Why There’s No Such Thing As A Hardgainer

I’m tired of hearing all of this nonsense about how some people are ‘genetic freaks,’ and others are doomed to living a life of being underweight. Not only does this talk completely discourage people, but it is entirely false! I’m not saying that bodybuilding isn’t an unfair playing field (because it is), but what frustrates me the most is when skinny guys say they can’t gain weight and get bigger. You can! And although I will agree that there are some more genetically gifted than others, just because you don’t have the best genetics for bodybuilding does not mean you cannot gain muscle.

Maybe it’s just me, but in my opinion, there is no such thing as ‘bad genetics.’ If there was, I would have been the definition of this.

When I first started lifting weights I was 6’ 3” and 145lbs. If you can try and picture in your head what that must have looked like, go ahead. People used to call me ‘pencil head’ for my straight up and down body. Man was I skinny. And I thought I was doomed to be skinny for the rest of my life. Thankfully, those days are long gone. Now, I stand at a rock-solid 220lbs and an impressive 8% body fat.

I was what you called a ‘hard gainer.’ You know who I’m talking about. The type of person who eats like crazy but can’t gain a single pound? Yeah, that was me. And I had the terrible attitude that most hard gainers do as well. I thought I was doomed to be skinny for the rest of my life. Not only did this type of mentality make me extremely depressed, but it killed my motivation in the gym, and for a while, I gave uplifting when I was still in high school.

The moral of the story
No matter what your genetics are, do not give up. I thought I had terrible genetics, and I ended up at a rock-solid 220lbs. And that is without the use of anabolic steroids. Sure there are naturally big and strong guys out there, and there are also naturally weak and skinny guys out there. I just happened to be one of the pale and thin guys. Despite this, I overcame my genetics, and you can too. Don’t get so hung up on other people’s bodybuilding genetics that you get disappointed in your own. Besides, what are you going to do about it? All we can do is train like a beast, eat like a lion, and sleep like a baby. And grow like a bodybuilder!