Hardgainers need to get a little more obsessed about eating. If you struggle to put muscle mass onto your tall, thin frame, or drop weight at the mention of cardio, start getting serious about food.
Here are six of the best foods for hardgainers who want to pack on muscle.
Oats
All forms of plain, raw oats are great mass-gainer foods for struggling ectomorphs. Why? Because they pack serious amounts of calories into a small, easy to digest portion. Just 50g oats (which really isn't much) comes in at around 180 calories and 35g carbohydrates. And don't forget the fat and protein: oats also contain dietary fat and protein. Choose steel-cut oats or rolled oats for more texture, or superfine oats for a very quick and easy way to eat your oats. Soak them overnight and mix with whey protein powder, yoghurt or cottage cheese. Blend with eggs and a banana to create a protein pancake batter. Add superfine oats to your pre- and post-workout whey shakes for fast carbs when you need them. Or get super creative and experiment with savoury oats: cook them up thick, then top with cheese and a poached egg. Bro food at its finest!
Oily fish
Hardgainers need to eat more cold water oily fish: try sardines, mackerel, trout, salmon, herring. Not only does a relatively small portion of oily fish pack in the calories, but adds important healthy fats to your diet (something we all need more of). Hardgainers can get away with eating more of their calories from fat and shouldn't shy away from healthy dietary fat like the omega 3 fatty acids in oily fish. Bake it, grill it, steam it, add it to stir fries or even eat it from the tin (tinned fish is a great stand-by). Just get at least four servings of oily fish in your diet every single week.
Rice
Another bodybuilder staple, rice is a great food for anyone who struggles to pack on mass. It's an easy and adaptable food which is cheap and plentiful, can be batch cooked in advance, and easily added to chicken, fish, red meat, tuna, eggs and any veggies you like. Choose brown rice during the day and a faster-absorbed white rice (like basmati) for post-workout. Here's an idea for your bedtime snack: cook basmati or arborio (risotto) rice with a little more water than usual, then add coconut milk and casein (milk protein). Your very own homemade protein rice pudding.
Avocado
Avocados are an awesome snack, or breakfast ingredient, particularly for hardgainers. They're rammed with healthy, monounsaturated fats. And they're a nutritious powerhouse straight from nature. They're an incredible source of carotenoid antioxidants including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, and neochrome, neoxanthin, chrysanthemaxanthin, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin and violaxanthin. Add to salads, slice and eat alongside your breakfast meal, or try this: halve the avocado, remove the stone, crack an egg into the hole and bake the halves until the egg is "poached". Muscle meal right there!
Walnuts
All nuts are a great snack idea for hardgainers, but walnuts edge the others out. How come? They're highest in omega 3 fatty acids, and lots of other compounds useful to hardgainers: alpha-linoleic acid, phytochemicals, fibre, magnesium, calcium and potassium. Tuck into 20-50g walnuts as a snack, sprinkle over salads or add to stir-fries, or use as a topping for your morning oatmeal or night time casein pudding.
Whole eggs
If you're a hardgainer, don't do the bro thing of eating liquid egg whites. We should all eat whole eggs (as almost all of the vitamins and nutrients of an egg is in the yolk). But guys (and girls) who struggle to put on muscle and keep it there should definitely not throw away those golden yolks. One large whole egg contains just 75 calories and 5g fat, and the payoff for keeping the yolk in the mix is massive. Each yolk contains 100% of the egg's essential fatty acids, carotenoids, essential fatty acids, and fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K. You'll also find over 90% of the egg's calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, B12 and folate in the yolk. So get creative with omelettes, used poached eggs to top your muscle meals, or try out our egg and veggie scramble muscle mash-up meal.
