mix of muscle fibers in each muscle of their body, which will reflect on the size, strength and endurance capabilities of each muscle. The three types of muscle fibers are:-

Type I Fibers

- These are muscle fibers for endurance and are typically thin. These will be the make up fibers of a long distance runner or endurance related sports people. The muscles throughout their bodies will be made up of mostly type I fibers.

Type IIB Fibers

- These muscle fibers are for strength and size and are the thickest and strongest fibers you can have. These are typical make up fibers of power lifters, bodybuilders or american football players. The muscles throughout their bodies will be made up of mostly type IIB fibers.

Type IIA Fibers

- These muscle fibers are in between the two previously mentioned and contain a mixture of both traits. They are relatively strong and have relative endurance levels whilst being medium in size. These would be the make up muscle fibers of soccer players and middle weight boxers.

Genetics

Genetic limits also dictate how much muscle you can gain and how fast you can gain it. A lot of people use this as an excuse as to why they cannot gain weight, but this is nonsense. Anyone can gain muscle with a well designed program (such as this one) and still be well within their genetic limits.

The only people who should be concerned about reaching their genetic limits, as far as gaining more muscle goes, are pro-bodybuilders and world-class athletes.

Now that we know what we’re up against, we can now formulate a program to fight against these obstacles and start gaining muscle!