How do you get my report, entitled “Arms Race,” free of charge?

Buy Hardgainer’s Manifesto, of course. It’s an “unannounced” bonus for the Hardgainer’s Manifesto!

Q: I really want to improve my chest and arms to look better for the summer. Also my abs need toned up a little as well. Can I just do all chest and arm exercises as well as ab exercises and improve those areas?
Yes, you can! Unlike fat, which you cannot spot-reduce, muscle can be build on a body part by body part basis. So, you can absolutely build up your chest, arms, and abs to be in great shape by summer time.

But, I have to ask, why would you want to build a poorly-proportioned body? I’m jumping to the conclusion that your back, legs, and shoulders are at the same level of development as your chest, arms, and abs…

I’m not sure what kind of access you have to free weights; they are your best route to gaining size in your chest and arms. However, even if you have zero access to barbells, dumbbells, and benches, you can make HUGE improvements in your upper body just by performing simple body-weight exercises like Push-ups (for the pecs), Chin-ups (mostly for the biceps but they hit the upper back and shoulders, too), and Pull-ups (mostly a lat/upper back exercise).

Of course, you can do sit-ups, crunches, and planks for your abdominal region; these exercises require nothing more than you and a floor.

Work up to 3 sets of each exercise for as many reps as you can do. Do the whole routine once per day, 3-4 times a week. I wouldn’t even worry about adding any weight until you can do 5 sets of 25 or more for the upper body exercises mentioned.

Best of luck to you. You should be able to get a beach body in no time!

Welcome to the May 6, 2009 edition of hardgainer blog carnival.

Steve Faber presents Belly Fat Loser » Free Workout Plans – Number 1 – The 20 Minute Fat Loss Muscle Workout posted at Belly Fat Loser.

FitBuff presents First week of Raw Veggie’s – Workout Recap (April 12-19, 2009) posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, “Experimenting with a raw vegetarian diet as a hardgainer, crazy right? Hopefully, I won’t completely melt away over the next few weeks!”

Colin Timberlake presents My First Marathon: Remixes, iPods and Rookie Mistakes posted at colintimberlake.com, saying, “A hard gainer runs an impromptu marathon. Probably not the way you want to go about it…but it’s an experience!”

Dole Tanner presents Gynecomastia and Bodybuilders posted at GYNECOMASTIA-GYNO.COM, saying, “Some tips and information for male amateur and competitive bodybuilders (and all athletes even remotely considering performance enhancement) and some of the dangers that could be involved…including female breasts.”

Bret presents Gynecomastia: Are You Wearing Two Undershirts? posted at Modern Men’s Health, saying, “The growth of unwanted female breast tissue affects more men than you think. The culprit is often steroids… Think twice before you take shortcuts in the gym.”

Exercise

Colin Timberlake presents Improvising for Workouts:Bicep Exercises with Injured or Immobilized Legs posted at colintimberlake.com.

FitJerk presents Grunt You Wimp! – Increase Power In Your Workouts posted at FlawlessFitness, saying, “Today we are going to cover a controversial topic that can actually increase your power output by 20% when you understand how to use it!”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of hardgainer blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Next host: Muscle-Build.com

Technorati tags: hardgainer blog carnival, blog carnival.

Bodybuilding FAQ – Is It Best To Stay Lean Year Round or to Gain Weight Indiscriminately in Order to Make The Best Bodybuilding Progress?

As far as whether it is best to stay lean or to bulk up dramatically in order to make the best bodybuilding gains in terms of size, staying lean is the way to go.

This is the way Franco Columbu used to train, never gaining much weight between competitions. It makes the dieting cycle much less onerous.

But for us “hardgainers” it really doesn’t matter!

It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you consider yourself a hardgainer, then you ought to try it, assuming you aren’t lactose intolerant and don’t suffer from any allergies related to dairy –

The Gallon of Milk a Day program, also known as “GOMAD” by its proponents. It’s a simple plan that dovetails nicely with hardgainer weight training. Here’s how it works:

1. Go to the super market and buy a gallon of whole milk
2. Drink it

That’s it! Start out slowly, actually, by drinking several glasses a day at first and build to the full gallon. Milk is one of the best foods on the planet for building muscle quickly because it has an easy-to-consume profile – just drink in the calories, protein, fat, and few carbs and you’ll be well on your way to a new, beefier you.

More over at Muscle-Build.com