“Boo Hoo Hoo, I’m a hardgainer guys. Everyone making gains clearly has good genetics and is using steroids” – Everyone on the internet
It’s an interesting thing to be, the hardgainer, but it’s not at all like what you’d read on any internet forum.
It’s very very different.
Spend anything over 0 seconds reading lifting forums and you’ll be inundated with information telling you what percentages to worry about using, how fast you can progress, how much volume and frequency you can handle…and the thing is it’s almost all shit.
(I read a few sites/blogs, and a few usernames on forums that actually inspired coming up that very much shaped my views on training. And I’m thankful for those voices of reason + strength in a sea of weakness, mediocrity, and handholding.)
I was the hardgainer.
I’m fairly certain that everyone I’ve trained with over the years consistently made better gains than me. Body comp changes came faster, and strength would come faster to them.
(Of course: maybe I was simply lifting with those stronger and more athletic than I. Of the three kids I lifted with during one period, one had been a D1 linebacker, another was squatting 495 for 4-5 sets of 10-15 at around 230 at about 6’3″, and the third was simply a kid I was buddies with.)
I didn’t take this as a reason to cry, quit, or start posting on forums about my lack of gains. I simply went back to the reading that inspired me, compared to common knowledge, and realized…
- I don’t respond well to bodybuilder style bodypart splits.
- Frequency works better for me (almost) EVERY SINGLE TIME.
- I enjoy the shit out of full body training.
- I don’t like set variables, just guidelines.
- A base of calisthenics is VERY important for me.
Knowing the “normal” and common knowledge did jack shit for me, I started experimenting and more and more discovered the above.
I found that I recover quickly, don’t get as sore, can generally handle more volume (spread over my entire body), but need at least some stimuli for everything daily. I also found that I get very consistent at a given weight, then can push my numbers up.
(If only you knew the ability I’ve developed to hit 90%+ of my 1rm, cold, for volume, half asleep, completely fasted…in every circumstance one shouldn’t be able to.)
If you’re a hardgainer you likely are training the wrong way. Full Stop.
(Don’t use the last sentence as an excuse for finding the “perfect” program on forums either. It’s a matter of effort.)
Yep, I was the hardgainer, but I found ways to make shit work for me.
A 405 deadlift took about 2 years. It was another 3 to 495. My lifetime deadlift PR (515) was at the end of a 21-23 day bender, pulling daily (heavy roughly every 3rd), with a few double sessions thrown in for good measure. My squatting basically doesn’t move up unless I’m hitting them 4x weekly at a minimum with more (even past 7x weekly) being better.
If you seem to be a hardgainer…Do more work! Not less, those with better genetics or steroids or whatever the in vogue excuse is can do less and gain.
YOU NEED MORE WORK!
This is just a fact of life people. Don’t cry over it, look forward to it.
Eventually (assuming you actually did those YEARS of more work) you will out work capacity EVERYONE, and be able to do quote “stupid shit” like the aforementioned cold, asleep, fasted, etc sessions. You may still have a shitty total too. Keep working.
View hardgainer status as a test of your willpower. Will you let slow and often enough not steady gains to stop you?
Since I’ve made gains so can you.
It’ll be disheartening to see people your age or younger stronger. Ask yourself : “Will he be stronger than me in 5 years?” and get to fucking work. View the long haul as a challenge. Eventually you will get strong, it’s unavoidable (again assuming you keep working.)
You don’t need an ideal diet.
You don’t need the supplements.
The perfect program isn’t real.
For God’s sake you don’t even need a gym!
You simply need the MINDSET to keep fucking working, even in the face of slow gains, self comparison that makes you seem physically inferior, and EVERYTHING else that’s in your way, psysically, psychologically, and spiritually.
Setting : While curled up in fetal position : “WAAAHHH! I’m a 15/17/21/whatever year old hard gainer. “ -Everyone on the internet
My response?
Keep training hard and evaluate again in 5 or 10 years. Do it right and you’ll be very surprised.
Boom!
-J