How do you build muscle if you are a hard gainer?

Question

I am having trouble (still!!!!) building muscle, and after 2 years of weight training, clean diet and protein supps, have not had any success, so just wondering, how would someone who is a "hard gainer" go about building muscle???

Answer 1

You don't mention your current workout regime, but here are some common mistakes:

1) too much cardio. Cardio burns a lot of calories. If you are a hard gainer, it will prevent you from having the calories to build new muscle. Again, keep it to a minimum (about 2 - 3 times a week for no more than 20 minutes)

2) Overtraining. Keep your workouts 45 - 1 hr 3 to 4 times a week... If you are in the gym 2 hours a shot you'll wind up in like situation #1.

3) Not enough calories. Be sure you are consuming about 250 - 500 calories MORE than you need per day to take on weight. Some of it will be stored as fat but quite a bit will be used for muscle...This means you'll need to count calories. Use http://www.fitday.com -- it's free and easy. So your diet may be TOO clean...

4) Not training enough. Usually not the case but if you are a slacker in the gym, you won't go anywhere.

5) You may want to try creatine. A lot of people gain weight and increase the ability to workout with heavier weights. It is generally regarded as safe.

Good luck.

Answer 2

A friend of mine is a "hard gainer", I was talking to him today and he gained 15 lbs of lean muscle on this nutritional program. It takes more than protein, you need all around nutrition. It is getting late, but you can contact me if you really want more information.

Jeanne - [e-mail]