The Hardgainer Solution: The Training and Diet Plans for Building a Better Body, Gaining Muscle, and Overcoming Your Genetics

As of writing this review I am 10 workouts into this program. First and foremost I think it is worth mentioning that this program is geared toward the trainee who is ready to embrace a long term commitment to fitness. If you are looking for a 3 month magic program, this book will leave you feeling disappointed. If you were hoping for a couple quick and easy tips for a diet to give you ripped abs in 6 weeks while simultaneously building lean muscle mass, it ain't here (or anywhere for that matter). What you will find here is a realistic and honest approach to what it takes to live and sustain the fitness LIFESTYLE. It talks about the importance of sleep regularity, meal times, day to day routine, mind-muscle connection, intensity, biofeedback. It stresses the importance of truly working the muscle with focus rather than mindlessly executing a movement. It casts aside any misguided notions of high weight, ego gratifying, 1 rm exercises without context or purpose. One of the most valuable lessons I was able to learn from this program was the importance of the mind/muscle connection - that every single rep was a meaningful opportunity to try to mentally bridge my brain to my muscles. For the first time in my training life I have completely lost any emotional attachment the what the weight of the dumbbell says because now the weight is merely a lever point against which I stretch and squeeze my muscle. I am still a relative novice in this regard, and it takes a few reps for me to produce the connection, but what I can tell you with certainty is that this program has yielded me most success in achieving muscle awareness. Another awesome feature of HGS is that every workout is a full body workout. Now when I first saw this I have to admit I was a bit put off. It was different from every other program I had ever been on. Traditionally, on any given day in my old program I would wail away on one or two muscle groups and then rest them up for a week. However, after about two weeks worth of HGS, my concerns have been alleviated. With HGS the training effects accumulate over a period of time because the workouts are ALL CONNECTED. And folks, I gotta tell ya, when you come off of an amateur program that is merely a body part split wherein each workout is a self-contained cacophony of exercises, and you take up a well thought out systematic program, you gain an appreciation for the hard work and expertise that goes into creating something like that. It's like weaving together strings of exercises and rep schemes to make a beautiful oriental rug. It's amazing to feel how, after training a muscle group in the lower rep range on a previous day, the almost immediate connection and stimulation to that same muscle group with a higher rep range the next day. Now, admittedly, it's still early on in the program, and it would be fair to assume that I am still "honeymooning" HGS. I imagine that down the road my day to day enthusiasm will even out when I get deeper into the program. But I am looking forward to reviewing my progress next summer and I remain extremely hopeful.

Like all of Scott’s training resources ‘The Hardgainer Solution’ is another invaluable book to add to your training library whether you’re a Coach or trainer or just someone who enjoys working out and wants to maximise their potential. Especially if you identify yourself as a hard gainer and have struggled to put on muscle in the past. I was quick to grab a copy as soon as it came out and at $1.19 and 141 pages of quality content (yes one dollar and 19 cents- not sure how long that price will last though) its an absolute no brainer. Get a copy. Do it, it’ll possibly be the best decision you make this year (or ever) for your health and fitness goals. With 80 workouts, a bunch of meal plans and clear concise explanations of important training principles (often missed or entirely unbeknown by most people wanting to develop and sculpt a great physique), Scott’s Hardgainer Solution provides a simple yet powerful blue print to take your training to the next level. And just to highlight Scott’s degree of experience and innovative ability this book demonstrates how you can progress in your training in a safe, invigorating and versatile manner. Now, I would be able to stand firmly by my review, on Scott’s merit alone and my experience with him Coaching me, but importantly I have applied the principles covered in the Hardgainer Solution with great success myself. It’s important you remain open minded and commit fully to the program. I hope it serves you well, as it has for me, and thanks heaps Scott for putting out another excellent book! Andrew Rudakov

As the title suggests, this book is very specifically targeted to people who have a hard time gaining muscle with exercise. It is not specifically a strength training program, and it is not a conditioning program. The emphasis is on avoiding the things that work for elite bodybuilders or work best for lifting more weight and on avoiding the mess of internet marketing hype, and instead focusing on the principles that work best for people who gain muscle very slowly and with great difficulty. The program is based on training the entire body in each workout in a sustainable way to get enough stimulation for muscle development without taxing the limited recovery capacity of the hard gainer. The way this is approached to go back to basics with the the concepts: (1) muscles are recruited by the nervous system not by the weights, (2) learning how you should feel from training is more important for stimulating your muscles properly than watching for strength targets, and (3) eating properly for gaining muscle is not a matter of bulking up or special diets, it is a matter of getting enough nutrition to recover properly from training. The way the program accomplishes these basics is by using a strategy of high repetition complexes per body part at a very deliberate cadence to train the entire body in each workout so that you get enough stimulation to encourage muscle growth without exceeding your capacity to recover. The program allows for exercises to be swapped out with similar ones and for different variations of repetitions and weight progressions within a session, but not varying the overall range of repetitions for each exercise. The specific repetition ranges used and hitting the body parts according to the "peripheral heart action" principle are the central hard rules of the program. The program is not intended for fast results in the short term, it is intended for reliable results in the longer term, and the author suggests a one year commitment to the program. The Kindle book contains lists of exercises, and provides links to a printable PDF for convenience and to videos of the exercises. This seems like a very solid approach to gaining muscle compared to most of the heavily co-marketed and over-hyped programs I've seen available on the web. This is not a program of magical fast results, fad techniques, superficial sciencey citations, or mixed objectives. This is a program and set of principles very specifically intended to go back to the simple goal of putting muscle on people who have failed at that goal consistently in the past. The only thing I found to be a negative here was that it isn't easy to actually do this program without a lot of work if you aren't already an experienced lifter or a coach. It will help a lot if you are already familiar with weight training because this is not a primer on how to exercise. There is nothing preventing a novice from using the associated videos to help learn the exercises and the design of the program is all about learning as much as it is about training. But I am hoping to adapt some of these principles to my bodyweight training for example, and that seems like it will take a bit of thought and a learning curve. I think it will be well worth it though.

Results! I've been using Scott's hardgainers program since January. I've added 5 lbs of lean muscle (up to 185 from 180), with greater muscular definition and visible vasculature. Perhaps the most telling--and gratifying--results have been the number of people who've approached me and complimented on my physique. All of this on an osteo-arthritic hip that was surgically replaced just yesterday. (BTW, the hip condition is congenital...nothing to do with injury from exercise or sports.) Even the surgeon and staff all commented on how in-shape I was. Now that I have a functional hip again, I can't wait to get back to the gym. I began integrating Scott's principles and exercises into my workout several years ago, picking up tips from the Abel Body Experts YouTube videos. Even without guidance for how to incorporate his exercises into a program, I saw almost-immediate results then just from the individual exercises. Scott's insights into planes and ranges of motion, weight and rep selection, were very liberating. He's right: let the muscles work the weights, and not vice versa. Once I got over the ego-trauma of peeling weight off the bar and not trying to impress fellow gym-goers, my body started to change. I came to realize that muscles can't do math! The Hardgainer Solution is a page-turner for anyone serious about physique training. Even for physique athletes who don't struggle to pack on muscle, the book is worth a read.

I will start by saying that Scott Abel does not know me personally, but I know him. I have been a reader of his work for nearly 10 years! The sad thing is that I have kept Scott my closely guarded secret for years. I selfishly did not want anyone to know that I had I found the truth about changing my body...which gave me the freedom to ignore the newest fad and see through the marketing of the new, latest and greatest supplement. I write this review now...to give back. Anyone that wants a true understanding of physique development, without the "noise" that seems to be prevalent these days...needs to tap into the wisdom of Scott Abel ! He has a handful of books on the market...and as with them all, he has produced another "gem"! This book is EXACTLY as described on the cover. Scott is the guy you turn to when you are seeking the "non-internet marketing hype" approach to a better physique. This best part of the book is you get the "why" backed up with plenty of "how"! There are 80 different workout plans included with a free web-link to Scott's video library that explains how to perform each exercise with proper form. And, something extremely rare to Scott's books, his hardgainer's nutrition philosophy with eating plans to help guide you through the confusion that comes with managing this portion of physique development. Scott is an author and a scholar with many years on stage and "backstage" in the bodybuilding world. He doesn't publish anything that promotes particular supplements or current fads, but instead provides well-researched, quality information that you can rely on! The combination of investing in Scott Abel's work and investing in yourself is an equation with one outcome...Success!

I tend to like Scott Abel's approach and have a couple of his kindle books. He seems experienced and reasonable. This book however is not to the level of expectation that I have for him as a professional. The book overall appears to be a collection of perhaps various pieces that were online or in separate files that were collated and given a brush-over to try and synthesize. I also second and third some previous critical reviews in the inadequacy of explanation for the program. For example, I have searched the book over and there is no guidance on what to ultimately do with the 80 workouts. Abel does state that you have enough material to recycle for months and months, but alas, no real guidance on how to appropriate this number of workouts for a variety of common scenarios. If you watch some of Abel's youtube videos, you will note some themes. He has 40+ yrs at the high level of the game, and he doesn't care what other schmucks think. Good on him. He should however care what a schmuck like me thinks, or at least a bit....as I purchase his material. This book ultimately lacks, and I wouldn't buy it again. Realistically, this book is a tease for what appears to be his more advanced coaching gigs and now a comprehensive course online. I bought the book to be a solid piece on its own, but it isn't. No worries, a man has to make a living somehow. Lastly, I hope Mr. Abel does a better job editing in the future. It was an issue in small parts of the book, and it is a more serious issue on his blog.

I bought The Hardgainer Solution a short time ago and have been doing the HGS workouts 4-5 times/week for about 5 weeks. I'm here to tell you - this is a really great program. I'm a classic hardgainer - great physical condition, lean and wiry, bit it's almost impossible for me to gain lean body mass, no matter what I do. I started doing the HGS workouts and it took two or three weeks to get comfortable with them, but I began to see almost immediate changes in my body. I do a different routine every time I work out. Now, after 5 weeks my proportions and symmetry have improved noticeably. And I've gained three pounds. The trainers at my gym have commented on the change and one of them has started calling me "big guy." My hope is that I will be able to put on 12 pounds by the end of the year. The workouts are intense, but they don't leave you feeling wiped. Ten or twenty minutes after I finish, I feel fine and full of energy. I would recommend this program to anybody, but especially someone who has been trying to put on lean body mass without success.

As a one-on-one coaching client of Scott Abel's I had been using the Hard-gainer Solution program for about a month prior to release of this book and I can vouch for it's effectiveness. I am still currently working my way through the program and I feel great - excited for each training session, feeling the results taking place, but at the same time I don't feel "wasted" after each session or so intimidated prior to each day that I'm tempted to skip workouts. Reading this book and using this program has been a real eye-opener for me so far. I never considered myself a hard-gainer simply because I associated that term with no one other than ectomorphs that can't even gain fat if they tried let alone muscle. I am more on the endomorph side of things naturally and without Scott's recommendation would probably have never even tried a program with this title. However I was doing exactly what Scott describes in the book about "pin-balling" from one program to the next, never giving anything enough time to work, and more than likely overtraining. My recommendation is you trust in Scott's expertise, follow the program to the letter, and forget what you've been told over and over again that it's all about the weight on the bar. After all, what do you have to lose?

This complete program is a true gem. I have always enjoyed Scott Abel readings and his programs never cease to impress. In true Scott Abel fashion, the material is straight to the point and very informative. I didn't realize that I was a hard gainer until I read the book. I was very impressed with the amount of work that he put into this program as well. You get everything from background information to workouts, diets and how to tweak them for your own circumstances. You can find everything you need in this book. I have also done a few of the workouts and I have to say I loved them. They were challenging but I also left feeling energetic and empowered. For the first time in years I am excited about going to the gym again. Where else can you get all of this for such a low cost elsewhere? The answer is nowhere. Anyone who lifts weights should have a copy of this book. Great book Scott!!

Another greet book from scott abel!! No hype, just the real deal. A must have for everybody who wants results !!!!!

I rarely do reviews because usually I quite frankly can’t be bothered but after reading this I just had to log in and write about how amazing this book is!!! It is written so clearly and the principles make so much sense. For those who don’t know, Scott Abel has been at the top end of bodybuilding for 40 years! So he knows his stuff! I once was in a bodybuilding gym in Spain and saw huge guys there doing curls with the lightest weights I’d ever seen in talking like 2kgs etc, I couldn’t believe my eyes or understand why they were doing this but Scott’s book and approach basically is the exact reason why, it’s also part of the reason why these guys look incredible and hardgainers don’t. This guys is so well written and so informative and interesting, just love it and most importantly it WILL get your results but you must stick to it for a long time like minimum 6 months to get real big results from it. Good luck and enjoy.

Very comprehensive!

Since I first read the HGS I found something different from other 'bodybuilding' books, because the author was really speaking to me: a man in the middle of his forties. Before I was used to split muscle groups in three or four days a week: I found that three/four exercises a day were too much stressing for the targeted muscle groups but I also realized that it was not enough to train a muscle group only once a week, and results languished. I tried not to limit myself to train a muscle group once a week so I tried to insert 'recall' during the week, and so on, and so on, endless trials, with no method at all. I never thought that at my age I could train each muscle group four or five times a week. With the HGS approach I can do it without overtraining, with visible results and psycsatisfaction. It took me four months to follow the wokouts from the number one to the number eighty. Now I'm more 'full' and more defined. No injuries occured me in this period, I have a good warm-up (Abel teaches) and then ready to train. The book gives you a tried and trusted method but it doesn't explain how to perform each exercise. For this you can learn from the Abel's website, where all exercises described in the book are superbly explained with videos, for free of course. I discovered so many mistakes in the way I was used to train and target my muscles ... The HGS book and the support of the website videos are now the only tools to my body fitness. Abel's mantra is 'train the muscle and not the movement': so true when understood and applied.