Ectomorph Wanting to Gain Mass

[JJJ8885]

Hello,

I am an extreme ectomorph i believe, which my habits haven't helped at all. Im at 5' 7'' (172 cm) weighing only 122 lb (54 kgs)!! I just recently started trying to improve my posture, not wanting to become a ripped bodybuilder but be at a decent stage of unskinny posture. Started of with eating every 3 to 4 hours focusing on protein gaining meals, add to that a protein shake called Serious Mass.

My main question is about my workout. I do long work hours, as in 12 a day thus do all the exercise at home, and have started out with this routine which i really want to hear ppl's opinions on it whether it can aid in increasing mass for me:

3 days a week, each day performing 3 sets of 8 reps each; taking about 45 minutes to perform:

dumbbell shoulder press
weighted close-grip push ups
dumbbell curls
weighted regular push ups
lunges
crunches

Would thank any comment.

[Aielyn]

My first tip would be, stop thinking of yourself as "an extreme ectomorph". While some people do have more trouble gaining weight, and others have more trouble losing weight, etc, your actions are far more important.

Second, you want either squats or leg press in your workout. Lunges are OK, but when you put a lot of weight on your quads, it stimulates your body to produce quite a bit of testosterone, which will make muscle gain significantly easier. To my knowledge, lunges are not as effective for this purpose.

There's also a number of muscle groups you're not working with - most significantly, your back. Pullups/downs, rows, and pullovers are perhaps the best options (pullovers are probably easiest to do at home, if you have access to a bench of some sort). The absence of ab-work is also conspicuous.

Oh, by the way, when you do pushups, it shouldn't be "close-grip", since you shouldn't be gripping anything. And if you're planning on using a pair of those "ultimate pushup" device things (which might be something to "grip")... don't. They're worthless.


Finally, I can't be certain it'll help, but it seems to have had an impact for me - after working out, drink a reasonable amount of milk (I drink 1L after each workout) and eat a bit of fruit (avoid sour/acidic fruits like pineapple or orange, which could curdle the milk) - I eat a pear with my milk. With no other significant changes to my workout routine or diet, I managed to gain 7 kg in about 3.5 months, without any noticeable gain in fat levels.

[JJJ8885]

thank you for reply.

by close-grip push ups i meant close in terms of arms' positions, where i'd put them a bit narrower than shoulder width so as to focus on triceps, but at the same time having a compound exercise which everyone is telling me to emphasize. As for back i'll take with your advice and add an exercise for that, but as for abs i do perform crunches at 15 reps per set. just happens that i do have an OK abs formation thus dont see the reason for emphasis on that part.

As for the workout, do you believe the number of exercises and reps are enough as an overall, and how effective, would it get me anywhere or am i just wasting my time in terms of weight gain. My aim is to get to the 60+ mark, no unrealistic goals.

Thanks again

[Aardvark2]

I would agree in cautioning against thinking of yourself as an "extreme ectomorph." The only guy I know who could be considered extreme is a friend's brother-in-law, who has a muscular disorder (not sure of its name, this is just how it was explained to me) that causes his muscles to continually flex and tense, so it's like he's doing cardio 24/7. He'll never gain weight, no matter how hard he tries, because he just burns it right off.

I was 6'2" and 135 when I started working out, so we were in pretty similar boats. Once you hit your stride, there will be a point where you gain weight really fast, because honestly, your body is probably just dying to fill out. I STILL think of myself as "skinny," but then I look at pictures from a few years ago and my eyes bug out of my head.

Things that worked for me:
- go to the gym 3 or 4 days a week to start with. Once you start putting on mass, you can go more often, but I found that going more than every other day (or so) really wore me out. When you're utterly exhausted, you will not grow. Which brings me to my next point...
- EAT. It is hard to make yourself eat, trust me, I know. My appetite is still relatively small. Weight-gainer shakes helped me, although they aren't for everyone. I just tried to eat as much as I could, as clean as I could. I didn't obsessively count calories, but a big plate of pasta before bed was always just the thing for me. Eat just before you go to the gym. As a trainer once said to me, "You wouldn't set out on a cross-country road trip with an empty gas tank, would you?" FUEL UP.
- SLEEP. You'll get bigger if you're rested. If your muscles are worn out and tired and you keep pushing them, they will not grow (they may even get smaller). I never understood the guys who Nazi-torture their bodies by spending hours upon hours in the gym and then sleep for four hours. That's a recipe for burnout. I would work out for an hour MAXIMUM, then go home, drink a shake, have a power-nap, and eat a meal. And I always tried to get a full night's rest.
- When it comes to lifting, I was told to stick to the basics as a beginner. You can do fancier shit once you've put on a few pounds. For now, just do bench press, deadlift, curls, pulldowns for back, pushdowns for triceps, things like that. I don't do squats, but that would go on the list too (BE SURE YOUR FORM IS CORRECT!) Don't do "chest day" or "leg day" just yet. Sites like bodybuilding.com are overflowing with articles about this.
- Also: don't be ashamed to ask for help. It took me years to realize that the gym is not high school. Sure, there are a few assholes, but assholes are a natural part of life, man. If you ask for a spot, people will give it. If you ask the biggest guy what he did to get big, he'll probably launch into a detailed description (hell, it's flattering to him!) No one is born big. When I see a guy with an admirable physique, I know he's worked his ass off (or on, nyuk nyuk) to get it.

[Aielyn]

Originally Posted by JJJ8885

thank you for reply.

by close-grip push ups i meant close in terms of arms' positions, where i'd put them a bit narrower than shoulder width so as to focus on triceps, but at the same time having a compound exercise which everyone is telling me to emphasize. As for back i'll take with your advice and add an exercise for that, but as for abs i do perform crunches at 15 reps per set. just happens that i do have an OK abs formation thus dont see the reason for emphasis on that part.

As for the workout, do you believe the number of exercises and reps are enough as an overall, and how effective, would it get me anywhere or am i just wasting my time in terms of weight gain. My aim is to get to the 60+ mark, no unrealistic goals.

Thanks again

That you have "an OK abs formation" is irrelevant - a common misconception is that visible abs are due to working the abs, and if they're visible, they're strong enough. In reality, abs being visible is due to low levels of body fat, and chances are that you could do with stronger abs.

To train them better, try weighted crunches. Also consider stiff-legged situps (have your angles hooked under something, so your legs can be straight out, rather than bent).

As for your workout, the number of reps and the type of exercise aren't the most important elements. What matters is how you ensure that you're actually improving. Have a look here - it's a thread on the bodybuilding.com forums about a particularly effective beginner's routine. Most of the exercises can be altered (for instance, weighted pushups are equivalent to bench press), but the important thing is that it covers all the major muscle groups. The seven exercises noted are primarily for quads, chest, upper back, front and lateral delts, lower back and hamstrings, biceps, and calves, respectively (triceps will be hit by both bench press and shoulder press, rear delts will be hit by rows, traps and forearms will be hit by deadlifts). Note that ab-work is done on three of the off-days.

By the way, what do you mean "the 60+ mark"?

Finally, I do need to emphasise some things that Aardvark2 mentioned - you need to eat and sleep extensively. Eat to provide your body with the fuel to heal and grow, and sleep to allow it to do so (your body does about 90% of its growing and healing when you're asleep).

And if you're up to it, going to a gym is a good idea. Not only will the atmosphere help to motivate you (and seeing the built guys can also help with motivation), but you can also get advice and assistance, and you'll have access to a much broader variety of equipment and exercises, including everything from swiss balls (great for core work), to cables (cable flyes can be really effective), to a squat rack (nothing better for working the quads). You're also less likely to skip out on an exercise if you're at the gym.

[JJJ8885]

I've taken your advice and have hit the gym for 2 months now, and thanks for that, have gain an extra 5 pounds since with much better posture, for the reason you've mentioned, focusing on more muscle groups.

I've been through a three day program:

day 1 : Chest + biceps

day 2: shoulders + legs

days 3: back + triceps

3 exercises per minor muscles, 4 for major muscles focusing on 12, 10, 8 sets:

Do you believe this a good way to go through with the aim being to gain more mass, since i believe im starting to hit a plateua; ive reached 132 pounds yet dont seem to gain anymore. Im on a 2700 calorie intake diet.

Thank you

[Aielyn]

Well, you say "5 pounds in two months", but based on what I'm seeing, you're up 10 pounds in 3 months. At the end of July, you were 122 lb, and at the end of October, you're at 132 lb. That's about 1.5 kg per month, not a bad result. By my count, you've gone from 54 kg to closer to 59 kg.

You seem to think you're hitting a plateau. Let's do the maths, based on a simplistic calorie intake measurement. "Maintenance" for a 25 year old (you didn't say how old you were, and it shouldn't matter too much anyway) of your starting height and weight who exercises three days a week is somewhere around 2000 calories. You're taking in 2700 calories, so a surplus of 700 calories or so. They say 3500 calories is the same as one pound. So you'd expect to gain about a pound every 5 days. In three months, which is 90 days, you've gained 10 pounds, whereas you'd expect to be closer to 15 pounds. But then, we haven't accounted for the increase in mass resulting in increased metabolism, nor for variation in a person's natural metabolism.

You're not doing too badly, considering. Don't let the mentality of "hitting a plateau" get into your head. It'll only hold you back. Just focus on working out, with good form, and if you really feel like your muscles aren't gaining, try changing the exercise you do for any particular body part, or increase the number of exercises. Other than that, just keep working at it. You'll go through periods of slower growth, your body can't just pile weight on constantly.

[JJJ8885]

Well you kind of hit the spot, I am 26 years old, at 5' 7 ", my actual gain of weight was 12 pounds in approximately 2 to 3 months. But ever since i hit the 132 pound mark, i don't seem to gain much weight as off 2 or 3 weeks ago. Ive been going through the same calorie intake, about 2700. That's the part i was wondering about, my posture has been much improved thankfully, ive been getting remarks of gaining size and width. Just wandering if body type has its effect on such a restriction or is it as you mentioned, im going through a slower progressive pace?

Thanks again

[hypnotik]

I have an ebook called "Bulking for Ectomorphs" that's pretty good. If you send me a email address in a private message I'll pass it along.

[jx22uk]

As has been said above, you've gained some size, so you need to increase the calories to match...you won't carry on gaining in the same way on the same amount of calories. As those calories are now being used to support your bigger body.

Your programme is looking a lot better now, but take a look at http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ining-program/

It's a free ebook, and a really good beginners strength and muscle building programme, based around the big compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. It's good solid info, not a silly fad or crazy trick.