As a hardgainer if you expect to gain a significant amount of muscle weight you will often have to put on a bit of fat in order to make progress. In large part overeating will make up for bad genetics. That is, you may not have the best muscle building genetics in the world but if you give the body enough food and nutrients it’ll be gaining weight and muscle size regardless of what else you do. Heck, even obese people gain muscle without exercise. If you aren’t gaining weight then you need to slam down more calories. Calories will make you gain mass, this is fundamental to weight gain. Period. If you eat enough calories your stubborn arms can’t help but grow. Eating is actually just as if not more anabolic then training.

Pack up more weight with Human chorionic gonadotropin diet to balance out your nutrition needs.

Scrawny to Brawny: The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way List Price: $19.99 Price: $8.98 Read Reviews

If you have previously attempted weight gain for women or men with no success, ask yourself if you were paying enough attention to diet and nutrition. You could have been pushing yourself in the gym but if you neglected this component of the weight gain program you will not see the desired results you were expecting. When you push yourself hard in the gym your muscle demand the nutrients for recovery and muscle growth, moreso then a sedantary person. So if you are not eating enough protein and consuming high calorie foods, all the hours in the gym will go to waste.

At the start of the article I mentioned the fact that you should expect to gain a bit of fat when gaining weight. This is not a problem at all. In addition to gaining some fat, you will also be gaining muscle, so the ratio of muscle to fat will make the fat you have gained barely noticeable. But if you wish to minimize how much fat you put on then you need to realize that there are good calories and bad calories. Avoid the bad calories in your diet – it’s better for your health and will enable to maximize muscle gains whilst minimize fat gains. When on a weight gain diet you don’t want to be stuffing yourself with junk food just so you can put on a few weight. If you wish to minimize the fat you put on in your quest for gaining weight and building a better physique, then you need to be sensible in the kitchen and when dining out and make sure you eat the right foods. Most of the microwave dinners and other junk you see in the supermarket isles will not cut it. Get creative in the kitchen and cook your own tasty healthful meals which are packed with protein, complex carbs and some healthy fats.

The majority of us bodybuilders have had those days in which we just feel like packing in extra snacks and fulfilling our sweet tooth. This so called sweet tooth doesn’t necessarily mean donuts either, it also applies to greasy burgers, ice cream, sodas with high sugar content, and french fries which we all love dearly.

What happens is that those greasy junk foods give you a feeling of being bigger and actually being pumped, within a couple hours of consumption. Which as we know it as a bodybuilder stand point, isn’t entirely a bad thing. But when it comes down to it, too much of a bad thing can lead to bad things. On the other hand, it’s ok to give in the towel for a day or so. That said, it’s healthy for your own sanity to have a cheat day about once every 2 weeks.

Back to the subject about getting pumped and feeling huge; Consuming junk food like burgers and such can actually cause a rise in anabolic hormones that include growth hormone, insulin, and also testosterone. All of which aid the process of muscle growth. During your next cheat day, continue to stay on track by eating your planned six meals, but don’t be afraid to add in a burger with fries and maybe ice cream for lunch. One thing I would suggest is keep majority of your meals throughout the day mostly clean to avoid getting unwanted fat on your belly.

Why is there so much confusion about fat loss? The truth is that there is a lot of disinformation regarding fat loss from companies only trying to sell you something.

The best Way to Lose Fat

Total body workouts (typically meaning workouts that involve more than just the large muscles of the lower-body) in study after study have proven to be more effective for losing body fat. By exercising muscles in the upper-body and lower-body simultaneously the heart must deliver increased blood supply throughout the body. When repeated on a regular basis, the heart and lungs become more efficient. The most exciting news is that a total-body workout not only burns more calories per workout, but also allows the average person to sustain a longer workout.

Not all studies agree on the absolute best method for burning fat. Here’s what we do know about fat loss. Fat is an excellent fuel for muscles to burn during a workout. To increase your chances of burning the maximum amount of fat during your workout, here are a few suggestions. Some studies have indicated that high intensity intervals into your workout. Not only will these one to two minute bursts add variety to your workout, some research suggests that these intervals are key to burning fat, especially for those who have reached a plateau in their progress. Finally, watch what you eat. If you are serious about lowering your body fat percentage, keep your percent of calories from fat below 20 percent.

Resistance training is also of great benefit if your goal is to lose fat. Resistance training is a form of strength training and is comparatively more efficient then cardio exercises for burning fat, because unlike cardio training which only burns calories during a workout, resistance training permanently increases your metabolic rate due to increases in muscle mass. Muscles require energy to burn even when at rest, so your are burning calories even when your sleeping.

In conclusion, if you focus on high intensity interval training which incorporates both cardio and resistance exercises which workout the lower and upper body, you will be on the path to successful fat loss.

Skinfold caliper test

The tester uses the calipers to pinch(it doesn’t hurt) the skin on 3 to 7 parts of your body. The caliper is a gauge that measures the thickness of the fat.

The parts pinched are usually:

* abdomen
* back of the arm
* thigh
* hip
* back of shoulder

The caliper is not exact. The margin of error is 4 points either way. The tester might not pinch exactly in the right area, or may pinch too hard or too light. Get tested before your workout. After working out, your body pumps up which may make the calipers gauge you to be fatter.

Bioelectrical Impedence

A low voltage is passed through your body to determine bodyfat. The slower the signal the more fat you have. Fat slows down the signal. The signal travels quickly through muscle because muscle is made up of 70% water and water conducts electricity. Fat is only 5 to 13% water so it slows down the signal.

Dehydration can make the readings false because less water is in your system. Stay away from alcohol or caffeine for 24 hours because these substances help to dehydrate the body.

If you are overly fat or really lean this test may not produce good results.

Underwater weighing

This is the most accurate method of testing. You get into a tank of water on a scale. Here is the hard part, you have to blow all of the air out of your lungs and bend forward until you are completely submerged. Make sure to get all of the air out because any extra air makes you appear fatter. You wait about 5 seconds under water while your weight is taken.

Your underwater weight is figured out by a mathematical algorithm that determines your bodyfat. This test is based upon the premise that muscle sinks and fat floats. Muscle is denser than fat therefore it sinks. The margin of error on this test is 2 percent.