Your Thoughts on Hardgainers

[BendtheBar]

I would like to add that the difference between a hardgainer and a big gainer can often just be time. It took me 10 years to get to a 430 raw bench.

Regarding the point Violent Volume made about carbs and fats...junk carbs and fats usually go hand in hand. (Doritos, whatever) I would like to recommend that hardgainers drink more whole milk, and eat more cheese, eggs and beef. These types of foods are often sacrificed at the altar of "clean diet" and avoided completely.

[glwanabe]

My thoughts.

Keep it simple, keep to compounds, keep it heavy, keep it twice a week, keep it to 5-8 total program moves, keep eating.

What did I miss?

Eat more than you lift.

[ehubbard]

This thread is making me hungry....

And in honor of glwanabe

[folkprophet]

There are a LOT of idiots and complainers in the world, but having a hard time gaining muscle does not correlate with that. Being a complainer is being a complainer. If you're a complainer and you have a hard time putting on muscle, you'll likely complain about being a hardgainer. But if you aren't a complainer and you have a hard time putting on muscle, you likely won't complain about it, but you'll still be a hardgainer.

Simple understanding, and moreover, stating that you are a hardgainer is not a complaint.

I would say that a good majority of those who put on muscle easily also use unnecessary supplements and also have no idea what they're doing. Yet they succeed at putting on muscle where others in the same boat fail.

Not knowing what you're doing has nothing to do with one's natural genetics. Sure, knowledge is part of the solution. But the question is whethere the hardgainers are hardgainers or not. I think a lot are not. But I also argue that a lot more are than some people are willing to accept. And they may, simply, need more education...but that doesn't change whether or not they are hardgainers.

Take BTB. He was able to overcome by eating and lifting right. Does that mean he isn't and/or wasn't a hardgainer? Does that mean it was or wasn't, on a relative scale, harder for him? The fact that he overcame doesn't answer the question as to how hard or easy it was.

It's easy to just say "get over it," "push past it," etc... And, ultimately, that is true. Whatever challenge we have in life it's the same. Maybe a person's dumb. Maybe they're disabled. Maybe they have a stomach disorder. Still, they have to move past that obstacle if they want to succeed. But it doesn't change the reality that it is significantly harder for some than others.

And a total lack of understanding or compassion for hardgainers won't help them any more than the pantry of creatine.

[RickB]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I would like to add that the difference between a hardgainer and a big gainer can often just be time. It took me 10 years to get to a 430 raw bench.

Regarding the point Violent Volume made about carbs and fats...junk carbs and fats usually go hand in hand. (Doritos, whatever) I would like to recommend that hardgainers drink more whole milk, and eat more cheese, eggs and beef. These types of foods are often sacrificed at the altar of "clean diet" and avoided completely.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree Steve. The end result is that yes, they will get bigger and stronger and outrun the hardgainer metabolism. But that said it just seems wreckless to me. Think of dirty bulking as simple carbs and bad fats. Do this type of bulk and you will have dirt all over you.

If you up your calories eating the right things I do believe whole-heartedly that you will get over it as well. It is important to eat a balance of protein, good carbs, & good fats with each meal (not a bulk of rice alone) and eat often and I can almost guarantee it will work if you are consuming the required calories. Eating dirty is just lazy and not wanting to put the effort into it that it takes to bulk semi-clean. Sure have a cheat (anything goes) meal or two one day per week to reward yourself. But I think discipline applies to anyone to do it right.

I just cannot and will not buy into dirty bulking for anyone really. *Except as I've stated before, you are really young and/or a powerlifter.

But I still love ya Steve!

[ehubbard]

This is a forum about lifting weights and building muscle. Save the compassion for those who actually need it.

[RickB]

Originally Posted by ehubbard

This is a forum about lifting weights and building muscle. Save the compassion for those who actually need it.

Steve and I are buddies outside of this...get over it! <--- there's your compassion haha!

[folkprophet]

Originally Posted by ehubbard

This is a forum about lifting weights and building muscle. Save the compassion for those who actually need it.

You're telling me you honestly can't comprehend the relevance for understanding and compassion in an activity that is not only physically gruelling but mentally and emotionally taxing at every turn as well?

Beyond that, the result of advice given with lack of compassion: Those who need understanding and compassion will not listen. Which makes callous advice totally useless to anyone who actually needs the advice. What good is giving advice when it's generally ignored because it's given with a rude, inconsiderate, I-don't-give-a-crap-about-your-feelings tone?

Moreover, the very reason that people are failing to overcome these obstacles is becasue of the mental and emotional side of the activity. Addressing these needs far outweighs the, "shut up and lift moron," type of advice.

I am saving the compassion for those who need it. Your comments, on the other hand, seem to be withholding it from everyone whether they need it or not.

[CoopDawg]

I am with btb on this one, all hardgainers should eat and count calories and eat around 5000 calories a day. maybe not this much but this is what i shoot for everyday. never call yourself a hardgainer until you are a true big eater for a month and watch the pounds pack on

[CoopDawg]

Most people train right and suggest the hardgainer mentality when the only true way to gain weight is eat