The Myth of the Hardgainer

 

Why You May Not be a Hardgainer After All

     Based on the title of this essay, there is a good chance you are going to end up reading something different than what you probably expected.  By the “myth” of the hardgainer, I don’t mean that hardgainers don’t exist.  It is certainly true that some lifters find it harder to gain muscle than others.  That’s simple genetics.  The “myth” is the fact that, just because you find it harder to gain muscle, doesn’t mean that there is just one way for you to train.

     When a lifter is labelled a hardgainer—either by himself or by fellow lifters—the typical recommendation given is that he needs to train with a lot less volume than other lifters but with more “intensity”—intensity meaning the effort that is put forth in a set.  But I don’t think this is necessarily the case.

     It is true that there are plenty of lifters that will find it hard to gain muscle on a high-volume program, especially when those programs are coupled with high-intensity and fairly high-frequency.  In the ‘80s, for instance, when I first started training, it was common for many pro bodybuilders to train with a 3-way split using a 6-on, 1-off routine that used multiple exercises and sets per muscle group.  The sets were often quite hard, too—it wasn’t uncommon for many of the top bodybuilders to use various “intensity techniques” such as partial reps, forced reps, or the like on many of the movements.  Your average gym-goer followed suit, and then was left scratching his head, wondering why in the world he didn’t make great gains on Mr.so-and-so’s routine.  Many of the lifters who failed on these routines then switched over to low-volume, low-frequency routines—the kind espoused by the likes of Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones—and found success.  That is, until those programs, too, stopped working.  These HIT programs worked well for the bodybuilder because of the too-voluminous, too-frequent workouts that preceded them.  But the truth is that neither of those style of programs typically work for the average lifter when used as the primary method of training throughout the year.

     There are smart, good ways to program both high-volume and high-intensity programs.  But even on a “good” high-volume program, many lifters will find that they can’t gain much muscle.  The same holds true for well-programmed high-intensity routines.  The lifter may find that those don’t work well, either.  It’s at this point—when the lifter finds that he doesn’t get much results on either high-volume, high-frequency routines or high-intensity, low-frequency routines—that he decides he must truly be a hardgainer.  But I say, “not so fast.”  I think that the majority of the time, those programs don’t work well for the trainee because she’s a high-frequency lifter.  And when she does switch over to a high-frequency program, she finds that being a hardgainer is a thing of the past.

     The only way to find out what kind of program you respond to is to actually try some different programs.  Experiment with some well-designed high-volume routines, high-frequency workouts, and high-intensity regimens.  Run each program for around 6 weeks.  You should find that one form of training is more effective for you than the others.  Once you find which program best suits you, you should then use that form of lifting the majority of the year, with occasional cycles of one of the other methods of training just for a change of pace.

     Many lifters—especially in the West—never consider high-frequency programs to be a training option for the simple fact that they’re never exposed to them.  Frequency is sort of an afterthought.  Usually, either a high-volume or high-intensity program is utilized—with varying degrees of either variable—and then the frequency determined is based on how high either volume or intensity is used.

     Once lifters stumble upon the idea of high-frequency training and want to give it a try after not having success with prior methods, they sometimes run into the problem of how to program it.  In fact, I think this is the issue at stake even when lifters are familiar with the idea of HFT.  Remember that 2 of the 3 training variables—volume, intensity, and frequency—must be “high” (or, at least, 1 high and the 2^nd moderate) and the remaining variable must be low.  I have argued before that one reason for the popularity of high-volume, high-intensity, multi-bodypart splits—where each lift/bodypart is trained, on the average, just about once per week—is because of how easy it is to program.  You show up at the gym, “blitz” and “bomb” a particular bodypart with as many sets, exercises, and intensity techniques as you want (much to your little lifting heart’s delight) then forget about that bodypart until you blast it again in another week’s time.  Even the gym’s dumbest meathead can figure this one out.  And it does work for quite a few bodybuilders.  In fact, I think that, by and large, the successful bodybuilders are simply the ones who thrive on this method.  In fact, I would also argue that it works incredibly well for the steroid-user, but for the majority of natural bodybuilders they end up in a state of both overtraining and undertraining.  It’s too much work for most lifters to do in one workout and then, because of the large workload, too much rest is needed in between workout sessions.

     For HFT to work, you need to use either a high-frequency, high-volume, low-intensity program or a high-frequency, high-intensity, low-volume program.  If you’re really trying to pack on the muscle mass, then I think it’s best to utilize a high-frequency, high-volume program with the intensity as the “low” variable, whether you think of intensity as % of your one-rep max (as strength athletes think of it) or as effort exerted in a set (the way the average American bodybuilder thinks of it), although some lifters will find the inverse to be true, and they will thrive more on high-frequency, high-intensity with volume low.

     If you want to give HFT a go but don’t know where to begin, below are some links to help you get started.  All of them can be effective, so just pick one that looks interesting to you and one that you believe you will (and can) stick with.

High-Frequency Hypertrophy

The Full-Body Big Barbell 5 Program

The Total Body Mass Building Program

High-Frequency Training Manifesto

Size and Strength Simplicity

     Before I wrap this thing up, I need to mention one last thing: nutrition.  Some people are “hardgainers” because they just don’t eat the calories required to build any appreciable mass.  If you’re struggling to gain weight, then you won’t do so unless you can eat enough calories on a daily basis and do it consistently for weeks on end.  If you decide to use one of the programs above for 8 weeks, for example, make sure that you are eating big each and every day that you are on the program.  8 weeks of the right form of training combined with a steady surplus of calories are a sure way to gain mass.

     If you’ve believed yourself to be a hardgainer before reading this essay, don’t accede to your fate just yet.  It could be that, in the end, you weren’t even a hardgainer after all.  You just needed to find the right training program.

  If you enjoyed this essay, would like to read similar ones, and would like to support my writing, then please consider purchasing my most recent e-book, “Ultimate Mass & Power Essays.”