Hardgainer was available only through subscription, and was initially published on a bi-monthly basis starting with the July-August, 1989 issue.
In contrast to most popular bodybuilding magazines, which typically promote training methods of the top competitors, McRobert chose to focus on training methods that were suitable for the typical trainee rather than the genetically gifted and without the use of drugs.
A wide variety of writers contributed articles over the years, but the common theme was always abbreviated training, with a concentration on basic, multi-joint exercises such as the squat, deadlift and bench press.
In Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book, Dave Draper summarizes the Hardgainer approach as follows: In the book Dinosaur Training, Brooks Kubik included Hardgainer in a list of four publications (along with Milo, The Iron Master, and H.I.T.
Newsletter) to which he recommended that his readers should subscribe, referring to them as "excellent sources of information about productive weight training".