Hardgainer Meal Plans - Nutritional and Planning Advice for Skinny Bodybuilders

If you are a hardgainer, meal plans should be a central part of your bodybuilding regime. In fact it is precisely because you are a hardgainer you must take not of this because gaining muscle mass is not just about pumping iron (though that is essential), it is also about supplying the body with the right nutrients and the required calories to fuel yourself to actually grow the muscles in your downtime. Firstly let’s take a quick look at what it is to be a hardgainer. Long hours at the gym exhausting yourself on weight machines. Sweating, puffing and even bleeding as you push your muscles and endurance to the limit. Sitting with shaking muscles at the end chugging down weight gain supplements only to find weeks of this later your gains have been minimal while other who hardly break a sweat show off another inch they have added to their biceps. Being a skinny hardgainer is not fun and it is usually due to the one thing that sets you apart form other guys ... you high metabolism. Lets talk about metabolism. This is the process of breaking down food we consume into energy which can be used to power our entire body, repair damage, grow muscles and add fat cells as energy storage. Skinny guy hardgainers have high metabolisms which burn through the calories in food faster than most other people which leaves very little to add to fat, or build muscles as all the essential body workings must be taken care of first. It also means that when you are out of calories from food the body must take energy from your fat cells or muscle fibers. If you are skinny you know this means you will be losing muscle if you do not have an excess amount of calories. This means you need to be eating a lot more than you currently are and should also make sure that you are always fueling your body with enough food to stop your body canalizing your muscles also. This is the basis for hardgainer meals plans. Below are some tips you should use when constructing a meal plan for each day and week.

• Plan for 5-6 meals per day rather than 3 to make sure you do not go into caloric deficit. Makes sure each meal is a proper meal not a snack also by spreading the calories for each meal about evenly.
• Calculate how many calories you need per day to just maintain your current weight. You then need to add more calories on top of this to give you the energy you need to grow. Metabolism Calorie Calculator
• Include healthy and calorie dense foods so that you can avoid feeling bloated
• Include protein rich foods such as chicken, lean meat, eggs and more. Protein helps muscle development and reduces muscle pain after a big workout too.
• Include testosterone producing foods such as asparagus and broccoli. Testosterone is a male hormone that helps with muscle growth too.
• Avoid any junk food, processed foods and overly sugary foods. These will raise your blood sugar levels which is bad for your health and bad for gaining muscle too.
• On that note include high fiber foods in your hardgainer meal plan such as legumes which regulate glucose and blood sugar levels.