X-Rep.com - Hardgainer Terminator: Twig-To-Big Muscle-Mass Mutations.

**webmaster** · 01-11-2007, 11:52 AM

In high school at 120 pounds, Steve often thought that he probably should've pursued ping-pong instead of muscle. If you are a hard gainer then look no further. Here are some great tips & hints to overcome the difficulty of putting on muscle!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/xrep11.htm

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01-12-2007, 01:52 PM

Great article guys. I am your "very" typical ectomorph. I feel that everything is written for meso's and endo's and don't mind popping chemical assitance if you know what I mean. I have been incorporating techniques as you describe, however thank to actaully reading about what I am doing I will be more conscious of acheiving the goal. One quick question, the 30 sedonds under load is a little vague in the article. Do yuo mean under load for a count of 15 down and 15 up OR a number of partials for 30 seconds?

Thanks again.

Bruggs

crease123 · 01-18-2007, 03:46 AM

I think this article might just changed my life!

For all my weightlifting life, I always thought that you need to lift heavy with a lower rep range to gain muscle. That's what everyone and every magazine tells you. I do that for my chest, back, legs and basically everything else other than my biceps. For biceps, I go ligther with rep range of about 12-15. And guess which body part experience the most growth?

Yes BICEPS! My chest and legs improved a little bit, but the rest of my bodypart basically experience zero growth. Thanks to this article, I'm going to change my workout routine. Cant wait to hit the gym today.

01-18-2007, 03:43 PM

X-REP is full of itand know one should buy from them. This whole article is written to direct people to their site that sells their crap. why does BB.com post their articles?

crazydude69 · 01-18-2007, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crease123

I think this article might just changed my life!

For all my weightlifting life, I always thought that you need to lift heavy with a lower rep range to gain muscle. That's what everyone and every magazine tells you. I do that for my chest, back, legs and basically everything else other than my biceps. For biceps, I go ligther with rep range of about 12-15. And guess which body part experience the most growth?

Yes BICEPS! My chest and legs improved a little bit, but the rest of my bodypart basically experience zero growth. Thanks to this article, I'm going to change my workout routine. Cant wait to hit the gym today.

I experienced the exact same problem as crease 123 experienced. Ectomorphs simply don't have enough fast-twitch muscle fibers for Low-rep training to be effective (as the article said.) I tried about 2-3 low-rep programs without many results beyond 10-15 lb strength increases that happened 4-5 weeks into the program and then stopped. I became annoyed with this and switched to a training style in which time-under-tension (The ammount of time your set takes, to answer bruggs question. Under load for 30 seconds means your set should take you at least 30 seconds to complete.) is the main focus.

What do you know? Once I changed my training style I gained 15 lbs! As far as the mirror tells me I have also gained definition and my strength is shooting upwards!

I read in another article that the optimal time-under-load for balanced muscle growth is 60-90 seconds, but I think its more complex than that. You need to spend at least 15-25 seconds under MAXIMAL FORCE tension. (This is my opinion. I've gotten great results using this principle.) To explain maximal force: when you do a set of 12 and you fail on your 13th rep, the 12 and 13 rep are when you're body is using all of its possible fibers, or, is outputting the most force it can possibly output at that time. So, you need to spend 15-25 seconds in that state. As you can imagine it is not the easiest thing to do.

Examples of ways to reach and maintain Maximal Force Tension:

Do a set of, say, Barbell Curls to failure, (At this point you reach maximal tension.) and have a training partner help you push through the sticking point of your failed rep. Your 20 second period of pain has begun. Have your partner assist you on the positive, and perform three negative reps in which you lower the weight for 10 seconds, 7 seconds, and 5 seconds respectively. Have your partner count seconds for you. This is were training becomes very mental, and complete and utter focus is required as you pour every once of yourself into contracting (Read: squeezing as hard as possible.) the muscle on the negative. This is essential. Yeah, it kind of hurts, but you’re an ecto who’s tired of his 12.5 inch arms right? I got this idea from a book called: High Intensity Bodybuilding: Nautilus Principles Applied to Free-weights.

I did this twice a week for three weeks (w/ 3-4 days rest in between bicep training sessions.) and my Biceps have gained 0.8 inches. IN 3 WEEKS!

I don’t expect these kind of gains to continue at this rate forever because these are essentially “n00b gains” since my body is un-used to this kind of training.

Another Maximal Tension idea: Jump in a Leg Press machine (The kind that you load plates onto.) Grab two partners. Rep to failure and when you reach your sticking point have each partner (Who are stationed at either side of the machine.) take one 45 lb plate off. Your maximal tension period again starts at failure. Continue stripping weight as you reach failure until only two 45’s remain. (One on each side.) This will likely place your legs under tension for close to 90 seconds, depending on how much weight you initially used, so it is helpful to have someone with a stopwatch make sure you don’t exceed the 90 second mark, at which point your training turns into a marathon event and your body may actually make your muscles smaller so they can adapt to the amount of endurance the now perceive as necessary. (Think of people who do sets of 100+ crunches and then complain about how small their abs are.) You should be dead by 90 seconds anyways. This is essentially just a long drop-set in which the muscles are under tension constantly, since the weight is stripped as you work.

Maximal Tension training is 80 percent mentality. Leave your muscles no choice but to grow!

il_chacal_78 · 01-19-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

X-REP is full of itand know one should buy from them. This whole article is written to direct people to their site that sells their crap. why does BB.com post their articles?

These guys are trying to make money from information that's freely available throughout the internet. They're no better than that moron John Basedow and his Fitness Made Simple videos.

bogdan · 01-20-2007, 06:45 AM

When I started going to a gim, I used to train just like they said: higher reps, forced reps, drop sets, all the ****. I grew a bit (noob gains) and that was that. After I started training with low reps (4-8) and no special intensity techniques (just do as many reps as you can, and when you're done, you're done), things changed for the better. Their "hardgainer" program sure didn't work for this hardgainer.

johnnygspot · 01-22-2007, 05:17 PM

I am definately the body type described here. I am 6 feet tall exactly and currently weigh 150lbs. My wrist is barely over 6 inches around at it's smallest point. I have excelled at endurance sports all my life, but have found it impossible to make strength or muscle mass gains.
Believe it or not I have been lifting about 4-5 times per week for the past 5 years. Except for initial gains I have been unable to gain any muscle mass or strength, only small gains in definition. I have also started to take weight gainer shakes in addition to a higher calorie diet, but have not had positive results from that either.
I wonder if this type of training would be what could push me through this rut. I would like to hear what some peopole with similar body types who have had sucess with a hight rep workout plan think of what I have been doing and how I could alter it in order to gain strength and mass. Below are typical workouts for me that I complete once each week.

Chest Day
4X8 bench
3x8 incline press
3x8 decline press
3x8 flys
3x10 weighted crunches

Legs Day
4x8 squats
3x8 lunges
3x8 leg extensions
3x8 leg curls
6x8 calf raises

Arms Day
3x8 preacher curl
3x8 skull crushers
3x8 straight bar curl
3x8 straight bar tricep extensions
3x8 bar bell curls
3x8 tricep rope extensions

Shoulders/Shrugs Day
4x8 military press (behind head)
3x8 shrugs
3x8 military press (in front of head)
3x8 shrugs
3x8 butterfly raises
3x10 weighted crunches

Back Day
3x10 pullups
3x8 bent over rows
3x8 lat pulls
3x8 sitting rows
3x8 reverse flys
3x8 back raises
3x10 weighted crunches

Should I switch to lower weight and complete 12-15 reps with the same lifts? Should I do the same only incorporating drop sets and super sets? I am kind of leary of the x-rep aspect since they are trying to sell their product. I did some research on the study they reference and it checks out. However, there is no mention to the benefit of drop sets, super sets, or x sets for my body type, only positive strength gains for those completing 12-15 rep workouts.

Any input is appreciated and I look forward to seeing workouts that have produced results for people with genetics like mine.

01-23-2007, 09:56 AM

johnny g spot: Read Crazydude's post. This type of training has worked for me, and I'm an ecto-morph.

johnnygspot · 01-23-2007, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gym guy6688997

johnny g spot: Read Crazydude's post. This type of training has worked for me, and I'm an ecto-morph.

I understand that he is going to failure and then having a partner assist with negatives 9 sec 7 sec and so on. I was lookig for a more specific workout schedule suggesting types of lifts, number of sets, daily rotations and so on.

Right now I'm going to try the same schedule I've been doing only with 12-15 reps instead of 8 per set. It seems that I would overtrain if I do what crazydude is suggesting and keep the same amount of sets and lifs I'm doing now. However I would like to try what has helped him, I just want to make sure I do it the right way.

jkay · 02-01-2007, 05:00 PM

I just came across this and I've decided to give it a try as well. I'm an extreme ECTO. My wrists are 5.8" (Anyone beat that?)

Before lifting, I was 5'5 86lbs... Now i'm 5'6 132lbs.

I've began doing the typical 3x8 high weight routine and I came across this article. It really speaks out to me since I am part of the few superectos who do lift and it really debunks a lot of the weightlifting concepts that COULD work for ectos.

I'm basically adding dropsets on my current workout with HALF the reps. So... I'm still doing 8 reps and dropset it with 4 reps.

I wonder if this is effective, any ideas?

crease123 · 02-01-2007, 07:09 PM

I was extremely ecto once. As you can see, I began the new workout (15 reps) about 2 weeks ago...and boy can I see the improvements! I wouldnt exactly say my strength go up, but my muscle mass definetly did. I'm actually looking much more muscular now....and all this in 2 weeks of changing of workout!

I would say, do the same as me....start off with heavier weights and aim for reps within the range of 8-10. The reason for this is to build up strength and some mass. After about 2 months of that, switch to the 15-reps range workout. Hope it helps bro.

jkay · 02-01-2007, 08:36 PM

Thanks for the advice crease.

So it is true, 15 reps actually BUILDS mass instead of endurance for ECTOS.

I can't believe this isn't more widely known, there are so many of us skinny ectos who are doing what the "other" bb'ers do - 8 reps for, supposedly, mass.

skinny ee · 02-01-2007, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crease123

I was extremely ecto once. As you can see, I began the new workout (15 reps) about 2 weeks ago...and boy can I see the improvements! I wouldnt exactly say my strength go up, but my muscle mass definetly did. I'm actually looking much more muscular now....and all this in 2 weeks of changing of workout!

I would say, do the same as me....start off with heavier weights and aim for reps within the range of 8-10. The reason for this is to build up strength and some mass. After about 2 months of that, switch to the 15-reps range workout. Hope it helps bro.

ok i will try this. iam super ecto

crease123 · 02-01-2007, 10:03 PM

Well don't take my word for it. Try different things, I used to play around until I found this current workout that work best for me.

Also, I would like to point out that you guys should consider full-body workout instead of bodysplits. When I did the splits workout I experienced the least gains, regardless of whether I trained each body-parts once or twice a week.

This is my recommendation:
Mon, Wed, Fri
Squats 2 x 12-15
Flat benchpress 2 x 12-15
Lats pulldown 2 x 12-15
Dips 2 x 12-15
Side laterals raise 2 x 12-15
barbell biceps curl 2 x 12-15

Do this for a month, then increase each exercise to 3 sets. Do that for another month, and I switched my workout to this:

Mon, Wed, Fri
Basically the same as above, 3 sets of each exercise, but I removed lats pulldown and dips.

Tues, Thurs, Sat
I switched lats pulldown and dips to these days, together with some new exercises:
lats pulldown 3 x 12-15
dips 3 x 12-15
shurgs (I try to go heavy on this one for now) 3 x 8-10
military shoulder press 3 x 12-15

Thats it, the bottom workout is what I'm doing now. Its a lot of hardwork and commitment, but trust me on this, when I start seeing gains on my otherwise skinny body, and my gf saying how good I look now with muscles (she gets real wet now when we have sex), its all worth the hard work.