How often should hard gainners go to the gym?

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majolap
majolap Posts: 4 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I've been eating 3000 calories for the past week and haven't gained (I know it is early). I have bee going to h gym 5 times a week, is this too often. On bodybuilder.com one advise was to go three times a week for hard gainers. How often would you recommend?

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  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Are you new to lifting?
    If so then yeah perhaps 3 - 4 times a week would be fine.
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
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    What kind of program are you doing?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Also to add, a week it hardly enough time to see if the amount of calories is correct. You appear young, so you might have to increase your calories a bit. I maintain at 3000, and that is with a desk job, 5-6 hours of exercise a week and I am 33 years old, 5'11 and 175.
  • HamsterManV2
    HamsterManV2 Posts: 449 Member
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    You are not a 'hardgainer'. You need to eat your TDEE + 500 calories, CONSISTENTLY. Weight your food every day, track calories every day, and do this for months (it takes 3 months for ~10lbs of gain). If you go over TDEE+500 calories, the gains will become fat as you can only build so much muscle at once.

    If you are not gaining weight after a few weeks, increase your calorie amount by +100 and re-assess next week. Repeat until you are gaining 1lb per week. Don't go past 1lb per week (too much fat increase instead of muscle0. Remember, slow and steady wins this race.

    As for routine, a full body program 3 days a week is great for beginners to lifting. Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 comes to mind, along with Starting Strength and Strong Lifts.
  • benc2448
    benc2448 Posts: 3 Member
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    I'm in the same boat. Aiming for 3,000 calories atm though I am 150 pound M age 25 so it should be 150x15+500= 2,750. Could quite easily eat 4,000 calories I think, but would struggle to maintain decent macro percentages and would be worried about piling on too much.
  • sawguoyi923
    sawguoyi923 Posts: 23 Member
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    Hey guys! I lift too, feel free to add me.
    I personally go 5-6 times a week
    Chest, tri
    Shoulders
    Back, bi
    Legs
    Chest( again)
    Arms( again)
  • MichelleLea122
    MichelleLea122 Posts: 332 Member
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    benc2448 wrote: »
    I'm in the same boat. Aiming for 3,000 calories atm though I am 150 pound M age 25 so it should be 150x15+500= 2,750. Could quite easily eat 4,000 calories I think, but would struggle to maintain decent macro percentages and would be worried about piling on too much.

    Exactly where did you get this formula from? The formula itself is overly simplistic, and not accurate for everyone. For instance if I followed this exact formula I'd gain about 2lbs a week.

    OP you're not a hardgainer if you are only eating 3,000 calories. To put this in perspective when I was 5'4'' 108 lbs, I ate around 2,500 calories and still only put on 10lbs in 6 months.
  • benc2448
    benc2448 Posts: 3 Member
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    I've read it across many sources as a rule of thumb for people looking to gain. Had limited success with it previously but like op I haven't long been back on calorie surplus streak so it's difficult to understand how effective it is especially when I'm dubious about some of the workout plans I'm using.
    What formula would you suggest as alternative MichelleLei1? :)
    MichelleLei1 wrote: »
    benc2448 wrote: »
    I'm in the same boat. Aiming for 3,000 calories atm though I am 150 pound M age 25 so it should be 150x15+500= 2,750. Could quite easily eat 4,000 calories I think, but would struggle to maintain decent macro percentages and would be worried about piling on too much.

    Exactly where did you get this formula from? The formula itself is overly simplistic, and not accurate for everyone. For instance if I followed this exact formula I'd gain about 2lbs a week.

    OP you're not a hardgainer if you are only eating 3,000 calories. To put this in perspective when I was 5'4'' 108 lbs, I ate around 2,500 calories and still only put on 10lbs in 6 months.

  • MichelleLea122
    MichelleLea122 Posts: 332 Member
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    Just google 'TDEE calculator' and choose one of the many websites (they all give you roughly the same numbers). This number will give you how many calories you burn in a day given your stats and level of activity you input. Then add 500kcal to that if you want to put on a pound a week.
  • Rom3oJuli3tt
    Rom3oJuli3tt Posts: 42 Member
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    As a hardgainer myself, I didn't start putting on weight until I actually sat down and constructed a proper diet. I know a lot of people will say that they eat a lot, but unfortunately they aren't eating enough. It's more than just lifting.

    I doubt you'll be able to eat 3500 to 4000 calories per day right off the bat, but over time it will become a daily occurrence as you expend more energy during your workouts. Start small with 2 to 300 calories above your normal intake and increase those each week by 100 to 200 more calories. At least that's what worked for me. Everyone is different so that method may not be beneficial to you.
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
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    HamsterManV2 wrote: »
    As for routine, a full body program 3 days a week is great for beginners to lifting. Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 comes to mind, along with Starting Strength and Strong Lifts.

    A full body workout 3x times per week is perfect because it lets you practice all the lifts you need 3x times per week.

    I don't feel 5 rep sets are ideal tho, an 8-12 rep range for 3 sets would be my personal recommendation.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    majolap wrote: »
    I've been eating 3000 calories for the past week and haven't gained (I know it is early). I have bee going to h gym 5 times a week, is this too often. On bodybuilder.com one advise was to go three times a week for hard gainers. How often would you recommend?

    3000 calories is probably not enough for you to gain. I'm almost 42 and have a desk job and I maintain right around 3000 calories.

    Also, a week isn't enough time to know if your calories are right or not...this isn't going to happen overnight.
  • fittestpal
    fittestpal Posts: 94 Member
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    If i were you i would try a program like 5x5 stronglifts to gain some strength. it ends up being 3x a week but you squat every time, which is the most important exercise for someone adding mass and gaining strength. I've had incredible results from this program but don't neglect you conditioning. Post your weight, age, body fat and ill do some math for your calories and macros
  • HamsterManV2
    HamsterManV2 Posts: 449 Member
    edited June 2016
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    pbryd wrote: »
    HamsterManV2 wrote: »
    As for routine, a full body program 3 days a week is great for beginners to lifting. Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 comes to mind, along with Starting Strength and Strong Lifts.

    A full body workout 3x times per week is perfect because it lets you practice all the lifts you need 3x times per week.

    I don't feel 5 rep sets are ideal tho, an 8-12 rep range for 3 sets would be my personal recommendation.

    It is 5 reps because the weight is increased every session. No novice will be repping high weight for long if they do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. 5 reps is the perfect balance between strength and size - and once they get the strength up, hypertrophy will follow more easily. i.e. who gets more gains? Guy1 who reps out 20lbs or Guy2 who reps out 40lbs? Increasing the strength early on will pay dividends to hypertrophy down the road.

    That's why its normally recommended that AFTER the ICF/SL/SS programs, you can switch to a more hypertrophy oriented program with 8-12 rep sets.

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