Muscle Gaining Plan For the Hardgainer

If you want to be big, you have to eat big. It’s as simple as that. And in this article, we teach you how to do it. It’s almost certain you’ve already read something on this topic on the net. But it wasn’t enough. The information wasn’t as specific as you had expected.

You want a clearer answer or the “secret” to this great mystery of making real muscle gains. Well, we might disappoint you, but the truth is that there isn’t a secret or a magic pill or a quick fix that will make you the Hulk overnight.

As with everything in life that’s worth having, if you want to be big, you have to work hard and be dedicated. It’s a process, and it’s not as sexy or as easy as the fitness industry would have you believe. In our society of instant gratification, that’s the last thing we want to hear, but there’s no escaping it.

So, if you want to spare yourself time and are still looking for that magic pill that’s gonna make you huge, just read a supplement ad or a muscle magazine. But if you’re exhausted from spending endless hours on the net looking for the next fad training program or fad diet, you’ve come to the right place.

If your goal is to gain quality mass, you’ll have to take the same approach to your diet as you do with your training. You have to ask yourself how important your meals are when you’re trying to gain lean muscle mass. Some people are so dedicated that they’d rather miss a workout than missing a single meal. It’s imperative that you into this kind of mentality.

You should also take into consideration that in terms of dieting for bodybuilding, the one-size-fits-all method will invariably fail. In bodybuilding nutrition, dieting rules are never absolute. Of course, there are overall guidelines which can help you create a custom diet plan, but if you’re serious about bodybuilding you’ll have to make adjustments according to your specific situation and learn to listen to your body.

And it needs to be said that gaining weight is not going to be easy, just like trying to lose weight. It can be extremely hard, both physically and mentally. It’ll require discipline and mental focus, the same as training. But you should not allow yourself to get discouraged. If you’re consistent, in the end, you’ll be rewarded with a great physique.

Meal timing

The first thing you need to do is grab a pen and paper and write a thorough and detailed meal plan you know you’ll never deviate from. Strive to write down as many details as possible. This will minimize the risk of falling off the wagon. Strive to reach 6 meals per day.

This means eating a meal every 2-3 hours. Assuming that you’re sleeping for at least 8 hours per day, this means you’ll have 16 waking hours to eat all of your 6 meals. The meals will be spaced out at even 2-3 hour intervals from the time you wake up. Not that you can’t eat 3 or 4 meals a day, but for a guy that can’t gain quality weight it will be very hard to be able to consume so much food in 3 meals.

As we previously mentioned, as soon as you write your meal plan, never stray away from it. You’re asking why! Because the body will need you to get into a rigid diet regimen. It will demand it. After a hard training session, the body will crave the nutrients at the exact same time each day. For example, if you accustom your body to a meal at 12 am., but for some reason you miss it, it’ll start to cannibalize the muscle tissue.

That’s why the first meal needs to be consumed as soon as you wake up in the morning. The last meal should be eaten right before going to bed. There is some contradicting information on the topic of whether one should eat before going to bed, but just to be on the safe side, it’d be better if you had your dinner.

As long as it’ not pasta, sweets, and candy, there’s no need to worry. It needs to be noted that during sleep, the body is basically starving. That’s why you need to feed it after the sleep is over. The most commonly suggested breakfast is oatmeal with some protein. We suggest several egg whites, a cup of oats and a piece of your favorite fruit.

How many calories?

Now that we’ve covered how important meal timing is, next, we’ll discuss calories. It’s a tricky subject and the info found on the Internet tends to over-simplify things. And there are people who take things to the extremes both on the side of weight loss and weight gain. For example, 9 calories per pound of bodyweight are too little. It should be the top end when trying to lose weight.

When you’re cutting you could begin with nine calories per pound of body weight as the baseline level for at least 2-4 weeks and then you’ll proceed by lowering the calories at steady increments. Fifteen calories per pound of bodyweight are the best starting level suited for a moderate weight gaining diet.

Start at 15 calories per pound and after two to four weeks have passed, increase the calories gradually. For example, someone weighing 200 pounds would start off with 3000 calories and then adjust according to his/her goals.

The truth is that when it comes to dieting, the majority of people are not led by common sense. The mentality of “more is better” is spreading like an epidemic. Modern people want immediate results and won’t satisfy with anything less. Well, good luck with that.

In bodybuilding, patience is the most important factor, and you need time to figure out what works for you and ditch the things that don’t. If people were told the truth of what they really needed to do to get those huge arms they see in the magazines or become incredibly strong, the majority would simply give up before even starting, thinking it’s not worth the effort.

So, going back to our example of someone weighing 200 pounds. That someone would really have to resist giving in to the urge of starting off with 4000 calories. No matter if you’re in a bulking or cutting phase, never use these so-called “shock tactics”.

You should never try to surprise your body with huge and sudden calorie increases or reductions. It’s already hard as it is to gain only one pound of lean muscle mass. Why shoot yourself in the foot with some crazy tactic that will cost you half a pound of that hard-earned muscle?

For example, let’s assume that you’re eating 200 grams or protein a day and you double that to 400. How do you think your body will metabolize all the extra protein? Chances are half of it isn’t going to get used at all, and it’ll just end up in the toilet.

What’s more, it’s going to be really hard eating double the amount so soon and you’ll just quit after a couple of weeks. Patience is imperative in this case as always. It’s all about gradual increments. Start off with a sustainable caloric amount then increase gradually.

Macronutrient ratios

Next, let’s discuss the most optimal macronutrient ratio for muscle growth. Here’s the basic outline:

40% carbs

40% protein

20% fat

You can achieve this ratio by getting 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight and 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight.

Fats are the last macronutrient to consider and they need to be consumed from healthy fat sources. Fat can also be found in the foods rich in protein like chicken, eggs or beef. Protein is the number one nutrient for bodybuilding, which makes it essential to consume at every meal.

Taking the 200-pound guy as an example, it’s recommended that he start with 300grams of carbs and 400 grams of protein daily.

If you divide this into 6 meals, you get 50 grams of carbs, 67 grams of protein and around 20 grams of fat in every meal. Again, this is just a basic guideline for a moderate weight gain plan.

In terms of what foods to buy, there are lots of awesome options. You can get protein from lean beef and chicken. Eggs are also full of it, as well as all types of fish or turkey. It’s not uncommon for bodybuilders to eat up to 10 whole eggs a day. If you’re on a budget, always look for good deals and the best cuts.

Meat is expensive, so this will help you a lot in the long-term. Whey or casein protein powders are also a great addition to an already nutrient-dense diet. Always strive to get as much protein as possible from whole foods and only then switch to supplements.

You can get carbs from all kinds of sources, but it is important that you’re getting complex slow-digesting carbs. You can eat all kinds of oats, brown rice, integral pasta, potatoes, as well as eat a great variety of fruits and vegetables.

The most commonly used source by bodybuilders are oats, since they are filled with low glycemic index carbs which are processed slowly by your digestive system,  you full for longer periods of time and provide you with stable energy levels throughout the day, unlike fast carbs which give you an insulin spike after which you experience an energetic crash.

When it comes to healthy fats you can get them from all kinds of fatty fish, olive oil, peanuts, almonds, cashews etc. Unhealthy fats like trans fats are mostly found in junk food and if you are serious about bodybuilding you should avoid it at all costs.

Fine-tuning your diet

Every advice related to bodybuilding nutrition needs to be treated as a guideline first and foremost. The reason for this is that there are so many other factors that can have an impact on weight gain like your genetics, how often you train, intensity, training volume and many others.

You could be on of those people who have an extremely hard time gaining weight and would need to add additional 500 calories. Who knows, maybe even 1000. But, eventually, you’ll reach a point where a certain weight will become your new normal weight.

You will reach that number on the scale. That’s why the most important takeaway from this article is experimenting and seeing what works best for you. Listen to your body. Study how different foods or calorie decreases or increases affect your mood.

Try to see patterns in the chaos and eventually you’ll start seeing the results you’re after. Bodybuilding is not a race, it’s a marathon. And it needs constant analysis. Another reason why it’s essential that you keep a journal of what you eat, how many calories you consume, grams of protein, grams of carbs etc.

In this regard, bodybuilding is akin to the scientific method. You change a specific parameter and you see how it affects the whole system. Then you change something else and again observe if there are any different outcomes. With testing and experimentation, you will find what works best for you.

Eating for muscle can be as hard as training for muscle. This is not for regular people, who just want to stay in shape. This is for dedicated lifters who are always seeking to take their physique to a more advanced level.

Let’s assume consuming 15 calories per pound of bodyweight for 4 weeks did not give you the results you expected. You feel energized and strong, but the number on the scale hasn’t moved at all. Then you bump it up to 18 calories per pound of bodyweight.

Again, you do this for additional 4 weeks and observe the outcome again. Keep at it. Analyze the results. Reanalyze if need be. You either do this or guess like the majority of people do. If you’re serious about bodybuilding guessing is something you can’t afford. Yes, measuring everything takes time, but if you aren’t willing to put the effort, you’re not going to reach your goals.