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No more a hardgainer!!!

SaiBoT

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6 Important Progress Making Rules for Hard Gainers

By Charles Poliquin:


Hardgainers are always very frustrated with their lack of progress, but if they were to follow the 6 rules outlined in this article their progress would be accelerated. Here are the 6 rules:

Rule #1. Consistency in meal patterns.
I remember this hard gainer who once told me ""I pigged out last night"". I asked him what did you eat? A whole bowl of peanuts he answered. Whoopdidoo! That is not even food to fill in an hollow tooth. Strive to have six meals feedings a day. Something I have learned from leading Iron Game authority Bill Starr, is that consistency in eating patterns is probably the most important factor after appropriate loading parameters for gaining lean body mass. I have found that squeezing that seventh meal a day vs six meals makes a world of difference in gaining mass. Never go hungry. Even though this is obvious for most individuals, yes, the post-workout shake is considered a meal. The basic rule is skipping meals kills your training progress. Jay Cutler practically eats every hour, so here you go.

In order to achieve consistency in meal intake, you must be disciplined. Most trainees fail to achieve their goals because of simple lack of discipline. Therefore make no excuses and commit to your eating plan. The best to get into the habit of eating regularly is to use the alarm feature on your wrist watch. After every meal, set it for 2.5 hours later, when it rings, it is time to eat again.

Rule #2. Go heavier using micro-loads.
Heavier is a relative term. I have seen Ronnie Coleman use 16 plates on the T-bar row, at that level of strength 25 lbs is a micro-increase, but not for the mere mortal hard gainer. If you can do upright rows with 60 lbs now, you can be sure that once you use 90 lbs in 6 months from now your traps and shoulders will be much thicker.

Use any of the many possible forms of micro-loads to apply the overload principle whether they are record plates or plate mates or different permutations of collars.

Rule #3. Change it up less often.
Hardgainers benefit from longer cycles as they are poor adaptors to the training stimulus. Hardgainers typically need to be on the same program for about 6-8 weeks, while easy gainers like David Boston and Chris Hetherington will change up every 10-14 days. Hence, the Kaizen principle is even more important for the hard gainer than the average trainee.

Rule #4. Use Adaptogens.
Botanical adaptogens such as Ashwaganda, Tulsi, Siberian and American Ginsengs all help to accelerate training progress and maximize the training response. They do so by enhancing androgen production and mitigating cortisol output.

Rule #5. Rest is of paramount importance.
Easy gainers can go to bars, get smashed once a week, skip 2 meals a day and still gain strength and mass on a regular basis. Hard gainers need plenty of rest, starting with quality sleep. Meditation can an excellent tool for them. Don't go and spend 2 weeks of salary to learn meditation (the standard fee charged by a well-known organization) and be assigned a "mantra" specific to you.

There are many great audio-tapes on the market that can teach to you. It is like anything, it just takes some practice, you can meditate as well looking at a flame of a candle as just concentrating on your breathing. Meditation is great for hard gainers because it lowers cortisol and has basically the effect of giving you more hours of sleep in matters of minutes.

Rule #6. Improve your weak areas.
If you have a set of erector spinae that looks like two parallel fettucinis and have the glute development of a snake, you have a lot of potential for weight gain. The quickest way to gain weight is to alternate cycles to improve the deadlifts with cycles to improve the squat. That alone can increase one's bodyweight 15 lbs in 8 weeks.

By following the given above 6 rules, hardgainers should approximate the gains made by the average trainee.
 
Good post. I really enjoy reading Poliquin's take on things. In my opinion there is no such thing as a true hard gainer. It is often an excuse people use to explain their failure to gain LBM, strength, or whatever

Hard Gainer = Under Eater in most cases
 
Good post. I really enjoy reading Poliquin's take on things. In my opinion there is no such thing as a true hard gainer. It is often an excuse people use to explain their failure to gain LBM, strength, or whatever

Hard Gainer = Under Eater in most cases

Hey Poliquin also says on another article that hardgainer is a state of mind! If you believe you are a hardgainer you will probably become one...
 
If you have a set of erector spinae that looks like two parallel fettucinis and have the glute development of a snake,

I have spinal erectors that fit this description, although relatively speaking a very muscular arse (which I've become proud of as it now frequently gets grabbed). My concern with my lower back is every other muscle appears to compensate and it never gets properly worked, and that one day this translate into injury. I'm not sure if the admonition to deadlift/squat (which I have heeded) has helped this area.
 
Good read Saibot. props to you bro!
 
If you have a set of erector spinae that looks like two parallel fettucinis and have the glute development of a snake,

I have spinal erectors that fit this description, although relatively speaking a very muscular arse (which I've become proud of as it now frequently gets grabbed). My concern with my lower back is every other muscle appears to compensate and it never gets properly worked, and that one day this translate into injury. I'm not sure if the admonition to deadlift/squat (which I have heeded) has helped this area.

I'm inclined to think you have the same problem I used to have when I was younger. How flexible are you? Can you do a full deep squat without lifting your heels? When try to lift some awkward stuff from the floor you feel the bad kind of pain?
 
I'm inclined to think you have the same problem I used to have when I was younger. How flexible are you? Can you do a full deep squat without lifting your heels? When try to lift some awkward stuff from the floor you feel the bad kind of pain?

I have fairly average hamstring flexibility, but its by no mean terrible. I can't go ATG with proper form but I can go easily below parallel. But I don't lift my heals.

I'm really trying to use correct form these days as I realise my lower back appears to have receive no growth from deadlifting (I was doing about 2.2xbodyweight for reps before omega program).

AS example of a weak lower back I have noticed that on high rep squats and barbel rows, I start to feel what I thought was lactic acid pain my lower back. But the other day on squatting I'm not sure whether it was good pain. Having said that, this pain never happens when I'm doing low reps/high weight.

Prior to doing the omega program, I realise now I have had a problem for many exercises of the stronger muscle doing all the work, e.g., strong chest but weak tris, so dips/close grip bench never did much. Comparatively developed glutes, so they took over for ATG squatting (and quads never felt worked out) and things like SLDL, hyperextension, good mornings.

The omega program is helping with all other bodyparts but I still have this fear of injuring my lower back because its undeveloped.
 
If you have a set of erector spinae that looks like two parallel fettucinis and have the glute development of a snake,

I have spinal erectors that fit this description, although relatively speaking a very muscular arse (which I've become proud of as it now frequently gets grabbed). My concern with my lower back is every other muscle appears to compensate and it never gets properly worked, and that one day this translate into injury. I'm not sure if the admonition to deadlift/squat (which I have heeded) has helped this area.

Answered your question in the other thread
 
I would say MOST people are "hardgainers" as in they dont train hard enough and don't eat enough. This is most peoples problem IMO. Then again you do have the freaks like the asshole i work with who gets smashed every week end, doesnt always eat good but is a massive 240 at about 5'9'' and is still getting bigger with minimal effort. Anything can be done, some just have to push harder then others.
 
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