Ectomorph/Hardgainer's Journal

[countingcrows]

Today I started what deems to be a long road. I've tried several times before and hope that this will be different. I'm at 138 right now. Pretty skinny guy. Avg. height (5'10"), but small torso and long limbs. I've put on weight up to 150 two different times, but then moved or something has come up and I've lost it all. The previous times more of it was fat than I'd want. My goal is to try to get up to 155 and then cut down to 150. Like 5% body fat. And then slowly build back up to 155 or so and see if I can maintain that. These are my goals. I open to any advice and suggestions.

My split consists of lots of compound movements, which are supposed to be the most important to a lifter like me. I received this regimine a while back and hope that it's a good start, since there's not a whole lot of (correct) info out there for lifters like me (more people trying to lose weight than gain):

Day 1 –

Squats
Seated Squats or Horizontal
Stiff Legged Dead Lifts
Calf raises

Day 2 –

Bench
Chest Dips
Military or Dumbell press
Close grip bench

Day 3 –
Deadlift
Bent over row
Wide-grip pull-up
Close-grip pull-up

I stagger these with three sets each. At 8X, 7X, then lastly 6X. This is to not overtrain and allow for more weight to be lifted. This will last for eight weeks before I probably plateau and go down in weight and lift smaller for another cycle before coming back on this with more weight (hopefully).

Today I did Day 1:

Squats - 115X8, 120X7, 125X6
Seated Squats (Leg Press?)- 2, 35sX8; 2, 40sX7; 2 45sX6
SLDL - 115X8, 120X7, 125X6
Calves 100X20 (no angles, just straight lifting)

I'm trying to work on my eating regimine. I've done this in the past, so I know to stagger your eating into 5-6 meals. Just trying to get back on that train and eat right. I'll try to post a diet and what I'm eating tomorrow. Thanks for any help and support. I figure if I start posting this on here it'll motivate me even more.

[countingcrows]

Meal 1:
4 Eggs
1 Glass OJ
Oatmeal

Meal 2:
Spaghetti (canned Chef Boy-R-Dee)
8oz Milk

Meal 3:
2 pieces wheat bread
1 cup yogurt
1 pack tuna
8oz Grape juice

Meal 4:
Grilled Chicken breast
1 cup Broccoli
1 cup mashed potatoes
8oz milk

Meal 5:
2 Scoops protein (EAS or other)
1 banana
2 teaspoons peanut butter
12 oz milk

Trying to fit in a sixth meal here...been eating sunflower seeds inbetween meals when hungry for some good fats. Been drinking about a half gallon of water a day. Currently taking vitamin C (500mg), amino fuel by twinlab (2 tablets daily), flaxseed oil (1000mg) and 1 tablet of calcium and magnesium with Zinc before bed (heard it works like ZMA...if not it's good for my bones anyway). So, hope that gives some sort of indication. Thanks, again, for any advice or suggestion. I'll be working out tomorrow and then posting the results.

[countingcrows]

May 6,

:Week 1:
Day 2:
Bench Press (dumbbell) - 25sX8, 35sX7, 40sX6
Chest Dips - 8, 6
Narrow-grip bench press - 45(bar)X8, 65X7, 75X6
Millitary Press - 25sX8, 30sX6, 30sX5

Comments:
The bench was fine. I can probably go up in weight a little next time. Chest dips were a struggle on the second turn. Narrow-grips were fine, went low on weight b/c I haven't done them in so long and wanted just to get the feel. Did okay on the last set. Didn't have a spotter on this so I didn't want to throw a lot of weight on, either. Millitary I was worn out with by the second and third set. I gave out after six on the second set. Probably will go down to start with 20s next time and work back up.

[countingcrows]

:Week 1:
Day 3 -

Deadlift - 95X8, 105X7, 115X6
Bent-over rows - 65X8, 75X7, 85X6
wide-grip - 5
close-grip - 5
One-armed dumbbell rows 40X8, 45X7

Comments: I thought I did really well on the deadlift and rows, but was really tired out by the time I had to lift my own weight on the pullups. So, I decided to throw in the dumbbell rows to sort of make up for doing, what I felt was terrible. Something else I should have substituted? Thanks.

[countingcrows]

:Week 2:
Day 1 -

Squat - 125X8, 125X7, 130X6, 115X8
SLDL - 120X7, 125X7, 135X6
Horizontal Leg Press (m) - 100X8, 120X7, 140X6, 160X6
Calf raise - 100X8, 120X7, 140X6

Comments:
I did this yesterday, but just got time to post today. I made a little progress on the squat and SLDL. I felt like I might not be going down far enough on the squat with the extra weight so I did a super-set right after I finished the third set. The SLDL went great. The last one was a pretty good strain, though. Instead of doing leg press for one week, I wanted to do something else so I did the horizontal leg press on one of the machines. I'll go back to the leg press next week. Also, put in a few more calf raises than last week, as well.

Overall:
I'm progressing okay so far it appears. The toughest part has been the diet. Over the weekend I didn't eat very well, so I've been trying to make up for it yesterday and today. Adding more food than normal. Even if I progress slowly on putting more weight on the bars as long as I can keep going up for these eight weeks I'll be happy (and if my weight and everything goes up as well, of course).

[egoatdoor]

Currently taking vitamin C (500mg), amino fuel by twinlab (2 tablets daily), flaxseed oil (1000mg) and 1 tablet of calcium and magnesium with Zinc before bed (heard it works like ZMA...if not it's good for my bones anyway). So, hope that gives some sort of indication. Thanks, again, for any advice or suggestion. I'll be working out tomorrow and then posting the results.

Are you taking a multi vitamin?

Have you ever tried creatine and glutamine? I think this would help you out also.

[countingcrows]

Yeah, I started taking a multi this week, actually. Yeah, I've tried Creatine before and Glutamine. I didn't really stick with a good eating and workout plan beforehand when using them so I didn't see a whole lot of results. Didn't really like using them, either, since they're like drinking sandy juice or gatorade. How much might I benefit from these? I've heard good and bad from both, really. Also, I've tried andro before and a few other things like HGH just briefly...like a week or so when a friend gave me some of his pills to try out. I got really pumped when working out with andro (I think that was it) and was getting in more reps and more weight the one or two times I worked out after taking it. Sort of scary stuff, but definately noticed the results immediately...probably why they're now labeled steroids. I won't be taking anything like that again, and the creatine and glutamine I never saw enough of a result to feel like they were worth it...just from my little experience.

[countingcrows]

:Week 2:
Day 2:
Bench Press (dumbbell) - 30sX8, 35sX7, 40sX6
Chest Dips - 8, 6
Narrow-grip bench press - 55X8, 70X7, 75X5
Millitary Press (dumbbell)- 25sX8, 30sX6, 35sX4

Comments:
This was yesterday, just posting it today...I went up on bench and that felt fine. I finished strong on the third set. Chest Dips are still a huge struggle, but I was able to put out a good effort and was trying to go down even further than before. Narrow-grip was okay, but really pushed it on the last one there. I'm thinking of going up to 60 on the first set and then adjusting by 5lbs so I don't have such a huge gap there. Hopefully that will gradually go up after I make the adjustment next week. Millitary press I sort of adjusted from last week. I did 30s twice last week and wanted to move up to 35s. I did that and totally gave out at the end, doing less than my goal of 6 on the last set. I think I'll have to give myself more of a rest inbetween. I'm currently giving around 2min. Maybe before the last set I'll push that up to 3 or 4 to give my muscles a good rest before the last push.

Overall:
Pretty good workout. I faltered on two of the exercises, though. Hopefully I can adjust for that next week and move up a little in the weight. I might have to go to millitary press with a barbell to adjust only 5lbs and move up slower than 10lbs each time (5lb in each hand). That might help the progression quicker instead of killing me.

Also, I've eaten much better this week, so I'm really happy with that. No junk and not missing meals.