Hard Gainer’s Exercise: Quality before Quantity

Hard gainers need to be consistent with their exercise routines to get to the level of fitness they desire. In working out, hard gainers need to focus on quality before quantity. This means using weights or executing each exercise repetition slowly and with good pacing. The number of repetitions (the number of lifts or actions) and sets (groups of lifts or actions) for each exercise will be determined by the maximum that your body can squeeze out. In weight training, forcing the last rep is how you build big muscles at the start. Of course, the focus of the exercise should be on the body part being sculpted, like the abs.

Unlike easy gainers, hard gainers can concentrate more on abdominal exercises since their objective isn't to lose weight, but to build and define the muscles. When you feel that you already have enough build packed in, you can then focus more on the quantity of reps and the intensity of sets. 

But hard gainers also have to factor in adequate rest time. In some cases, resting is even more important to hard gainers than exercising. This is because muscles will only respond and grow if given enough rest time. Working out hard every day does little to give you bulk where you need it since the over exertion will only burn fat away and also waste some muscle. In training, muscles do get torn and damaged at the microscopic level. During intense workouts, the muscles can get used up as energy, so it makes sense to get adequate rest.

Our muscles will only get repaired between workouts. It's a big plus to have regular time-offs. For hard gainers, rest periods are ideally the three days after working out. If your workout is really intense, you will discover that your body will ache two days after the workout, especially if you haven’t worked out in a long time. If it's immediately right after the intense workout, your body will feel rubbery from all the reps. If you’ve worked out your legs, you'll find it difficult to climb the stairs later on. This state of discomfort will last three days, after which you'll start to feel better.

After a while of working out, you'll discover that you are stronger and able to last longer lifting weights. The discomfort will be less which means your muscles are responding well. But if you really want your muscles to be hard, strong, and solid to the touch, then exercising them with weights every day is recommended. You only have to be careful so you don’t end up with a muscle tear or hernia. Resting is very important in order not to get injured. If you can’t be too intense in your workouts, you should at least be consistent. In either case, observe rest periods.

    Hard gainers need only to remember the following: 

    1. Be less picky in how much and what you eat, 

    2. Exercise slowly for bulk-building;

    3. Focus on the quantity of reps and sets only for definition;

    4. Reps and sets are determined by how much you can muster.

    5. Get adequate rest between exercise sessions.

The Key to Sustainable Weight Loss is Simple

People try to lose weight, but it's a common fact that not all succeed. One reason is that they pay little or no attention to the glycemic levels of the carbohydrate foods they eat. It's useful to know something about glycemic index (GI) and how eating low glycemic foods can help a lot in keeping weight loss sustainable.

So what is the glycemic index? Well, it's essentially a list of foods what show what level they are in in terms of how much they add to blood sugar levels considering their nutritional values. It's like a ranking chart of carbohydrates. With it, you can see which foods contain carbohydrates that give you more value for your money spent on workouts.

As a general rule, it should be a practice of people - especially those who are inactive, overweight or having trouble losing weight - to be picky in their choice of food. They should eat mostly those with low GI. This way, the body is not forced to compensate or work harder to eliminate too much sugar, resulting in fluctuating energy levels and risks for diabetes. Of course, a consistently high level of energy helps in eliminating calories.

Low GI foods include whole grains like bran, oats, rice, and barley and processed foods from such sources like noodles and even pasta, which is made from flour. Asians, who eat rice and products from rice everyday are generally slim and few become prone to being obese. Of course, let's not forget our daily dose of vegetables, which are perfect for filling our tummies up without helping in extra pounds.

You Could be Fat Due to Habits that Are Hard to Break

Some people are predisposed to being fat, but this does not mean that they are no longer able to become thinner or lose weight. Fact is that most of them may not have started out as fat and just grew fat in time and as they aged.

Habits actually play a big part in getting fat. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you will have a greater chance of getting fat. If you give in to your cravings for sweets and fatty foods, you will get fat. Of course, if you are constantly eating foods with empty calories, you will also get to be fat. If you can do the opposite of these habits, you will have a better chance of losing weight and getting rid of fat.

Watch the video above on how breaking some hard-to-break bad habits can make you lose fat.