Dear Friend —
It's true. I tried everything
and I simply couldn't gain any weight. I'm not gifted
with great genetics, or very athletic. I'm just an average
guy who was fed up with being a skinny, 135-pound weakling.
I needed to learn how to gain weight. Muscle
mass, that is.
After sifting through all the hype and crappy
supplements, I discovered a few all-natural, muscle-gaining
techniques that really help skinny people build more muscle
mass. And do it faster than most typical weight gain
workouts.
Using these simple techniques, I not only gained
32 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks, but I also reduced my body
fat from 10% to 7%!
Skinny And Average,
I Hated Being Thin.
Hi. My name is Anthony Ellis. And all of my life
I had been very thin (about 135 pounds after a meal) with a
fast metabolism. Being extremely thin may be OK for some people.
But for me, it was degrading.
In school, I was so thin that I wasn't allowed
to participate in team sports like football and baseball. "High
risk of injury," they said.
When I took off my clothes, I was often too embarrassed to
even look at myself in the mirror. I was totally ashamed of
my body. To try and hide this from friends (who can be very
cruel), I always wore baggy clothes and long sleeved
shirts.
Even in the summer time.
I wanted to gain weight so badly that I
tried everything I could. Everything! I wasted
thousands of dollars on every supplement "fad"
that promised more muscles and fast results. Including:
- High calorie weight gain powders
- Liver Tablets
- Boron
- Smilax
- Mexican Yams
- Carbohydrate Powders
- Cybergenics
- Liquid Oxygen
- Colon Cleansing
- Blue-Green Algae
... And much more.
I joined a gym, and eagerly tried many of the
"professional bodybuilder" workout routines in the
"Muscle" magazines. I did everything that I was told
to do, no matter how unusual it sounded.
I worked out 5-7 times per week, 2 hours each
day. Day after day, week after week I waited for the muscle
gain, but I never gained a pound! In fact, eight
years later, I looked exactly the same.
It was frustrating. I couldn't understand
it! I did everything that I was supposed to do, but it wasn't
helping me. I knew that I would never be huge. I just want a
body that I could be proud of. Was that too much to ask?
Why was this so difficult?
Here's The "Secret" They
Don't Tell Us Skinny Guys...
What I finally discovered after years of failed effort is that
most pros are not only gifted with good genetics (i.e., they
can gain muscle or lose fat easier than most people),
they also enhance their results with illegal
hormones and steroids.
Because of this, they can train harder, eat whatever they want
and still get great results. Using their training methods and
advice would never work for my body type because I don't
use steroids. I never want to.
And my body does not gain muscle mass easily.
I now realize that I am a "hardgainer". A hardgainer
is someone who is naturally thin and has an extremely difficult
time gaining weight of any kind. Because of this, why would
I listen to someone who gains muscle easily?
Anything they say will not be relevant to me. It all makes
sense now, but too bad I had to waste so many years just
to figure it out.
If you are a hardgainer too, most advice
will be useless to you unless it specifically addresses your
body type and metabolism.
Here's an important fact: What works for one person who
gains weight easily will NOT work for you. And
what works for someone who's overweight will NOT
work for someone trying to gain weight.
If you're anything like me, you're tired of irrelevant
information and false advertising claims. That's why I began
looking for training and dieting techniques that have actually
been proven to increase muscle mass.
During this search, I came across quite a bit of incredible
training and dieting information. I also came across some
hard-to-accept information that I was not ready to believe.
Looking back, I now realize that this information was the major
turning point in my journey to gain more mass. I had to let
go of old myths.
Myth #1: You
Can Gain Muscle
And Lose Fat At The Same Time
Throughout my attempts to gain weight, I had always been very
afraid of gaining fat. Being naturally thin, I did not
want to get fat — I just wanted to gain more muscle.
So, I focused on low fat foods, did my aerobic exercise and
did everything I was supposed to do to keep my body fat low.
Unfortunately, what I did not know was that this type of dieting
and training was also keeping me from gaining muscle! (Boy,
was I in shock.)
Training to lose fat requires different methods than
training to gain muscle.
Losing fat involves eating a low-calorie diet, while building
muscle requires a higher calorie diet. This is a point that
most hardgainers don't realize — if you want to get
bigger and gain more muscle, you will have to deal with the
fact that you will also gain some additional body fat. Period.
This is due to the high-calorie diet you must eat to build
more mass.
Though some people will be able to gain muscle and lose fat
at the same time, most WILL NOT.
The fact is, there are no magic pills, powders, foods or exercises
that will allow you to gain muscle and lose fat at the same
time.
It all is determined by your genetics and metabolism.
If you are naturally thin and have a difficult time gaining
weight of any kind, it would be silly of you to think that you
will be able to gain muscle while trying to keep your body fat
low. It's just impossible. (Or extremely difficult!)
Most skinny guys want to gain more muscle, but are afraid of
gaining body fat. They see all the bodybuilder photos and read
the stories about people gaining pounds of muscle while losing
pounds of fat — they want to do the same.
When looking at these photos, you have to remember that most
of these people do not have your body type. The majority
of them are overweight and want to lose fat. So their training
is focused on losing fat.
If you went on a fat-loss diet, you would lose fat but not
gain much muscle. The low-calorie diet combined with
your fast metabolism will give you...
... Very Little Muscle Gain And
Possibly Even Some Muscle Loss!
For maximum results, you either have to train and diet to gain
muscle or lose fat.
One or the other.
The most effective way for hardgainers to build a large amount
of muscle mass quickly is to focus on gaining the weight first,
then later on go on a short-term fat loss diet to lower your
body fat levels.
Myth
#2: You Can Gain Muscle
Without Eating More Calories
Because gaining weight for hardgainers is extremely difficult,
the only way you will get bigger is to shock your body into
growth. You do this by...
- Eating a lot of calories
- Training with free weights.
Right? (Sure, but it must done in a proper way. And it's
not what you think!)
You must shock your body into growth — the
right way.
The first shock is by eating more calories than your body is
used to. This is the most important factor in gaining mass.
When you overload your system with plenty of protein and fats,
your body has no other choice but to gain weight.
The goal is to eat just enough calories to allow
your body to build more muscle, but not so many calories
that you gain a large amount of body fat.
The second way you must shock your body is with weight training.
Weight training is the fastest way to get your body to build
more muscle.
Dieting and weight training both work together. The weight
training overloads the muscles and stimulates growth, while
the food you eat provides the necessary building blocks
to repair and build new muscle tissue.
If you don't eat correctly while weight training,
you WILL lose muscle tissue.
To Gain Mass, You Must Eat,
Eat And Then Eat Some More!
(Of The Right
Foods, Of Course.)
To gain weight you have to eat, period! It basically must become
a job. This is very simple, but most people never grasp the
concept of eating. (And eating properly.)
Not only was I not eating enough calories for my fast metabolism,
but I was also eating too many carbohydrates and not enough
high quality protein.
To build muscle you must eat the right foods in the
right quantities.
If you are not getting at least 1 gram of protein per
pound of body weight, then you won't gain muscle, period.
In the past, I would just skip over this part. It seemed too
difficult to grasp. That was my biggest mistake.
Only
protein can build muscle tissue!
To make sure I was eating enough, I had to learn to measure
and calculate my daily food intake. If you don't do this,
you'll never know what you're actually eating. (I used
to guess, but judging by my previous failure, I was guessing
incorrectly.)
In addition to eating more calories, you also have to eat more
often. Eating three meals a day does not cut it! It doesn't
provide your body with the constant flow of nutrients and energy
it needs to grow.
So, you must increase your meal intake to 6 per day —
eating every three hours.
Yes, six meals per day.
(But don't worry. There are ways around this and I show
you how. I'll come back to this a little later. For now,
let's look into why this is important.)
Eating six meals a day takes planning, and this
is where nutritional supplements have helped me the most. Now,
I know that this is a very sensitive subject with many people.
Some say that they're a waste of money, that they don't
work and that you don't need them. Well, they are partly
correct.
In fact, let's take a look at this a little
more in-depth...
Myth #3: You
Must Buy A Whole
Bunch Of Supplements To Gain Mass
There is a lot of hype in this industry.
It is true that some supplements are a complete waste of
money, but there are also a few great products out there
that can really help you achieve your goal.
Remember, supplements are not a "magic pill." They're
not meant to replace good nutrition and training. They simply
supplement your existing diet and training program. If
you are not training and eating correctly, then they will not
help you.
You will be wasting
your money!
Let me repeat that because it's so important...
Supplements are not a substitute for proper nutrition
and training.
Supplements don't make the program, they're only there
to help you. You still get results without them. The most important
element is the diet and weight training, not supplements.
A good, strong diet with plenty of protein is essential.
(And once you invest in my program, I show you exactly what
kind of diet is best.)
If you can't get that, then the first supplement you absolutely
need is whey protein. Because, if you're like me, it's
very difficult to eat 6 real food meals a day. So the protein
supplement is essential in this case.
The supplement that helps the most is the Meal Replacement
Powder (MRP). MRPs consist of whey protein powder and maltodextrin
(a carbohydrate). They're designed to be quick meal substitutes,
which take the place of a real food meal.
Since it represents one meal, that's one less meal I have
to worry about preparing. Also, MRPs help me reach my daily
protein requirement by providing me with one of the best types
of protein for muscle building — whey protein.
In this respect, it's much better than meat or poultry
and far more convenient.
If you're like most people and maintain a busy schedule,
then being able to get a complete, high-protein meal both quickly
and conveniently throughout the day can mean the difference
between success and failure.
Over the years, I've tried hundreds of different
supplements, but only a few have actually proven to help me
put on muscle mass. One of those is the MRP.
Another product I recommend is Creatine Monohydrate.
Personally, I've had incredible results with this form
of creatine. I know many skeptics question its effectiveness
and safety, but it has absolutely worked for me.
I don't know if it'll work for you.
But it's the #1 selling sports nutrition supplement for
amateur and pro athletes. Creatine has been proven to increase
strength and muscle endurance, which enable you to lift heavier
weights and ultimately stimulate more muscle growth.
Myth #4: The
More You Train, Especially
With Machines, The Bigger You Will Get
Not only did I have to change my diet, I had to learn the correct
way to weight train for muscle mass as well. (But you won't
have to, because I'm about to show you.)
The best way to gain muscle mass quickly is to use free weights.
You must focus on compound free-weight training, and lift challenging
(that is, heavier) weights.
This stimulates the largest amount of muscle fibers.
This way, your body responds to this stimulus by increasing
your muscle mass. In the past, I used mostly machines. I was
always told that free weights were a waste of time, and machines
were much more effective. Boy, was I mislead!
Most machines are
a waste of time for us.
They limit your development, because they help to support the
weight.
On the other hand, free weights make you support the
weight along the entire path of the movement, which helps to
stimulate more muscle fibers while also strengthening smaller
and/or weaker muscles.
If your smaller supporting muscles are weak, your larger muscles
won't grow. To build size and strength quickly, pro bodybuilders
and professional athletes don't use machines — they
use free weights almost exclusively!
I also had to stop training so often and understand that, for
hardgainers, "less is more." Some people still believe
the more you train, the bigger you get. If that were true, all
I would have to do is workout 8 hours a everyday, and I'd
be huge!
Unfortunately, it's not true, it doesn't work that
way.
You do NOT get bigger while working out.
Your muscles do NOT grow in the
gym. They only grow when you are resting!
Weight training is needed only to stimulate growth.
After that, your body needs rest and food to build muscle. And
hardgainers need more rest and food than others.
That took me a long time to understand. Working
out too often doesn't allow your muscles the necessary time
to recuperate. Not only will you not grow, but you will also
be setting yourself up for chronic injuries from overtraining...
... And possible muscle loss!
Improper diet and overtraining are two reasons
why most people never get beyond an average physique. I see
guys at the gym working out 5-6 days per week for 2 hours or
more each day — but they always look the same. Always.
They've got the right motivation but the wrong
information. In other words, they're wasting their time,
effort and money doing the wrong things.
Let Me Share With You The
Best Kept Secret of Success
The final item that helped me achieve these incredible results
was consistency. I followed my plan consistently day in and
day out, without fail.
I didn't skip workouts or meals. If you can't do this,
then forget about getting incredible results. Working out, and
dieting on an inconsistent basis, won't bring a significant
increase in size. I know, because that's what I did most
of my life.
Do it right or don't
do it at all!
To be successful in anything, you must commit yourself and
follow through. It's that simple. Once I became consistent,
results came quickly.
In fact, I began to see results in less than
3 weeks!
Using these simple concepts, I created a training program I
believed would work for me, and it did! Finally, I began
to gain weight. After years of wasted effort and money,
I began to see amazing results in less than 3 weeks!
I began to gain weight so quickly that I reached my goal of
170 lbs. in only 10 weeks, and I have to say that I was extremely
happy (that's an understatement!).
But there is a downside.
Unfortunately, I also gained more body fat than I would have
liked. Even though I knew from the beginning that I would gain
some body fat, it still bothered me.
It's impossible for someone who doesn't use
steroids to gain so much weight without gaining some fat
along with the muscle. So, for the last two weeks of my 12-week
program I decided to change my diet and workout routine.
I wanted to lose my excess fat, while retaining as much
muscle mass as possible. This was OK, because I did a lot of
reading and research on the best ways to lose body fat, too.
This would give me a chance to test some of that information.
The Results Were Absolutely
Amazing! Let Me Show You...
Two weeks later I took the 12-week "after" photo
below. I weighed 167 lbs. and ended up cutting my body fat from
its high of 11% down to 7%!
Though I managed to reduce my body fat substantially, I still
felt too "smooth." So, I decided to make a few alterations
to the fat-loss program (and not "weight-loss"), and
continue fat-loss dieting for four more weeks.
As the 16-week "after" photo below shows, I was slowly
beginning to lose the excess fat. Take a look for yourself and
read the stats, below... |