Since Hardgainers pair their nutritional plan with an intense workout regimen the amount of protein needed will a lot more compared to a sedentary person. The extra protein will help support the extra energy needed to support weight training and muscle recovery. Muscle Hypertrophy is possible due to their being an excess amount of protein that is ready to be used.

So what is a Positive Nitrogen Balance?

Having a positive nitrogen balance simple means that after the body has used the bare minimum amount of protein for all the processes its responsible for in the body there is still an excess amount left to be used for protein synthesis. This is important because Protein is not only used for hypertrophy but is used for many other functions throughout the body.

When you have a negative nitrogen balance at the end of the day there might have not been enough protein to go around and this is bad for Hardgainers because the body will actually breakdown parts of muscles cells to get more protein to be used for normal functioning. This process is know as catalobism.

How do we maintain a positive Nitrogen balance

To maintain a positive nitrogen balance most athletes during strength training activities should in take 1.4 – 2.0 gm/kg
body weight. This range provides a level of protein intake that is approximately twice the RDA and should be adequate enough to keep any Hardgainer in a state of positive nitrogen balance.

Eating 1.4 – 2.0 gm/kg of body is not difficult for most people. If you consume enough food to meet your caloric needs and including protein rich foods and beverages at each meal and snack throughout the day you should not be concerned whatsoever.

Lets use an example. Using our Caloric Matrix we’ve determined that a 150 pound (68 kilograms) Hardgainer needs about 3600 calories a day to put on about 1 – 2 pounds a week. If this Hardgainer eats 2 gm/kg of body weight worth of protein that would equal:

150 pounds/2.2 = 68 kilograms x 2.0 gm/kg = 136 grams of protein per day

Now there is nothing wrong with eating a little bit more protein each day. I just wanted to show you what you’d need to maintain at least a positive nitrogen balance. If you take a look at my Caloric Matrix for a 150 Hardgainer we’ve recommended 225 grams of protein.

When it comes down to it a Hardgainer who eats a diet on the high end of protein requirements will never have to worry about having a negative protein balance.

This is the third and final Part of our How Can Hardgainers Gain Weight Healthfully series.

The second requirement of a weight gain program is the need to attain a positive energy balance each and every day. Or in other words calorie intake must exceed calorie expenditure in order for muscle gains to occur.

A positive energy balance can be achieved by:

• Consuming more calories
• Decreasing energy expenditure
• Or by doing both

In our case training less is not going to be a viable option due to the fact that we need at least 2 training sessions a week to stimulate muscle growth. So eating more is going to be the key to attaining and maintaining a positive energy balance.

Approximately 2300 to 3500 calories excess calories are needed to put on 1 pound. But the body does not necessarily make more muscle solely because extra calories are consumed. A combination of the Hardgainer Specific Bodybuilding Workout Routine you’ve already chosen and a positive energy balance are what determine how much weight you gain. Even then you can’t control how fast or how efficient your body will gain because our bodies are programed to use whats needed to recover and adapt and then the rest is stored as energy aka FAT.

So with that said, the goal is to provide the body with just enough calories so that it can create new muscle tissue without exceeding caloric requirements (to reduce the amount of fat stored in the body)

The amount of food we must eat to support muscle growth is highly individual so there is no set number of calories anyone should eat to maximize the amount of muscle vs fat gained. If you are concerned with gaining fat any increase in caloric intake should be minimal (no more than 250 kcals per increase).

Maintenance Calories

A weight gain goal of 1/2 a pound to 1 pound a week is generally accepted as the best method to avoid gaining too much fat while bulking up. This can be done by adding around 300-500 additional calories per day to your the amount of calories need to maintain your weight.

The amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight depends on:

1. Your body type (Ectomorphs tend to have high metabolisms thus needing more food)
2. The Intensity and Number of days your workout – The harder you work the more you’ll need to eat
3. Your Genetics

Finding your maintenance caloric goal is a good starting point for determining how many calories you’ll need to gain weight. The formula below will help you find this number.

Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) Method: Estimated Energy Requirements for Adults

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Note: If you are having a problem with calculating this formula leave a message in the comments box and I’ll help you out. (I’m also going to provide an example for you guys sometime soon)

The number you get from above will give you an estimation of how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight a day. You can then add 300-500 extra calories to that number and theoretically that will be enough to add half a pound to 1 pound a week to your current weight.

Monitor your weigh every 2 weeks to see whether your gaining or not. If you are gaining weight, don’t make any changes and if you are not add another 250-500 kcals to your diet and continue to monitor bi-weekly.

Macronutrition Breakdown

The last thing you need to worry about is how you’re going to breakup how much Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat you’ll consume from the amount of calories you’ll be taking in each day.

A lot of Bodybuilding Magazines, Books and Websites preach that Protein should make up the biggest percentage of food intake because it is essential for protein synthesis.

I agree that protein is important but Carbohydrates are even more critical because they are our bodies main energy source. They need to be present in our diets or our bodies will use protein to make energy and that’s something we don’t want. As a result of this carbohydrates should be the the largest portion of the additional calories we take in (anywhere from 55% to 60% of total calories taken in).

In case you’re concerned I’ll be talking about Protein Specifically in Part 3 of this series so Subscribe to Stay tuned in.

If you need an example of how I break now my Macronutrional Ratio check out my Transformation Page, additionally feel free to leave questions at in the comments box below and I’ll try my best to get to them.

This is Part 2 of the How Can Hardgainers Gain Weigh Healthfully series.

But are they all right for Hardgainers?

What is the most effective Hardgainer Bodybuilding Workout Routine?

In my opinion almost any workout routine will work as long as your muscle are stimulated BUT there are some characteristics you should look for when choosing a routine for yourself. Choosing the routine that is best optimized to maximize our strengths and minimize our training deficiencies will help us get to our goals a lot faster.

Most Hardgainers are predominantly slow-twitch, meaning their muscles are composed primarily of slow twitch fibers. These fibers are well suited for endurance sports but don’t have the hypertrophy potential of fast twitch fibers. They are also less responsive to typical strength training protocols.

If this is the case for most Hardgainers what are we to do?

I’d love to give you the answer right here and now but there are way too many genetic factors that determine what advantages and disadvantages Hardgainers and (Normal gainers) will have. Some of these factors include:

• 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

Even though all these differences exist there are specific things you should look for in your workout routine that will give you a better chance at putting on muscle mass. So What is a Hardgainer Specific Weight Training Program?

It a Program that:

Consists of Sessions that are less than 60 minutes – After 60 minutes the level of muscle building hormones such as testosterone begin to drop. Muscle glycogen levels are also depleted so exercise performance is now in decline. Training past the point where Hormonal levels drop and Fuel stores have dropped can lead to over training which will regularly results in a loss of strength and muscle mass.

Is high intensity – Hardgainers need to push themselves in the gym. This doesn’t mean training stupid and lifting the heaviest weights possible. It means training smart and lifting within your limits with controlled rest periods between each set. Keep rest periods at 90 seconds or less for all exercises. This will help you finish your workout within 60 minutes also with high intensity workouts you maximize the output of growth hormone.

Does not consist of more than two training day in a row – Most mesomorphs and Endomorphs can handle 5 and 6 day a week programs but this would spell DEATH for the Hardgainer. The nervous system can become taxed after two days of high intensity weight training so working more than 2 days in a row can actually negativity affect your CNS. This will prevent the body from recruiting muscle fibers during workouts and will make it hard to make strength gains.

Is progressive – The Aim of each session should be progressively harder and harder. This might mean adding weight each week to your current lifts. BUT DON’T GO OVERBOARD. There will be weeks and in some cases months where you cannot progress anymore. If this happens try to progress in different ways such as getting more work done within your 60 minute workout window.

Is varied – You should change up your program every 4- 8 weeks. Our bodies will get used the same stimulus if it is applied over a long period of time. This is why the program you choose should have some form of variation such as:

• Different exercises
• Different repetition patterns
• Different rest periods between sets

Generally every 4 – 8 weeks your selected program should be changed up to keep your body guessing

Should focus on the Big 3 Lifts – You can recruit most muscle fibers with the Bench Press, Squat, and Deadlift. This in turn results in massive muscle growth so if you haven’t incorporated these lifts into your routine I suggest you do so now (unless you have some sort of physical injury)

So as you might have noticed, I didn’t give a specific answer to the purposed question. I want you guys to go out and do some homework and examine different workout routines. Keep in mind some of the things I’ve just pointed out to you and see if you can find the right fit for you.

I’ll be periodically post different routines on this website too, so make sure you Subscribe to this this website to get weekly updates.

This is Part 1 of the How Can Hardgainers Gain Weight Healthfully series

In order to come up with the core requirements for gaining weight we first must analyze what end product we are trying to achieve.

I think it is fair to say that most Hardgainers would like to:

• put on as much muscle with as little fat gained as possible
• want the added benefits of being stronger with added weight
• have a  better quality of life (the type that comes with having more confidence after looking better)

With these factors in mind I would say that there are 3 requirements for increasing body weight, particularly in regard to muscle mass:

1. You need to have Hardgainer Specific weight training program
2. You need to achieve a positive energy balance
3. You need to achieve a positive nitrogen balance

So get your pencils and notes pads ready, this week we”ll be talking about these 3 requirements and what you’ll need to do to satisfy each one.