tips for a hardgainer..

[SavannahFighter]

hey guys im new here, ok im a hardgainer and that means i have a high metaboism and its extremely hard for me to gain weight. im 511 and stuck at about 165-160. can onyone give me sometips of supplements and other things i should do. i try to look things up but i have to pay for it, im just septical of buying it. anything will help. thanks

[Gov]

You're best bet is to read the FAQ's over in the Strength & Power forum. Some of the links their deal with 'hardgainers' (which is a BS term) and have some good info.

[platfox]

When you read the FAQs in the S and P, make sure to read "Carnal's Treatise on The Lifting of Heavy Iron". Fun read.

[ChachiKiller]

I had the same issue. Do NOT gain rapid weight from fats just to gain weight. You will add fat cells that you will have for the rest of your life.

Use math. FIgure out you BMR. Drop more activities for cardio if you have to add size. Lifting heavy and quality protein will be the simple answer. I went from 170 to 190 with muscle in one year at the age of 19.

[MrMih]

lift heavy. Good diet. I gained more strength gains and muscle in one month than I did in 4 yrs by simply changing my routine and eating better. Too bad I got an injury (possibly pinched nerve or blood vessel)

[prawn]

Originally Posted by ChachiKiller

I had the same issue. Do NOT gain rapid weight from fats just to gain weight. You will add fat cells that you will have for the rest of your life.

Cachi could you please elaborate on this - I'm a bit incredulous. Can't fat just be 'burned' off? I'm not defending this method of weight gain, I've just never heard of the concept of fat cells that stay with you forever.

[ChachiKiller]

Originally Posted by prawn

Cachi could you please elaborate on this - I'm a bit incredulous. Can't fat just be 'burned' off? I'm not defending this method of weight gain, I've just never heard of the concept of fat cells that stay with you forever.

You are born with fat cells just as you are born with eyes (hopefully). They do not just magically appear. You are born with so many fat cells. How fat you become depends on how filled each one becomes. You can "burn off" fat by burning (reducing the amount of fat) in a cell. Once you have a fat cell, it stays with you for life. It is just a matter of essentially how large they are.

When you gain weight really fast, fat cells can split into other fat cells. The number of fat cells can increase. This is problematic because there must always be some small percentage of fat in a cell. Makes gaining weight in the future too easy. Always a problem.

Say you are born with one billion cells. You are at 7% body fat (things are good).

You (in my case me) tear your shoulder girdle playing football and are out for four months minimum. You eat way too much and don't train. I gained 40 lbs in three months. I was very lean before that.

Now I have 1.3 billion at 7%. The cell membranes alone will expand size. When you eat, your body has more capacity to store fat and does so more easily.

[prawn]

Chachi that's interesting stuff man. May have to rethink my eating habits during injury time.

[B14ck4]

whey protein is your best friend. just eat lots of good food and make sure you stick to the basics. bench press, squat, dead lift. dips and pull ups are great too. just keep it simple and hard, and don't spend too long in the gym, 30 minutes is all you need. you're not there to burn calories, you are there to stress your muscles.

[DrBdan]

I would recommend logging your food for a week using something like fitday.com or nutritiondata.com to see how many calories you are eating. Then take that amount and add 200 calories. Eat like that for a few weeks, if you gain weight then good. If not, add another 100 or 200 calories and eat like that for a few weeks. Continue adding 100-200 calories every few weeks until you start to gain weight and then stick with that amount. My opinion is that it is better to ramp up your eating like this instead of just adding 500-600 calories right way because you will err on the side of not eating too much and thus avoid unnecessary fat gain (though some fat gain is inevitable).

Also, good post Chachi.