There is a nasty little term that a lot of weight trainers use – "hardgainer." What is a hardgainer and how should a hardgainer train to promote maximum muscle mass?

I say "nasty" because every kid who lifts and doesn't gain 50 pounds right away thinks he's a hardgainer.

A hardgainer is someone who truly cannot gain weight. I know, I 've "been there, done that." A hardgainer is typically of the somatotype (body type) ectomorph, a lean body type that has little body fat and is very scrawny (not much in the way of muscle). Usually on the tall side. Long limbs. Angular facial features.

But you can be an endomorph and still be a hardgainer. I'd characterize a hardgainer not by how he looks but by how he responds to a "typical" bodybuilding training system.

Here's what I mean by typical:

• 4-day split routine, either push/pull or upper/lower body
• 5 or 6 meals a day, supplemented by protein powder or weight gainer
• Relatively active lifestyle (plays sports and/or supplements weight workouts with cardio like running or cycling)

The above is a typical bodybuilding training system (generically described, of course) that many beginning bodybuilders and weight trainers advance to after several months of steady progress in a basic program (note that I don't even consider calling somebody a hardgainer if they're just starting out – it's too soon to tell).

A hardgainer will have very little to no response from the above training system. In fact, he might even lose weight. This is highly discouraging, of course. Typically, a trainer afflicted with such a response will respond with a "more is better, right?" approach: He'll move to 6 days a week of training and double up on the weight gainer.

The Right Approach to Hardgainer Bodybuilding

In fact, working out more frequently and adding in more weight gainer couldn't be a worse approach to jumpstarting muscle mass gains for the hardgainer. Hardgainer bodybuilding requires a different approach. In fact, you could consider it an entirely different mindset.

Hardgainers should:

• Train less frequently
• Use fewer sets
• Eat quality food
• Rest more often
• Cut out all extraneous activity
• Curtail all ab training and cardio until sufficient muscle mass gains have been made
• Relax at all times (except when training when you really want to push yourself)

A while back, I wrote a series called Building Muscle in 30 Minutes a Day. In it, I described a simple way of building quality lean muscle mass in only 30 minutes a day. The aim of the series was to show anybody how to build a quality physique on limited time.

What I really wrote in that series was a hardgainer bodybuilding routine!

It was an adaptation of a book I wrote a few years ago called Hardgainer Manifesto, which was the system I used to gain over 60 pounds in less than a year after spending over 20 years training with little success. It was something I "stumbled" across after studying weight training, bodybuilding, nutrition, and "hardgainer systems" for decades.

I was the typical "scrawny (but scrappy) kid" – the kid who got sand kicked in his face like the old Charles Atlas comic strip ads. I tried everything under the sun and found nothing worked. So I made my own system. That's the short story.

The long story is that it took a lot of time to figure out. Suffice it to say that you could save yourself a lot of time and frustration by picking up a copy. Or read the series Building Muscle in 30 Minutes a Day. Either way, you'll come to a "hardgainer bodybuilding" solution that works better than anything else out there for a fraction of the time and price.

It works for beginners, intermediates, and advanced trainers alike; it uses a simple yet very effective method that's been tested over many years. SSTS is really the system that pro bodybuilders and professional athletes follow for building muscle, strength, and speed, as well as stripping body fat and improving athletic performance.

You can check it out here.

This is a video where me and my boy are doing bench presses, without a bench, a barbell, or any gym equipment!

If you’re already a member (and membership is free), you know the password! So just go check it out.

by Marc David, author of The NoBull Bodybuilding Program

As you probably remember the last time you looked at a proposed grocery list or visited the nearest supplement store, you realized you needed to take out an equity loan first in order to get your month’s supply of food and supplements.

Believe me…

I’ve had my fair share of large bills especially when I’m trying to bulk up and gain weight.

Am I right about this so far?

Don’t’ worry… there are some really overlooked and rather inexpensive methods to get all the food you need without breaking the bank.  But I have an even better idea… let me just start off with a quick list of foods that you can find at most grocery stories and warehouse locations that are cheap and are excellent sources of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

Low Cost Bodybuilding Foods (in no particular order):

1. Tuna
2. Nuts
3. Olive Oil
4. Whey Protein Concentrate, in bulk
5. Pasta
6. Chicken legs
7. Beans

Of course you’ll want to get servings of fruits and veggies but normally it’s the other foods that are expensive in bulk.  With just the above foods, you can get many of them in bulk or for discounts and have plenty of wholesome foods for your bulking, cutting, and bodybuilding endeavors. By now, you’re probably wondering… Okay, that’s a nice list of general foods I can use but I am taking some supplements. And they aren’t so cheap.  I’d like to try everything I see in the latest muscle magazines but I really only have time for what works.  Where’s the cheap list of supplements? Inexpensive (best bang for your buck) supplements:

1. Multi-vitamin
2. Fish oil
3. Whey concentrate
4. Dextrose
5. Creatine Monohydrate

Fact is… I try a lot of supplements myself. I’m curious. I want to know what works and sometimes I stumble across something that is worth it. But the above list is the basic supplement list that I always return to no matter what. It’s part of the vitamin closet in the kitchen. If I have no time, no money, or no desire to try anything new, I know that above is the only stash I need to make any gains I’ll need. So let me summarize and review… Bodybuilding on a budget is real. If you look for specific foods that are great sources of protein, carbs, and healthy fats and mix and match, you have a really well-rounded selection to make many meals. No matter if you are on a bulk phase, cutting phase, or just want to eat healthy, it doesn’t have to be the most expensive thing you’ve ever done.

About The Author: Marc David is a Certified Personal Trainer, natural bodybuilder, and the creator of the “The NoBull Bodybuilding Program.” He can show you how to reduce your body fat thru diet and how to gain weight or create more muscle thru an abundance of workout tips by training LESS! Not more. He dispels many “bodybuilding myths,” tells you what most people never realize about nutrition, and what the drug companies DON’T WANT YOU to know.  Go to: http://www.muscle-build.com/no-bull-bodybuilding to find out more about The NoBull Bodybuilding Program.

Let’s say you can Bench Press 315 pounds one time. For you, that’s the heaviest you can go, right? But is 285 for 2 reps heavy? Hell yeah.

Is 225 for 20 reps heavy? If 20 is the most you can do, then yes, it is heavy.

Bottom line: If you cannot do another rep, it’s HEAVY.

It’s not the absolute weight, but rather the effort that is involved.

Maximal effort = HEAVY

Now, if you’re doing 50 reps, you’re probably not going to grow much, and that’s the whole idea behind bodybuilding, right? So, stick to a rep range for the upper body of 5-12 reps, 8-20 for the lower body. Make your “last” rep the last one possible. If your last rep, #12 in a Bent Row for example, is “easy” (meaning you could have done 1 more), then do 13. Your “last” rep ought to be a near-maximal effort. We’re talking full reps here.

Here’s a rule of thumb (provided you have a good spotter and/or you can safely do this by yourself) -

On your last rep, try to do another. If you can, then try another. If you cannot, you’ve done another 1/4 or 1/2 rep; there’s nothing wrong with that!

And also remember that this “last rep” is on your last set. I rarely recommend more than 3 sets of an exercise, so we’re talking 2 sets that build to the 3rd – and last – set. It’s on this last set where you would try for that “last rep.”

Got it? Make sense? Let me know your thoughts in the Comments!

Workout Rules

Okay, this goes for just about anything you really care about (i.e., RESULTS).

1. Set a goal (or goals) and measure progress (log your workouts!).
2. Do your workouts in your head before you step foot in a gym (visualize).
3. Enter the gym with a clear head and don’t think about the outside world. If you need to, bring your iPod and some tunes that don’t let you think about anything but the weights and how your body feels pushing or pulling those weights.
4. Do full, complete reps. You can cheat, but do full-range reps.
5. Feel the weight. You don’t have to train with super-heavy weights. If you are deliberate with your reps (i.e., feel them, note how your muscles feel), you can reduce your weights by at least 20 percent and get a better workout! (Better on the joints, too.)
6. Pre-workout protein! (Add some creatine.)
7. Post-workout protein! (Add some creatine here, too.)
8. Strive EVERY workout to a) increase your weights lifted, b) increase reps performed, OR c) reduce rest intervals (raise your intensity).
9. Variety is the spice of life. There are only a few basic exercises you ever need to do (think “compound”), but you can (and should!) change up their order or do variations of them.
10. Remember that rules are made to be broken. Next up: Why breaking the rules will make you bigger, stronger, and faster!
    

You get the exercise sequence, sets, reps, nutrition, rest – all the important stuff to kick off a great career or pastime with bodybuilding.

And it’s only $9.

I’d like help from you on two things:

1. Do you have suggestions on who else I might want to put in the BBHOF? I’ve left out a LOT of folks, and I’ve only included men. Women most definitely should be here, too!
2. Do you want to write up some bios for me on the bodybuilders you like and/or think ought to be included? I’ll put up what you write (I reserve the right not to post OR to edit as I see fit) and I’ll even put up a backlink to your site, if you have one!

Can you help me out? Comment or email me at billspaced [at] muscle-build [dot] com.