Best tip for hardgainers?

Eat more. As in significantly more. More pizza and ice cream.

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.

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.

No such thing as a "hard gainer"

There is, however, undereaters.

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/fat

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.

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.

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.

simple answer:...

Eat more food.

Healthy food, that is, with good nutrition.

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
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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.

borrego6193 wrote: »

Make sure you're in a caloric surplus, gotta eat big to get big lol, keep reps low & heavy 2-6 Reps

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.

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

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.