Imagine two students who decide to start going to the gym. They weight approximately the same, they eat together since they live together. One of them is having hard time on the weights and slower recovery period than the other. After two months the first one with the slow recovery has gained 10 lbs and the other one...2 lbs. Have you been there?
Hardgainers have difficult time building muscle the conventional way that most fitness instructors advise. They need to have a lot more systematic approach.
Firstly, there is one very easy way to find if you are hardgainer. It takes total of 5 mins in the period of 2-3 days.
* You must determine your maximum 1-rep amount of multi-joint exercise (like the bech press for example). This means you must be able to barely push the weight to max only once. Usually that single push is very hard and slow. After determining your max you must rest for 2 days – no fitness involvement of your arms. * On the third day set the weight at 80% of your maximum. Then do one set to the limit with this weight. Depending on the rep number you can find if you are a hardgainer.
If the reps are 2 to 5, you are fast muscle gainer.
If the reps are 6-9 you are average muscle gainer.
If the reps are 10 and above you are hardgainer.
For example if your one-rep maximum on bench press is 150 lbs, 80% of that is 120 lbs. If you manage 10 reps and above you consider yourself as hardgainer. Do not fear, there are ways to beat this and build muscle. You just need a little bit of more knowledge than the regular guy in the gym.
Typical other traits of hardgainers are fast recovery time. Their body is able to recover from muscle soreness and fatigue faster than regular guys. They also get tired slower. Those guys do not have that much explosive muscle power that the others have. Not only for lifting heavy things but as muscle movement also. No wonder the sprinters are that much bulky compared to long distance runners.
In order to overcome this trait, the hardgainer must follow very strict program. He must eat very often on specific time and must avoid certain types of food. His workouts must be short and intense. No one hour workouts. He also must train often because of his fast recovery time. Multi joint workouts are best for hardgainers.
This is only very few of the tips a hardgainer must follow in order to beat this trait. There are courses especially designed for those guys by other with the same story. They gathered the knowledge and bested their weak spot. Follow the links to get started.
