So you think that you are a HARD GAINER!
Follow these 10 simple steps and become an ‘Easy Gainer’ in no time!
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This would have to be the most used and abused term in bodybuilding. Everyone I meet seems to be a hard gainer these days. The truth is, there is no such thing as a hard gainer. But if you really believe that you are, then read on because I am about to change your view forever. Never again will you class yourself a hard gainer (that’s just an excuse waiting to be used to defend your lack of results), follow these steps and maybe an ‘easy gainer’ will better describe you from now on…
Hard Gainer to True Potential in 10 easy steps:
The very first thing you need to do is ditch the title. Stop thinking of yourself as a hard gainer, and start thinking of yourself as a dedicated athlete with unlimited potential. As soon as you put the hard gainer banner up, you are setting yourself up for failure. You believe that you will not succeed and achieve minimal results at best. That’s not the best line of thinking for a dedicated athlete.
Believing in yourself and your own abilities is a quality you must posses if you want to be successful. Ditch the ‘hard gainer’ title and replace it a title that best suits you (future Mr O maybe). If you believe you can do it, then guess what – your already 1 step ahead of where you were yesterday.
Step 2 – What do you want to achieve?
Ok, so you now believe that you can achieve anything, now what? You need a goal!
Ask yourself this – why are you training and what are you training for? Without a goal, sometimes it feels as though we are simply coasting through the motions. We seem to lack the drive needed to remain focused and on track. Even with our best intensions, the lack of a goal can slow progress. It’s that simple.
Having a goal gives us something to focus on, an end destination if you prefer. Defining your goal and having an ideal is a very power tool to keep you training hard and heavy.
Step 3 – Knowledge is Power
You often hear the statement ‘with knowledge comes power’, well guess what – it comes into play here as well. The more bodybuilding knowledgeable you have, the better you can apply that to your training to achieve outstanding results. But there is a catch - not all knowledge is correct.
There can be so much information that it can become a little confusing as to what to believe and whom to trust as a reliable source. So whom can you trust?
Trust the person (and the information) that is best suited for you. You can generally tell if someone is telling you a barney or not, or if something sounds too good to be true. It’s just a matter of using your gut instinct when confronted with a questionable resource. Trust yourself because 9 times out of 10, you are usually right.
More often then not, people will over complicate the whole training process when they are not getting the results they want. Throwing in an extra set here, another exercise there will be detrimental to you if you are already achieving minimal results at best.
Training is merely the stimulus to get the muscle building process rolling. You do not need to do a lot of work; you just need to do it right!
Here are a few quick points in regards to effective weight training
- Always train bigger muscle groups (chest/back) before smaller ones (biceps/triceps)
- Always use functional, compound movements before isolation movements (bench press instead of cable crossovers)
- Every training session, you need and try to lift more weight then you did the session before
- Don’t race between exercises - it is not a cardio session. Wait for your energy system to recharge
- Intensity is key. Try and train harder, not longer
- Train each muscle group only once per week
- Sore muscles do not indicate muscle growth.
(Cardio-Vascular Training)
Cardio-vascular training falls into the same boat as weight training. Many people think that to display there level of dedication towards their goal, then need to endless hours of cardio training. The truth is just like weight training, to get the biggest benefit from cardio you need to hit it hard. Again, intensity is the key for both increased fitness and fat loss.
Why high intensity?
It isn’t a
matter how much fat you burn during the session, but how many total calories
you burn, and how long you keep burning extra calories for. If you can
burn an extra 500 calories a day via high intensity cardio, that equates to 3500
over one week, which is the amount of stored energy in 1kg of fat! Bingo, you
have lost a kilogram!
What type of exercise can I do?
Anything. As long as it gets the heart rate up. Here are some of my favourites:
Outside:
- Hill Sprints
- Interval training in the park
- Swimming
- Mountain Bike
- Power walking with the dog
In the Gym:
- Treadmill
- Stepper
- Rower
- Elliptical trainer
No matter how dedicated you are to your training, or how effective your program is, unless you back up your efforts in the gym with an equally sound nutrition plan, then you will only expierence minimal results at best.
Just like training, when it comes to diet you really need to decide on your goals first. Without your goals affirmed, there is no way you can create an effective diet. If you are eating for mass, your nutritional intake will be different to that if you were eating for fat loss.
Many people like to over-complicate the whole issue of nutrition. Personally, I don’t believe it is necessary to weigh all the food you eat, but a rough estimate is best. If you are eating to put on weight and the scale is not moving in the right direction (up) then you will need to eat more food. Same as if your goal was to lose weight - the scale must continue to drop. To get the scale moving in the desired direction, it’s just a matter of eating more or eating less.
The main priority is WHAT you eat. I suggest eating a functional and ‘goal orientated’ diet consisting of good quality sources of protein (lean chicken, beef, fish, dairy), moderate amounts of functional carbohydrates (low gi, fibourous carbs) and essential fats (omega 3’s, fish oil etc) and you are definitely on the right track.
A well-structured supplementation program can be a tremendous advantage in your quest to gain muscle and lose body fat, when combined with proper training and nutritional habits that is.
Before we go any further there is something I must point out. No one supplement will make an ounce of difference if everything else in your program isn't structured for efficient muscle gain. Nor will an entire supplementation program assist you if you do not train correctly, eat correctly or fail to follow all your principles 100%. Supplementation is only an addition to an otherwise ‘spot on’ training lifestyle.
Lastly, I recommend just sticking to the basics and leave all the ‘hype’ products on the shelf. Basic, research proven products such as Creatine, L-Glutamine, high quality Whey Protein and a good Multi Vitamin/Mineral formula will keep you in check.
Recovery is the often-neglected aspect of training hard and heavy on a regular basis. But without adequate recovery, your running a race you will never win.
Not only do you need to recover from the ‘physical’ side of training, but also the ‘mental’ application as well. It’s hard work getting up every day to go to the gym and every now and then, the motivation will start to waiver. This is the perfect time to take a break.
A quick week off from training will be just the right amount of time to recharge the batteries. Many people see taking a week off as a step backwards but it’s not the case. Adequate recovery is ensuring that you continue to take many steps forward - perfect!
You know when your training and you are only 5kg’s away from a personal best, you are indestructible. You are entirely focused on your goal. But what happens when you make it?
For most people, they like to sit back and soak up their achievements. Whilst it’s great to take pride in your achievements, you mustn’t fall victim to ‘soaking it all up’ for too long. To keep the motivation flowing (and the results) I believe it is best to stay on track. As soon as you reach one goal, quickly raise the bar to achieve another – set a new goal.
Say your long-term goal has been to bench press 100kgs, it’s a fantastic accomplishment when you make it, but now – how about 105kg? This will keep you continually breaking new ground and continually growing.
We have all heard the story of Ronnie Coleman only a few weeks from Olympia where he is dead lifting 800 plus pounds for doubles, so you can only imagine what I am think of when I am dead lifting? That’s right…
We might play the game slightly differently, but when you need an inspirational ‘kick in the pants’, you might as well look towards the best. Thinking of Ronnie lifting that 800+lbs gets me fired up like nothing else.
Another option is you can draw inspiration a little closer to home. Maybe you admire someone in your gym. Maybe their physique is just unbelievable, or maybe they are there everyday on time to train and that shows real commitment. You can admire and draw strength from their accomplishments. You can use their lead as an example to follow yourself.
No one said it was going to be easy, and when the going gets tough it is usually our ‘passion’ that gets us through the hard times. I honestly believe that if you have passion to chase what you want to achieve, you will put more effort into your goals and you will find the struggle easier.
At the end of the day, passion only ties the lifestyle together because that’s what it is – a lifestyle!
Drop the hard gainer title, chase your dreams, live the lifestyle and get all the results you have ever wanted.
Josh Dickinson is a Fitness Professional/Contest Coach based in Australia and runs the highly successful website: www.physique-essentials.com. You can contact him at: info@physique-essentials.com