Hardgainer

Fortdaddy

I'm a hardgainer at 6"4' and 190 pounds. I probably have one of the fastest metabolism's ever. I am very cut, and I stay that way naturally. I am trying to Bulk up to 210 pounds and have a few questions.

1. Does eating occassional fast food like "McDonalds" for a meal hurt a hard gainer?

2. Does eating Oatmeal In between meals help in the gaining process?

3. Is weight gainer worth investing in, or regular whey will be sufficient? (I have 15 pounds of Prolabs N-Large 2)

I eat about 6 meals a day, and my calorie intake is around 4000 a day. I might as well just consider this "maintenance" for me because I still fail to gain weight. My diet consist of lots of high protein foods such as fish, turkey, chicken, eggs, ect. I also eat lots of pasta, bread, potatoes, rice ect.

When I first started this diet I gained for 163 pounds to 183 pounds in about 6 months. After that everything slowed to a halt. I am very disciplined when it comes to training and dieting, but this is starting to really take a toll on my motivation.

-Fortdaddy

crazycal1

whats youre training like mate?
sounds like an abbreviated routine might be the way to go

einsteins mind was the key to all things...to understand more than to know.

www.extremenutrition.co.uk

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Nick500

1. if your not particularly pre-disposed to fat storage then I don't think having a mcdonalds is too bad occassionally. BUT of course its better to eat clean.

2. Sure, oatmeal is a good low GI carb source and will promote growth.

3. Again, weight gainers aren't as good as real good, and often contain a lot of sugars (which may lead to fat storage and sub-optimal growth), but again, if your not particularly predisposed to fat gain they might suit you fine. Its also true that there are some weight gainers around which aren't that bad, Extreme's performance mass is an example.

It sounds like you already have a good protein base sorted out. Perhaps your doing too much cardio and not taking advantage of all the calories you are consuming by burning them off too soon, or maybe you aren't consuming enough calories in terms of low GI carbohydrates and fats.

Could also be worth investing in some creatine monohydrate to push things along.

My general advice to you is to cook up a huge batch of good carbs in the morning, like brown rice, and bump your meals up with that carb on each meal. Whereas before you maybe would have had 1 chicken breast with 1 cup of rice, try adding an extra cup of rice to it for example. I think carbs might be the key to you gaining weight.

all the best

Fortdaddy

Ok guys thanks a lot for the advice. My training as of right now is the following:

1 day on 1 day off concept.

Day 1: Chest/Tris/Abs
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Bis/Back
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Shoulders/Legs/Abs
Day 6: Rest

Repeat.

I take the following supplements:

Whey
Creatine
Multivitamin

I guess I will just stick it out for the long run. I'm 20 years old, so I may just have to wait until I am older and my metabolic rate slows.

-Fortdaddy

Andy1981iron

Thats a good training split Fortdaddy, plenty of time for rest and growth.

PScarb

Eating foods like this should be something we all do occasonaily as a hard gainer you could get away with it more but definatly not to made a habit of.

well you would get more cals in this way but if you are eating Oats between meals your food is never going to disgest properly. I would increase your meals to 8 per day if you can eat say every 2 hrs you could even do the protein shake in the middle of the night process...

i am not a big fan of weight gainers because they are mostly empty calories a good blended protein drink with added EFA's in my oppinion be a better choice.

you mention that your diet is about 4000cals.
what is your daily diet ? could you post up what you eat on a typical day.
you will probably find that when you detail all of your food over a day or week you are not getting the cals you think you are.
how is your 4000cals split up (protein, Carbs, Fats)