Best tip for hardgainers?
bruhaha007
Posts: 333 Member
Curious what your tips are for hardgainers? Mine is lift 3-4 sets with 6-10 high weight reps of compound exercises such as squat, dead lifts, military press, bench press, etc... and obviously increase your caloric intake. Other ideas and/or suggestions?
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Replies
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Eat more. As in significantly more. More pizza and ice cream.0
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Thanks @usmcmp I'll read your post. My challenge is I also want to see my abs so not so sure about the ice cream. Perhaps it isn't possible to go after both at the same time.0
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Treat your diet like your workouts. With progressive overload and lots of volume.0
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bruhaha007 wrote: »Thanks @usmcmp I'll read your post. My challenge is I also want to see my abs so not so sure about the ice cream. Perhaps it isn't possible to go after both at the same time.
You either put on weight (muscle and fat) or you cut to see abs. They don't happen at the same time. If you're skinny with no muscle you need to focus on gaining. You should be able to cut easy.0 -
The bulk and shred phase. Makes sense. I hate having to go to either extremes but it is what it is if I want my cake and eat it to.0
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bruhaha007 wrote: »The bulk and shred phase. Makes sense. I hate having to go to either extremes but it is what it is if I want my cake and eat it to.
Speaking of cake, you should probably eat that often since you have a busy schedule. My best tip for you.... preplan your day the night before and prepare the food to ensure you eat enough calories.0 -
Good tip @psulemon0
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No such thing as a "hard gainer"
There is, however, undereaters.0 -
bruhaha007 wrote: »Thanks @usmcmp I'll read your post. My challenge is I also want to see my abs so not so sure about the ice cream. Perhaps it isn't possible to go after both at the same time.
I eat a lot of ice cream during a cut or bulk and have visible abs.
Visible abs comes from low bf% not what kind of food you eat, more how many calories you eat.0 -
What you eat is irrelevant...it's all about the calories you consume.
You could eat a million carrot sticks and if you go over your TDEE (maintenance calories), you'll gain weight/fat0 -
So what do you recommend @chiefirg to lower the bf% while still consuming the sufficient number of calories to gain lean muscle? Cardio and limit my fat intake?0
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bruhaha007 wrote: »So what do you recommend @chiefirg to lower the bf% while still consuming the sufficient number of calories to gain lean muscle? Cardio and limit my fat intake?
You don't. If you're bulking, you're putting on fat. The other option is to do a recomp, which means you maintain your weight. It's typically a sloooooooow process.0 -
Contrary to what some have posted, people respond differently to training. Some show visible results quickly, and some hardly show any at all. Just eating at a surplus and training hard doesn't guarantee anything if your genetics won't support it.0
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Eat ice cream in a surplus while training, gain fat and muscle. Eat the ice cream in a deficit while training, lose fat and reveal your abs. It's science but not rocket science.0
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Looking good @arditarose Are you saying you ate ice cream while bulking and were able to get the abs you have now when you started shredding?0
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bruhaha007 wrote: »Looking good @arditarose Are you saying you ate ice cream while bulking and were able to get the abs you have now when you started shredding?
I ate ice cream as I lost fat, until I was lean enough to bulk. Now I'm eating it while bulking and I'll continue to eat it while I cut to see if I actually built any abs. Basically I always eat ice cream and treats. I just make it fit my macro/calorie goal for whatever my physique/performance goals are. Simple.0 -
Hadabetter wrote: »Contrary to what some have posted, people respond differently to training. Some show visible results quickly, and some hardly show any at all. Just eating at a surplus and training hard doesn't guarantee anything if your genetics won't support it.
Eating at a surplus and training with appropriate stimulus will result in muscle gains. You don't have to have superior genetics to add some muscle size, you have to train appropriately and eat enough. Hard gainers generally just don't eat enough and sometimes they follow crappy programs.0 -
simple answer:...
Eat more food.
Healthy food, that is, with good nutrition.0 -
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IMO, there no such thing as a "hardgainer". They are either not eating enough, or lack genetics to improve to what they desire.
I've trained with many dudes who want my arm shape and size. And they do everything they can to do it, with little results. I've gotten away with great looking arms by training them every other week.
Now LEGS, that's a different story.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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But there is no such thing as "healthy" food. Food is basically either nutrient laden or lacking. Choice does matter if one is counting calories, but if one has reached daily micronutrients, eating more micronutrient foods doesn't give "extra credit". At that point, gaining mass relies more on calories.VictorianoAOchoa wrote: »simple answer:...
Eat more food.
Healthy food, that is, with good nutrition.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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@ninerbuff what macro ratio would you recommend?0
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Make sure you're in a caloric surplus, gotta eat big to get big lol, keep reps low & heavy 2-6 Reps0
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bruhaha007 wrote: »So what do you recommend @chiefirg to lower the bf% while still consuming the sufficient number of calories to gain lean muscle? Cardio and limit my fat intake?
Eat less than your TDEE and you will lose fat. Eat enough protien for your LBM/activity level and you will lose minimal muscle during the cut process. Protien level will be dependant on weight/bf%. I find a goal of .5-1% loss of body weight per week to be optimal for me. So currently I'm 224lb with my BF@14%....I feel conformable losing 1-2lb weekly. Everybody is different, but I can still training for a couple hours without being drained at that rate.
My macros breakdown for a cut is the following for my activity level, BF% and current health. Note these are the minimum amounts I consume.
1gr of protien per lb of LBM
.35gr of fat per lb of LBM
I'm not a fan of using percentages for macros. Because as you lose fat/weight it would having you eat less protien and fats while in reality you should be eating more to retain muscle.
Cardio is for your heart and lungs and is not neccesary to lose fat. I do 0% cardio, while eating at least 67gr of fat per day. Eating fat doesn't make you fat, it helps you with normal body fuctions. Cut the fat from your diet and your body will not function at peak levels. I eat ice cream every day and plenty of it either when on a cut and or a bulk.0 -
For gaining mass? Probably a 40/40/20 ratio.bruhaha007 wrote: »@ninerbuff what macro ratio would you recommend?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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For strength yes, but if one is going for hypertrophy to increase muscle size, a regimen of high volume (16 sets per body part) and reps in the range of 6-12 would be more desirable.borrego6193 wrote: »Make sure you're in a caloric surplus, gotta eat big to get big lol, keep reps low & heavy 2-6 Reps
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
0 -
For strength yes, but if one is going for hypertrophy to increase muscle size, a regimen of high volume (16 sets per body part) and reps in the range of 6-12 would be more desirable.borrego6193 wrote: »Make sure you're in a caloric surplus, gotta eat big to get big lol, keep reps low & heavy 2-6 Reps
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure I could fit 16 sets per body part into my routine and busy schedule. I am closer to 8 sets but i do keep my reps between 6-8.0 -
Having seen some of your other threads I'm going to say that you need to set a goal and stick to it. You either need to bulk or you need to cut. Either way you have to find a solid progressive lifting routine to follow. You also need to drop the cleanses because you could damage to your digestive flora and your electrolyte balance.
If you want to bulk do it. Lift and eat. Don't beat yourself up for the cheat meals, don't cleanse after cheat meals. Eat, lift, gain.
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Having seen some of your other threads I'm going to say that you need to set a goal and stick to it. You either need to bulk or you need to cut. Either way you have to find a solid progressive lifting routine to follow. You also need to drop the cleanses because you could damage to your digestive flora and your electrolyte balance.
If you want to bulk do it. Lift and eat. Don't beat yourself up for the cheat meals, don't cleanse after cheat meals. Eat, lift, gain.
Great tips @usmcmp I do agree I need to focus on either bulking or shredding and not attempt both at the same time. Makes complete sense! However, I doubt we would ever truly come to an agreement on the value of fasting/cleansing as a technique to safely lose weight which is something I have researched in considerable detail. Please know I respect your opinion and thank you for suggesting I pick a path as I have been trying to decide this week whether I want to wait until next winter to bulk and shred going into the summer. I am leaning towards shredding for the next 16 weeks.0
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