Bodybuilders: Are you a fast or slow gainer?

[Built]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drsquat2.htm

I think I'm fast

[DarkLotus]

I don't feel right saying I'm a bodybuilder as fat as I still am :p , but I read that article (which I'm sticking in my favorites) and it seems I'm a fast gainer for most parts except my upper back. Upper Back would be average to slow.

[galatia]

Hi Built. First thanks for all the information and help you put out there for everyone. I've learned a lot from reading things you've posted. Next....I think I'm fast. :)

[mps]

It's hard for me to say... I think at times I make gains fast and at other times it comes slowly. I do know that I can see results with short workouts... like 20 minutes... when I have friends who spend an hour or more on chest for example. So in that way I guess I'm more toward the fast side.
I've learned that, for me, diet is more than half of the muscle building equation. When I change my diet... I seem to make gains... for a while. I think this is why I like cycling calorie levels so much.
I view workouts as a stimulus for growth, my way of asking my body to grow... if my diet is what my body needs at the time... I will grow.

[mps]

What's up with this poll!?!? Where are all the slow gainers?? I voted average.

[elijaeger]

I'll say I'm a slow gainer, but I just started really training and dieting simultaneously. I've never tried just gaining alone.

[tholian8]

I voted average for myself, overall. I can gain muscle very fast if I overfeed myself even a little bit, but I am so endomorphic that it always comes with a LOAD of fat attached, which then is living hell to take off in the cutting cycle. My compromise has been not to overfeed at all, and give up the fast-gaining opportunity. I still gain, but more slowly. When I have gotten rid of more fat, I may change my approach--but right now, I just can't stand to see myself balloon up on a bulking cycle when I am still, quite frankly, obese.

Much as I would like it to be otherwise, I seem to be one of those people who needs to do a lot of cardio in order to get the fat off. I maintain my muscle very well on the one or two workouts per week that I do on a fat loss cycle--if strength in the gym is any indication. I have tried concentrating on the lifting and doing less cardio, but I don't get very good fat loss results that way. In the absence of cardio, the fat likes to stick around unless I go to severe calorie restriction. I tell you, I'd rather hit the treadmill for half an hour a day, than not be able to eat. :rolleyes:

One of the few upsides of my sort of body is that I have a very strong constitution which bounces back quickly from any kind of injury or illness. I try to take comfort in that when I'm getting frustrated about my slow fat loss.

Emily

[Built]

Sigh. Yes, I know what you mean about being an endomorph - I think I'm more meso myself, but honestly, I think this means you are naturally a fast gainer, though, which is what I've been suspecting about those of us for whom carbs are a double-edged sword. The general population has about 20 odd percent fast-gainers. I'm thinking there are proportionnaly more of us here.

[Nadz]

I seem to be a fast gainer with a low tolerance level. But I also think I border on average. I find that I do need quite a bit of recovery time for intense workouts too.

Interesting article.

[Chipperoo]

Well, if you would have asked me, I would have thought I'm pretty much a slow gainer. Seems I gain fat very easily, but muscle comes MUCH more slowly. But, from reading this article, seems I'm supposed to be a fast gainer, go figure, as I know I fatigue very easily doing 80% 1rm. Maybe I've just not hit upon the "optimal" diet and training yet. I have almost always been dieting while lifting since I started, with the exception of one short-lived bulking attempt, so that may be the reason.

[caverjen]

I picked slow gainer, since I have a super hard time gaining muscle and keeping it on. I remember in college taking a weight training class and noticing that I could do a lot of reps at a weight that was just short of my maximum, and that that was atypical. Although I am a natural ectomorph, I can put on fat if I eat enough calories (as with my most recent failed bulk attempt). Switching from a vegetarian diet to a lower carb/higher protein diet has helped. My arms never looked this good. For some reason I don't have the typical ectomorph tolerance for carbs, very prone to hypoglycemia. Hoping NHE will work for me. I'll start induction in a week. Sorry for the ramble.

Jen

[dazzlin182]

me slow gainer

[watcher16]

Very Slow... But going to my targets.

[Trainerdan]

I'm a slow gainer ... I drop fat pretty fast, but I have always had to work my butt off to get muscle. Which makes sense, the Ecto that I am. :)

[watcher16]

The article at bodybuilding.com says in the head:

"...I found that guys who were so-called "fast" gainers were only able to do 4-6 reps at 80 percent, while lifters who seemingly never made great gains were able to rep out at around 15-20 reps with 80 percent of their max..."

This seems in contradiction with the often used tables to calculate your max 1RM.

There 80% relates to a certain number of reps, which is then the same for everybody.

Do I overlook something or is the statement above incorrect?

[watcher16]

bump for reaction

[tradingdav]

I gain so fast its nuts. It's easier than losing fat to just gain muscle.

[RDW]

When I was a dedicated weightlifter from 83-93, striving to build muscle like a bodybuilder, putting on muscle and getting stronger was very slow. OTOH, when I decided to concentrate on powerlifting exercises, my strength went up fairly quickly, but putting on muscle was still slow. So I would say I am a slow gainer.