Hardgainers Don't Exist

Training Bodybuilding
261

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
greekdawg wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
Yeah I have heard of Iron Addict. Great guy and very knowledgeable.

wannbeBIG: what programs and styles of training have you been doing this past 8 years?

If nothing is working, take steroids - lol.

believe he mentioned in another that that he already has.

Please tell me you’re joking.

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1415508

And wannbeBIG I haven’t mentioned this before, but you was over 170lbs before, and ‘cut’ (i.e - starved yourself) down to 128, could it be possible that you have some self image issues about the amount of fat your body has? have you ever posted pics of yourself?[/quote]

no mate, you got it wrong - I was never cut @ 170lbs but I was fat as fck at 174lbs!

edit: misread your post - what gives you the impression I starved myself down to 128lbs? - even at that weight I still had some fat to lose but couldnt mentally face going any further… so I had to get off the cut - it took me months to shift that weight.

when I first srated training I weighed 112lbs with a waist size of 26-27 inches… I’ve really gained no more than 5lbs of muscle… maybe not even that… so at 174lbs with a 36 inch waist - it’s fair to say I needed to shift that weight… I’m now @ 142lbs.

I do have self image issues - being skinny sucks! that’s why I turned to gear after 3 years with no gains, I desperately wanted/needed to be bigger.

262

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I don’t know this Wannabebig guy.

I do know that ANY non diseased person who has been training for 8 years should have gained 30-60 solid pounds if they are over 16 and under 40 years of age.

2 things I’ve noticed while reading the recent pages in this thread.

1, I don’t take this guy to be lazy or a dumbass as much as that’s possible to determine over the internet and he says he’s eating enough to gain fat so that should cover at least some lean gains.

2, he appears to have drive. 8 years would seem to confirm this.

The only conclusion one can reach is that of all the things this guy is likely to be good at, and I’m sure there are some, it does not seem that weight training is one of them.

That doesn’t mean you should eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die, but if you can’t connect enough with your own body in that amount of time to put on a readily noticeable amount of lean mass, true bigness MAY not be in your future.

I honestly mean no insult or even disrespect by this, really, but you are spinning your wheels and driving yourself to distraction over this. Maybe a GOOD trainer would help after all.

People are naturally inclined to different things and I’m certain you have abilities that would make a good number of us jealous. Little gains in 8 years, EVEN WITH SOME GEAR, can’t bode well for your natural inclination in the bodybuilding game.

I don’t know of a way to be any nicer or more diplomatic in saying this. Even assuming everything I’ve just said is true, I hope you don’t give up and maybe some help with a serious trainer who knows what ball busting bodybuilding training looks like would help. Clearly, going it alone is not working.

[/quote]

cheers for the post! makes a change from all the bitch slapping I’ve received recentley! I will continue to train.

“The only conclusion one can reach is that of all the things this guy is likely to be good at, and I’m sure there are some, it does not seem that weight training is one of them.”

yeah, I agree with that - I’m sh*t at weight training and my brother is pretty good - he’s had no trouble gaining any size, he’s by no means huge (but he’s a lot bigger than me) but he’s finally found something he’s better at than me… and fair play to him, because all the other sports we’ve taken part in, I’ve alwasy come out on top…

I like training though, so whatever happens, I can’t see me not going to the gym… it’s part of my life now.

263

Just tossin my 2 cents in, I used to think I was a hardgainer, but then I started to eat and train with more discretion, and saw a huge improvement over the years.

264

Just to complement my other thread.

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hardgainer: someone who believes 30 minutes of training three times a week will make them the next Mr.O in a year.

266

[quote]pachell wrote:
hardgainer: someone who believes 30 minutes of training three times a week will make them the next Mr.O in a year.[/quote]

You mean it won’t? No, you must be wrong, I do bicep work three times a week.

267

[quote]pachell wrote:
hardgainer: someone who believes 30 minutes of training three times a week will make them the next Mr.O in a year.[/quote]

I’ve not ever believed that, so that’s your bonfire pissed on.

268

[quote]Makavali wrote:
pachell wrote:
hardgainer: someone who believes 30 minutes of training three times a week will make them the next Mr.O in a year.

You mean it won’t? No, you must be wrong, I do bicep work three times a week.[/quote]

You’d better be careful! You might get htoooge arms, and everyone knows if you get hyooge you start on them steeroyds.

269

To say that hardgainers dont exist and that everyone will add muscle if they just eat and exercise is stupid and ignorant.

Cortisol output
Insulin sensitivity
Thyroid output
Thyroid sensitivity
Testosterone production
Growth hormone output
IGF output
Muscle fiber composition
CNS recovery rate
Digestive capacity
Amount of muscle fibers
Length of muscle bellies/tendons
Muscle insertion points

These a just a few of the different things that make up a persons ability to gain muscle mass, if some of these values are low in some people than in others then they are the typical “hardgainer”.

270

Read the damn thread, lolwut.

271

[quote]lolwut wrote:
To say that hardgainers dont exist and that everyone will add muscle if they just eat and exercise is stupid and ignorant.

Cortisol output
Insulin sensitivity
Thyroid output
Thyroid sensitivity
Testosterone production
Growth hormone output
IGF output
Muscle fiber composition
CNS recovery rate
Digestive capacity
Amount of muscle fibers
Length of muscle bellies/tendons
Muscle insertion points

These a just a few of the different things that make up a persons ability to gain muscle mass, if some of these values are low in some people than in others then they are the typical “hardgainer”.
[/quote]

well, maybe hardgainer is not a body type, it is just a syndrome of conditions to be adjusted.

272

[quote]juanjromero wrote:
well, maybe hardgainer is not a body type, it is just a syndrome of conditions to be adjusted.[/quote]

Hardgainer is a body type because the chemicals in the body are pre-determined by genetics.

I think the OP is making the mistake of classing ectomorphs as hardgainers, ecto’s are skinny people with a good anabolic chemical profile for adding mass, they only require food and proper training but hardgainers are people with a catabolic negative chemical profile so even if they was to eat lots of food and train they wouldnt respond as well to muscle growth because of their genetics and physiology.

I’m sure if a hardgainer corrected every factor that makes his body’s catabolic then yes he probably would be able to gain muscle but to do that requires ten times more work then a normal guy, thats why they’re called “hardgainers” and not “impossible-gainers”, they have more factors to concider other than just not eating enough or not training hard enough.

273

[quote]Short Hoss wrote:
Read the damn thread, lolwut.[/quote]

That takes effort though, 11 pages pfft.

Edit:- ok i just skimmed through and what i said above has already been said a few times in this thread, my bad.
But still it just goes to show that “hardgainers” do exist.

274

hardgainer: skinny bastard who’s obsessed with being an ab lobster, doesn’t go heavy, and is scared to gain a pound of flub. True 99.99% of the time…

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[quote]pachell wrote:
hardgainer: skinny bastard who’s obsessed with being an ab lobster, doesn’t go heavy, and is scared to gain a pound of flub. True 99.99% of the time…[/quote]

No thats an idiot not a hardgainer.

276

[quote]lolwut wrote:
pachell wrote:
hardgainer: skinny bastard who’s obsessed with being an ab lobster, doesn’t go heavy, and is scared to gain a pound of flub. True 99.99% of the time…

No thats an idiot not a hardgainer.
[/quote]

The difference is?

277

[quote]pachell wrote:
lolwut wrote:
pachell wrote:
hardgainer: skinny bastard who’s obsessed with being an ab lobster, doesn’t go heavy, and is scared to gain a pound of flub. True 99.99% of the time…

No thats an idiot not a hardgainer.

The difference is?[/quote]

Hardgainers eat alot, train hard and want to gain overal muscle mass but still have trouble.

Idiot doesn’t eat or train correctly and is only obsessed with abs.

278

Wow what a heated debate, can I end it?

I’m a hardgainer…lol

A hardgainer is someone with a thin bone structure and an unbelievably fast metabolism and therefore (by nature) is not built for massive amounts of muscle. They are naturally lean.

As a hardgainer, you can over-ride the metabolism, but you cannot build more muscle on a frame that’s not designed for it.

A hardgainer is lucky to devolop 15 inch biceps! Their bone structure and hormonal balance doesn’t allow for much more.

Yes, the term is used a lot and for the wrong reasons (e.g. a lack of results when the genetic potential hasn’t even been reached), but an easy gainer has much more potential for maximum strength and size than a hardgainer does.

Of course hardgainers exist…

Just you try eating almost 6000 calories per day and loosing weight with it (no cardio either) and tell me that hardgainers don’t exist…that happened to me once.

279

[quote]its_just_me wrote:
Wow what a heated debate, can I end it?

I’m a hardgainer…lol

A hardgainer is someone with a thin bone structure and an unbelievably fast metabolism and therefore (by nature) is not built for massive amounts of muscle. They are naturally lean.

As a hardgainer, you can over-ride the metabolism, but you cannot build more muscle on a frame that’s not designed for it.

A hardgainer is lucky to devolop 15 inch biceps! Their bone structure and hormonal balance doesn’t allow for much more.

Yes, the term is used a lot and for the wrong reasons (e.g. a lack of results when the genetic potential hasn’t even been reached), but an easy gainer has much more potential for maximum strength and size than a hardgainer does.

Of course hardgainers exist…

Just you try eating almost 6000 calories per day and loosing weight with it (no cardio either) and tell me that hardgainers don’t exist…that happened to me once.

[/quote]

6000 calories?!?!!? THATS AWESOME!

280

[quote]ronaldo7 wrote:

6000 calories?!?!!? THATS AWESOME![/quote]

I know lol. I don’t know what I was doing that week (I think it’s because I was doing full body workouts three times a week and lots of work which is a manual labour job). I got most of it in through liquid meals (plenty whole eggs!)

I know that in the Royal Marines (military), they have to eat at least 6000 cals per day just to support the high volume of training they do evey day. It’s literally a program of eating and exercise. But when you get up at 6am, train like a mad man, you NEED that much. Plus, most marines that I know are at least 6ft.2" or taller. Even the average bodybuilder doesn’t need that much, it’s just because of the amount of exercise the marines do.

Also, bear in mind that the more you eat (along with exercise), the quicker your metabolism gets (T3 levels go through the roof). This works the other way too; the less you eat, the slower your metabolism gets. Hence the reason why some people can’t even lose fat on 3 salads a day!