Hey what's up guys, Sean Nalewanyj of EliteImpactLabs.com here and today I want to talk about the concept
of hardgainers and hardgainer workouts.
So the term hardgainer typically refers to those with a fast metabolism, a smaller bone
structure and who generally have a tougher time packing on muscle size and strength.
Browse the online forums and facebook pages and you'll see these quote unquote "hardgainers"
seeking out specific advice for their situation.
What is the best hardgainer workout routine?
I'm a hardgainer and I need a good meal plan and what supplements are recommended for hardgainers
etcetera.
Now my advice here would be to drop your "hardgainer" label altogether.
Yes, there's no question that genetics do play a large role in determining how slowly
or how quickly sombody can build muscle and yes, it is true that some lifters will require
more time and patience in order to build the physique that they're after.
But whether you're a naturally gifted bodybuilder with elite genetics or you're starting off
on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, the same basic muscle building principles
are still going to apply.
You need to train hard in the gym using correct form and focus on progressive overload by
adding more weight to the bar over time.
You need to create a proper calorie surplus each day that involves high quality sources
of protein, minimally refined carbs and healthy fats.
You need to understand which supplements will help to accelerate your progress and which
ones to avoid.
You need to track your progress.
You need to remain focused, remain motivated, and stay consistent to your program over time.
Calling yourself a "hardgainer" and seeking out a specific hardgainer workout or meal
plan or supplement approach is not only totally unnecessary but it also backs you into a corner
and leaves you with the false background feeling that gaining muscle is going to be next to
impossible for you.
Sure, you may not have been particularly blessed in the department of muscle building genetics,
but so what?
How does paying attention to that fact do anything at all to move you forward towards
achieving your goals?
As with anything in life, you need to put your focus on the things that you can control
and forget about the things that you can't control.
Pre-occupying yourself with your genetic makeup is a complete waste of time because absolutely
anyone can achieve a strong, impressive, muscular body if they truly want to.
The only difference is that for some people the process may be longer or shorter.
And whether you have "good genetics" or "bad genetics", so to speak, the overall structure
of your bodybuilding approach is essentially going to be the same.
There really are only two primary factors to pay attention to in terms of structuring
a muscle building approach that is tailored to your specific body type.
The first is going to be your overall calorie intake.
So in order to build muscle, you have to create a calorie surplus by consuming more calories
than you burn each day and this is accomplished by finding your calorie maintenance level
and then increasing it by about 15 to 20 percent.
And you can use our automated macronutrient calculator over on EliteImpactLabs.com to
determine this for yourself and I'll link that in the description box below.
As a general statement, those who are naturally skinny and refer to themselves as "hardgainers"
may tend to burn through energy at a faster rate and will tend to have higher caloric
needs for building muscle.
However, even this is a general statement and will not apply to every person in every
situation.
And the second is going to be your ability to recover from exercise.
The basic goal when structuring a workout plan that is ideal for you is to train as
often as possible while still fully recovering in between sessions.
The more workout sessions you can perform and recover from, the more muscle building
"growth periods" you're going to create and the more overall mass you're going to gain.
Those carrying the "hardgainer" label may also tend to be those with less than average
recovery ability.
As a result, they may need slightly less volume per workout and slightly lower overall training
frequency in order to optimize their gains.
However, this will also vary between individuals and is something that each lifter has to experiment
with on their own.
So, the bottom line here is that if you're consistently coming back to the gym stronger
over time and you don't feel overly run down or fatigued, then the overall workload that
you're using is within an acceptable range.
And for most people this will involve 3 to 5 total workouts per week hitting each muscle
directly 1 to 2 times per week.
So just find your individual calorie, protein, carb and fat needs, structure a workout plan
that allows you to properly recover and make consistent strength gains over time, and simply
move forward from there.
Forget about the idea of being a hardgainer altogether because it really doesn't help
you in any real way.
So thanks for watching this video lesson.
If you did enjoy the video, as always, please make sure to hit the Like button, leave a
comment and subscribe to stay up to date on future videos.
Also make sure to grab your YouTube discount code in the description box below which you
can use on all of our premium quality health, fitness and bodybuilding supplements over
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Thanks for watching this video lesson and I'll talk to you again soon with more free
tips.