ARE YOU REALLY A HARDGAINER?

by Skip La Cour

When someone tells me they are a hardgainer, I ask them, "Compared to whom?" There is always someone who is going to come along that will make you look like a hardgainer. There are bodybuilders who make me look like a hardgainer. At the same time, I am sure you can find people that you can build muscle much more easily than they can.

How would a hardgainer approach his training? Does he attack it with confidence and certainty? Does he feel that the next strategy or method he tries will launch him into a new level of growth? Is he excited to get to the gym because he feels his hard work is going to pay off in a big way?

Or does a hardgainer believe that regardless of the methods he tries or regardless of the amount of effort he exerts, he can only achieve minimal results? Is a hardgainer willing to continually "bang his head against the wall" under these conditions? Is a hardgainer more likely to say that anyone with great development must be on drugs? Referring to yourself with a disempowering label such as hardgainer is definitely something bodybuilders should reconsider.

Why would anyone want to assume such a disempowering identity? Because they put themselves in a "can’t-lose situation." If they achieve measurable gains, they win. If they don’t, their lack of progress is because they are a hardgainer. In other words, it not their fault.

Many bodybuilders even attach the identity of hardgainer to being natural. They become "hardgaining-natural bodybuilders." How empowering of an identity is that?

Besides not wanting to be viewed as a criminal, that’s the reason why many drug free bodybuilders are so adamant about announcing the fact they are natural. It’s like saying, "The reason why I’m not as big as other guys is because I’m natural."

I  received a letter from a man by the name of Dave Grillo of Florida. Dave earned a black belt in martial arts and has been training with weights for 10 years. Dave didn’t tell me in our first few conversations but he has cerebral palsy – oh, and no legs. I hope people like Dave can inspire all of us to get the most out of ourselves. Think about him next time you call yourself a hardgainer. He has the opportunity to call himself a hardgainer but chooses not to.

I’m not saying that everyone can build a championship-caliber physique without drugs by any means. I understand that genetics play a major role in bodybuilding. What I am saying is that we all can achieve amazing results -- compared to ourselves, and not the top IFBB athletes – by raising the standards of what we expect from ourselves.

And remember, you will not start getting big until you start thinking big!

If you enjoy this type of motivational bodybuilding material, I suggest that you read my bookIf you enjoy this type of motivational bodybuilding material, I suggest that you read my book Thinking Big.