Hard Gainners out there

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Anyone from the LA area trying to pack on some pounds?

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  • joncooper1980
    joncooper1980 Posts: 96 Member
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    No such thing as a hard gainer. Just eat more. What is your current daily calorie intake?
  • demendie91
    demendie91 Posts: 4 Member
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    Around 2500. I think I need to change my workout routine because I seem to be gaining pounds in the wrong places like my belly. I'm what you call skinny fat.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    You are definitely not a hard gainer if you are bulking on 2500 calories. For many of us, that is the amount of calories in which we cut at.

    How much weight are you gaining per week? What workout program are you following? And you will gain fat in your stomach regardless of what you do.
  • thealecross
    thealecross Posts: 1 Member
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    This week, I'm intentionally cutting my calories, just to see if some sort of reset helps. I've been averaging 3600+ calories/day. I started doing that in Dec, 2014, and I then weighed 173. As of last week, I currently weigh 172. I also wasn't losing weight when I was eating 1000 less calories per day prior to Dec, 2014.
  • xHarrySims
    xHarrySims Posts: 13 Member
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    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.
  • joncooper1980
    joncooper1980 Posts: 96 Member
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    xHarrySims wrote: »
    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.

    Completely unnecessary. At this calculation I'd be bulking at close to 3700 calories. I'm currently adding 1-1.5lbs per week at 2900 so the extra 800 cals would be going straight to my fat reserves. AWESOME!!
  • wrathofpascal
    wrathofpascal Posts: 47 Member
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    xHarrySims wrote: »
    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.

    Please stop posting this BS
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
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    xHarrySims wrote: »
    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.

    See you say this... I'm 135 x 17 plus 500 gives me just under 2800cals and I'm still a rake and im eating way past that so that's still bollocks
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    xHarrySims wrote: »
    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.

    LOL wut?
    160 X 17 = 2720
    + 500
    = 3220.
    Sure- at the END of my bulk.
    If I started bulking at that weight in 6 months I'd be an effing heffer.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    demendie91 wrote: »
    Around 2500. I think I need to change my workout routine because I seem to be gaining pounds in the wrong places like my belly. I'm what you call skinny fat.

    Eat enough food that allows you to put on ~1.5 - 2.5 lbs / week
    Make sure you are lifting heavy during that time....while adding weight to the bar.
    So if you are able to do that, you should be around 8 lbs (maybe 10) / month.
    Depending on certain factors 1 - 2 lbs of that would be muscle.....

    But fat around your belly, love handles, lower back.....that is going to be normal....

  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    and for me, to consistently add weight....I have to be hitting 3700+ calories daily
  • wrathofpascal
    wrathofpascal Posts: 47 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    xHarrySims wrote: »
    Bulking at 2500 calories lmao. Take your body weight in lbs multiply by 17 and add 500, bulk at that.

    LOL wut?
    160 X 17 = 2720
    + 500
    = 3220.
    Sure- at the END of my bulk.
    If I started bulking at that weight in 6 months I'd be an effing heffer.

    I love it hahaha
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
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    MityMax96 wrote: »
    Eat enough food that allows you to put on ~1.5 - 2.5 lbs / week
    Make sure you are lifting heavy during that time....while adding weight to the bar.
    So if you are able to do that, you should be around 8 lbs (maybe 10) / month.
    Depending on certain factors 1 - 2 lbs of that would be muscle.....

    But fat around your belly, love handles, lower back.....that is going to be normal....

    That seems weekly gain seems far too high to me. A monthly gain of 3-4lb tops would be a good goal IMO.

    If you're an older lifter, drop it down to a 2lb month weight gain.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
    edited May 2016
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    pbryd wrote: »
    MityMax96 wrote: »
    Eat enough food that allows you to put on ~1.5 - 2.5 lbs / week
    Make sure you are lifting heavy during that time....while adding weight to the bar.
    So if you are able to do that, you should be around 8 lbs (maybe 10) / month.
    Depending on certain factors 1 - 2 lbs of that would be muscle.....

    But fat around your belly, love handles, lower back.....that is going to be normal....

    That seems weekly gain seems far too high to me. A monthly gain of 3-4lb tops would be a good goal IMO.

    If you're an older lifter, drop it down to a 2lb month weight gain.

    Depends on where you are at and what you are comfortable with.
    And plus that is recommendation for males....

    Keep in mind that with energy surplus (more calories coming in) your performance in the gym should be improving
    So the weight on your lifts should be increasing....
    For example, when I was in a bulk, I could do 85 lbs DB shoulder press for ~4-5 reps....
    Now that I am cutting and taking in less calories, my shoulder press is down to 75 lbs for about 6-8 reps....80's if I am feeling it come in at 4 reps.

    And one other thing, is I am of the perspective that when you start your bulk, your are ~8% BF or less.
    If you are sitting above 10%, then I would concur with you, a monthly gain of about 4 lbs would be warranted.

    One other thing I would add is that this thread is in regards to "Hard Gainers"
    So for guys like that (me) it's better for us to put on the weight cause we can drop it really quick.
  • princessterrie16
    princessterrie16 Posts: 38 Member
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    I'm 103 pounds and I eat at least 3,000 calories a day and that's the minimum. You're definitely not eating enough to make gains.
  • Densans
    Densans Posts: 51 Member
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    MityMax96 wrote: »
    demendie91 wrote: »
    Around 2500. I think I need to change my workout routine because I seem to be gaining pounds in the wrong places like my belly. I'm what you call skinny fat.

    Eat enough food that allows you to put on ~1.5 - 2.5 lbs / week
    Make sure you are lifting heavy during that time....while adding weight to the bar.
    So if you are able to do that, you should be around 8 lbs (maybe 10) / month.
    Depending on certain factors 1 - 2 lbs of that would be muscle.....

    But fat around your belly, love handles, lower back.....that is going to be normal....

    Big nonononononono, 1.5 lbs should be per month, perhaps 2-2.5 if they are a complete beginner and starting out very skinny. 1.5-2.5 lbs / week will be way to much fat.
  • Densans
    Densans Posts: 51 Member
    edited May 2016
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    MityMax96 wrote: »
    pbryd wrote: »
    MityMax96 wrote: »
    Eat enough food that allows you to put on ~1.5 - 2.5 lbs / week
    Make sure you are lifting heavy during that time....while adding weight to the bar.
    So if you are able to do that, you should be around 8 lbs (maybe 10) / month.
    Depending on certain factors 1 - 2 lbs of that would be muscle.....

    But fat around your belly, love handles, lower back.....that is going to be normal....

    That seems weekly gain seems far too high to me. A monthly gain of 3-4lb tops would be a good goal IMO.

    If you're an older lifter, drop it down to a 2lb month weight gain.

    Depends on where you are at and what you are comfortable with.
    And plus that is recommendation for males....

    Keep in mind that with energy surplus (more calories coming in) your performance in the gym should be improving
    So the weight on your lifts should be increasing....
    For example, when I was in a bulk, I could do 85 lbs DB shoulder press for ~4-5 reps....
    Now that I am cutting and taking in less calories, my shoulder press is down to 75 lbs for about 6-8 reps....80's if I am feeling it come in at 4 reps.

    And one other thing, is I am of the perspective that when you start your bulk, your are ~8% BF or less.
    If you are sitting above 10%, then I would concur with you, a monthly gain of about 4 lbs would be warranted.

    One other thing I would add is that this thread is in regards to "Hard Gainers"
    So for guys like that (me) it's better for us to put on the weight cause we can drop it really quick.

    Hard gainers do not really exist, they are just people that tends to undereat or do the, "But I eat pizza and all that stuff", yea they eat it for 1 day, the rest of the week they are under their calories.

    This is coming from a 6'0", 152~lbs male that cut at 2800-3000.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    @Densans
    Have to disagree with you....
    The reason I say the weight increase I do is because for people like me (and who this thread is targeted for) it is very hard for us to put on weight....
    In order for us to put on weight we have to stay on point constantly with our diet for a long period of time.
    If we get lazy or our appetite crashes (what happens to me a lot) then the weight literally will fall off.

    In 3 weeks time I went from 184 to 175 lbs....after having went for 10 weeks of just getting from 172 -> 184

    So I stand by my recommendation of weight increase.
    If you know you can drop the weight without batting an eye, then it is in your best interest to put on the weight as high as you can....with an end goal of weight in mind and then attempting to hold that weight.

    In my case my last bulk goal was to hit 190 lbs......it didn't happen..
  • Densans
    Densans Posts: 51 Member
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    @MityMax96 I am sorry but you are no special snowflake, thermodynamics still apply. Hard gainers are people that do not eat enough calories to gain weight, simple as that, and if you are not on steroids it is a total waste for someone that is not a complete beginner to even think about gaining more than 2-3lbs/month.

    And if you go from a cut to a bulk you gain initial water weight, same with going the other way you lose water weight. I can promise you that during 10 weeks you did not gain 12lbs of muscle, perhaps 4-6lbs (complete beginner else less) of muscle the rest fat, glycogen and water.

    FYI, I think cutting is the easiest thing you can do and need to monitor my bulking because I easily drop below my calories to maintain my weight, so I am the definition of a "hard gainer" according to you but I really just can not see why I should gain more fat than necessary for the amount of muscle that is possible to gain all natural just because I can lose the weight easy.



  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Never said I was a special snowflake. And you are correct thermodynamics do apply.....
    Also I never said I gained 12 lbs of muscle....
    My point is that it is very easy for me to drop weight, so since this is the case, it is better for me (maybe others) to have the excess weight in order for my body to have an environment that allows it enough energy.

    As long as the person is able to add on the weight and not look like a puffer fish, then they should add the weight they can....

    This pic was me Aug 23, 2015, end of summer before I started my bulk...so ~170 lbs.
    ca9266rd06t8.jpg

    Me Nov. 28, 2015 @ 184 lbs.....the heaviest I got this past bulk.
    naglf9rzl9y5.jpg

    Me one month later, Dec. 27, 2015 ~175 lbs.
    phfw7i8l2sqh.jpg



    So me looking back at that....for my own goals....It would have been far better for me to add on as much weight as I could have

    But honestly, to each their own....
    I will continue to stand by my recommendation.
    If you are someone who can drop weight quickly, then put on as much weight as you can.
    If it is harder for you to drop weight, then a slower weight gain approach is warranted.