My friend over at Hardgainer Transformation, Brian Kotoka, posted a great-tasting and effective muscle-building protein milk shake recipe that you may want to try.

It’s good for several reasons:

• It’s a great meal replacement shake. If you’re on the go or don’t have much time to prepare a nutritous meal, this shake is easy to mix up and carry around with you.
• It’s full of the nutrients you need: 430 calories, 50 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 4 g total fat
• It’s easy on the wallet. Hey, in hard times, we all need to save a little. This shake is super-cheap to make.

The recipe is here.

When I’m training for growth, I mix up a shake like this (double the quantities), put it in a Thermos bottle, and carry it around with me. I take sips every few minutes, perhaps 15-20 minutes apart.

Doing this allows me to keep a positive nitrogen balance in my bloodstream, which is a necessary condition to build muscle. I’m sure that if you do this, you, too, can gain a bunch of weight in a short time period.

TRAIN – EAT – REST

For a quick primer on a program that works for hardgainers, check out the Hardgainer Manifesto.

Johnny Boy asked:

I have a pretty decent workout. I do chest/triceps on mon, back/biceps on wed, shoulders/legs on fri. Is that a good workout plan? I am trying to bulk up and add some weight on. Would it be bad instead of doing it 3 days a week to move it to 6 days a week? Is that too much? I just need some help on putting some weight on.

Try this simple program for boosting your muscle-growth.

For 3 weeks, do nothing but Squats on Day 1 and Day 3, Bench Presses on Day 3 and 5, and Lat Pull-downs on Day 1 and Day 5.

First week, do 6-8 reps per set, for 3 sets.
Second week, do 8-12 reps per set, for 4 sets.
Third week, do 12-15 reps per set, for 5 sets.
Fourth week, do your “normal” routine (whatever that is).

For the nutrition side, take heavy doses of weight-gain powder 3 days in a row. On Day 4, take no supplements. In other words, heavy supplements ON three consecutive days, OFF one day.

Supplements to consider:

1. Weight Gain powder
2. Creatine
3. BCAAs
4. Liver tablets

Along with these supplements, eat plenty of eggs and milk.

This is a time-honored weight-gain program that goes back to the ’50s. Muscle builders have been using it for decades with great success.

For a complete Hardgainer program, check out The Hardgainer’s Manifesto.

Derek Manuel said:

If you are interested in learning how to gain the most amount of weight and build massive muscle mass in record time, spend some serious time developing this one exercise. Not just the exercise itself, but the way that it is supposed to be performed for maximum effectiveness.

Pay attention closely because if you are a true hardgainer, meaning you’ve tried EVERYTHING to gain weight and build muscle to no avail, then this may very well be the most important article you’ll ever read on the subject of bodybuilding.

This one exercise, performed correctly, can and will put on more muscle mass on practically your WHOLE body more than any other exercise in the world. I stand by this claim firmly because I know from personal experience and from hundreds of testimonials.

I have read countless articles and success stories from hundreds of satisfied weight trainers — easy and hardgainers alike — who have gained pounds and pounds of muscle and body weight fast, very fast. This exercise is no secret, but many people disregard it. The certain way that it is performed however, is surprisingly unknown to many weight trainers, personal trainers and even bodybuilding “experts.” This exercise is so phenomenal that many programs, especially weight gain programs, consist of this exercise and only one or two more exercises, performed two days a week.

That’s it.

And people have gained anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds of muscle in as little as 6 to 8 weeks. So what’s the exercise? The exercise for gaining is, ironically, probably the most dreaded. Have you guessed it yet?

Squats.But I’m not talking about just any type of squats, I’m talking about what’s called breathing squats. The difference between squats and breathing squats is basically this: When loading up the barbell with weight you would normally use for 10 reps, you instead do 20 reps with it.

“How” you say, “am I supposed to do 20 reps with the weight I normally use for 10 reps?”

Let’s look at how most people do their squats (for the few who do them): Pretty fast paced, only taking a second or two rest in-between reps, and finishing without getting even remotely near failure. With breathing squats however, you do them differently. After each rep, take at least three HUGE breaths, both inhaling and exhaling through your mouth to get as much air as possible, before your next rep. Take in air until your whole chest swells up, then blow it all out forcefully.

Do it in this fashion for about the first 10 reps. You will feel like stopping at 10 because it will be what you’re used to, but don’t. By now, your deep breathing will come naturally, and you may need to take 4 or 5 deep breaths in between each rep. By rep number 15, your legs will start to tremble if they aren’t already. You will only have five reps to go, the biggest challenge yet. You will need to take anywhere from 5 to 10 HUGE and DEEP breaths before each rep.

Each rep will become a world of its own.

By the time you hit the 20th rep you will be completely wiped out. Your whole chest will be swelled up like a balloon and your legs will feel like noodles. But you’re not done yet…

“WHAT!? You expect me to do more after this?”

Don’t worry, the next part will actually feel really good and be a huge break after your set of breathing squats. Immediately after you finish the squats, grab a light dumbbell between 20 and 40 pounds, lie down on a bench or across one, whichever is more comfortable, and do a set of 20 pullovers with them. As you lower the weight, again, take a deep breath and get a really good stretch in your rib cage. As you bring the weight back up, blow it all out. Do 20 reps of these right after your squats.

The point of the pullovers is to stretch out your rib cage and permit more room in your upper body for growth. This will really expand your rib cage and increase the size and width of your chest and shoulders, giving you a huge and powerful look. This isn’t the typical resistance exercise, so you don’t need to use a heavy dumbbell for this, just get a good stretch.

As you are probably thinking, this won’t particularly be a walk in the park. It will probably be the hardest thing you will ever do in the gym. But the results are equivalent to the hard work. And WELL worth it.

And if you are a hardgainer, this is THE cure that will set you free from a skinny and weak frame.

Breathing squats, when performed properly and with an honest effort, will pack on more pounds of muscle in two months than anything in the world, assuming your diet is sound and you get plenty of rest. The good news is you only need to do 1 set of 20, two to three days a week.

That’s it.

Once you do them a couple times, you will understand that it is more than enough and you will feel like you’ve been run over by a garbage truck. These are meant to fit into a weight-gain and bulking up “crash course” type of program so you only have to do these a couple times a year for 6 to 8 weeks at a time.

By the way, when you do them, you only need to do a few other compound exercises for the upper body, such as bench presses or bent-over rows. The breathing squats will stimulate your body for muscle growth and weight gain like nothing else, so limit the other exercises to allow enough rest for your body to grow. Here are a few pointers to make sure you get the most out of your hard work:

1. Make sure you go ALL the way down until your legs are parallel to the ground. I see far too many trainees only go half way or three quarters of the way down. This is huge mistake and you will be limiting your growth substantially, so make up your mind right now that you will work hard and won’t cheat yourself.
2. Add at least 5 pounds to the bar every workout. If you do the squats twice a week that means an increase in 10 pounds a week; three times a week means 15 pound increase a week. Unlike your upper body, your legs have a tremendous capacity of growth and strength, so adding 5 pounds each workout is very doable. You shouldn’t ever have to use the same weight as last week. Remember, this exercise is more a test of will power than physical ability.
3. The most common reason anybody fails at these is usually due to their poundages. You have to work your way up into heavy weights in squats or you simply won’t grow. Shoot for AT LEAST 225 pounds for 1 set of 20 if you expect to get any serious results, and if you are increasing the weight each workout then this shouldn’t be too out of reach for anybody.
4. One more tip is to remember to take in as deep a breath as you can between your reps and the pullovers. This is a critical factor that will ensure that your upper body benefits as much as your lower body. The heavy breathing will add size and power like no other exercise so don’t take them lightly.

There you have it. If all else fails, breathing squats will be your savior for gaining weight and building muscle as fast as humanly and naturally possible. Give them an honest effort and get ready to throw out your old wardrobe and replace it with some bigger clothes.

And don’t forget the weight-gain supplement, extra eggs, and a lot of milk. You have to feed the muscle to make it grow!