Hardgainer? Can't gain weight? Read this.

[AandF6969]

Diet is 75% of bulking up IMO. You can lift like Ronnie Coleman, but bottom line you will not grow any muscle without the calories behind it for bulking. Simple biology and one equation---->

Calorie balance=Calories in - Calorie expenditure

If you aren't gaining weight, you are not in a positive calorie balance so you need to either cut out all cardio, eat more, or both. Try adding up your calories using the links at the bottom of the page, many people who think they "eat all the time" actually eat under 3000 calories per day, which is very low for a bulking diet. Get used to eating frequently also, like every 3 hours tops. The only time I was hungry on my last bulker was right when I woke up in the morning. Remember: an appetite is not necessary to eat. You need to get used to eating what/when you MUST, not what/when you want.

There are two ways to bulk: A clean bulk (slower, but leaner gains) and a dirty bulk (faster gains, more fat storage if metabolism isn’t fast) The main difference is that on a clean bulk, you NEVER eat carbs and fats together. Milk is bad for this reason. Eating carbs and fats together causes almost all of the fat to get stored instead of used for energy. Don’t eat carbs in your last 2 meals of the day because they get stored as fat while you sleep. Eat at least 40g protein with every meal, and make meals either protein/fat or protein/carb.

PWO=Post Workout, the most anabolic (muscle building) time in anyone’s day is the half hour following a workout. It is best to use a fast-acting protein like Whey. Your muscles soak up protein like a sponge. It is also useful to eat twice as many carbs as protein to help shuttle the proteins to the muscles. The PWO shakes I use are

---50g Optimum Nutrition Whey
---50g Dextrose (Corn sugar, causes an insulin spike to increase absorption of protein)
---50g Maltodextrin (Powdered complex carb supplement)

Some people prefer to drop the maltodextrin and just do 100g of dextrose. Try both and see what works for you.

Eating approximately every 2.5 to 3 hours is good for 3 reasons…
1. You can eat more calories in a day if your meals are smaller. Its easier to eat 600 calorie meals 6 times a day then it is to eat 1200 calorie meals 3 times a day.
2. Your body can only digest so many calories at a meal, and the rest gets stored as fat. Lowering the amount of food eaten at one time reduces the “extra” over what you need.
3. Muscles start to catabolize (break down) if they are without protein for 3-4 hours unless you are sleeping. Hell, when I'm bulking I drink a milk/casein shake when I get up to piss at night.

For all you 130-150 pounders thinking about taking steroids... re-evaluate your diets. If you can't gain weight naturally, steroids aren't going to do anything for you except shrink your balls. Think about it... raw materials to form muscles have to come from somewhere right? Try eating 300g protein, 400g carbs, and 150g fats.

You will grow.

A couple useful links

1) www.fitday.com <----Huge database of foods, can look up pro/fat/carbs and calories on them.

2) http://www.ntwrks.com/~mikev/chart1.html <------Basically the same

3) http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi41.htm <----- An equation that you
plug in your weight and bodyfat percentage and it will tell you how many calories you need to eat every day to grow.

If your diet is "all that and a bag of chips", and you STILL weigh 140 pounds dripping wet, either you have a SERIOUS thyroid problem or your training sucks. Remember "The Big 5" - Squat, Deadlift, Row, Bench, Military.

GET BIG!

-A&F-

[Elite]

GREAT POST A&F. Very helpful to the hardgainers for sure. The only thing I dissagree about is your PWO section...IMO, PWO nutrition is about glycogen replenishment, but whey is good at about 30-40g's with 50g-100g of dex. Just my .02.

[George McFly]

Excellent post bro.

[SplinterCell]

Excellent post brotha

[bad_man]

Originally Posted by XxElitexX

The only thing I dissagree about is your PWO section...IMO, PWO nutrition is about glycogen replenishment, but whey is good at about 30-40g's with 50g-100g of dex. Just my .02.

Glycogen is the source of energy. Protein is the building blocks of new muscle. Why wouldn't you accomplish both goals at the same time?

[bad_man]

Good post. I honestly believe there are a lot fewer hardgainers than those who make that claim. They just need to learn how to eat. But then, this is coming from a guy that's over 300lbs.

[Deezuhl]

the only problem i have is my ppwo meal has carbs as it is supposed to but that is my last solid meal before a bedtime shake which i drink 2-3 hours after. how bad is that really??

[bad_man]

Originally Posted by Deezuhl

the only problem i have is my ppwo meal has carbs as it is supposed to but that is my last solid meal before a bedtime shake which i drink 2-3 hours after. how bad is that really??

That's not bad at all. You should probably add some fat to your shake, such as a tablespoon of flax oil.

[slizzut]

Awesome post bro, good work

[PHW]

AandF6969

Nice, I learned something.

Thanks :awesomewo


Rep points for ya!