Nutrition
The biggest key to packing on muscle for those of you who struggle to gain weight is nutrition. People sometimes tend to shy away from this aspect because it is hard, but it is very necessary. The first thing you should do if you are a hard gainer is to start tracking everything you eat to see where you are at. I find smartphone apps to be the easiest and most efficient way to track my food, but do what ever works best for you. Once you have a handle on that really take a look at overall calories and protein you are consuming on a daily basis. If you are trying to gain muscle and have a fast metabolism you should at least be getting 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You should also ideally be getting a healthy balance of fats and carbs. Some where from 30 – 40 percent of your calories should be from protein and the rest you can split between carbs and fat. For example I shoot for a diet of 35{15aeb35eec840799df247626cfa6821cb9499241e90aba7a245c8546144fd8f4} protein, 40{15aeb35eec840799df247626cfa6821cb9499241e90aba7a245c8546144fd8f4} carbs and 25{15aeb35eec840799df247626cfa6821cb9499241e90aba7a245c8546144fd8f4} fats. Although you should be eating healthy you do need to still be eating a ton if you are a hard gainer. If you are working out most days you should be consuming some where close 1000 calories over your base caloric intake to start. You will want to adapt this based on how your body responds however. So once you are eating in a large caloric surplus and eating at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight in healthy foods, you are well on your way to getting bigger.
The Right Supplements Can Help You
I would like to stress first if you do not want to spend the money or are against using supplements for some reason that is fine, they are not mandatory for gaining weight. That being said they are quite helpful especially when you are trying to up your protein intake and gain weight. Earlier I was talking about mass gainers and how they are mostly empty calories and I stand by that. Mass gainers are essentially just protein powders filled with a bunch of extra empty calories. I would recommend taking a simple whey protein shake to help add healthy extra calories and protein. You are going to be better off and save money by taking one or two protein shakes and eating more healthy food instead of using mass gainers. One trick I used when I was initially trying to gain weight, and still use today from time to time is drinking a protein shake before bed. This is a great way to add some extra calories and help fuel muscles growth over night.