Question on The Easy Gainer Article

Bigger Stronger Leaner Christian Thibaudeau Coaching
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I wrote this in an email to Mr. CT, but his mailbox was full, hopefully anyone can help me out, I would much appreciate it, but I thought I’d post it on this forum, since he writes here frequently. Thanks alot guys.

Dear Mr. Thibaudeau,

I ran across your article on T-Nation about Easy Hardgainers. I have been rather confused lately on trying to find the cause of my plateau and Iâ??m hoping you can help me. Iâ??m 22 years old, started bodybuilding just under a year ago at 6â?? 140lbs at around 3%bodyfat.

I am now 167pds 3-5%bodyfat. I bench 185 for 6, Squat 245 6, and Deadlift 315 for 4. I have been stuck at this weight for the past 3 months or so, and have went from training a 3 on 1 off style to max ot, but I have still not been able to increase my strength or weight on the scale.

I am eating 7 times a day every 2.5hrs and my calories are 5347 Calories 351 protein, 538 carbs, and 193.5 fat, just recently increased to try to gain some bodyfat at least. Iâ??ve included some pics to hopefully see if I fit the easy hardgainer profile, Iâ??ve always been lean, but muscular, strong for my size once I started training, Iâ??ve also put on a lot of weight quickly, as well as having a big shoulder to waist gradient.

I do think there is a strength size correlation, but I am just confused as to how I should get stronger, and why my body fat isnâ??t even going up, because I know I should be in a caloric surplus to gain, but I think I should be eating enough to gain some fat.

Anyway, I didnâ??t see any more articles on your site about easy hardgainers, and I just thought I should ask for some advice and see where it went. Thanks a lot sir.

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Thought I’d Post Legs to, since that along with back is my best bodypart.

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First of all, I do not think you are 3~5% body fat, that would be like contest ready bodybuilder.

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yeah sorry but how are you measuring your bodyfat? It doesnt look 3-5% honestly…

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Well when I first started I was in a police academy, they used calipers at 140 pds I was at 3%. I now use one of those handheld electrical ones…that says I’m at 6.8 as of right now. Which is relatively low as compared to most people. The fact is I’ve been trying to gain weight for awhile and its just been stuck. Keeping it simple I suppose if 5k isn’t the right calories to do it 6k is the next step, I just wondered it being so high for such a weight if maybe my training and rest might be affecting the weight gain…

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Calipers are not effective for measuring individuals who are 6% and under from m experience. Heck, I once tested as “not measurable” (less than 0) myself.

The fact remains that this guy is indeed very lean, I wouldn’t discount 5% at all. His legs show cross striations… some contest bodybuilders don’t even have that.

The reasons that he might not look 5% is that he doesn’t carry much muscle mass, which diminish muscle separation. Heck, I’ve seen endurance runners test under 5% (hydrostatic weighting) who didn’t even abs!

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[quote]rap87 wrote:
Well when I first started I was in a police academy, they used calipers at 140 pds I was at 3%. I now use one of those handheld electrical ones…that says I’m at 6.8 as of right now. Which is relatively low as compared to most people. The fact is I’ve been trying to gain weight for awhile and its just been stuck. Keeping it simple I suppose if 5k isn’t the right calories to do it 6k is the next step, I just wondered it being so high for such a weight if maybe my training and rest might be affecting the weight gain…[/quote]

Listen, unless you are a Tour de France cyclist turning in over 150 miles per day on your bike (thus burning thousands of calories) OR are a 300lbs + monster, your body doesn’t need 5k worth of food to grow.

If you are not growing from 5k it’s either because your training sucks or because you are an oxydizer; you burn most of the nutrients you ingest instead of using/storing them. This is great in the sense that you will never get fat, but it sucks if you want to add size.

The best way to fight this is to use very fast absorbed foods, frequentely. I would suggest Anaconda 4x per day. But it is not yet available.

Your best option would then be SURGE RECOVERY 2 scoops, 4 times a day and to add 5g of leucine prior to your solid meals.