Hard gainer

B

budec

New Member
I have a lot of trouble putting on muscle weight.... I can drop fat/muscle mass really easy but putting it on takes forever. I have a low body fat (not sure the percent, the little caps I have say 11% but don't think that's accurate).
Right now I'm eating around 3000-3600 cals per day between 6 meals... I stoped doing cardio awhile ago, but still not putting on much weight. I drink lots of water and get enough sleep.
The muscle I do have (which is little) is firm and hard when I flex it, but just not really that big. My biceps are 14 inches
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I did creatin last year and that worked kinda ok, I'm going to try that again. Anything else I can do (without steriods)?
What's average? In a given month how much muscle does the "average" [natural] person put on if they have their workout and diet in check?
 
Well at your age, you should be able to up the calories and not put on to much fat. Try eating the 3600 calories over 8 meals instead of six. How many grams of protein are you taking in? Some may disagree, but I think you should try and get at least 300 per day. This may require use protein powder to get there. I know for me, eating 3 grams of protein in a pain. However, when I use protein shakes, its a cake walk.
 
Yea, I'm getting a ton of protein.
Not sure the exact amount, but do apox 90 grams in the morning, 60 before a workout, 60 afterwards (this is just from shakes).
Also eat lots of chicken breasts (30 grams) and cottage cheese (not sure, but has high protien).
At the very least I'm pulling in atleast 270 grams a day.
The morning/evening I eat really good (high protein), but while at work (8 hours) I don't eat to well cause the cheif here has something against protien high meals, but getting a decent amount of carbs. Today for example they had a ton of noddles and like _half_ of a grilled chicken breast :/
 
I suggest you drink 2 liters of skim milk per day on top of what you already take, like 2 glasses per meal.

You can also get a protein shake in the middle of the night.
 
if he's getting 270 grams of protein, then getting more protein is certainly not his concern. You simply cannot use that much. Only .8-1 g/pound of bodyweight is useful. The best way is one gram per pound of LEAN body mass. 270-300 grams a day is pointlessly excessive.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Heavy Duty dude @ July 07 2004,9:29)]I agree, but milk is an easy way for hardgainers to add calories.
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good point, for some reason I wasn't thinking about that. Not to mention how much healthier it is than soda.
 
In the FAQ, I seem to remember something about hard gainers doing better with a somewhat higher ratio of carbs, rather than going so overboard with the protein. Check it out, there's tons of info in the FAQ.
 
I just read another of your posts in which you mentioned that you don't do squats or deadlifts. If you really want to gain mass these are important movements to master. Again, I would do a search and get a lot of information on proper form. Then start practicing/learning the motions with light weights until you get them. It will be well worth the effort. :)
 
Absolutely agree with the previous two posts, although new to HST I have been a hard-gainer since I started
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Although I am not a big guy YET (5' 8" at 175lb) I found the two things that helped the most are squats and lots of carbs, without those two I doubt you will gain much weight.

just my opinion, feel free to comment
 
While diet is definitely the first priority, how's your volume? How do you feel after working out? Ever get sore?
 
hard-gainer = under-eater

just eat more.

If the complaint is, "I can't put on weight!" Then the one-sentence answer is always "eat more." If the complaint is, "i'm putting on weight and too much of it is fat," then the answer is more complicated and involves diet and training micromanagement.

Trust me, I'm a "hardgainer" too. But this skinny over-metabolized hardgainer can put on 10 quality pounds in a HST cycle with the right eating.
 
I had the same problem re: not gaining for YEARS until recently. I'm 26, 5'11" and 191 (up from 180 in Oct) -- I was eating about 3200cal/day, then I upped it to 3500, then 3750, then 4,000, now 4250 to keep up with 1#/week gain. Just EAT MORE! It is insane and hard work to eat so much but it is working. Try to get a lot of carbs. I had been eating 300g/protein per day -- saw a nutritionist in July and she told me I was wasting money and overworking my kidneys. Now I get 180-200g/day. You need carbs to grow, not just protein. And eating that much you should get enough protein without any powders. Don't beleive the hype that GNC is trying to sell you.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (BoSox @ July 07 2004,9:24)]if he's getting 270 grams of protein, then getting more protein is certainly not his concern. You simply cannot use that much. Only .8-1 g/pound of bodyweight is useful. The best way is one gram per pound of LEAN body mass. 270-300 grams a day is pointlessly excessive.
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Please forgive my sarcastic nature, but; "says who?".
I assume youve done some research on this yourself or if not please post from what study you got this "info" from. Thanks.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (blupblup @ Dec. 29 2004,8:08)]Please forgive my sarcastic nature, but; "says who?".
I assume youve done some research on this yourself or if not please post from what study you got this "info" from. Thanks.
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why not just do a pubmed search for peter lemon, or mark tarnoplosky
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]hard-gainer = under-eater
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what about the other type of hardgainer.. the "under-recover-er" types. (that's my problem and the only thing that's kept me from going into a 3 day a week routine) I can gain fat if I eat too much, but I just have a crappy recovery in the respects of feeling dead if I work out very frequently. Every time I"ve tried 3 days a week, I keep feeling more and more drained. Anyone else like that? (probably not since your all doing 3 days a week stuff LOL, just thougth I'd ask :) )

Ron
 
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