I have always been a light eater, I have always stayed lean, never really got fat during a bulk, I started off at 150lbs and have gone up to 200lbs stage weight in the 30 years I have been at it, I did have a big gap from 96 to 2011 where I didn't really train much at all.
I have trained heavier in the past but never really less than 8-10 rep range.
I train lighter now and less intensely than in the past and yet am still making improvements, if I told you some of the poundages I use you wouldn't believe me, people sometimes ask me why I don't train heavy when Im at the gym.
I definitely believe its more down to training than stuffing down mountains of food, after all your body can only convert so much of the fuel into muscle and everyone has differing limits as to how quickly that process works.
I think the key is your digestive system, if that is working optimally then you can convert the energy into tissue.
If anyone is struggling to gain then rather than force feeding they may be better off looking at a good digestive enzyme supplement.
I absolutely agree, you stomach is an ecosystem, that needs to be working properly for all the food to be processed properly, probiotics, and foods that aid in digestion are key!
