When you lift weights do you lift intensely?
Do you squat or deadlift?
THE SQUAT
Down this road, in a gym far away,
a young man was heard to say,
"no matter what i do, my legs won't grow"
he tried leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses , too
trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he'd do.
from the corner of the gym where the big men train,
through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain
where the noise is made with big forty fives,
a deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees.
a very big man with legs like trees.
laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack
chalking his hands and monstrous back,
said, "boy, stop lying and don't say you've forgotten,
the trouble with you is you ain't been SQUATTIN'. "
At 120 pounds, to gain weight (some will need to be fat) you will need at least 200 grams of protein daily.
As a hardgainer you will need to limit your workout length to 30-45 minutes no more than 3 days a week and you may benefit from 2 days per week.
Are you using compound movements? Chins, Dips, Deadlifts, Squats? These are what you need to stimulate your bodies natural growth mechanisms.
You should never do more than 3 sets per exercise, and preferably no more than 2 sets. You should aim for concentric muscular failure....i.e. you could not do another rep if someone pulled a gun on you at that moment and threatened your life to do another rep or die.
You will need to not do any cardio other than casual walking during your gaining phase.
Squat. Squat like your life depended on it. If you want to gain muscle, the squat is THE proven exercise to get the job done. Look up on the internet "20 rep squat" or "squat and milk" and you will see the intensity required to gain muscle mass.
milk. Drink a gallon of milk per day. Eat. Eat many times per day and have protein at every feeding.
I have the opposite pronlem as you. I am an easy gainer in muscle and fat. I do understand your pain. My weightlifting buddy would eat multiple whoppers in front of me whilst I had a diet coke and a regular burger.......i hated him for that.
