I had a message a few weeks ago from a dear old friend asking if I could give some tips for “hard gainers” wanting to add some muscle. He’s a few years younger than me, so I’m going to focus on helping my fellow “middle-age men” add muscle. It is challenging but very much worth the efforts, as we need to stop (or at least slow down) that downward spiral of muscle loss.
Caloric Surplus
You need to calculate your base caloric needs then add about 300 calories per day. That would be a good starting point. You’re going to want to consume about a gram of protein for every pound that you weigh. The remainder of your calories should be made up between carbohydrates and fats. To simplify things, that’s going to come to about a third of your calories from protein, a third from carbohydrates, and the third from fat. If you reach out to me directly, I can dial this in a little bit better for you.
Keep in mind: 1 gram of both protein and carbohydrates each contain 4 cal. And a gram of fat contains 9 cal.
Increase Testosterone
Once we get that caloric surplus dialed in, I believe that all of the other activities need to center around naturally increasing testosterone. (I’m not talking about any supplements or testosterone replacement therapy.)
Nutrition
- No processed food
- Grass fed, grass finished meat
- Cauliflower and broccoli
- No alcohol
- Good fats - Olive oil, coconut oil, nuts such as almonds and macadamia nuts, almond butter, avocados.
Training
- Intense & short
- Full body workouts
- 8-12 rep range works great
Cardio
- Limit your cardio, 10 to 12 minutes after a weight training session will probably suffice.
- Try HIIT
- I would suggest not running, as it will break down too much muscle.
Rest and recovery
- Plenty of rest and recovery
- Minimize stress
- Make recovery a priority; “I just don’t heal like I used to”.
GRIND - Day in and day out.
We can lose 10 pounds of fat in a month, yet probably take a year to gain 10 pounds of muscle.
If you are doing all the above and still not making size and strength gains, add another 300 calories to your daily intake. Repeat.
Love the process!
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https://www.todayswarriorcoaching.com
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