Ectomorph Mass Training -- Have you found something that works?!?

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  Jun 11, 2011 9:14 PM GMT

  So in the past month I've discovered that I have an ectomorphic body type (aka hardgainer)... lame. This nicely explains how I've managed to follow a pretty intensive gym schedule for 6 months and made zero progress.
  
  I've been researching what this means for my training programme and I think I've found something that looks good. It's a low intensity routine of 4 days lifting per week, split into pull and push days. There's only 5 exercises per day and the focus is on lifting the heaviest weight possible with low reps. Every 4 weeks there's a 'deload' week where you lift lighter weights for more reps.
  
  This routine seems to be all over the web so some of you other ectomorphs must have come across it. If so have you tried it? What were your results?
  
  For reference this is the routine: http://ectomorphworkout.org/ectomorph-workout-for-mass/
  
  If you've found something else that works for you then I'd be interested to hear about that too!
  
  Thanks.

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  Jun 11, 2011 11:51 PM GMT

  You can lift a locomotive 100 times a day, but you won't gain any size if you're not eating right.

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  Jun 11, 2011 11:57 PM GMT

  More food until you're sick of the sight of food.

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  Jun 12, 2011 2:40 AM GMT

  paulflexes saidYou can lift a locomotive 100 times a day, but you won't gain any size if you're not eating right.

  
  
  As a skinny guy, its all about eating.
  
  I know a guy who has a protein shake in the morning, after his workout, and then one special protein powder of some slow-release stuff (caseine?) at night before sleeping. Thats in addition to just eating a lot. If you want to gain, you have to cut excess long endurance runs and like you have noted do lots of lifting (in my experience). I even read an article that simply at one point hard-gainers need to STOP MOVING/Fiddling/Fucking around.
  
  There are quite a few people on here who are also ectomorphs. I also doubt you actually made zero progress. It may look like zero progress, but you may have just laid down a foundation. A long time is needed to gain weight for ectomorphs because by definition we are hard gainers.

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  Jun 12, 2011 4:55 AM GMT

  beneful1 saidMore food until you're sick of the sight of food.

  
  
  Exactly! I had a conversation with a co-worker a few hours earlier today about how I have to eat a lot to gain weight. I ended it by telling her I don't even remember what it feels like to be hungry anymore.

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  Jun 12, 2011 6:05 AM GMT

  You don't have to shovel down piles of food to get big. Do some research on carb timing. Also, do some research on muscle hypertrophy. Because honestly, most people go through the motions of working out. They push around the weights without knowing what muscles they're supposed to be targeting.

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  Jun 12, 2011 6:13 AM GMT

  F*** you all.
  (Tosses chair aside. Runs to his room. Slams door. Strained sobs from his pillow sound like "I'm just big boned".)

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  Jun 12, 2011 6:19 AM GMT

  balou saidF*** you all.
  (Tosses chair aside. Runs to his room. Slams door. Strained sobs from his pillow sound like "I'm just big boned".)

  
  Yes, please show us your big bone.

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  Jun 12, 2011 6:35 AM GMT

  age will eventually thicken even an ectomorph, especially if he maintains a diligent workout regimen . . . it is about that simple

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  Jun 12, 2011 7:14 AM GMT

  noren saidage will eventually thicken even an ectomorph, especially if he maintains a diligent workout regimen . . . it is about that simple

  
  
  Yup!

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  Jun 12, 2011 7:22 AM GMT

  Ravco said

  noren saidage will eventually thicken even an ectomorph, especially if he maintains a diligent workout regimen . . . it is about that simple

  
  
  Yup!

  
  
  Its True.
  "Slow and steady wins the race" applies to this.
  That, and eating everything in sight, lol!

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  Jun 12, 2011 7:28 AM GMT

  OH YEAH, AND THESE!
  
  -Change your workout every two weeks.
  -Supersets
  -trisets
  -forced/negative reps
  -rep to failure
  -Did i mention eating everything in sight, lol!
  -Sleep alot!

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• bartzjegr
  
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  Jun 12, 2011 7:38 AM GMT

  RT600 saidSo in the past month I've discovered that I have an ectomorphic body type (aka hardgainer)... lame. This nicely explains how I've managed to follow a pretty intensive gym schedule for 6 months and made zero progress.
  
  I've been researching what this means for my training programme and I think I've found something that looks good. It's a low intensity routine of 4 days lifting per week, split into pull and push days. There's only 5 exercises per day and the focus is on lifting the heaviest weight possible with low reps. Every 4 weeks there's a 'deload' week where you lift lighter weights for more reps.
  
  This routine seems to be all over the web so some of you other ectomorphs must have come across it. If so have you tried it? What were your results?
  
  For reference this is the routine: http://ectomorphworkout.org/ectomorph-workout-for-mass/
  
  If you've found something else that works for you then I'd be interested to hear about that too!
  
  Thanks.

  
  
  Eat more, try a weight gainer. You need to eat more than you consume in order to put on any muscle. Sometimes guys bulk up, then shed the extra weight when you are around the weight you desire. Reduce any cardio on training days to 10 minutes or split your cardio and weight training. Cardio AM training PM or vise versa. Make sure you are not working the same body parts day after day, you need at least 48 hours of rest to work out the same body part again. Also, change your reps and sets often and vary your exercises and routines often to confuse your muscles. Check out www.bodybuilding.com and make sure you are using proper form also, otherwise you do not isolate. I have read you should want to gain about a pound a week, that is a good sign you are eating enough to gain muscle. 6 weeks should be enough to notice definition.

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  Jun 12, 2011 11:11 AM GMT

  balou saidF*** you all.
  (Tosses chair aside. Runs to his room. Slams door. Strained sobs from his pillow sound like "I'm just big boned".)

  
  
  
  Lol I can look at carbs and it hits my stomach

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• Dudepussy
  
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  Jun 16, 2011 1:08 PM GMT

  Reduce cardio to no more than 20 minutes. Eat something high in protein before and after you work out, and take cassein right before bed.

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  Jun 16, 2011 1:25 PM GMT

  www.BodyBuilding.com
  +1

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  Jun 16, 2011 5:42 PM GMT

  RT600, I just sent you a private message.
  
  What and how much you eat, your work out and exercise, and rest/sleep - is sort of the trinity of fitness, health and bodybuilding. People covered that. In my opinion, there is a fourth factor that is equally important.
  
  LEARN WHAT WORKS FOR YOU BY BEING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR SELF AND YOUR BODY (and mind, feelings, who you are, life habits and situation, all that is you). I can't make a list of what to look for because that is the point. We are all unique. A particular exercise might give one guy a good pump and muscle development, and it may not for you. Vice versa and same with diet, supplements, so forth.
  
  That's the summary. The following is just works for me, my two cents. It may or may not work for you.
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  1. Mental focus on what you are doing while working out: form, the muscles I am working, looking for the feel of them moving and doing what I must to feel they are worked. This made a significant difference in the results of my workouts.
  
  2. Eating and supplements. Work out supplements are so much hype and all about money and business. But some are important in my opinion (you'll get people arguing all of this...and rightly. It's all about the individual.)
  
  - I found taking a product called "Modern BCCA" and sipping it my water throughout my work out is good. BCAA's gives me more energy for my work out, helps prevent muscle loss, and helps repair muscle.
  
  - Glutamine....if there is any non-stop debate about when, how, what kind, and if at all, it's about glutamine. Glutamine also helps muscle recovery and repair, and reduces muscle loss and "waisting." It has been used with AIDS patients and bodybuilders or anyone who wishes to maintain their muscle. There can be muscle loss, for example, while you sleep at night. So I take about 5000mg of L-Glutamine powder (tasteless if not slightly sweet) in water on an empty stomach, from a half an hour or hour before eat my bedtime snack. Syntha-6 protein from BSN has glutamine peptides (perhaps better form of glutamine) and BCCA's in it, so I get those when I drink/eat that protein, which is at breakfast and before and after my workout. (Vanilla Ice Cream flavor is good, so is Chocolate. They have others.)
  
  - About a half hour or hour after I take the glutamine before bed, I eat a a bedtime snack: 3/4 cottage cheese (for casein protein) a small amount of fruit for carbs and some almonds for fat. Unlike whey protein, casein protein is digested over a long period of time, which makes it perfect to feed your body throughout your sleep. (Casein powder protein is usually known to taste horrible, and cottage cheese is mostly casein protein.)

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  Jun 16, 2011 8:05 PM GMT

  I'm an ectomorph too, and I think the main thing is: Don't get discouraged. I've always said it takes twice the effort for guys like us to get half the results. But hang in there, keep working out and eating right, you'll be great!!
  
  

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• rf_dal
  
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  Jun 16, 2011 8:11 PM GMT

  I'm the same way. I tried P90X and ended up looking like I just wandered out of a third world country. Not pretty. Then I tried for months eating a normal amount and hitting the weights all the time. Very little progress at all. Now I'm eating like a freaking horse, hate the sight of food, but I think it's helping. Nutrition really makes a difference.

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  Jun 17, 2011 9:28 PM GMT

  Thanks for the info guys,
  
  I have started eating a lot more too, didn't mention that before. I'm getting sick of food, especially having to think so hard about getting enough calories and not eating too much fat. Never realised how much food I need, and how little I must have been eating before. I can already see some positive results; I am recovering much quicker than before.
  
  I don't really want to get into additives and supplements, although thank-you for the feedback timct. I'm using a bit of whey protein, but that's as far as I'll be going.
  
  I'll let you all know how effective the routine is, although would still like to hear from anyone who's tried it or similar.

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  Jun 17, 2011 11:44 PM GMT

  you have to eat a lot yes, but eat the good stuff as much as possible : eggs, chicken, fish, rice, oats, beans, nuts,
  
  i managed to gain over 10 pounds last fall. i cut down cardio by 90% almost, ate , ate , ate.. i'd even get up at 3 am and have a shake.
  some supplements and testosterone boosters ( i'm 54 , you don't need those ) .
  multi vitamin, bcaa, glutamine, whey protein , casein .
  i do have some concerns over how all that stuff could affect my kidneys with time, so i'll speak with a doctor soon.
  in fact i gained 14 pounds but then trimmed down some extra that had nothing to do with muscle.
  and there's the catch !... ectomorphs can accumulate fat !
  
  

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  Jun 20, 2011 11:58 AM GMT

  i'm gonna give this a shot, thanks for posting

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  Jun 20, 2011 4:14 PM GMT

  For overall mass gain, you can't beat the "Big Three" Compound lifts - Bench press, Squat, Deadlift. Do them 3x/week, lift heavy. Eat like a garbage disposal. For a good routine, see Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength wiki. It's been working wonders for me. His book is pretty much a bible.
  
  http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

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• jtdashdub
  
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  Jun 20, 2011 4:19 PM GMT

  im an ectomorph too and i only started seeing good gains recently when my trainer told me to eat 6 meals a day. i find eating this much harder than working out at the gym but it has to be done to reach my goal

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  Jun 20, 2011 4:28 PM GMT

  Most guys have written some variation on "eat more" and I think this is generally true. Im also an ectomorpth and Ill add one more idea. This is pretty standard advice from muscle mags, but for some reason I never took it until recently---- and I think it's paying off.
  I occasionally go very heavy, so I can only manage 4-6 reps....sometimes even just 3. Seems frustrating at first, but Ive made progress. Best news is, when I drop back to a lower weight, I can do many more resp than previously. So I do believe heavy weights=greater strength=eventually greater size.

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