How Many Meals A Day Should A Hardgainer Eat?

Written by ama on July 29, 2009

If you are reading this article then the chances are that you already know what a hardgainer is. If you are not sure then the term hardgainer refers to anybody whoc struggles greatly to increase their bodyweight! Often this is put down to the fact that that person has a really fast metabolism.

Metabolism or metabolic rate is the speed at which your body burns up calories through the natural reactions in the body. If your metabolism is particularly slow then it will be easier to put on fat tissue as you are not burning up as many calories at rest as someone with a faster metabolism.

For muscle building purposes we need to create a surplus of calories but for hardgainers this is a difficult thing to do with such a high metabolic rate as it is rapidly being burnt off. So, what can hardgainers do to counter this? Here is our how to build muscle guide for hardgainers:

1) Keep the cardio workouts to a minimum. Cardio workouts will increase the speed at which your body consumes calories both at rest and also uses up calories during the exercise itself. You must avoid this if you are trying to create a surplus amount of calories.

2) Consume enough for two! You need to take on board heaps of calories. To do so, double the portion of food that you would normally consume. Buying extra large bowls, plates and cups will help you not to forget this.

3) Eat 5-7 meals every single day. This is critical to build muscle mass. Your body can only absorb a certain amount of nutrients at anyone sitting so spreading out the meals is also a good thing and ensures that your body is never waiting for its next meal. Eating 2-3 meals per day is claimed to slow down the bodies metabolism which is true but this doesn't mean it is something that hardgainers sould do. Why? because your body can slip into starvation mode triggering the release of certain chemicals that will inhibit the muscle building process.

4) Make use of supplemements. Make use of the fantastic meal replacement powders and protein drinks that are readily available nowadays. These include huge amounts of exactly the ingredients you should be getting. Great times to take them are just after training and just before bed as these are times when your body is going to need the nutrients most.

5)Quit doing exercises such as concentration curls and any other isolation exercises and just do the classic, large multi-joint exercises. Your routine must include: dead lifts, pull ups, squats and bench presses. These are the most efficient way to put muscle in all the right places with the least amount of effort.

6) Stop doing so many sets. Growth can be stimulated in only 40 minute sessions consisting of only 3 sets for each body part and as few as 10 sets a session. More is less for hardgainers! Stimulate growth then get out of the gym and save your calories for growing.

7) Drink ample amounts of water. It is required by the body for so many different muscle building chemical reactions that you really can not skimp on this one, not at all. Consume liquids regularly.

There we have it, try those tips out. Do not turn around after a couple of weeks and say they don't work, be persistent and stick with it for a couple of months and see what the results are. Simply try them out and see what happens? I hope you found our how to build muscle fast tips useful.

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