Q: I have a genetic predisposition to being thin and slender. Do I need to weight train differently from other people? Since it is not easy for me to gain muslce should I completely cut my carido workout? I do 40 minutes of cardio 7 days a week.

A: No, your weight training would not be special in any way. You could still follow the same programs as given in the Weightlifting article. As with anyone else, I would advise you to cycle through all the different programs, spending no more than 2-3 months on each one (with 1 week breaks in between).

What would be different for you is your diet and cardio. As you guessed, I would definitely advise dropping cardio altogether or at least cutting it down A LOT if your goal is to gain muscle. Once you put on enough muscle, you'll find yourself with some new fat as well (that's just how your body works -- it doesn't care too much about looking good). At that point you can restart your intensive cardio program if you want. But doing heavy cardio is counter-productive to building muscle.

Your diet will have to be sifficient for you to gain weight. You'll need to experiment how much food do you need to gradually gain weight (1-2 pounds per month, to keep fat gains minimal or more than 2 pounds/month if you don't care about extra fat). Increase the amount you eat, stick with it for 2-3 weeks and track your weight progress. If you're not gaining, increase again. Try not to have 3 huge meals -- instead have 5 or 6 or 7 smaller ones. Main thing is to keep eating until you gain weight. It may seem impossible at first, but you'll surprised just how much you can actually eat!