Weight Gain for Hardgainers

Are you tired of being a skinny weakling?

Does it feel like gaining weight could be impossible?

Is your “hardgainer” body type making it hard to gain weight fast and see explosive results?

If you feel like your genetics have robbed you from having sleeve ripping arms and the body of your dreams, DON’T WORRY! I felt the same way….Until I implemented a few simple changes to my plan and packed on over 40 pounds of solid muscle in 24 weeks.

You see, weight gain is really not as complicated as it may seem. The main issue we face as hardgainers is, we follow plans and routines put together by NON hardaginers for NON hardgainers. You must first understand the fact that our body type is different and our approach to building muscle should be as well.

What works for them DOES NOT WORK for us

Why can't we GAIN WEIGHT?

1. You are spending more than 3-4 hours in the gym weekly.
2. You’re not eating enough of the RIGHT foods.
3. Your gym routine was created for bodybuilders and NON hardgainers.
4. Not increasing your overall workout volume.
5. Depending too much on weight gaining supplements and not enough on the compound workouts that increase muscle building hormones.

This was me…

I was 115 lbs of skin and bones with little or no confidence at all. I didn’t have the girls, I didn’t have the drive, and I definitely didn’t have the confidence to change that.

As time went by I noticed my friends getting bigger, stronger, and more attractive to the ladies. But me? Nothing, I didn’t grow and felt like I would be stuck at a measly 115 lbs forever.

On a mission to gain weight fast, I started reading bodybuilding magazines, spending hours in the gym, spending tons of money on supplements, and following bodybuilding routines.

After several weeks, I saw no results whatsoever. I didn’t understand why it worked for my friends, but did nothing at all for me. I figured I was cursed with genes that prohibited me from building muscle.

That was until…
I dedicated myself wholeheartedly to finding the answer to my problem. I questioned the pros who were “hardgainers” and pieced together all the answers that helped me go from Bony to Brawny with no supplements whatsoever.

Still feel like it is impossible for you to gain weight?

Fear no more, I have put together this free website and made all my “secrets” accessible to you. “Why?” you ask, well as you can tell I am very passionate about muscle weight gain for hardgainers and would be honored to help out others like myself who are losing hope.

Popular Articles:

Muscle Building Workouts

How To Put On Weight

Build Legs for a Massive Upper Body

Beginners Routine for Explosive Gains

How to get Big Fast - Rep Range for Muscle Size

Get Strong Fast - Secret to Increased Strength

Continue Entry»

A Sneaky Little Trick That Will Double Your Muscle Building Efforts

This is a special guest post by Mitchell Graves of http://www.fitwithitch.com/

On the quest to build muscle, there are endless ways to get it right, and endless ways to get it wrong.

Well, I’ve stumbled upon a little way to get it very right.

I call it, a Duration Superset.

I’d known about the three types of muscle fibers for years. Type 1’s which are your slow twitch fibers, are responsible for slower and endurance movements. These fibers don’t grow much (ever seen a true marathon runner?). You have type 2a’s which are basically your in-between fibers. They can grow as much as 25%. Finally, you have type 2b’s which are your fast twitch fibers. They can grow by up to 100%. Your type 2a’s can go between type 1’s and type 2b’s, depending on how you train. We’re looking for muscle growth here, so we want them to go to type 2b’s since these fibers have the most potential for growth.

The key phrase here is “depending on how you train”. The sequence I’m about to show you will recruit the most muscle fibers in the fastest manner possible.

Most guys who have no knowledge of muscle fibers, miss this and just do random exercises when they go to the gym. There’s a method to my madness and it’s paying off nicely.

I came across this little trick when I combined a few philosophies. I was looking at another program that included a lengthy set at the end. The author explained (and I agreed) that by throwing this set in, it would recruit a lot of type 2a muscle fibers that rarely get recruited in a workout. Hitting them this way would stimulate the most growth, effectively turning them into type 2b’s.

This set is a basically a burn out set, but you’re shooting for 12-15 reps. The longer duration will flood the muscles with blood (you’ll get a HUGE pump). This will in turn increase cell size which means more nutrients can flow into your cells for more muscle growth.

This Duration Set, isn’t just done with any old exercises though. It’s specifically done with a “contraction exercise”. Contraction exercises include Sitting Bicep Curl (with your elbow on your knee), Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Dumbbell Kickbacks, etc. You get the idea. You do contraction exercises because they are good for recruiting the most muscle fibers in a particular muscle since they are usually isolation exercises. These exercises take good advantage of the peak contraction point principle which says that your efficiency of muscle fiber recruitment goes up when you reach the peak contraction point.

I’m not done yet, so don’t run off and do this just yet. Remember, I said that this was a superset. A superset with what you may ask….well here we are.

In my program, I do four sets of decreasing reps using a compound movement. Compound movements include Squats, Deadlift, Bench Press, Shoulder Press, etc. My decreasing sets are 12, 10, 8, and 6. That last set is to recruit the most type 2b muscle fibers (which are your power fibers that can grow the most) and hit the nervous system hard. When you hit your nervous system hard like that, you increase the efficiency at which your brain tells your muscles to fire. Doing this, will increase you strength because it’s like opening more lanes on a highway. You can increase the traffic flow.

To wrap it up, here’s what it all looks like. A compound movement with decreasing sets. Then, on your last set of 6, once you finish, run over to the contraction movement for that same muscle group and do a maximum of 15 reps. NO REST. So for instance, if I wanted to do my chest, I would do the bench press 12, 10, 8, 6 then run to the peck deck and do 12-15 reps. Once you hit a muscle group, you’re DONE for the day on that muscle. Please do not go back and try to do other stuff. The reasons behind that will have to wait for another article.

So get out there, get to it! I’ve used this technique to put on as much as 2lbs in a week, WHILE dropping body fat with my diet. This technique takes advantage of SO many muscle growth principles, it’s not even funny. So this works like a charm.

About the Author,
Mitchell Graves is a fitness author and trainer. He’s the author of Rapid Ripped Abs – The Fastest and Simplest Way To Turn Your Gut Into A Six Pack. Period. And the author of FitWithMitch.com, which is a blog dedicated to muscle building, fat loss, and nutrition.

Continue Entry»

How to Gain Weight Fast - Supplements

Although supplements aren’t exactly necessary for weight gain, they can generate a decent amount of results. I personally am not big on muscle building supplements but am aware that some of them do have their benefits. If you are in the process of building muscle and gaining weight, you know that doing so strictly on nutrient dense foods is not easy. A lot of us have full time jobs, children, school, or other important obligations that sometimes make prioritizing meals a little difficult. If you fall into this category, I recommend you research some basic and safe weight gain supplements such as:

Weight Gainer
Whey Protein
Nitric Oxide

Weight gain supplement – Weight Gainer
Weight gainer mix works great for emergencies. If for any reason at all you are unable to sit down and have a meal, weight gainer works as a great replacement. However, relying too much on a weight gain supplement like this can have its negative effects. I suggest these protein powders only be taken in the case that you are unable to have a nutrient dense meal. If you are a beginner and find it hard to consume the amount of calories required for you, these weight gain powders work excellent. Typically these weight gain supplements have a large amount of calories but you must be cautious. Do not get into the habit of simply choosing one because it has the most calories, try to aim toward one with higher quality calories.

Muscle Building Supplement – Whey Protein
In my opinion, whey protein is the best and most effective supplement available. Most people do not even consider this a supplement because it is pure and natural. Whey protein comes from cow’s milk and is very high quality. It is low on fat, lactose, and cholesterol. It also carries a rich source of amino acids one would need on a daily basis. This muscle building supplement is by far the best type of protein when rebuilding larger and stronger muscles.

Weight Gain/Muscle Building Supplement – Nitric Oxide
Nitric oxide is considered to be the modern day creatine. Most people take nitric oxide because it claims to increase muscle endurance, muscle size, strength gains, and give you an incredible pump. Whether those claims are true or not, I do believe that nitric oxide plays a big role in taking full advantage of all the nutrients you consume while taking the supplement. My logic is simple, the nitric oxide expands the blood cells (this is why you get a great pump), blood cells help distribute the nutrients to your body. With that being said, it is safe to say that your muscles will receive more of the nutrients you consume while on the nitric oxide.

How to Gain Weight Fast Supplements
I am not an expert on muscle building supplementation but I know enough to tell you that the supplements I have listed are pretty safe. Just like any other supplement, you should consult your physician before beginning to take it. Remember, these weight gain supplements are not necessary but can give a boost if followed by a proper diet and workout regimen.

Continue Entry»

How to Gain Weight Fast for Hardgainers

As a “hardgainer”, gaining weight is not exactly the easiest thing to accomplish. However, with just a few simple tweaks to your diet, you could be on the road to some serious muscle gains fast. The main issue when it comes to building size for hardgainers is, we typically try to follow the diets and routines that are working for everyone else. The problem with that approach is that those diets and routines are not created for the “genetically challenged”. Before you go ahead and follow my advice, check out how I was able to gain weight fast without any supplements or putting on any fat. If you can respect those results, then I advise you to follow these small steps I used in order to gain muscle fast.

1. Stay Anabolic
Anabolism is a state in which your body is growing, the opposite of catabolism. Maximizing your body’s potential of being in an anabolic state can literally yield steroid like results without the sabotaging side effects. You can assure that your body is in an anabolic state by dieting eating six meals a day, following proper post workout nutrition, consuming the proper bed time snacks, and taking advantage of the growth and recovery stages that follow your workout. For more details on those stages, check out “How to Gain Weight Fast – Most Important Muscle Building Meals”.

2. More Rest, Less Gym
One huge mistake I see more often than any other is when we over train. The reason this happens is simple, because we fail to see results we assume we that we should be working out harder and longer. However, this is completely counterproductive. You see, while you’re in the gym you are breaking down the muscle and without enough rest and recovery you will not allow your body to rebuild larger and stronger muscles. My recommendation to you is, take the “one day on, one day off” approach while occasionally taking 2 consecutive days off. By simply making this small change I can guarantee you will start to see fast muscle gains, strength gains, and more energy in and out of the gym.

3. Compound Lifting
Another very big thing to focus on is the proper types of workouts. Although I am a firm believer that isolation workouts are crucial when it comes to packing on muscle, I believe that by making heavy compound lifts the focal point to each routine you will give yourself a huge advantage. You see, these compound lifts not only target more than one muscle group at a time, but they also require your body to recruit more muscle fibers in order to perform them. This not only makes your isolation workouts more effective, but it also allows your body to increase strength and muscle endurance at a much faster pace.

How to Gain Weight Fast for Hardgainers
If you can manage to keep your body in an anabolic state as much as possible, allow your body to repair and rebuild, and maximize your workouts, you will destroy those “skinny genetics” in no time. Following these rules has played an enormous role in my success and phenomenal results as a hardgainer and this is why I wanted to share this with all of you.

Related Articles:

How to Gain Weight Fast - Most Important Muscle Building Meals

How to Gain Weight Fast For Women

How to Gain Weight Fast the Healthy Way

Continue Entry»

How can I increase my pull up strength fast? Simple Tips to do More Pull ups

Increase Pull up Strength Fast

Pull ups are in my opinion one of the most effective compound workouts for building a solid upper body. This is why I believe it is crucial to increase your pull up strength when weight training. Having a strong back along with strong biceps is the key to being able to perform more pull ups. Increasing the amount of repetitions you can perform of this bodyweight compound exercise is very important when building your back and biceps along with the rest of your body. I understand that pull ups is not possible right away for everyone and this is why I have put together these simple tips to do more pull ups. Here are a few small tricks you can follow in increase pull up strength quick.

1. Assisted pull ups/ Training partner
The best way to increase pull up strength fast is to perform assisted pull ups or getting a spotter. This works great for those who cannot perform any pull ups but is also very effective for those who want to do more than they are currently. You see, for those who cannot perform any pull ups, getting used to the movement as well as slowly decreasing the amount of assistance the machine or spotter provide will allow you to increase pull up strength fast. For those who can perform them and just want to break that threshold, getting assistance after failure will help build strength in that area.

2. Lat Pull Downs
Building a stronger back and biceps using the lat pull down machine will aid in pull up strength as well. The reason I suggest the lat pull down is because it uses the same grip/form and targets the exact same areas of each muscle as the pull up. Slowly increasing the weight on the lat pull down will play a major role in being able to perform more pull ups fast.

3. Chin ups
Performing chin ups (pull ups with a close underhand grip) seems to be much easier than your normal over hand wider grip pull ups. If you cannot perform these either, it is completely fine. Starting off with assisted chin ups will lead to unassisted chin ups much faster than pull ups. This is a great alternative and will also increase the strength needed to perform more pull ups without assistance.

Increase pull up strength fast:
Pull ups are an incredible bodyweight compound exercise that will help build your entire upper body fast. I recommend that if you are someone has eliminated the pull up from your routine due to the inability to perform a decent amount, that you follow anyone of these simple tricks to increase your pull up strength fast.

Continue Entry»