Episode 114. The Hardgainer Solution 2.0
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Show Notes
Coach Scott Abel introduces subtle tweaks to his bestselling workout program, the Hardgainer Solution. Fitness model Andy Sinclair—himself a hardgainer—joins Scott to discuss the program’s evolution and applications.
The Hardgainer Solution (HGS) became a bestseller and later produced as a video program.
HGS 2.0! BOOM!
- Scott kicks off the show by sharing Seth Godin’s blog about shortcuts and its relevance to the diet and fitness industry.
- HGS was designed specifically for trainees who work hard but have difficult time developing their physiques, related to anatomy, genetics or age.
- People over 50 are automatically hardgainers.
- Several genetic and age-related factors define a person as a hardgainer:
– Narrow collarbones
– Tall and lanky
– Long limbs
– Long trunk
– Tendon length and attachment location - HGS works well for people who travel a lot.
The Tweaks!
+ Two days on, one day off.
+ All biplexes. No triplexes in this revision.
+ Five sets for large muscle groups, four for biceps and triceps.
+ 10 reps or greater for all other exercises.
+ Active recovery days (tweak prompted by feedback from clients.)
+ Rotate of the first muscle group each day.
Example: Day 1 would begin with chest, Day 2 back, Day 3 shoulders, and Day 4 legs.
+ Low reps, heavy weight has moved up to six reps from five.
- Apply these tweaks to the existing HGS program.
- Hardgainer Solution 2.0 is as versatile as the original. Scott recently developed an HGS variant for a military client on deployment that used his duffel bag as resistance.
- Scott experimented with performing two exercises for the first body part in each workout, but quickly learned it wasn’t sustainable.
- Active recovery allows trainees who find three or four straight HGS days are too much, but don’t exactly want an off day.
Here are a few options for active recovery days:
– Andy’s Awesome Abs
– Great Glutes
– Busy Woman’s Train at Home
– Long walks. Scott takes his long walks on the hilly terrain around his home on his off days.
– Yoga - There are many ways to use HGS and stay true to its operating principles, using good program design.
- Other forms of training can be integrated. This is an example of what Scott calls “tweakology.”
- HGS 2.0 stays true to the original principles:
– Whole Body, Peripheral Heart Action protocol
– Uses inter– and intra-workout recovery
– Reps-based, not exercise-based program
– No training to failure
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Scott , can I keep doing the HGS as written when changing to the 2.0 tweaks ? Workout 1:1a squats 5-6 x6 1b incline db 5×10-12 etc?
Yes, that is the point really – as long as you keep the tweaks in place that I outlined here
Thx coach!
Hi Scott,
just wanted to leave a review 🙂
I think you should do an episode on actually “applying” what you teach us.
I think many of us (including myself) enjoy and understand what you are teaching us however having to apply this into reality is much more difficult. I’ve been doing a lot of research, read many books (including most of your books and podcasts) but now I’m starting to realise that my “diet” isn’t bad and I know exactly what I should be doing… its just having to stick to it long-term that seems to be so hard. Even when I eat at my maintenance cals, i never get super hungry, but i have a strong sweet tooth and takes over me every weekend without a fail. Even when I don’t feel hungry – I still want to swim in ice-cream and chocolate LOL. This is exactly what is stopping me from losing weight.
I just can’t seem to overcome the cravings – their not even cravings – its just being stupid(?) and greedy
Really late to the game here, but I was curious. One of the approaches of HGS i thought was really terrific was the way it could go from 3-7x per week, but it looks like 2.0 is intended for 4-5x per week. Am I correct or can it be 3-5x per week as well?
Jason – it can definite;y be applied the same way as the original but the more frequently you workout the more dialed back you want the intensity to be – at least on a few of the days – hope that helps
YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!