Work-Out Frequency For Hardgainers - Training Too Often Will Cost You Gains!

You probably know that the crucial phase of bodybuilding is "rest and recovery phase", since muscles do not actually grow during a workout; they grow during the rest phase. As you sleep, your muscle tissue is constantly repairing itself so that you can be ready for upcoming workouts. But how long does it take for a hardgainer to fully recover? How often should hardgainers go to gym?

The answer lies in numbers and these are different for each body type. While hardgainer's body needs more time to recover, endomorphs are the lucky ones that can train more often because their body is able to rebuild the damaged muscle tissue much faster. In the next few lines we will have a look at the training frequency of us, skinny ectomorphs...

Your first important number to remember is 7. Seven is the number of days necessary for an average person to fully recover their muscular tissues after a workout. The 7-day period of time really needs to be stressed here because it is important to make sure that each muscle group gets enough time to repair itself and grow. As I mentioned before it is not in the gym while you are working out when your muscles grow - it is during the rest period. Remember, if you are a hardgainer less is sometimes more! If you push your training too hard, not resting enough, you won't give your body the chance to rebuild your muscles properly. And overtraining will cost you gains!

The next number you should remember is number three, which is the number of workouts per week you should start with as a hardgainer. If you follow the "3-times per week training frequency" you will hit each muscle group with an intense workout only ONCE a week. This should give your muscles enough time to recover, repair themselves and grow.

Being a hardgainer myself, I always wanted to do something about my unattractive scrawny body. Trying different training strategies I finally found out which one works the best for hardgainers. Since then I recommend a "split 3-day workout routine" with an 'upper-lower-upper' body structure. Here is how it works...

Hit your arms and shoulders on the first day (= upper body) followed by 1 day break before the next workout. On the second workout day do your legs so you give your upper body the rest time it needs. After your "leg day" you take another day off and then you hit your back and chest (two large muscle groups) on your third workout day. When you go back to your "day 1" (after 2-day break), you will notice that you are able to lift heavier than the previous week, which means your muscles have grown stronger and bigger!

Now, in the 'Hardgainer Project X' program, Jeff Anderson improves the 'upper-lower-upper' training approach to achieve even better results. I was one of the first lucky guys to try his controversial workout system and I was blown away! You can check out his 3-step training method that absolutely destroyed my 'skinny guy curse' but be prepared for a completely new approach to training! This great technique alone has the power to rock your bodybuilding world!

Andy Mikulka

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