MISTAKE #4: Not Eating Enough

While it may seem contradictory, this mistake and Mistake #3 are indeed two separate problems for different bodybuilders. Some guys eat too much while others eat too little overall. Most people don’t commit both (if you do, however, you’re also an offender of Mistake #2), and, of course, human nature dictates that hardgainers tend toward undereating. If this sounds familiar, you’re actually making a nutritional mistake in the area of your greatest challenge.

Negative Effects: This dietary mistake compounds the genetic predisposition that you’re fighting against. Many hardgainers try to make up for their nutritional shortcomings by training harder at the gym. But, guess what? Doing so only burns more calories, tearing down muscle tissue without the nutritional support necessary to recover and build muscle mass. The end result is an increased difficulty to add and sustain quality mass.

Solution: Regardless of your body type, you should schedule enough recovery time and rest days in your weekly training split to encourage mass gaining. Then, you need to put a big emphasis on taking in the appropriate amount of calories and macronutrients your body needs to grow. If you tend to undereat, try concentrating on liquid calories when your appetite isn’t large enough to comfortably consume all the whole-food calories you need to add mass. Take advantage of pre-bedtime to get in a quality meal that’s high in protein and dietary fats (avoid carbs at this time of day, as they’re more likely to be stored as bodyfat — even if you’re a hardgainer). Also be conscious of the other mistakes noted in this article, such as taking in too many calories at one meal.

MISTAKE #5: Overemphasizing Protein at the Expense of Other Beneficial Calories

What? Is MuscleMag seriously telling you to eat less protein? Of course not. What we’re saying is you need quality calories that come from a broad spectrum of different foods and macronutrients. By no means do you need to cut your protein; instead, what we’re saying is there’s a limit to how much protein your body can use to fuel your muscles for optimal growth during a mass-building phase. While protein is the key macronutrient for muscular development, many bodybuilders focus too heavily on this fact and end up neglecting the other crucial macronutrients needed for growth.

Negative Effects: When you overemphasize protein at the expense of other nutrients, you’re providing a skewed ratio of materials that your body can’t use maximally to carry out all the processes associated with mass gaining and growth. Your body needs not only protein, but also the drivers of growth (carbs and dietary fats) that are necessary to put these aminos to use. Essentially, when you prioritize protein too much over carbs and fats, what you’re doing is akin to buying twice as many materials as you need to build a house, and then forgetting to hire someone to construct it. There are different schools of thought on how much protein is too much, but the general recommendation is to consume no more than 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight per day. Taking in more than that amount may undercut your appetite for other necessary macros. The excess protein will eventually be converted to fuel, but that’s an inefficient and expensive way to provide your body with the energy it needs.

Solution: Consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily during the offseason when you’re trying to add serious muscle mass. Understand that consuming protein beyond 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight becomes an inefficient way of supplying your body with fuel. When you’re in a mass-building phase, strive to get in only up to about 30% of your daily calories from protein. This means a 200-pound bodybuilder who consumes 4,000 calories a day for growth should consume up to 300 grams of protein (300 grams x 4 calories per gram = 1,200 calories, and 1,200/4,000 = 30%). Of course, that same bodybuilder who needs 5,000 calories a day for growth can still consume 300 calories per day from protein (1,200/5,000 = 24%).

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