Mass - Gaining Weight
Gaining weight for hard-gainers can be tough- very tough. But it can be done! If you want to gain 5-15 pounds, and you have not maxed out every (natural) angle for gaining lean body mass, then read on . . .
REST
Hardgainers need rest. Squeeze all your working out into 2 consecutive days, and rest for 5 consecutive days or more. Eat more on rest days.
Hardgainers tend to overtrain more easily, which is why we need to be generous with the 'rest' part of our schedules. Overtraining more or less puts the brakes on gaining muscle. Some judicious overtraining can be very useful, when followed by enough 'undertraining'.
Sleep is massively important for all athletic types, and even more important for hardgainers.
Sleep to grow- a good 9 plus hours, and go to bed early, to minimise catabolic hormones, ie; cortisol.
Sleeping from 10:oo to 7:oo is wayyy better than from 12:oo until 9:oo, even though both schedules give 9 hours' sleep. Try earlier, and see the difference yourself!
No sleep = no muscle gain- no matter what is happening in the gym or the kitchen!
Gaining weight for hard-gainers can be tough- very tough. But it can be done! If you want to gain 5-15 pounds, and you have not maxed out every (natural) angle for gaining lean body mass, then read on . . .
REST
Hardgainers need rest. Squeeze all your working out into 2 consecutive days, and rest for 5 consecutive days or more. Eat more on rest days.
Hardgainers tend to overtrain more easily, which is why we need to be generous with the 'rest' part of our schedules. Overtraining more or less puts the brakes on gaining muscle. Some judicious overtraining can be very useful, when followed by enough 'undertraining'.
Sleep is massively important for all athletic types, and even more important for hardgainers.
Sleep to grow- a good 9 plus hours, and go to bed early, to minimise catabolic hormones, ie; cortisol.
Sleeping from 10:oo to 7:oo is wayyy better than from 12:oo until 9:oo, even though both schedules give 9 hours' sleep. Try earlier, and see the difference yourself!
No sleep = no muscle gain- no matter what is happening in the gym or the kitchen!
Franco Colombu deadlifts
Train Smart
Lift heavy and hard. Get strong in the gym. Sissy training gives sissy results, so lift the tough stuff- big deadlifts, big squats, big barbell rows, and big standing presses. Those lifts are your best friends if you want mass. All with free weights. Machines are for those who don't know better. Be in the know, and do the right thing for your muscles! Freeweights and kettle bells are the undisputed champions of gaining strength, power, and mass! See the 'Videos' page or 'Anthony + Friends' page for more on kettle bells. Leave the machines for the "I don't want to sweat and strain" crowd. You gotta put out in the gym to get results!
Arnold, Lee Haney, Markus Rühl, Dorian Yates have all said the same thing; heavy free weights is THE way to mass. Markus Rühl put it well; "Take a look around and you will see that nearly all the biggest guys at any gym in the world use mostly free weights when they train. The smaller guys use less free weights and more machines. Do you really think this is a coincidence?”
train your LEGS
When I am asked how to train to get big arms, I say "First, train your legs". Training legs heavy and hard is a lot more anabolic than just training arms. Training legs will actually result in bigger arms, due to the whole body anabolic effect. So, go ahead and train arms. Just be sure to dilligently train legs, as well, to get the most gains from your arm training. Besides, a strong upper body would be totally useless in real life without a strong foundation, to be able to use that power- that means a strong back, glutes, and legs.
Lift heavy and hard. Get strong in the gym. Sissy training gives sissy results, so lift the tough stuff- big deadlifts, big squats, big barbell rows, and big standing presses. Those lifts are your best friends if you want mass. All with free weights. Machines are for those who don't know better. Be in the know, and do the right thing for your muscles! Freeweights and kettle bells are the undisputed champions of gaining strength, power, and mass! See the 'Videos' page or 'Anthony + Friends' page for more on kettle bells. Leave the machines for the "I don't want to sweat and strain" crowd. You gotta put out in the gym to get results!
Arnold, Lee Haney, Markus Rühl, Dorian Yates have all said the same thing; heavy free weights is THE way to mass. Markus Rühl put it well; "Take a look around and you will see that nearly all the biggest guys at any gym in the world use mostly free weights when they train. The smaller guys use less free weights and more machines. Do you really think this is a coincidence?”
train your LEGS
When I am asked how to train to get big arms, I say "First, train your legs". Training legs heavy and hard is a lot more anabolic than just training arms. Training legs will actually result in bigger arms, due to the whole body anabolic effect. So, go ahead and train arms. Just be sure to dilligently train legs, as well, to get the most gains from your arm training. Besides, a strong upper body would be totally useless in real life without a strong foundation, to be able to use that power- that means a strong back, glutes, and legs.
nom nom nom!
A lot of folks are doing intermittent fasting, and I eat like a SNAKE which is kind of intermittent fasting.
We have all heard about the 5-6 small meals a day, space out your meals into roughly equal portions, blah, blah, blah.
Why would we the hardgainers eat like people who want to lose chub? It is counterproductive for the same reasons that it helps the overweight; it stimulates metabolism. If we had a slow metabolism, then we wouldn't be on this page, looking to gain weight!
When I lived in Rome, and weighed 199 glorious pounds (the pics on this site are me at my usual 175ish), I ate like a snake. I had read a well researched paper on weight gain by Giovanni Cianti, and decided that it sounded good, and I tried the suggestions in it, one of which was to eat 2 ginormous meals a day, plus the odd snack, if desired. Happily, I quickly shot up 20 pounds in about 2 months.
Also suggested was to train hard, heavy, and short for 2 or 3 days in a row while eating lightly, followed by a stretch of at least 7 consecutive days with no training, but much eating.
It worked like a charm! To this day, I still eat like a snake, and find it easier to manage, logistically. I am not doing the lighter and heavier eating days as much- though it worked well. I found it to be too disruptive and stressful.So now I eat heavy every day, except fasting days, where once a week I'll go one to two days eating fruits and veg only. It is good cycling of calories, as outlined in the Italian mass article, and as also used to good effect by researchers like Akerfeldt, who has done much work in the study of muscle gain.
Periodic fasting is great for overall health, and really really helps ensure you are always lean and ripped. Intermittent fasting has gotten a lot of hype lately, and I suppose it may work well for some people, but I don't like it. I much prefer a solid 24- 48 hours of modified fasting to help detox the body, while giving it a catabolic jolt which causes a (hopefully) bigger anabolic jolt when you start eating heavy again. I know the body becomes more efficient with protein when purposely starved of it for 24 hours or more. Not sure if a part of one day would really have as much benefit in that regard, hence my hesitancy to embracce intermittent fasting. And plus it sure is nice to have a day where I don't have to worry about shopping, prepping meals, cooking, and cleaning up after.
Hardgainers are not famous for their appetites- the one to two days off really helps to reset my appetite, I find. If I wake up with no interest in food, I take that as my body signalling me it wants a break. See the detox and sports nutrition pages for a lot more info on cycling your diet and also detox methods, including fasting.
We have all heard about the 5-6 small meals a day, space out your meals into roughly equal portions, blah, blah, blah.
Why would we the hardgainers eat like people who want to lose chub? It is counterproductive for the same reasons that it helps the overweight; it stimulates metabolism. If we had a slow metabolism, then we wouldn't be on this page, looking to gain weight!
When I lived in Rome, and weighed 199 glorious pounds (the pics on this site are me at my usual 175ish), I ate like a snake. I had read a well researched paper on weight gain by Giovanni Cianti, and decided that it sounded good, and I tried the suggestions in it, one of which was to eat 2 ginormous meals a day, plus the odd snack, if desired. Happily, I quickly shot up 20 pounds in about 2 months.
Also suggested was to train hard, heavy, and short for 2 or 3 days in a row while eating lightly, followed by a stretch of at least 7 consecutive days with no training, but much eating.
It worked like a charm! To this day, I still eat like a snake, and find it easier to manage, logistically. I am not doing the lighter and heavier eating days as much- though it worked well. I found it to be too disruptive and stressful.So now I eat heavy every day, except fasting days, where once a week I'll go one to two days eating fruits and veg only. It is good cycling of calories, as outlined in the Italian mass article, and as also used to good effect by researchers like Akerfeldt, who has done much work in the study of muscle gain.
Periodic fasting is great for overall health, and really really helps ensure you are always lean and ripped. Intermittent fasting has gotten a lot of hype lately, and I suppose it may work well for some people, but I don't like it. I much prefer a solid 24- 48 hours of modified fasting to help detox the body, while giving it a catabolic jolt which causes a (hopefully) bigger anabolic jolt when you start eating heavy again. I know the body becomes more efficient with protein when purposely starved of it for 24 hours or more. Not sure if a part of one day would really have as much benefit in that regard, hence my hesitancy to embracce intermittent fasting. And plus it sure is nice to have a day where I don't have to worry about shopping, prepping meals, cooking, and cleaning up after.
Hardgainers are not famous for their appetites- the one to two days off really helps to reset my appetite, I find. If I wake up with no interest in food, I take that as my body signalling me it wants a break. See the detox and sports nutrition pages for a lot more info on cycling your diet and also detox methods, including fasting.
mmmm fat so good
Cycle your Diet up and down
Muscle researchers like Tojborn Akerfeldt and Ori Hofmekler definitely back up the concept of a purposeful catabolic phase (undereating) resulting in a very strong anabolic phase once you get back on the food wagon. I mention these two men on the general sports nutrition page. Ori in particular has looked very closely at purposeful catabolic phases. Catabolic= losing muscle, so why, you ask would someone want to lose muscle on purpose? In this crazy Universe, paradox is something I see all over the place and gaining muscle is no excpetion. As Ori H. states eloquently, in many ways, when the body goes through a loss phase, it primes the anabolic mechanism way up, causing a huge gain in muscle that can put back all the loss and then some! My Rome experience certainly backs him up. I would train 3 days in a row, and eat very lightly, perhaps 800, 1000kcal a day. Guaranteed muscle loss. Then on my week off, I would eat 4- 6000kcal (one day I calculated 6,500kcal) and no training. Talk about an anabolic phase! And it worked better than anything I had ever tried before; really! Giovanni Cianti was the first author to introduce me to the cycling diet concept, as in purposeful catabolic and anabolic phases, in his excellently researched and engaging writing style.
FATS are more anabolic than carbohydrates. Consume both, but go heavy on the fats.
Hardgainers especially- eat lots of monounsaturated and saturated fat.
Monounsaturates (like olive oil) are recognized as being cardioprotective.
Rx; Virgin Olive Oil, Avocados, Macadamias, Almonds, Pecans, other Raw Nuts
Rx; Natural saturates are definitely good for mass- use organic butter, and for frying-coconut oil. Don't trim the fat off your meat! Hopefully it's organic or naturally raised though. I get mine at Sanagan's, in Kensington market, downtown Toronto. Worth the trip. Amazing butcher. For frying, coconut oil is the best choice. Probably go heavier with butter and olive oil since large quantities of coconut oil are metabolically stimulating; us hard gainers need to slow down, not rev up!
Be sure to also include some omega 3’s, for growth and health, say 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fish oil per day. I have used cod liver oil, to get the added bonus of extra vitamins A and D along with the omega 3's (DHA and EPA in fish). WARNING do not consume bad fish oils; which are 90%+ of the fish oils on the market! This is a huge issue .. bad fish oils do more harm than good. See my fats page for recommendations that aren't toxic. Briefly, I will say here that Minami is a brand you can trust.
PROTEIN
Be generous here, particularly right after training, and in the morning; use a protein shake if it makes it easier for you. Protein and fats are the most important part of a muscle-gaining diet. Be generous with both and mass will come your way; the right kind of mass.
CARBS
Be generous here, too- but keep it in the "Zone", by accompanying your carbs with generous amounts of fat. Use the usual healthy carbs, like quinoa, millet, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, whole rye bread (no rye if you are type B blood), whole spelt bread,brown rice, and other wholesome unrefined starchy foods. Accompanying carbs with a lot of fat means less insulin response, with leaner weight gain.
Right before, as well as during, and then again after training, consume big quantities of simple carbs plus protein. I like some kind of juice like carrot or apple, that I often juice myself, occasionally mixed with whey or rice protein powder, and a little flax oil if I have it. Or I'll wait to get home and have a massive meal, perhaps kick starting my recovery with some dates and glutamine powder in the gym before leaving.
Muscle researchers like Tojborn Akerfeldt and Ori Hofmekler definitely back up the concept of a purposeful catabolic phase (undereating) resulting in a very strong anabolic phase once you get back on the food wagon. I mention these two men on the general sports nutrition page. Ori in particular has looked very closely at purposeful catabolic phases. Catabolic= losing muscle, so why, you ask would someone want to lose muscle on purpose? In this crazy Universe, paradox is something I see all over the place and gaining muscle is no excpetion. As Ori H. states eloquently, in many ways, when the body goes through a loss phase, it primes the anabolic mechanism way up, causing a huge gain in muscle that can put back all the loss and then some! My Rome experience certainly backs him up. I would train 3 days in a row, and eat very lightly, perhaps 800, 1000kcal a day. Guaranteed muscle loss. Then on my week off, I would eat 4- 6000kcal (one day I calculated 6,500kcal) and no training. Talk about an anabolic phase! And it worked better than anything I had ever tried before; really! Giovanni Cianti was the first author to introduce me to the cycling diet concept, as in purposeful catabolic and anabolic phases, in his excellently researched and engaging writing style.
FATS are more anabolic than carbohydrates. Consume both, but go heavy on the fats.
Hardgainers especially- eat lots of monounsaturated and saturated fat.
Monounsaturates (like olive oil) are recognized as being cardioprotective.
Rx; Virgin Olive Oil, Avocados, Macadamias, Almonds, Pecans, other Raw Nuts
Rx; Natural saturates are definitely good for mass- use organic butter, and for frying-coconut oil. Don't trim the fat off your meat! Hopefully it's organic or naturally raised though. I get mine at Sanagan's, in Kensington market, downtown Toronto. Worth the trip. Amazing butcher. For frying, coconut oil is the best choice. Probably go heavier with butter and olive oil since large quantities of coconut oil are metabolically stimulating; us hard gainers need to slow down, not rev up!
Be sure to also include some omega 3’s, for growth and health, say 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fish oil per day. I have used cod liver oil, to get the added bonus of extra vitamins A and D along with the omega 3's (DHA and EPA in fish). WARNING do not consume bad fish oils; which are 90%+ of the fish oils on the market! This is a huge issue .. bad fish oils do more harm than good. See my fats page for recommendations that aren't toxic. Briefly, I will say here that Minami is a brand you can trust.
PROTEIN
Be generous here, particularly right after training, and in the morning; use a protein shake if it makes it easier for you. Protein and fats are the most important part of a muscle-gaining diet. Be generous with both and mass will come your way; the right kind of mass.
CARBS
Be generous here, too- but keep it in the "Zone", by accompanying your carbs with generous amounts of fat. Use the usual healthy carbs, like quinoa, millet, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, whole rye bread (no rye if you are type B blood), whole spelt bread,brown rice, and other wholesome unrefined starchy foods. Accompanying carbs with a lot of fat means less insulin response, with leaner weight gain.
Right before, as well as during, and then again after training, consume big quantities of simple carbs plus protein. I like some kind of juice like carrot or apple, that I often juice myself, occasionally mixed with whey or rice protein powder, and a little flax oil if I have it. Or I'll wait to get home and have a massive meal, perhaps kick starting my recovery with some dates and glutamine powder in the gym before leaving.
one of my faves
Enzymes
Take them with every meal, to increase absorption/ assimilation, and appetite.
Glutamine
The most anabolic amino- use it by the spoonful (powder), first thing in the morning, and post workout. Use also on rest days.
Liver function
Support your digestion, absorption, and serum albumin levels. Albumin is the absolute top source of protein for your muscle cells, and it is produced in the liver, from the proteins you eat. Good liver function, including albumin production, is absolutely key in gainig muscle mass! I really like LiverCare, by Himalaya. I also often blend lemon peel for liver support, see the lemon peel/ liver story on my detox page.
Optimise with Antioxidants -clinically proven to increase albumin
Take vitamin C and E and be sure to include veggies and fruitsand berries in your diet for antioxidant power.
Some helpful minerals;
mineral for test production; zinc 30 to 50mg/ day, for guys, and half that for women
mineral to lower cortisol; magnesium 500-800mg/ day
There is good solid research showing how beneficial zinc and magnesium supplementation is for strength and muscle mass in athletes.
TESTOSTERONE
Testosterone is super-important for mass, for men. It helps women gain muscular mass, as well, but natural testosterone production in women is severely less than men's, which is a good thing, unless one thinks thick body hair, no curves, and a booming voice are desirable in women.
Men, take notice- you can raise your natural production of testosterone naturally, and powefully! First; eat enough monounsaturates and saturates. Do not eat a low fat diet, as it depresses testosterone levels in men! Train heavy and hard, and be sure to rest for at least 3 consecutive days a week. Otherwise, 'test' levels are likely to drop. Training too often puts us into a catabolic state, with lowered test and GH. There are useful herbs and products geared towards increasing our own testosterone production. Some work, others do not. Universal makes a stack for testosterone boosting, which includes tribulus, and other proven substances. My uncle, Mauro DiPasquale makes TestoBoost, sold through his website, metabolicdiet.com, which has loads of testosterone boosting herbal and nutrient substances, in useful amounts. I speak of it in the newsflash pages, as well, because I am going back on it, to reach new levels of muscular growth. Mark Wilson is a man on a mission; to discover/ refine, define and perfect the raising of one's testosterone. His site is great, and has taught me a lot; check it out at boost-your-low-testosterone.com.
Alternately, get some testo-boosting herbs in bulk, like tongkat ali, sarsaparilla, ginseng, muira puama, and others at good herbal stores, like Herbie's herbs or Health Service Centre/ Lenny's Whole Foods, both in Toronto. Note that Leny's is NOT in any way part of the Amazon owned goliath Whole Foods, but named long before that chain was ever founded.
How do you know your testo-booster is boosting your 'test', for real?
Women (or men, if you're gay) will start to look more attractive to you! Instead of liking 2 out of 10, you'll find something hot or sexy in suddenly 5 out of 10, or even 8 out of ten! You will likely get more spontaneous erections- in the morning, or anytime, really.
Should women use testosterone boosters? With caution. Discontinue or at least reduce dosage if your clitoris starts to grow, or your facial and body hair gets thicker. Unless you like those side effects, in which case- hey- it's a free country!
No Steroids
For God's sake, do not use steroids. They will shrink your testes if you're male, often to the size of raisins! Girls; the "juice" tends to enlarge your jaw, and deepen your voice. I have seen many beautiful women start to look like a guy; it's trajic. And for boys and girls; steroids give you artificial hormone dependant muscle. That means your new muscle disappears within weeks of stopping the steroids, no matter how hard you train or what you eat! Be smart- raise your own levels, follow the advice on this page, and you will gain natural, rock-solid, lasting muscle mass! And keep your cojones too!
Women- if you want big muscular arms- naturally- it probably ain't gonna happen- sorry! BUT if you want freaky deceptive strength and a decent amount of feminine muscle mass- that you CAN do, naturally.
Steroids are mostly made in clandestine labs with counterfeit labels- of course, quality control is more or less non-existent here. Even good, real pharmacy steroids tend to make you an angry SOB and have all the side effects mentioned above. One acquaintance threw a lazy-boy chair out of his living room window- for real- out of 'roid rage. He now has health problems that I would expect to see in a man at least 20 years older than him. Another competitive bodybuilder blew out his kidneys from the toxicity of the steroids he was using, and ended up taking his own life when faced with dialysis and the incredible shrinking body in place of the unnaturally huge ripped self he was used to (and addicted to, actually). Some people luck out, and do steroids for years with seemingly no problems. It's all individual, but it is unhealthy. Just like getting drunk everyday is unhealthy, but not all daily drunks will die from liver cirrhosis or pancreatic cancer, and not all heavy smokers die of lung cancer. I promote health and wholism, and drugs and toxins work against that, so I am all about being natural.
People in the know, know that ALL professional bodybuilders in regular bodybuilding, and often even the ones in "natural" bodybuilding are on the sauce (steroids) as well as often diuretics and stimulants and God knows what else. In addition, almost all Olympic athletes and even most fitness models are also "on". That is their choice, and it's their God-given free will to do so. I just do not want you to see these guys in promotional materials, claiming or implying "I use product 'XYZ' and it has helped me get to my present condition". NO natural product is going to make anyone into a freaky looking bodybuilder, or a ripped fitness contestant, OK? If you see an ad like that, think about this line on this page- they are on "juice". End of story. Now, don't get me wrong- things like protein powders and supplements can help- but at best, they are just helpers to an already solid weights and diet program- nothing more.
Adrenals are important
The adrenals make DHEA, as well as small amounts of other sex hormones. Their production of DHEA and metabolites (like andro) influence/ support testicular output.
In Chinese medicine, our 'Chi' or Qi, our very life force resides in the adrenal area. In western medicine, we know that burnt out adrenals means a burnt-out feeling person. I believe adrenals are massively important for mass, as well as general metabolism. Stress burns out our adrenals, as do stimulant drugs, like caffeine, ephedrine, and others, like cocaine, and heroin. Drinking multiple cups of coffee per day is a huge stress on the adrenals.
THE GOOD NEWS
is that you can rebuild the adrenals- two of my favourite supplements for that are Ortho-Adapt, by AOR. Man, the feedback I have had from that stuff is KILLER. Another good one, if you are on a budget, is adrenal extract- I am using the New Roots one right now- it's about 1/4 the price of the AOR stuff. Not quite as potent, but I am not burnt out, so it's good enough right now.
So rebuild your adrenals- you will likely have more test, and that means more muscles. Happy adrenals means products like Testo-boost would work better on you, as well.
Last point; look at the Ayurveda page and check the Vata Rx. If you are a real hardgainer, you are Vata. And the ancient science of Ayurveda backs up a lot of what I say here, for hard-gainers, aka Vata people.
Take them with every meal, to increase absorption/ assimilation, and appetite.
Glutamine
The most anabolic amino- use it by the spoonful (powder), first thing in the morning, and post workout. Use also on rest days.
Liver function
Support your digestion, absorption, and serum albumin levels. Albumin is the absolute top source of protein for your muscle cells, and it is produced in the liver, from the proteins you eat. Good liver function, including albumin production, is absolutely key in gainig muscle mass! I really like LiverCare, by Himalaya. I also often blend lemon peel for liver support, see the lemon peel/ liver story on my detox page.
Optimise with Antioxidants -clinically proven to increase albumin
Take vitamin C and E and be sure to include veggies and fruitsand berries in your diet for antioxidant power.
Some helpful minerals;
mineral for test production; zinc 30 to 50mg/ day, for guys, and half that for women
mineral to lower cortisol; magnesium 500-800mg/ day
There is good solid research showing how beneficial zinc and magnesium supplementation is for strength and muscle mass in athletes.
TESTOSTERONE
Testosterone is super-important for mass, for men. It helps women gain muscular mass, as well, but natural testosterone production in women is severely less than men's, which is a good thing, unless one thinks thick body hair, no curves, and a booming voice are desirable in women.
Men, take notice- you can raise your natural production of testosterone naturally, and powefully! First; eat enough monounsaturates and saturates. Do not eat a low fat diet, as it depresses testosterone levels in men! Train heavy and hard, and be sure to rest for at least 3 consecutive days a week. Otherwise, 'test' levels are likely to drop. Training too often puts us into a catabolic state, with lowered test and GH. There are useful herbs and products geared towards increasing our own testosterone production. Some work, others do not. Universal makes a stack for testosterone boosting, which includes tribulus, and other proven substances. My uncle, Mauro DiPasquale makes TestoBoost, sold through his website, metabolicdiet.com, which has loads of testosterone boosting herbal and nutrient substances, in useful amounts. I speak of it in the newsflash pages, as well, because I am going back on it, to reach new levels of muscular growth. Mark Wilson is a man on a mission; to discover/ refine, define and perfect the raising of one's testosterone. His site is great, and has taught me a lot; check it out at boost-your-low-testosterone.com.
Alternately, get some testo-boosting herbs in bulk, like tongkat ali, sarsaparilla, ginseng, muira puama, and others at good herbal stores, like Herbie's herbs or Health Service Centre/ Lenny's Whole Foods, both in Toronto. Note that Leny's is NOT in any way part of the Amazon owned goliath Whole Foods, but named long before that chain was ever founded.
How do you know your testo-booster is boosting your 'test', for real?
Women (or men, if you're gay) will start to look more attractive to you! Instead of liking 2 out of 10, you'll find something hot or sexy in suddenly 5 out of 10, or even 8 out of ten! You will likely get more spontaneous erections- in the morning, or anytime, really.
Should women use testosterone boosters? With caution. Discontinue or at least reduce dosage if your clitoris starts to grow, or your facial and body hair gets thicker. Unless you like those side effects, in which case- hey- it's a free country!
No Steroids
For God's sake, do not use steroids. They will shrink your testes if you're male, often to the size of raisins! Girls; the "juice" tends to enlarge your jaw, and deepen your voice. I have seen many beautiful women start to look like a guy; it's trajic. And for boys and girls; steroids give you artificial hormone dependant muscle. That means your new muscle disappears within weeks of stopping the steroids, no matter how hard you train or what you eat! Be smart- raise your own levels, follow the advice on this page, and you will gain natural, rock-solid, lasting muscle mass! And keep your cojones too!
Women- if you want big muscular arms- naturally- it probably ain't gonna happen- sorry! BUT if you want freaky deceptive strength and a decent amount of feminine muscle mass- that you CAN do, naturally.
Steroids are mostly made in clandestine labs with counterfeit labels- of course, quality control is more or less non-existent here. Even good, real pharmacy steroids tend to make you an angry SOB and have all the side effects mentioned above. One acquaintance threw a lazy-boy chair out of his living room window- for real- out of 'roid rage. He now has health problems that I would expect to see in a man at least 20 years older than him. Another competitive bodybuilder blew out his kidneys from the toxicity of the steroids he was using, and ended up taking his own life when faced with dialysis and the incredible shrinking body in place of the unnaturally huge ripped self he was used to (and addicted to, actually). Some people luck out, and do steroids for years with seemingly no problems. It's all individual, but it is unhealthy. Just like getting drunk everyday is unhealthy, but not all daily drunks will die from liver cirrhosis or pancreatic cancer, and not all heavy smokers die of lung cancer. I promote health and wholism, and drugs and toxins work against that, so I am all about being natural.
People in the know, know that ALL professional bodybuilders in regular bodybuilding, and often even the ones in "natural" bodybuilding are on the sauce (steroids) as well as often diuretics and stimulants and God knows what else. In addition, almost all Olympic athletes and even most fitness models are also "on". That is their choice, and it's their God-given free will to do so. I just do not want you to see these guys in promotional materials, claiming or implying "I use product 'XYZ' and it has helped me get to my present condition". NO natural product is going to make anyone into a freaky looking bodybuilder, or a ripped fitness contestant, OK? If you see an ad like that, think about this line on this page- they are on "juice". End of story. Now, don't get me wrong- things like protein powders and supplements can help- but at best, they are just helpers to an already solid weights and diet program- nothing more.
Adrenals are important
The adrenals make DHEA, as well as small amounts of other sex hormones. Their production of DHEA and metabolites (like andro) influence/ support testicular output.
In Chinese medicine, our 'Chi' or Qi, our very life force resides in the adrenal area. In western medicine, we know that burnt out adrenals means a burnt-out feeling person. I believe adrenals are massively important for mass, as well as general metabolism. Stress burns out our adrenals, as do stimulant drugs, like caffeine, ephedrine, and others, like cocaine, and heroin. Drinking multiple cups of coffee per day is a huge stress on the adrenals.
THE GOOD NEWS
is that you can rebuild the adrenals- two of my favourite supplements for that are Ortho-Adapt, by AOR. Man, the feedback I have had from that stuff is KILLER. Another good one, if you are on a budget, is adrenal extract- I am using the New Roots one right now- it's about 1/4 the price of the AOR stuff. Not quite as potent, but I am not burnt out, so it's good enough right now.
So rebuild your adrenals- you will likely have more test, and that means more muscles. Happy adrenals means products like Testo-boost would work better on you, as well.
Last point; look at the Ayurveda page and check the Vata Rx. If you are a real hardgainer, you are Vata. And the ancient science of Ayurveda backs up a lot of what I say here, for hard-gainers, aka Vata people.