A hardgainer is someone who struggles greatly with putting on muscle and building strength.
All the material written for this group that I have encountered is exclusively for skinny guys and girls who often complain of having a “fast metabolism” (when the reality is they have aversions to eating food and challenging themselves with heavy weights, in most cases).
Great, if you are a skinny guy or girl who wants to look and perform better.
Not so much if you are fat, as most who get into lifting are nowadays. (The latest stats I’ve found show 64% of UK adults are overweight or obese, and, shockingly, obesity in Year 6 children sits at 22.7% – slightly over one in five.)
Moreover, it’s a myth that larger ladies and gentlemen have an easy time building muscle and getting stronger. Quite the opposite, in fact, for many reasons that are, alas, beyond the scope of this email.
More:
When these folk follow “conventional” strength and muscle building advice (most of which is written by and for those skinny hardgainers I mentioned) it can and most likely will cause a lot of problems.
What sort of problems?
* Delusions of fitness – specifically, believing you are far less fat than you actually are.
* Further fat gain (via eating to excess to “fuel muscle growth”).
* Injuries (potentially of the training-terminating variety) caused by biomechanical impediments secondary to carrying too much body fat (the lower back being particularly vulnerable, as it’s often pulled into lordosis by the belly).
* Wheel spinning due to a lack of basic strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, balance, and so on which renders weightlifting workouts ineffective – no matter how hard and consistently you train.
The solution is, as the subject line suggests, to “lose fat first”.
A message I appreciate is not going to make me very popular, given it was one I chose to ignore for five or so years following my initial weight loss. (I fell down the powerlifting rabbit hole – opting to lift big weights and eat literally a kilo of mince per day, entire packets of nuts, whole cheesecakes, and pizzas slathered in olive oil in lieu of developing a personality.)
Yet if it is relevant to your situation, you would do well to pay my words heed.
You may also benefit from purchasing my Real Paper book, “The Weight Loss Manifesto”.
It’s £20, which is considerably less than my other Real Paper books that are only available from me directly.
This has nothing to do with the value of the material. In fact, to the right person, it’s probably the most valuable book I have ever written considering it could potentially save their life – or, at least, give them more happy, healthy years.
But obviously I am extremely biased, so you need to read the below sales page very carefully to make sure what’s inside will benefit you:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/manifesto/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. Behold some thoughts on the Manifesto from my good friend and customer who gave me permission to share the below (not sure he wants me naming him as I didn’t ask about that):
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“Hello Phil, I hope this finds you well and prosperous and your good lady doing well through pregnancy.
I am sorry to bother you as I imagine you are a busy man, it was just a quick note to say that I am truly enjoying phase One, and have now started to introduce your most excellent advice through to getting into phase Two.
With my work delivering fuel to oppulent residences, I often find myself dragging a loaded One Hundred litre fuel hose full of weighty diesel through properties and gardens at up to One Hundred meters. When I started, I used to find myself puffing like a beached whale – I now steadily jog with the hose until I reach the desired tank. I have found this method has become easier by the day and am now able to say I can run a full 1.5 miles without bursting a lung.
I then incorporate your exercises after work which I feel help lesson the muscle pains the next day and am finally starting to see some definition in my stomach – an impressive feat for a man who couldn’t see his manhood in the shower this time Six months ago.
I digress – this book has been the making of me and I recommend it to anybody who compliments me.
I would also like to add that embarrassing as it is as a man of limited cash flow – payday looms this Friday, and I NEED to buy my copy of “train like a warrior”. I know it will be a fun, educational and inspiring read just like the weight loss manifesto.
Kudos to you sir, my favourite author and intellectual friend.
God bless you and yours.
Your friend, always.”
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Obviously not everyone who consumes my material will get results like what this guy has achieved.
But it is an example of what is possible with the right attitude, personal circumstances, and so on.
So bearing that in mind, if you would like a copy of the Manifesto you can get one here: