Hardgainer Workout Using High Volume Training

If you're still having trouble gaining weight, a good trick to add to your hardgainer workout is high volume training for a few weeks. Now, one very important point here is that I am NOT suggesting you do a million exercises for 2 hours a day 6 days a week.

This is the most detrimental thing you can do as hardgainer. You will see much better results training hard with just a few basic compound exercises a couple days a week the main focus on increasing strength.

However, if you have reached a level in your hardgainer workout where you have increased your strength significantly but still lack mass, try a little high volume training.

Here's an example of an abbreviated hardgainer workout routine that I would normally recommend for hardgainers to first increase their strength:

1. Squats: 5x5

2. Bench Press: 5x5

3. Weighted Pull-Ups: 5x5

4. Military Press: 2x12

5. Romanian Deadlifts: 5x5

This is a basic version of the 5x5 system that has been proven for decades to increase strength like no other.

Now, to add some high volume training in your hardgainer workout, let's use the bench press for example:

After two progressively heavier warm up sets for 5 reps, you do your last 3 sets of 5 with the near maximum weight you can handle for 5 reps. Immediately after this, you strip the weight to an amount that you can do 10 reps for in a relatively fast fashion.

After 30-45 seconds rest, do another 10 reps. Continue with this, while stripping the weight as necessary to maintain 10 clean reps per set, until you do a total of 8 to 10 sets. By the last few sets you probably will only be able to just do the bar, but that's OK. You've already done your strength training with your first 5x5, now the point is to really get the blood pumping in your muscles.

So, the entire process for just the bench press would look like this:

Bench Press: 5x5 strength training; then 10x10 w/30-45 second rest between sets

When doing high volume training like this, it is a good idea to abbreviate your program even further, such as just picking three exercises a day.

Obviously you won't be able to do strength training for the military press on the same day as the bench press with this, since your triceps will absolutely be fried.

Try this high volume training in your hardgainer workout for the most basic compound exercises for a while if you are hitting a plateau in your gains lately, and you'll more then likely add a few extra pounds within a matter of weeks.

Hardgainer Workout

When it comes to a hardgainer workout, less is always more. Hardgainers by nature require much more rest and recovery time then the average person. This is why we see so many hardgainers train for month after month and year after year on long bodybuilding type workouts only to end up looking the same as when they started.

One very important key you must follow as a hardgainer is abbreviated workouts. It is much more effective to spend a good 45 to 75 minutes working hard on 4 to 5 of the most basic compound exercises 2 to 3 days a week maximum then 10 different exercises everyday 4 to 6 days a week.

A true hardgainer workout program will focus on exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, bent-over barbell rows, weighted pull-ups, and shoulder presses. Focusing on just a few of these for 2 to 3 solid hours a week TOTAL will put MUCH more gains in terms of muscle, weight, and strength then any drawn out "advanced" bodybuilding program can.

If the majority of your workouts are isolation exercises then you are doomed from the beginning. No hardgainer will gain an ounce of weight or muscle spending hours and hours on the millions of variations for bicep curls and and tricep presses.

Put effort into bench presses, squats, and bent-over rows in your hardgainer workout, then you'll be on to something. You will not only develop you smaller muscles like like your biceps and triceps, but more importantly you'll be developing your larger muscles which in result will STIMULATE growth in the secondary muscles.

There's a whole science explaining why and how this works, but it's not neccessary to learn all that noise.

You don't have to know how or why electricity works, but you know every time you flip your light switch you lights will come on. Well, trust that every time you put in good quality hard work and consistency into the major compound exercises in your hardgainer workout, you'll start to see much better gains then before.

Hope this helps,

Derek

Hardgainer Workout