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Hardgaining 101



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Old 02-13-2011, 06:53 PM
rdarken rdarken is offline
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Default Hardgaining 101

Hi all-

This community looks a lot nicer than some others I was poking at, so I figured I'll ask my question here.

I've been working out regularly since college. For the last year, I've been getting in between 3-6 workouts a week, every week, without fail. Right now, my schedule (on a good week) is like this:
Sunday - Yoga & (sometimes) cardio - sometimes legs
Monday - Upper body
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Boxing - sometimes upper body
Thursday - Cardio & legs
Friday - Upper body
Saturday - Martial Arts

Right now, the only cardio I'm really getting is in boxing and martial arts. When it warms up, I'll be running outside again, hopefully at least 3x a week.
I do abs with every upper body or leg workout.
Leg workout is usually machines after a mile run.
Right now upper body involves a ton of pullups (60-70), pushups (75-90), and dips (90-100) because it's too cold to walk to the real gym and there's one in my building (but the heaviest weights are 30 lbs - yeah okay).

I'm in good shape, some people tell me I'm in great shape. You know how it is, though, always something more to strive for.

I'm 5'7" and about 145, last I checked. So, my BMI is pretty much perfect (I think I'm technically 3 pounds underweight) and my body fat is just about non-existent. That's great and all, but I've never been happy with my size. I'm the second-youngest of my generation and most of my older cousins are these hulking guys. I didn't get that gene.
The thing is, I can (and do) out eat them, as well as almost everyone else. I eat a LOT, but I just don't seem to put on weight. Other than saying "eat more," anyone have tips on what I could change? I'd really like to be stockier. Not sure exactly how much weight I'd like to put on. Maybe 10-15 pounds, because of my height.

My eating habits are something like this:
8 AM - Peanut Butter sandwich (whole wheat bread)
9:30-10 AM - Apple or some kind of fruit
11-12 - Sometimes a banana or some almonds
12-1 - Lunch (Usually chicken and rice / potatoes or pasta with meatballs, sometimes sushi or a burger, depending on if a rep is taking us out)
3-4 - Banana
6 - PB&J sandwich
7-8 - Dinner (Again, usually chicken and rice / potatoes or pasta with meatballs - Don't judge me: I'm a single dude, I cook for myself!!)
10-11 - Sometimes some fruit

I try to mix in protein shakes (muscle milk) from time to time, but not every day. Too expensive. When I can find liquid flax seed, I mix that in.
I NEVER eat fast food, I almost never eat any candy or junk food. I don't drink coffee, but I do drink a lot of tea (usually decaf green / red).

Again, sorry this is so long and thanks very much for the help! Been working up the nerve to just ask this for a long time.
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  #2  
Old 02-14-2011, 05:35 AM
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iron_worker iron_worker is offline
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A few tips:

Start turning those "sometimes a banana" or "sometimes some fruit" into "ALWAYS."

Also, try adding up the actually amount of calories you consume each day. Do it for a week and see where you're at. I think you'll find with healthy foods like you've listed it won't be nearly as much as you think.

You DEFINITELY need more protein. 150g protein per day for you I would say is absolute minimum. Get some meat in there! I would really really really really recommend gettin some protein powder. It's the one supplement I strongly recommend for pretty much ANYONE~!

Start a meal plan. You have to be consistent. Shoot for 2800-3000 to start with and see if you gain or lose. Adjust accordingly after a week or 2.

Bulking up using bodyweight exercises is going to be really really difficult. Find a way to get a barbell in your hand and get some weight on it! Squats, deads, bench press, military press ... they are your friends!

Good luck.

IW
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Old 02-14-2011, 02:15 PM
rdarken rdarken is offline
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Thanks a ton for the tips.

Yeah, I know I need 2800-3000 calories a day - it's just HARD to get that many!

Should I be doing Protein shakes every day, then? Is once enough? and is there a specific one you'd recommend given how many calories / how much protein I need?

The bodyweight stuff has been temporary. Once it warms up, I'll be back in the proper gym with free weights. I try to mix up my workouts every few months (or, when I'm in the gym, I like to change up some of the exercises each time I work out). Dips and pullups are pretty standard in rotation. Pullups because they're amazing and dips because I just kind of like them.

Thanks again!
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Old 02-14-2011, 03:22 PM
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iron_worker iron_worker is offline
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You don't HAVE to get protein powder but I would STRONGLY recommend it. It's great for pre workout or post workout nutrition because it is fast absorbing. It's also great for those times when you just don't have the time to make a meal but you do have time to pound a shake.

Don't wait for the weather to warm up. Get to a gym with a barbell. It was -30C (close to -50C with the windchill on a couple especially cold days!) and colder way more than once this year and you dont' see me wussing out. Get your butt to the gym! I live in Saskatchewan, Canada so you can't even complain to me about the weather.

IW
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Old 02-16-2011, 06:13 AM
xXxSeiFxXx xXxSeiFxXx is offline
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No it's not ..i am bulking too, and what makes me get more calories easily is the homemade shakes ..i can get like 1000 cal in 1 minute

try this one:

- glass of milk -- 140
- tub of peanut butter -- 202
- tub of honey -- 130
- 1 cup oats -- 250
- protein powder -- depending on what kind. (200-250)
- 2 bananas -- 205

if you made this shake 2x a day .. you get like 2200 calories.

then go for natural food for the rest of the calories and protein

that's my 5 cent x)
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:14 AM
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That is ridiculous advice.

You should still be trying to eat well and getting your calories spread out over the day.

IW
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Old 02-16-2011, 09:12 PM
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TALO TALO is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iron_worker View Post
That is ridiculous advice.

You should still be trying to eat well and getting your calories spread out over the day.

IW
agree
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Old 02-17-2011, 04:16 AM
rdarken rdarken is offline
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I can't do milk, anyway - lactose intolerance

I did some concentrated curls the other night, so you'll be happy to know that I'm getting back into free weights sooner rather than later.

I guess it's just frustrating because I want to eat healthy, in a healthy way, and that seems to make getting calories hard. If I would go eat fast food or crap every day, I could get 3K calories no problem.
I'm back to two bananas a day, and I'm def going to go ahead and try to work protein shakes in more regularly (once a day at least) - hopefully they'll have liquid flax seed, too, for the extra calories (and health benefits).
I know it's silly to complain since I'm in good shape, but I'm just kind of tired of being the skinny guy all the time.

Thanks again for the help.
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Old 02-17-2011, 05:18 AM
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You just gotta man up and get some serious fork time in.

I finally realized that if I wanted to get big I would have to let go of the thought of being lean all the time and just eat. And recently I just hit 200lb and I dont' think I've gained too much fat so I'm pretty happy.

P.S. - Concentration curls aren't exactly what I meant as free weights ... but it's a start.

IW
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Old 02-17-2011, 06:16 PM
rdarken rdarken is offline
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The thing is, when it comes to eating, I don't have a problem. I can outeat most of my friends, regardless of their body type.
It's the preparation / cost of the food that gets me.

It's much warmer out now, so I'll be back in the gym doing flys and curls and stuff probably tomorrow. Benching makes me feel craptacular, though I do force myself to get it in sometimes.

Thanks for the encouragement - it's definitely helping.
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