Hard gainer looking for advice

[fantolay]

I am a hard gainer, meaning it is very difficult for me to put on weight. I am tall and lean, although athletic. I've been characterized as "gangly" before.

I'm hitting the gym and trying to put on some lbs of muscle before heading back to college and rowing crew. Obviously the cardio I do and even the lifting I do are beneficial to my strength and fitness. But they just aren't making an impact on my muscle mass.

I want to get big shoulders and bigger arms. And I can't afford steroids haha.

Anyway I was wondering what advice you have in terms of supplements and stuff.

I'm taking GNC Raw Mass building protein in protein shakes and creatine pills. I think I'm getting 5g of creatine from the pills and then this is the protein and it looks like I get 850 calories and 60g of protein from the shake, as well as 10g of advanced creatine complex. I think the complex isn't pure creatine so I'm not sure how seriously you can take that number.

I've heard of creatine loading for a week before tapering to the normal level and some other things. Any advice from you guys on putting on some bulk?

Moved to H&F to better assist you - AT Mod DAPUNISHER

 

[Soundmanred]

Wong fowum.

 

[fantolay]

Shit there is a health and fitness forum. totally didn't see that.

sorry everybody

 

[Drako]

LOL, some people just dont gain muscle mass - be happy with what you are.

 

[eldorado99]

Just wait 5 or 10 years, you'll gain plenty of weight. Not necessarily muscle, but weight.

 

[Lurknomore]

Pullups, t-bar lifts, lat pulldowns- but yeah, there's a forum for this.

 

[Drako]

Just wait 5 or 10 years, you'll gain plenty of weight. Not necessarily muscle, but weight.

To true. I have always been the wiry guy, but when I hit my mid 40s ...

soft in the middle the rest of my life is so hard

Keep moving, don't worry about muscle mass, you may not have the body type.

 

[Bignate603]

Get married, you'll put on weight though probably not in the places that you want.

 

[zinfamous]

Get married, you'll put on weight though probably not in the places that you want.

:thumbsup:

 

[TechBoyJK]

I am a hard gainer, meaning it is very difficult for me to put on weight. I am tall and lean, although athletic. I've been characterized as "gangly" before.

I'm hitting the gym and trying to put on some lbs of muscle before heading back to college and rowing crew. Obviously the cardio I do and even the lifting I do are beneficial to my strength and fitness. But they just aren't making an impact on my muscle mass.

I want to get big shoulders and bigger arms. And I can't afford steroids haha.

Anyway I was wondering what advice you have in terms of supplements and stuff.

I'm taking GNC Raw Mass building protein in protein shakes and creatine pills. I think I'm getting 5g of creatine from the pills and then this is the protein and it looks like I get 850 calories and 60g of protein from the shake, as well as 10g of advanced creatine complex. I think the complex isn't pure creatine so I'm not sure how seriously you can take that number.

I've heard of creatine loading for a week before tapering to the normal level and some other things. Any advice from you guys on putting on some bulk?

1. Eat lots of reasonably healthy foods and get lots of protein. 4 protein shakes each day. Morning, mid day, evening, bed time.
2. Make sure you are giving your muscles a reason to grow. Destroy them doing heavy weights at low reps. Some say you get best results doing 3-4 reps, where your fourth rep is at muscle failure (meaning it's a damn struggle to get that last rep in). Probably best to start with a 5x5 routine first. 5 reps, 5 times. Maybe even 8 reps each set, but if you are getting to 8 and feel like you could do more, you need to be lifting more weight. If you are getting past 8, your load is too light. Less reps, more weight, achieve muscle failure, dose muscles with protein.
3. Focus on major exercises. Meaning.. don't start doing bicep only curls. Do an exercise, such as the bench press or shoulder lift that works many muscles at once. If you do an exercise that focuses on triceps only first, you won't be able to get nearly as much out of the shoulder press because your triceps will be tired, even though you still have energy in your shoulders. Save the targeted exercises for last.
4. Try using something that will perk you up before the gym. I'd suggest MuscleTech NeuroCore or Jack3D. it will help you get more out of each work out.
5. If you are going to do cardio, do it AFTER you lift. Obviously you don't need to lose weight, so don't waste your energy on cardio until you've done your lifting. Lifting comes first.
6. Get plenty of rest. If you hit the gym hard on monday, don't lift anything or stress your muscles AT ALL the next day. Really, if you have a killer day at the gym on monday, there's nothing wrong with sitting on the couch all day tuesday day sucking down protein shakes.
7. Don't worry about putting on fat. If you are worried about putting on fat, you'll restrict what you eat. Bulk up by all means first, then if you put on a little more fat than you wanted to, worry about burning it off after you get bulked up.
8. You really don't NEED to have a protein shake within an hour of hitting the gym. As long as your diet is saturated with protein like I suggested in rule 1, you'll get what you need.
9. Have a friend who knows better, or have a personal trainer check out how you are doing your exercises so you know that you are doing them correctly. It's hard to lift weights with a damaged shoulder. Form is highly important.

That was just off the top of my head. But if you follow that you'll get some results.

 

[surfsatwerk]

I am a hard gainer, meaning it is very difficult for me to put on weight. I am tall and lean, although athletic. I've been characterized as "gangly" before.

I'm hitting the gym and trying to put on some lbs of muscle before heading back to college and rowing crew. Obviously the cardio I do and even the lifting I do are beneficial to my strength and fitness. But they just aren't making an impact on my muscle mass.

I want to get big shoulders and bigger arms. And I can't afford steroids haha.

Anyway I was wondering what advice you have in terms of supplements and stuff.

I'm taking GNC Raw Mass building protein in protein shakes and creatine pills. I think I'm getting 5g of creatine from the pills and then this is the protein and it looks like I get 850 calories and 60g of protein from the shake, as well as 10g of advanced creatine complex. I think the complex isn't pure creatine so I'm not sure how seriously you can take that number.

I've heard of creatine loading for a week before tapering to the normal level and some other things. Any advice from you guys on putting on some bulk?

Moved to H&F to better assist you - AT Mod DAPUNISHER

You don't eat enough food. 2lbs of meat a day, rice until you want to die, with liberal amounts of diary in between.

This is a reasonable amount of food if you're serious about getting big.

 

[NAC]

Milk!

I'm a hard gainer too. Never successful at adding weight, even when I tried to eat as much as I could. I like eating, but I guess not enough. But milk is easy - just a few times a day, drink it while still eating as much as you can. All of a sudden I gained 20# in a couple months. In fact, too quickly. I advise starting with say a quart a day, and then drinking more or less depending on how quickly the number on the scale changes.

 

[HeXen]

Takes years of lifting

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

steak and potatoes

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

What is your height and weight. 60 grams of proteins is not alot for mass building unless you are under 80 pounds. I take in 120+ grams a day and weigh 212 pounds and I think that is no enough for me.

Anyway:
power/strength: 3-6 reps to near failure
mass: 10-12 reps per exercise to near failure.

For shoulders I can not say enough about military press and shoulder shrugs. Most people view shoulder shurgs as unnecessary but I don't. I know how they effect my body and for whatever reason my traps seem to grow quickly with shoulder shrugs.

It takes months to start to see changes. Just be aware that this is not an overnight change that will occur.

 

[maluckey]

I too was a hard gainer until I started working out in a hard-core gym. I figured I would copy everything these guys did, since two of them went on to compete and win in contests. I figured there had to be a secret....there wasn't.

THese guys did 6-8 work sets for 8-15 reps on three or four body parts as they saw fit. Some days they would do crazy sets like 30-50 reps for just three sets and other days they would do dips with chains or run up and down the outside stairs in back of the gym with a truck tire held over over their head. Hard workouts three days weekly (1-1.5 hours) and cardio twice weekly for thirty to forty five minutes when they weren't at the gym.

Springtime meant beach, and beach meant extra cardio in addition to everthing else. Now it was four days PLUS a sport day playing sports.

Also........these guys would EAT! I mean when they left the gym, if it wasn't nailed down it was GONE. 2 scoops of Muscle Milk (a Favorite?) before they left the gym, half a chicken, a mixed salad, three beers (or more) and pretzels was a common post-workout meal. These guys ate constantly, and I followed every step along the way and went from 186 pounds to 225 in a short time (24 months) and barely gained anything around the waist.

I was tired.....but I got some size pretty fast, and found that vegetables and brown rice up to my ears, coupled with EVERY high protein filled food that I could get, made the difference. I figured that I averaged about 165-180 grams of protein on many days and never went below 110 grams even on carb-filled cardio days.

I found that it wasn't JUST protein or diet, but everything combined that made the difference. I also found that getting rid of junk (except for beer since I'd rather die first) made a HUGE difference. I started slow, but the camaraderie of pain as we called it made things better.

 

[BeauJangles]

Takes years of lifting

No way.

A good routine that emphasizes recovery time combined with an aggressive diet will gain anybody weight fast, particularly if they're new to lifting.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yea.. If I focus on it, follow a strict routine, etc. I can make incredibly gains in 4 weeks.

 

[warr666]

.....

 

[JL514]

lift heavier, more regularly, and GOMAD

 

[Howard]

I thought I was a hard gainer before gaining 30 lbs in one year.

 

[coreyb]

I thought I was a hardgainer until I gained 30 lbs in 4 months. There is NO SUCH THING as a hardgainer. You just aren't eating enough, you have no idea what it is to eat a lot of high calorie foods. Try doing GOMAD and SS. a gallon of milk a day is 2000 calories in itself...not even including the other 2lbs of burgers/chicken/pork that you'll be eating too. Try not to gain weight on that. also cut down on the cardio

 

[Envian]

I agree with coreyb, you just have to eat enough, you have to eat 6(at least!) times a day, 2-3 of them shakes, and 3-4 really big meals with tons of protein, healthy fats & carbs. Let those meals fill you up so much you can't move, literally.
And at times you can move, move your ass into the gym, and work out hard, with heavy weights!

 

[Wyndru]

IIRC, most research states that you can naturally gain up to 2lbs of lean muscle per month but it's also dependent on age, genetics, body type, etc...

So while it's possible to bulk up quick, you normally won't be gaining more than 25lbs per year, even if you do everything right (naturally).

 

[JL514]

lift heavier, more regularly, and GOMAD

I thought I was a hardgainer until I gained 30 lbs in 4 months. There is NO SUCH THING as a hardgainer. You just aren't eating enough, you have no idea what it is to eat a lot of high calorie foods. Try doing GOMAD and SS. a gallon of milk a day is 2000 calories in itself...not even including the other 2lbs of burgers/chicken/pork that you'll be eating too. Try not to gain weight on that. also cut down on the cardio

OP, read this:

http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/