Muscle building workout ideas for hardgainers

Now, there are a few questions about hardgainers and muscle growth, lactic acid and DOMS, as well as protein requirements for mass building.

Q. I think about myself a hardgainer as I have a very tough time building muscle. Do you have any kind of approaches for me that will work?

A. If you need a uncomplicated suggestion for muscle size, a total of thirty to sixty reps per body part twice a week is sufficient to trigger size gains in virtually all hardgainers. To use the bench press as an illustration, if you are following an upper-lower split routine, you might do five heavy sets of five reps, followed by a back-off set of ten (5 x 5 + 10 = 35 total repetitions) on Monday and then four lighter sets of ten repetitions (4 x 10 = 40 repetitions) on the Thursday. Most hardgainer workouts should really be based upon this proven mass-building guideline.

Q. What is your opinion on the concept that lactic acid causes muscle soreness?

A. The reality is, far from being a waste product, lactic acid is really a source of fuel for your muscles. Actually, one of the reasons that intense training makes it possible to train harder and longer is that it makes your muscles better at making use of lactic acid. The notion that lactic acid is detrimental is one of the classic errors in the history of science.

Lactic acid has absolutely nothing to do with delayed-onset muscle soreness. The truth is, most of the lactic acid is gone from your muscles shortly after exercise.

Why is it that your muscles get sore a day or two after exercise?

A bout of unaccustomed or unusually rigorous exercise results in inflammation – precisely the same biological protection system that causes the redness, swelling and pain when you cut your hand.

Inflammation is your human body’s reaction to damage so helping to begin the process of repair and healing. And one of the stages in this process is a surge in the production of immune cells, which rise to a high 24-48 hours after exercise.

These cells then produce chemical substances that make pain receptors inside your body – which are responsible for the transmission of certain pain signals – more sensitive.

The result?

As soon as you move, these pain receptors are triggered. Since they are considerably more sensitive to pain than usual, you wind up feeling sore.

Q. Just how much protein is necessary for gaining muscle? I have come across suggestions covering anything from 1 to 2.5 grams of protein each pound of weight, and I’ve also seen quite a few people point out that no additional protein should be used? Who is right?

A. Protein specialist Dr. Peter Lemon advises 1.6-1.7 grams of protein for each kilogram of body mass each day for people engaged in resistance training. Therefore, a 70-kg guy would ingest around 136 grams of protein daily. The majority of bodybuilders will strive for a rather higher number – around 2.2 grams for every kg (one gram for each pound) – which will provide our 70 kilogram guy 154 grams of protein every day.

The higher number stated (2.5 grams every pound) is too high. Surplus protein will be burnt off to provide energy, used for ureagenesis or converted into sugar, and is highly unlikely to be turned into additional muscle mass.