CONCLUSION:  How it all fits in...

Some of you may be wondering at this point what Bruce Lee and his training methods have to do with the Hardgainer Philosophy.  It's simple really.   Bruce Lee was a hardgainer, and if you reread his philosophy, you'll find that the way he approached training was the same way that Hardgainer's should...namely, keeping it simple, using what works, throwing out the garbage.  You'll notice for instance that the Hardgainer section recommends a lot less sets per bodypart than most people are accustomed to.  You also don't see mention of doing all these exercises that do almost nothing to add muscle mass, like leg extensions, barbell curls or anything else that some other programs recommend. 

No, training like a hardgainer, means training only with the basic exercises.  The  exercises that target large muscle groups, and that are guaranteed to pack some muscle on fast.  Don't waste your time on the "chiseling" or "finishing" movements.  If you don't have the mass in the first place...what are you chiseling anyway?  

Some of you may even be saying "C'mon, there is nothing exotic in this program.   There's nothing new here that I haven't seen before.  The exercises are so basic!"  This is exactly what I am talking about when I put down most of the muscle magazines; misinformation.  They've been churning out so many fantasy routines for so many years, that now the REAL way to train appears almost mundane.  I believe that if these magazines would just tell their readers to do a smaller  number of set and reps, and stick to the basic mass building exercises, there would be a lot more people looking good in the gym.  There would be a lot less people wasting their money on supplements as well.   Look at it this way, some of these magazines have been out there for 20 years or more...that's a lot of paper they have to fill up with routines, and I mean a lot!  That's twenty different abdominal routines that they had to come up with every summer!

The following points should be remembered:

1. If you are going to train, be meticulous in writing down everything
2. Try not to miss training days if possible (I've whined all the way to the gym sometimes..but I DID go!)
3. Train abs with weights and aerobics/dieting
4. When you train, train for a short period of time, but make the most of that time!
5. Get some rest in between training days
6. Eat right, don't ruin all that hard work by pigging out...
7. Progress slowly with your weight increases for greater long term gains
8. Use the 2-1-2 cadence when doing a rep to maximize the stimulus to your muscle
9. Use correct form as much as possible
10. You have to SQUAT!
11. YOU HAVE TO SQUAT!  (It's so important I had to say it twice:-) )
12. Don't waste money on supplements or most of the bodybuilding magazines

Don't just follow what I say though, like Bruce Lee said,

"Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and make it your OWN!" 

If you ever need a quick pick me up, or you feel like you are running out of steam, go check out the ROUND TABLE at www.hardgainer.com.  The members there are great when it comes to encouraging each other, and do post   tips on training that they have discovered for themselves.  Will their tips work for you?   Some will, some won't.  But at least you'll be able to determine that for yourself, which is how you should be training anyway.  Nevertheless, you should always be reading up on new theories, or ways to train (I'm not talking about the slop in the magazines though) ...don't ever stop trying to learn more.   Weight training ideas have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, and will continue to do so, unfortunately, the BASIC and most productive way to train (THE HARDGAINER WAY), has fallen by the wayside as people created new gimmicky programs and methods.  It's okay to slightly alter the basic routine (ie by adding additional exercises etc), just as long as you continue to do the LARGE muscle group exercises.

Well , good luck, and best wishes in your training endeavors!