Healthy weight gain can at times drive you nuts especially when you do not achieve your goals.When you reach this point, it’s time to look for plan B.
Most people are under the impression that they need a highly complex training program with a lengthy list of supplements and an iron will in order to get in shape. That’s why people are spending so much money on personal trainers, gyms, creatine, protein shake, and services like’ Insanity Workout.’
But that’s not supposed to be true. In reality, as long as you maintain a reasonably decent training program and are consistent, you should see results. Even if you just press up a few times every night, this should be enough to bring about some positive change in your body. Could that be better? Yeah. Sure. But it’s supposed to be enough to do something.
So if you’re doing that and your training is really consistent, why don’t you see any results? Ok, there are a couple of reasons.
You’re Not Giving it Your All.
The first and most probable cause here is that you don’t put enough time into your training. If you lift weights or do CV training, it’s not enough merely to go through the motions; you really have to force yourself and you have to work hard enough to feel the burn or the pump in your muscles and feel the sweat forming on your skin.
Hard gainers – Who are they?
While trying to gain weight sometimes it tends to be challenging especially when you don’t see results. Most people don’t use proper scientific training and rarely work hard, so they never make any progress. These lazy trainees often use this term hardgainer to mask their lack of motivation.
Always remember one thing; you can’t consider yourself a hardgainer before you begin to work out. You must have trained regularly for at least 6 months without any results before you can call yourself a hardgainer.
Having said that, you can agree that there are a few real unfortunate souls who are truly hard gainers. These guys train month after month, eat extra calories and rarely see any muscular growth.
If you’re unfortunate, I can understand how frustrated and lonely you might feel. Why alone? It’s because for such souls there’s very little concern. Billions of dollars are spent all over the world on research to find out how to deal with the crisis of obesity, but very little is spent on helping hard-gainers.
Best diet for hard gainers.
We all know that when it comes to losing or gaining weight, diet determines results more than anything else.
And when it comes to gaining weight, you’ve undoubtedly heard that you have to eat, eat and eat.
Well, there’s some level of truth in that cliche. If you’ve always had trouble gaining weight, you’re probably going to have to eat more food than you’re used to.
You will ask yourself: How many calories? How much protein? What types of foods are best? Let’s answer some of this questions.
- How many calories? To summarize this issue, for you to gain weight in a healthy way, you need to eat more calories. A normal person consuming 2000 calories is capable of gaining a reasonable amount of weight. For genuine hardgainers who don’t procrastinate consuming 4000-5000 calories are can actually bring positive results.
- How much protein? Proteins are building blocks of life because they make up critical portions of our cells that are essential for growth and repair. Research shows that minimum requirements are around 0.8g/kg body weight, while serious athletes may need as much as 1.4g/g. Protein supplements can help boost intake.
- What types of foods are best? Some of my go-to bulking foods that will help you get in your calories include:- Eggs, Red meat, beans, rice, chicken,whole milk etc Most of these foods are calorie dense. Include a variety of nuts & seed, fruits and vegetables i.e peanuts, cashew nuts, macadamia, chia seeds, bananas, avocados,dates among others.
5 Hard gainers Hacks to gaining weight.
- Pump up on protein shakes. – Have a protein shake after workout. That’s right, you should have a protein shake right after your workout in addition to a carb drink during the workout. Post-workout food performs recovery magic and helps you to pay off your hard work in the gym. Adding some carbs (berries, sugar, almond milk, powder) to your shake is a way to sneak into some extra calories and make your shake perfectly powerful and delicious.
- Eat frequently. You need to eat more often, every 2-3 hours making approximately 6 meals daily. Since your rate of metabolism is so high, you need to fuel your engine constantly. If you want to get bigger, it’s your responsibility to eat. That might mean that even if you are not hungry, you need to feed. Not everyone knows this, but it’s not an easy job to gain weight as an ectomorph. You need to stay focused and be committed to the intake of quality calories.
- Capitalize on Carbs. Much of your caloric intake should come from carbohydrates. The greatest thing about carbohydrates is that we can eat loads and loads of them without getting full. Use that to your advantage by consuming a generous serving of carbohydrates at every meal. Starchy, unprocessed, whole grain will help you feel and look your best (consider foods like yams, cassava, sweet potatoes over white bread, whole grains over frosted flakes.) During your workout, drink simple carbs (you will feel energized and have to give more, especially towards the end of a grueling workout). But HEADS-UP: don’t get used to drinking simple carbs throughout the day. Keep your carbs unprocessed, starchy, and whole to look and feel your best outside your workout window (from the start of your workout until about an hour later).
- Watch the scale. Push your intake of calories until you start to gain weight. You want someone trying to lose weight to do the exact opposite. Add roughly 500 calories to your diet and see if your weight begins to rise. If not, aim to reduce the workout of non-resistance exercise (any exercise dependent on cardio). Any weight gain yet? Add an additional 500-1000 calories to your diet. Repeat until the scale begins moving.
- Don’t pile on junk. Don’t let ectomorphia be an excuse to eat junk. Fruits and vegetables are still very important. Vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients are essential for you to grow and be healthy in these foods. Protein is also very essential. Like all other good eaters, you should make sure you eat protein with every meal. That means eggs for breakfast, mid-morning nuts with a smoothie(which are mostly fat, but contain protein), chicken for lunch, a post workout protein shake and steak for dinner. Mmmmm. Just because you can manage to eat junk without adding weight doesn’t mean you ought to. Always remember to make healthy food decisions for a healthy body.
Conclusion
The 5 hardgainers hacks above are outstanding when it comes to Healthy weight gain. All it requires is persistence, patience and proper training. In terms of foods, they should be highly nutritious and dense in calories. Ensure that your workout are muscle building e.g lifting weights and using resistance bands or machine .
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