The Hard Road for a 'Hard Gainer'

AMAZING RESULTS!! READ HOW THIS COLLEGE GUY WENT FROM 135 TO 140 POUNDS IN JUST FIVE MONTHS!! AMAZING RESULTS!!

… OK, so my mid-year odyssey into strength training has not been internet-banner-ad worthy, but what I gained along the way is at least noteworthy.

Hitting the gym seemed a good solution to beat the summer heat. I had a good overall body image, but my life was feeling routine and boring, which means it was time to reevaluate life. Still, I spent some time in thought: Why is strength training so important to me? Are my reasons selfish?

It’s OK to do something purely for oneself, if it’s for self-improvement reasons and doesn’t harm or disadvantage anyone else in the process. Oh, and as long as it doesn’t inflate your ego, or detract from the time you set aside for personal, trivial pursuits[i]. Obviously, I didn’t want to strength train just to look better or sexier. More muscles won’t lead to more time chasing skirts. Obviously.

The thinking process went this way …

Pros: I’m healthy and 22 years old. This is my last semester at ASU, which has the SRC. I live less than a mile from the SRC. As a super senior, this is my last chance to access a fully equipped training facility for free.

Cons: Strength training will inflate my ego, I’ll become obsessed with exercise/nutrition, and it will distract me from the rest of my time set aside for chasing skirts trivial pursuits.

My inner debate finally boiled down to one simple question: If all you have to worry about in your life is whether to lift weights this summer, then your life is pretty great, so just try it.

The decision was made: I’ll strength train for six months, but with the goal of becoming more athletic, not of becoming sexier. The experiment began this May.

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First thing I learned: Never go to the SRC in the afternoon. There are few things I’ll wait in line for, and the Lat Pulldown machine isn’t one of them[ii].

I also quickly found there is a name for people like me: “hard gainers.” People like me need to eat what is politely known as a s***-ton of calories to effectively gain muscle weight. We’re talking, like, 3,500 calories per day — no joke. Plus, I was now supposed to eat small meals at 3-hour intervals, rather than the normal-person eating schedule I’ve grown accustomed to in my normal-person life.

These disheartening facts were about the only facts my nutrition and fitness research seemed to agree upon. This was frustrating, but not unexpected, so I began to try different methods to see what worked best for me[iii]. Three full-body workouts a week, or a push-pull-legs-rest four-day cycle? Machines, free weights or body weight? Pre-workout carb load and post-workout protein load, or vice versa, or something completely different?

I became more and more interested in the subject of strength training, getting lost in this new culture. I started planning my mornings around my workouts. I temporarily quit running, my lifetime passion, so as not to burn too many calories. I started to write music less, and hit the gym more.

There have been other, positive personality changes as well. I grew more confident, more motivated, more goal-oriented. I trusted my body more. And whatever else I did with my days, I felt I did it better and with more focus if I’d worked out the night before. These are all changes I welcomed.

Then something terrible happened. Around mid-June, I really, honestly started to enjoy the SRC music. By July, I lifted enthusiastically to the beat, no matter what the song was[iv]. I used to hate these songs … what’s happening to me?!

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While my interest in strength training never waned, it also never took over. In fact, finances got so tight this recession-plagued summer that I had to stop investing in protein powder for about a month.

To be honest, it was only partly a money crisis. I became mentally tired of strength training before becoming physically tired of it. There are more important inner debates for me to confront than caloric intake-outtake ratios and isometric vs. cross-training. At first, I wanted to know as much about physical fitness as the guys at GNC. By the time I actually went in there, I was too sick of the spiel to buy their No-Xplode[v] or $80 bag of whey.

Laziness? Apathy? No, I decided, the correct word was routine. Over the past few months, working out has become routine for me. Remember what to do when life becomes routine? Reevaluate life.

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Looking back at my sporadically updated gym notes, I saw I grew almost 25 percent stronger in the past four months[vi]. Looking at the gym scale, I’ve gained about 2.5 percent of my body weight in that same time.

So, I’ve gotten stronger and more athletic. But not more buff. This is what I wanted … right?

Maybe this is what happens when lifting weights becomes a hobby but not a lifestyle. Stronger — if not more visibly impressive — muscles. And maybe this is what happens when you incorporate something new into your identity, without letting it take over. You know you're stronger for it, even if it’s not visible to The Outside World.

This physical experiment isn’t over: Literally because I have two months left to go, and figuratively because it feels like I’m writing Part I to a much larger, lifelong story. Part II could be taking this strength into becoming a better runner, or learning a martial art, or totally regressing into slob culture. In this story, I might “fill out” the next chapter, or I might not. For now, that doesn’t matter: I tested my body’s limits this summer, learning more about health, fitness and myself in the process. This is exactly what I wanted … right?[vii]

Certified personal trainers interested in swapping their skills for help on essays (plus anyone else with a comment) may contact the author at trabens@asu.edu  or via Twitter @TheRabens

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