Are you a hard gainer? Do you have a tough time adding size? Here’s how to build muscle! Let’s face it, it’s not easy for skinny individuals with fast metabolisms to put on lean mass. You understand perfectly what I’m talking about, right? You may be that lifter that eats a ton of food yet never seems to make meaningful gains. Welcome to the world of the hard gainer—here’s what you can do about it!
Tip # 1—Your “Hard Gainer” Routine
As a hard gainer, if you’re training for size, you need to base your routine around compound exercises – the “big basics”. That doesn’t mean you can’t use machines. It simply means that the big basic exercises should be the cornerstone of your routine.
The key to progress here is to use progressive overload.
That doesn’t have to mean adding more weight to the bar. Progression can be measured in different ways. For example, adding intensity techniques (supersets, drop sets, static hold, and rest-pause are great examples). You can add more volume or increase training frequency. Plus, you can manipulate time by decreasing rest between sets. All these factors are methods of progression. The key is to consistently progress from week to week. One fundamental way to help with this is to use a training journal. Write it all down, and track your progress.
Tip # 2—Recovery
Once you have your routine in place, your next step is to understand recovery. Anyone who’s ever read my articles knows I often talk about recovery. In my mind, this is the single most ignored and overlooked aspect of bodybuilding. It always amazes me that so many lifters – beginners and experienced alike—just don’t understand the basics of recovery. This especially applies to the hard gainer – you won’t grow if you are training 2+ hours a day, 7 days a week. You only grow in between workouts, when you are recovering. That’s so important, you need to make sure you understand it.
Offset Catabolism
Training is catabolic – it breaks down muscle tissue. To grow, you have to give that muscle tissue time to repair. This doesn’t happen in between daily workouts. Sure, if you’re doing a split routine, one muscle group might be recovering while you train another one. But you’re still taxing your central nervous system. It’s important to put a full recovery day between workouts. A good rule of thumb is to train no more than 2 days in a row, then take a day off. This approach allows a 3 or 4 day split, with the focus on one workout per muscle group once every 6 days (assuming M-W-F workouts, then starting the cycle over on Sunday).
Get Some Rest!
A physically demanding job will cut into your ability to fully recover. In addition, doing a lot of cardio will also compromise recovery. Therefore, rest as much as possible. You should try to limit other physical activities as much as you can. Do cardio if you must, but keep it to 20–30 minutes 3 times a week. Also, try to get at least 8 hours of quality sleep every night. Don’t be afraid to take a nap during the day! Naps are a great recovery aid—enjoy them!
Post-Workout Recovery
As a hard gainer, you need to focus on all aspects of recovery. That means drinking your post-workout shake within 15 minutes of finishing your routine. I bring either a protein/simple carb shake with me to the gym. I use an insulated ice shaker and leave in the car. Once I’m done, I go out and drink it. In my case, the gym (YMCA) has a pool, so I come back in and jump in the water for a while. But I follow that with a high protein, balanced meal 1–2 hours later—you should too.
Make sure you eat consistently. A note here is the current mindset of killing yourself in the gym then waiting hours to eat anything, or even have a shake. Why would you do that? I know in my case, I’m hungry and a little shaky after a workout. I want calories, and I feel much better after I get some. No way am I waiting hours!
Tip # 3—Nutrition
The next aspect is to have your nutritional plan in order. This may be the most difficult part for the average hard gainer already eating a lot of food. First, you’ll want to use a diet journal. A great reason for this is that you may discover you aren’t eating as many calories as you think. Next, you need to consume clean, quality calories on a consistent basis. By using a diet journal, you can keep track of your calories and your macronutrient breakdown.
Adding Calories
OK, here’s where it gets real. To help you gain muscle, add 500 more calories per day. These calories should be mostly protein with some complex carbohydrates (think in terms of a 70/30 ratio). In fact, if you currently eat a lot of sugary carbs, replace those with protein and complex carbs. So you’ll need to monitor that caloric increase for 2 weeks.
If you haven’t gained any muscle, add another 500 calories per day from protein first, then complex carbs (the 70/30 ratio). Repeat this approach until you begin to gain muscle. To make this work, you have to be patient. You need to understand that it may take a while to find the level of quality calories you need to gain.
Here’s How To Make This Work:
Watch Your Waistline
If after 2 weeks you find your waistline is growing instead of your muscles, lower your calories by 250 a day until that is not a problem.
Drink Some Of Your Calories
Add 1-2 protein shakes, an MRP, or a low-sugar gainer to your daily routine. This adds quality sources of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fat. It also makes getting those extra calories easier for any hard gainer!
Protein Is King
The average hard gainer should consume at least 1 gram per pound of body weight. Don’t be afraid to bump that up. It makes sense to divide your protein intake evenly throughout the day, despite some so-called “experts” who might say otherwise. As noted, keep your intake of simple, sugary carbs low, with 50% your daily carb intake consumed in the hours before and after your workout. What about fat? You should eat healthy fats (nuts and fish) but keep your overall fat intake down (think 20% of total calories). Don’t make eating more calories an excuse to eat junk. Keep your diet clean and healthy.
Tip # 4—Supplements
As far as the best supplements for a hard gainer, you’ve got some good choices. Of course, protein powder is essential. You also have the option of an MRP and/or a lean gainer. Also, use a good pre-workout. Also, I strongly advise creatine and a glycerol formula. From there, use a good multivitamin. I also suggest natural muscle builders or, if you’re hardcore enough, prohormones. Here are my specific product suggestions.
Protein
Here are a couple of options. Hi-Tech Precision Protein because of its advanced leucine release technology. If you prefer a plant protein, try PEScience Vegan Series Select.
MRP
MRP stands for Meal Replacement Powder. It began life back in the 90s with the original Met-Rx, the first true MRP. This product was heavily promoted and hit the market hard. Other companies soon followed, but after a while the market for MRPs slowed. However, they do have some merit as a source of protein, carbs, and micronutrients. Perhaps the best choice for a hard gainer would be EAS Original Myoplex, the major competitor of Met-Rx back in the day. This product features a balanced macro profile, with a sensible amount of carbs. Some MRP’s are really just a weight gainer in disguise, with way too many carbs per serving.
Lean Gainer
So how do you define a lean gainer? The early gainers consisted of protein and lots of sugar. Of course, you want to avoid that. You also want to avoid gainers that focus on ultra-high amounts of carbohydrates. So what do I suggest? iForce Nutrition Mass Gainz. This is a very flexible gainer. One serving provides 506 calories, 40g protein, 75g carbs and 10g fat. There’s just 10g of sugar. The great thing is you can adjust your macro totals up or down by adding/subtracting scoops. Plus, it has a good balance between protein, carbs, and fat.
Pre-Workout
The best choice here is Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode. This is a serious pre-workout. A good second choice would be Alpha Lion Superhuman Extreme.
Creatine
The most proven supplement on the market, creatine can help you gain. I suggest AllMax Creatine Monohydrate powder.
Glycerol
This is easily the most effective new supplement that’s come out in a while. I’ve written a lot about glycerol. It promotes huge water-based pumps and might dramatically increase endurance (it did for me). I used Raw Nutrition Pump2 and got great results.
Multi
It always makes sense to use a good multi—it’s the ultimate health insurance! I suggest Universal Nutrition Animal Pak.
Natty Muscle Builder
If you’re not into prohormones, here’s a good alternative: Redcon1 Boom Stick. Another good choice is 5% Nutrition TEST Booster.
Prohormones
For the ultra-serious hard gainer. I suggest Hi-Tech Halodrol. I also suggest following this up with 5% Nutrition Post-Gear.
In Summary
In this article I’ve provided several great tips to help any hard gainer add lean mass. The bottom line is hard work on the basics, recovery, quality calories and quality supplements. Follow these tips, monitor your waistline, and track your progress. I have no doubt you can grow!