Bodybuilders: Are you a fast or slow gainer?
 

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

I think I'm fast

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.

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. :)

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.

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

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

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

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.

Fast bordering on average
 

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.

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.

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

me slow gainer

Very Slow... But going to my targets.

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. :)

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?