Blood&Iron ...

[SteelWeaver]

Hey - sorry I bailed on you on Becky's HIT questions thread - I didn't have a lot of time, and it didn't seem like the right place to discuss it.

Anyway, about labelling oneself in one way or another - I didn't mean to suggest that labelling oneself a hardgainer will automatically lead to diminished gains. I was talking more about creating a kind of mental block for oneself, and also about the relativity of gains.

I'm not advocating wishing on stars and hoping hard as means of making gains. I'm just suggesting that one's image of oneself is closely tied to self-confidence, which is closely tied to (in my belief) success in one's endeavours. And the way to influence self-confidence is positive thinking. It creates a cycle of success which feeds on itself. I'm no expert - far from it - just offering opinions here. Naturally I'm aware that meticulous planning and attention to detail, discipline, etc. are important, but the most meticulous plan ain't going anywhere without ATTITUDE!

Wouldn't you agree that there is always the possibility that the person who believes themself to be a hardgainer will, rather than, as you say, "pay even more careful attention to careful training, diet, and rest", pay LESS attention to those things simply because they don't believe anything can work for them, or will do them half-heartedly, thus realising their belief that they are a hard-gainer? Can a salesperson who doesn't believe in his product sell as much as the one who does? Sure, a lot of this depends on what type of character you have, but there's the possibility.

Even you appear to believe that some kind of mental visualisation or image of success at something or other is necessary whilst training, as in the following quote from you on that same thread:

"Visualize a vivid life or death situation, e.g. a car is crushing you to death and only by completing the rep will you live."

This is some pretty intense visualisation!!! My main point in that post was about how mental imagery, and one's view of oneself, and unwavering focus on a specific goal, can make a huge difference in your output at the gym.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know....

One last question: Are there any scientifically established parameters for what a "hardgainer" constitutes? Is it even possible to establish parameters? It would be interesting to see where the mean drops.

 

[Blood&Iron]

I have no problem with your fundamental assertion. I think, however, you are falsely equating the term 'hardgainer' with a pessimistic attitude. As I said before, I think labelling oneself a hardgainer merely has to do with the realization that using the sort of routines which might work for a "normal" person will result in overtraining and diminished results(BTW I don't label myself a hardgainer, but rather a normal-gainer.) As for any scientific means of determing this, I know of none--although I am far from an expert. The only real means is that listed above, namely, what works for most people results in little to no growth for the hardgainer. But I don't think pessimism has any place in bodybuilding. Look at the writings of someone like Stuart McRobert--a man who I think has done the most to popularize the term. McRobert says an average hardgainer should be able to achieve a 300lb bench, 400lb squat, and 500lb deadlift if he properly applies himself. I hardly think this could be called pessism as to me these are quite impressive numbers. Frankly, in life I tend to be fairly pessimistic/fatalistic person, but I'm still operating under the delusion that one day I'll be able to look like Arnold.