Introduction
I’m 30, an ops engineer, sitting in front of a computer all day. I won’t talk about my height, but my weight — you probably won’t believe it: 45kg.
Yes, you read that right. A grown man, 45kg. I’ve been skinny for over twenty years, and I’ve never set foot in a gym — I’ve always trained at home. Lately I picked it back up, and grabbed some whey protein and creatine along the way. I can now do 50 push-ups in a row on the stands. Still miles away from the pros, but for me, that’s the peak of my life. This post is just to document it, and maybe to show fellow skinny guys that it’s possible.
What does 45kg even mean?
My BMI comes out to around 16, which lands in the “underweight” bracket on health check reports. I can only buy size S clothes, and they still hang loose on me. I’m too embarrassed to wear short sleeves in summer, and on windy days it feels like I could get blown away.
First, the whey protein
Whey protein isn’t a weight-gain pill. It’s just a tool that makes it easy to get enough protein.
At 1.5-2g per kg of body weight, I need about 68-90g of protein a day at 45kg. Sounds like not much, right? Let’s convert that to real food: 400g of chicken breast, or 12 eggs. Doing that one day or two is fine, but eating like that every single day would genuinely drive me crazy.
One scoop of whey is 25g — two gulps and it’s gone, and the gap gets filled right away.
But whey protein isn’t a meal replacement. If you only drink powder and don’t eat food, you won’t hit your calories, and you still won’t put on muscle. It’s a patch, not the main dish.
Then, the creatine
For me, creatine has three benefits:
First, you can squeeze out one or two more reps during training. When you’re dying on the last two or three push-ups, creatine lets you do one more — and that one extra rep makes the stimulation different.
Second, it holds water, so you don’t look as scrawny. Muscle cells store water, which makes you look a bit fuller, and the scale goes up 1-2kg too. For a skinny guy, that number is pretty healing.
Third, in the long run it does help build muscle. When training quality goes up and muscles get properly stimulated, that’s when the weight starts moving.
3-5g of creatine monohydrate a day is enough. Buy the right one, not the expensive one — there’s no real science to this stuff.
Is push-ups only enough?
I’ve never been to a gym. First, getting a membership is a hassle. Second, I’m socially anxious. So I train at home.
Which means my entire routine is just one thing: push-ups. No squats, no pull-ups, none of those fancy moves. Just at least 100 a day.
People will definitely say push-ups alone won’t cut it, you need to train your whole body. I know. But for me:
- It has the lowest barrier to entry. No equipment, no leaving the house — just lie down on the floor in your boxers and go.
- It’s the easiest to stick with. Three sets a day, done in 10 minutes. The more exercises I have, the more likely I am to quit.
- It’s enough for a skinny guy. At 45kg, push-ups are already a solid resistance workout. Get the chest, triceps, and shoulders going first, look a bit more built, then worry about the rest.
Once my weight goes up and I can do 100 push-ups in a single set, I’ll think about adding legs and back.
My training plan
My current plan looks roughly like this:
- At least 100 push-ups on the stands every day, done in 3 sets
- 100 is just the baseline; if I feel good I do extra sets, and once I can hit 120 in 3 sets I bump the daily target to 120
- Weigh myself every three days, in the morning on an empty stomach
- Try to sleep before 11pm
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