Hard-Gainer Nutrition Tactics
Nutrition Tactics for Ectomorphs wanting to add quality size!
Last week, A young guy in the gym stopped me to ask about gaining weight… (i hate when people interrupt my workout!) The conversation (starting with my response) went something like this…
On Tuesday, the guy came back to me the list he kept in his phone. After one glance, I told him that I knew the answer to my question before he even went through this process.
Bottom line, he is not eating enough!
But to add insult to injury, he was eating a lot of garbage calories.
I told him (purposely without getting into specifics) he needs to decide if he wants to gain weight or add muscle.
He immediately yelled out “Muscle!”
I then told him he will need to figure out what his maintenance level of calories and eat that for a little while. That would start his journey to gaining the weight he wants. Then determine when its good to increase that to keep the gainz going!
Of course he proceeded to asking follow up questions but I told him, i had to train and i didn’t have the time to have that conversation.
(Shameless plug) I told him that I would answer his question in my blog, gymjunkiez.com, this week and I thanked him for the topic idea.
So this is for you my guy, and all of the men and women that have the same question!
Slim build, tall, narrow shoulders, eat all day but doesn’t gain weight (muscle mass), loses weight easily (muscle mass and/or bodyfat)…
This describes an ectomorph body type.
An ectomorph, often referred to as a “hard gainer”, usually has a fast metabolism and needs more calories to maintain a given weight. This elevated metabolism/increased need for calories could be due to a number of factors
- high resting metabolic rate (burning more calories at rest)
- elevated hormone levels (very active thyroid)
- high insulin sensitivity ( body uses carbs efficiently)
- increased fat oxidation capacity (easier time burning fat)
Because ectomorphs tend to burn through carbohydrates very quickly, they will need to follow a high carbohydrate diet when trying to gain muscle.
There it is, Problem Solved right!? No.
The number one reason causing “hard gainers” not to gain weight is under eating. In most cases increasing your caloric intake will lead to weight gain.
Problem solved again right!? No.
All weight is not good weight. For ectomorphs that want to gain quality size (muscle), increasing calories can still be classified as undereating.
The problem is what most define as “eating a lot of calories” doesn’t mean they are eating a lot of in terms of total calories. It means they eat a lot of food in one meal; possibly two. Then they are in a fasted state for the remainder of the day. This results in an increased caloric intake with a lot of garbage calories.
Hard gainers and garbage calories tend to be their own worst enemy. Because of their ability to metabolize calories efficiently along with eating a lot of junk calories, they do not gain the weight they are looking for. In many cases they stay the same weight, but begin to look worse; physique wise; over time. This is because at the current calorie surplus, their bodies tend to maintain or lose muscle size and hold the rest of their weight in bodyfat.
Think skinny fat!
Hard-gainers that want to put on “weight” and be in good shape should define weight gain as increasing muscle mass.
In order to increase muscle mass, there are a few ideologies that will have to be adopted. We will get into those strategies for you ectomorphs to gain weigh, but just know this. You are going to have to eat a lot to grow muscle! And that definition of eating a lot is about to change!
There is no way around that either! As previously mentioned, the primary factor that determines whether you gain or lose weight is your caloric intake (how many calories you eat).
If you eat more calories than you burn (hypercaloric diet) you will gain weight and if you burn more calories than you eat (hypocaloric diet) you will lose weight.
When you eat exactly the same amount of calories as you burn it is called a maintenance caloric diet. Ectomorphs trying to gain muscle need to eat a hypercaloric diet like anyone else who wants to gain weight.
The key is developing a plan of action and sticking to it……. CONSISTENTLY!
Using the tips i am listing below; develop a plan that you can stick to.
Tactics for Daily Meal Planning
1. Eat lean protein with every meal: Good proteins include chicken, lean beef and turkey, tuna and other fish, whole eggs (also has fat)/ egg whites, and protein supplements (find quality sourced protein supplements) .
2. Limit processed carbs: The bulk of your carb consumption should be in the form of quality, unprocessed, low glycemic carbs such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes, rice, whole-grain pastas, breads, and cereals.
3. Eat fruits and vegetables everyday: Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, and many nutrients vital for good overall health, wellness, and growth.
4. Add some healthy fats with every meal (except post-workout): Dietary fat is very important for proper body functioning and hormone production. Most people have an unbalanced view of dietary fat and therefore limit it. Good sources of fat include almonds and almond butter, peanuts and peanut butter, avocado, flax seed and olive oil, and eggs.
5. You do NOT have to stuff yourself: When trying to gain weight, some hard gainers eat to the point of vomiting. This is not healthy or necessary. Instead of eating huge meals, I recommend eating 6-7 decently-sized meals that make you feel full but not stuffed and bloated.
6. Cook meals in advance: Have food already cooked and ready to go when it is time to eat makes getting enough calories much easier and less of a burden.
7. A macronutrient ratio for bulking is 50:30:20/carbs:protein:fats: One should always get 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, this is your primary objective. Above that, carbs and good fats will make up the bulk of your calories.
A simple calculation to determine your maintenance caloric intake is to take your body weight and multiply it by 15; this gives you your total calories to be consumed each day. For example, a 200 pound person would consume 3,000 calories a day.
If you are consuming 3,000 calories, using the macro ratio 50/30/20, this would roughly equate to:
- Carbs = 375 grams
- Protein = 225 grams
- Fat = 65 grams
A good starting point for ectomorphs is to get use to eating at maintenance level using this macro ratio for a few weeks. You will be surprised to know that most gain a few pounds just from making the first change.
8. Eat the bulk of your carbs around your workout: Weight lifting increases the body’s need for glucose, therefore it makes sense to eat carbs around your workout.
For ectomorphs who struggle to gain weight we recommend consuming a fast digesting shake post workout consisting of essential amino acids/whey protein and a high glycemic carbohydrate. Fruit is the easiest and fastest to get a hold of after leaving the gym. A carb based drink is also good. This same shake can also be taken pre-workout.
After this post-workout shake resume your normal protein+carbs+fat meals.
9. If you aren’t gaining weight you need to increase your calories: While some people might be able to gain muscle on eating 250-500 calories above maintenance levels (thats 3500 calories for the example listed above), ectomorphs may need to increase calories to 4,000 or even 5,000 calories a day in order to grow. It is important to monitor your weight and body fat% so you can tell whether or not you need to increase your caloric intake.
10. A cheat meal here and there can be beneficial to ectomorphs: Eating 6 meals a day for 7 days = eating 42 meals a week. Having one or two “off” meals tend to hurt most people trying to lose weight. For ectomorphs, it will keep calories high and can be psychologically motivating. If you want to enjoy a meal out with your friends and family that is highly encouraged!
For hard-gainers, nutrition is far more important to your weight gain goal, than lifting weights.
You can lift hard and heavy and not see any movement on the scale without an effective nutrition plan!
Combine these tactics in the kitchen with a sound hypertrophy based workout plan (another blog post at another time – but in the mean time check out my GVT training post) and you will definitely start to see the scale move. Just be patient and stick to the plan!
Eat Smart! Train Hard!
