Your Thoughts on Hardgainers

[bamazav]

Originally Posted by Off Road

I'm sitting at home and I'm sick with a miserable cold. So excuse me if I come across as a little blunt but I don't feel like being PC at the moment.

First off, the term "Hardgainer" DOES NOT mean somebody who cannot gain weight. To say that Hardgainers just need to eat more is very short sighted. The term Hardgainer simply means; someone with average genetics and potential for strength and size gains.

You have two sides to this argument and some poor saps (the Hardgainers) stuck in the middle with nowhere to turn. On one side you have lazy people who use the term Hardgainer as an excuse not to work hard and cannot be helped in their current state of mind. On the other side we have most of the guys responding to this post with, "There's no such thing as a Hardgainer and they just need to learn how to eat more. “

There are many reasons that Hardgainers (genetically average) do not gain size and strength quickly. As some have mentioned, they haven’t learned the value of food. But that’s not the only reason because we have skinny-fat Hardgainers as well. To tell a skinny-fat Hardgainer to “eat more” is only going to compound the problem.

The absolute most common reason we have Hardgainers that don’t make progress is because they do not know how to train properly; using fancy splits, machines, no progression scheme, too much volume, etc. We here at MAB do a pretty good job at telling people how they SHOULD be training but refuse to acknowledge why we give the advice we do. And the reason for it is because we know we are dealing with a majority of new lifters that are having difficulties and are most likely genetically average.

A third most important reason for people not gaining strength and size quickly is they have no conditioning. A good conditioning level will help the Hardgainer recover faster between sets and between workouts. They will be all-around healthier with a good conditioning level and their body’s will process food better and recover from intense exercise faster.

On the other hand we have Hardgainers that use too much conditioning and counteract the food they are taking in. The solution for those people is learn to eat food by the truckloads or cut back on some of the conditioning work. At this point they have to decide if running or building muscle is more important to them.

So get off your high horses. We here at MAB know the advice we give new lifters works but we get caught up in these silly debates about Hardgainers. Ask yourselves why we tell new lifters to eat more, get in shape, use compound exercises, and find a progression scheme. Is it because that’s the way Jay Cutler does it? I think not. It’s because they aren’t Jay Cutler that they have to train differently.

Hardgainers do exist and we know how to help them. If you find somebody making excuses for why they can’t gain strength and size, that doesn’t make them a whiney Hardgainer, that makes them a moron.

Sorry for the long post, I just get so tired of this constant battle over a stupid word...

Great post OR. Nuff Said.

[MikeM]

Hopefully, this isn't an ignorant post, but where's the guide for the easy gainer?

I can gain weight just looking at pancakes. But that doesn't translate into muscle either.

Just saying hard gaining doesn't equate to just gaining weight. ANy fool can do that. But gaining muscle is a bit more complex. That's the hard gain.

Explain that a bit better. That is the question.

[BendtheBar]

The big challenge for me when trying to help some of the younger guys is to get them to eat enough, or expand their horizons. It's not so much overeating, as it is eating properly.

But gaining muscle is a bit more complex. That's the hard gain.

It will come as the strength comes Mike. You're just entering that sweet spot.

[Chillen]

I am a hard gainer, because I am naturally hormonally challenged as compared to someone in their prime.

Wait a minute......

So what. Suck it up, deal with it, and do something about the situation.

Your body depends on you.

Let me get some sand paper and rub my tears to ensure it leaves a sore rub spot, and realize that I must recognize the difference between the things I can change and the things I cannot change, and gain the wisdom and education to do it.

Some create their own hard gainer circumstances, because they are uneducated in what they are doing and do not garner the education in order to manipulate changes.

Most things like this can be overcome. Overcome yourself is the first step. Getting motivated in how to do it, is the second step.

[5kgLifter]

Oh, okay, I thought a hardgainer referred to someone that had a very fast metabolism, which would be most growing teenage males, but apperntly it also refers to those in their "mature" years that can't (or shouldn't, in theory) gain muscle as easily as the younger generation.

So, it looks like the term hardgainer means different things which could easily add to the confusion when responding to a post.

[Trevor Ross]

Hardgainer? It's a !@#$ing myth!! I looked like Mclovin off of Superbad before I got hooked up in Combat Sports and Lifting. I was fortunate to have a good mentor off the get go, instead of getting the magazine run around like a lot of you older chaps did. I ate a ton, lifted a ton, and slept a ton. I tried new things, kept the good stuff, and threw away the crap. I lifted for me! Not for attention from broads and bros. I did it for me. When I got hurt I didn't cry like a bitch, I worked around it. I always had that mentality of big men lift bigger weights, not this seated press with 20lb db's and check your abs in the mirror horseshit either. I tried Bodybuilding methods, Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, dabbled in Strongman, and just about every workout under the sun. The bottom line is if you're not improving, you're making a !@# up somewhere, and it's up to you to figure it out. You've got to !@#$ing want it, nobody can give it to you!!

[Off Road]

To no-one in particular...

Just some food for thought; Past greats like Davis and Grimeck were strength and physique champions after two short years of training. Were you?

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

To no-one in particular...

Just some food for thought; Past greats like Davis and Grimeck were strength and physique champions after two short years of training. Were you?

Good question.

I vent to my wife occasionally about expectations, and lack thereof. I don't often bring this topic up on the forum, because I don't want people to think I am belittling anyone's progress. At the end of the day, anyone that lifts regularly, and with progression, has my complete respect.

With that said, I think in general expectations are too low. If I were training someone and they did not have a 315 squat max after one year I would be extremely disappointed. Yet there are forums far, far away from here where only a handful of men have achieved this level.

The bar has to be set high, because I believe it is achievable. Certainly we can't all be Grimek, but on the other hand there is little reason to aim low. If we do, the question becomes...why do we lift? We all want results, right?

When I was 18 I was clueless. Despite this state of confusion, I still managed to use compound exercises and aggressive progression to make rapid gains. After 2 years of training I had a lean 16.75 inch arm and was repping 365 on squats.

During this time I learned just how potent the combination of simplicity, progression and food was. I certainly was no genetic freak, so these things had to be the magic keys.

Food has become such a lost part of this equation for so many. But my advice in this area is often misinterpreted, and I would lie if it didn't frustrate the heck out of me.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by Off Road

To no-one in particular...

Just some food for thought; Past greats like Davis and Grimeck were strength and physique champions after two short years of training. Were you?

Excellent point!


For me, not that I consider myself a hardgainer or anything, but with regards to progression of strength etc, I'm reigning myself in to avoid aggro from medical issues that flare up should I "overstep" my pace...though, I know this isn't the case for the majority which should be able to improve a lot quicker than they do.

[Bill]

I think this video sums up the reason why people don't hit their goals...whether personal or professional (although the video talks about lifting specifically):