Ectomorph been training for 5 years but hasn't gained a single pound. Help!

[Composed]

I read from multiple places that a three day split was good and even "ideal" for an ecto. The amount of contradictary, conflicting info on lifting/dieting is annoying as hell.

I'm also an ecto, but probably smaller than most anyone(5'11', 120bs) and I'm going to start going to the gym regularly in the next few weeks. Going for 3000cals a day and making sure to hit my macros.

What kind of exercises should I do in the gym when I start? Keep in mind my only option right now is Planet Fitnezzzz and I genuinely refuse to do squats or deadlifts becsuse I WILL snap my **** up, knowing me

[Skyexile]

Try a full body routine. I hit all major muscle groups 3x a week. 48hrs rest in between.

[Suxirc]

Starting tomorrow, record everything you eat, every day for a week (myfitnesspal). Get an average of your calories for a day. Add 500 cals to that and MAKE SURE you eat at least that much EVERY F*CKING DAY for the next 7 days.

Weigh yourself every Monday. If you don't gain anything, +500 cals for the next week. The only thing that will help you gain weight is consistency with your diet. F*ck your routine. Just make sure you get a little stronger in every exercise you do (more weight, more reps or more sets).

Do this and you will gain muscle (and fat).

[Nebor]

Starting tomorrow, record everything you eat, every day for a week (myfitnesspal). Get an average of your calories for a day. Add 500 cals to that and MAKE SURE you eat at least that much EVERY F*CKING DAY for the next 7 days.

Weigh yourself every Monday. If you don't gain anything, +500 cals for the next week. The only thing that will help you gain weight is consistency with your diet. F*ck your routine. Just make sure you get a little stronger in every exercise you do (more weight, more reps or more sets).

Do this and you will gain muscle (and fat).

This. I'm also a skinny *******. I've been lifting for 5 years as well. I struggled to gain weight too. My natural equilibrium (when I eat how I want when I'm hungry) is around 173lbs. I've done GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) twice and both times successfully gained up to 205lbs in around 6 months. It's a lot easier to drink calories than eat them (ref: fatties and big sodas.) You do put on a lot of fat that way, for whatever reason.

I tore my rotator cuff in two tendons about 4 months ago and couldn't lift. I got a Fitbit and religiously tracked my calories while increasing my running up to 60 miles a week. I lost weight almost exactly according to the 3500 calories/pound formula. It was amazing actually. I cut down to 157lbs, got my 5k time down under 18 minutes and documented the weight loss and calories along the way. Neat.jpg

My shoulder is back in action now and I'm doing a clean bulk following the advice above. I used my Fitbit to set my goal at 200lbs, and it has me eat 400 calories over maintenance per day (maintenance is fairly accurately calculated via your heart rate.) That typically means around 4,000 calories a day considering I still run every day. If you're not measuring and weighing your food, you're doing it wrong. Just like fatties trying to lose weight. I've gained 7lbs so far.

[JamesMUSCLE]

Eat more.

[DHamiz3Z]

I'm 112 lbs at 5'6" I can lift around 5 pounds max on the bench press lol
5 pounds along with the bar I mean

serious advice: disregard everything in life and focus on eating everything you see just every fuking day from now on.
there are 13 year old girls who weigh more than you and chances are you are a scrawny virgin ****ot wondering where the sloots are - so just fuking eat

[Nebor]

Ignore these people saying, "eat everything" or "eat more." That's like telling fatties "eat less." It's too vague to be actionable. Measure your food. Track your calories. Have goals that you can reach every day and in time you'll get where you want to be.

[stratosXII]

OP... your routine has no where near enough volume to gain some mass.
If you're training only 3 days per week, it better be full body training otherwise you're just wasting your time.
Workout each muscle group at least twice per week. Also eat more.

[LoisEinhorn]

Toasting in a roll bread...

[Realityy]

your routine is something I would give my 90 year old grandpa

and to gain weight, you need to eat more calories than you use. Therefore, eat more

[TheWeeknd4Ever]

You need way more volume in that routine man....

[dave1211]

Starting tomorrow, record everything you eat, every day for a week (myfitnesspal). Get an average of your calories for a day. Add 500 cals to that and MAKE SURE you eat at least that much EVERY F*CKING DAY for the next 7 days.

Weigh yourself every Monday. If you don't gain anything, +500 cals for the next week. The only thing that will help you gain weight is consistency with your diet. F*ck your routine. Just make sure you get a little stronger in every exercise you do (more weight, more reps or more sets).

Do this and you will gain muscle (and fat).

Thanks man, Ye I seriously think it's more an issue with my diet than my routine. Problem is I keep getting sick when I eat too much and stop eating due to indigestion I dunno wtf is wrong with my body

[dave1211]

Did you get stronger over the years? Were you skinnyfat? If so, you could have gained 5 lbs. of muscle and lost 5 lbs. of fat and obviously not seen any difference on the scale.

Nope I haven't. I dunno wtf I was thinking, it was a combination of laziness and lack of interest plus I kept procrastinating and it's led to this

[dave1211]

serious advice: disregard everything in life and focus on eating everything you see just every fuking day from now on.
there are 13 year old girls who weigh more than you and chances are you are a scrawny virgin ****ot wondering where the sloots are - so just fuking eat

Eating is the problem for me coz of the constant bloody indigestion.
Yep I confirm I'm a scrawny virgin ***got, 23 and never been in a relationship. Also facially ugly as well

[mjf100215]

Thanks for your post, I thought the exercises I was doing were enough coz they mainly target the main muscles groups. In scared of screwing up my back so I don't squat or deadlift. Could you give me a list of exercises you do that I could add to my routine

Cool brah I'll try searching for some sunflower seeds then. I'm really against doing squats and deadlifts for the time being... Any other exercises I could do instead?

No, squat and deadlift. Focus on proper form and you won't have any back issues. There are plenty of vids out there for form. Come back with specific form questions as needed.

Also, consider a form check vid to confirm form. You won't want to, but you'll get great guidance and feedback here.

[EctoEndoMeso]

Eat more OP, its hard but just keep eating and if you're not hungry, just snack on something. Just get something to eat. A protein shake, a museli bar, anything. But don't be too dependent on those, those are just supplements to compliment your main meals so take those in between meals. I think what you need to focus on is making proper whole meals to eat throughout the day.

I've been gyming for about same time and I used to complain about how hard it was to gain weight. It is hard to gain weight, but I really forced myself to start eating more frequently and it paid off. Last 2 years I put on about 10kgs (i've gained 30kgs since i was lifting about 5 and half years ago).

The size is not that noticeable because its just starting to fill out my frame but I can see some mass forming. So keep gyming hard and eat. Eat whole foods (chicken breasts, steaks, veges, bread whatever) and supplement those with shakes, museli bars in between.

Good luck OP

EDIT: i just saw your routine, i think you should change it up a bit. Add more exercises if you're only gyming 3 days a week. maybe 6 exercise 4 sets each ? Need to push yourself everytime at the gym if you want to see any improvement.

I go to the gym 5 days a week, with a 1 day break every 2 days of gyming. I do about 4-6 exercise each time at 4-5 sets each.

[AmirWins]

eat more , add more volume , and up your weights

thats it, you're not doing one of the above

[ANumber1]

I'm really against doing squats and deadlifts for the time being... Any other exercises I could do instead?

There's good advice in this thread, but here's mine:

These are not high-risk exercises at beginner weights, and they're essential to teach your entire body to work together. Your spine is designed to support compressive loads. (I'm much more worried about my back when I do exercises like rows, which put shearing loads on your spine, or exercises where I'm flexing my spine.) Start with the bar alone for squats, and light bumper plates for the deadlift. (The bumper plates have the same diameter as iron 45s, and will put the bar in the right location for a natural grip.) Set modest goals.

Shift to full-body workouts. Every Sunday and Tuesday, open your workout with squats. Every Thursday, open your workout with deadlifts. Do this while your body is fresh to minimize your worries about injury. Get used to keeping your back straight as you flex your hips. Once you are adapted to this, follow your squats with Romanian deadlifts to continue developing hamstring, glute, lower back strength. This is what I do, and it utterly trashes my legs doing these after squats and helps to build up the posterior chain. Your back will become stronger like it should be, which will help you in all your other exercises. Until you learn these exercises which teach you to use your back, your back will always be vulnerable to injury and if you build up muscle groups independently, you may find that you develop muscle imbalances where small muscles that you "missed" are too weak and actually cause you to injure your back using your stronger muscles.

After this lower-body work, on Sunday and Tuesday, do your heavy decline bench press, do a horizontal pull (a row of your choice: bent-over, one-arm DB, seated cable, whatever), do your incline bench press, and finish up with a vertical pull (chinups, pullups) to deload your spine and finish your day.

On Thursday, mix it up after your deadlifts. There are some valuable movements like the overhead press, upright row (I do mine with DBs and restricted height, no higher than my nipples, to protect my shoulders), pullovers that don't fit into the first two days and will let you finish up with some variety, still get a full-body workout in.)

The best way to get stronger is to pick up heavy chit. Learn to do that. Srs. Don't pick up so much weight that you fear for your safety, start small, but do the work and the volume. You know your routine includes enough squats, deadlifts, and romanians when you have trouble with the stairs to your apartment after a workout.

As for eating, keep eating whatever you're eating right now to maintain weight, then slam another few hundred calories of something protein-heavy before bed.

I'm probably a lot like you. I was very skinny in my late teens, then started to put on fat as I got further into my 20s. At 29, I realized I weighed 235 and was probably developing a little insulin resistance. Losing fat was easy, building mass is tough, but my body shape has improved a lot and I am stronger than I was as a teenager. Don't quit.

[DannyLB]

How do you work out for 5 years and not gain a pound?

*reads toddler routine*


ahh...

[GimpManlet]

Hit each body part no more than twice per week if natty.

You're kidding right, this dude is at total beginner strength, he's probably best off with full body 4 or 5 times a week... I'm natty ecto and do 3-4x a week full body and I get stronger by the month. I'm also red though so I might as well be talking to my dog, but oh well.

[dave1211]

There's good advice in this thread, but here's mine:

These are not high-risk exercises at beginner weights, and they're essential to teach your entire body to work together. Your spine is designed to support compressive loads. (I'm much more worried about my back when I do exercises like rows, which put shearing loads on your spine, or exercises where I'm flexing my spine.) Start with the bar alone for squats, and light bumper plates for the deadlift. (The bumper plates have the same diameter as iron 45s, and will put the bar in the right location for a natural grip.) Set modest goals.

Shift to full-body workouts. Every Sunday and Tuesday, open your workout with squats. Every Thursday, open your workout with deadlifts. Do this while your body is fresh to minimize your worries about injury. Get used to keeping your back straight as you flex your hips. Once you are adapted to this, follow your squats with Romanian deadlifts to continue developing hamstring, glute, lower back strength. This is what I do, and it utterly trashes my legs doing these after squats and helps to build up the posterior chain. Your back will become stronger like it should be, which will help you in all your other exercises. Until you learn these exercises which teach you to use your back, your back will always be vulnerable to injury and if you build up muscle groups independently, you may find that you develop muscle imbalances where small muscles that you "missed" are too weak and actually cause you to injure your back using your stronger muscles.

After this lower-body work, on Sunday and Tuesday, do your heavy decline bench press, do a horizontal pull (a row of your choice: bent-over, one-arm DB, seated cable, whatever), do your incline bench press, and finish up with a vertical pull (chinups, pullups) to deload your spine and finish your day.

On Thursday, mix it up after your deadlifts. There are some valuable movements like the overhead press, upright row (I do mine with DBs and restricted height, no higher than my nipples, to protect my shoulders), pullovers that don't fit into the first two days and will let you finish up with some variety, still get a full-body workout in.)

The best way to get stronger is to pick up heavy chit. Learn to do that. Srs. Don't pick up so much weight that you fear for your safety, start small, but do the work and the volume. You know your routine includes enough squats, deadlifts, and romanians when you have trouble with the stairs to your apartment after a workout.

As for eating, keep eating whatever you're eating right now to maintain weight, then slam another few hundred calories of something protein-heavy before bed.

I'm probably a lot like you. I was very skinny in my late teens, then started to put on fat as I got further into my 20s. At 29, I realized I weighed 235 and was probably developing a little insulin resistance. Losing fat was easy, building mass is tough, but my body shape has improved a lot and I am stronger than I was as a teenager. Don't quit.

Thanks so much for your advice mate Ye I think I need to get over my phobia of
Back injuries and man up. I start with the squats, probably is even when I walk I
Slouch my back so it's gonna be hard for me to maintain a straight back while doing squats but it's worth a try. I'll also start doing some overhead presses as well for my shoulders and later on deadlifts.

Anyway really appreciate your reply as well as everyone's in this thread. You'll are good guys

[dave1211]

No, squat and deadlift. Focus on proper form and you won't have any back issues. There are plenty of vids out there for form. Come back with specific form questions as needed.

Also, consider a form check vid to confirm form. You won't want to, but you'll get great guidance and feedback here.

Yup brah gonna look at some squat videos right now. I think posting a
Video of me doing it seems a good idea thanks for your input..

[blackflgst]

Strongest routine I have ever seen.

Lose the machines and armwork and add more compound lifts.



And add 500 calories a day to your diet until you start gaining.

[Liftology]

just eat as much as you can and when you feel like puking, keep eating. Its a struggle but you get used to it.

Source: ecto who put on 100lbs in 4-5 yrs

[kraxxis]

It is not just about gaining weight. Has your body composition changed? If you are 5'8 and 170 pounds, but haven't lifted, you're gonna be pretty chubby and fat. If you are 5'8 and 170 pounds but lifted 3x a week, you'll be pretty lean and will have dropped a couple sizes. This is what I went through. It's not all about gaining weight, especially when fat takes up 4x the space of fat.

As for squats and deadlifts, just go light and go for volume if you are afraid of back injuries. I am also very afraid of back injuries and generally just go for more volume on deadlifts and squats. I work my way up to one rep maxes every now and then, but mostly focus on reps of 5-10.

At 135 squatting or deadlifting, it is going to be pretty hard to hurt yourself even if you do it with bad form.

[TheAdlerian]

My routine is as follows:

I'm not an ecto, but I exploded once I started doing German Volume Training, 10x10. Now I do 400 reps per body part and I do with with fairly heavy weights.

You aren't putting enough stress on your muscles and perhaps you aren't eating enough.

[Superh1]

if you have been doing that every week for 5 years and you stil lhavent managed to get yourself to gain and figure out the diet or why you dont progress..... Just give up and take some Vitamin T. Actually, dont to that. could end even worse!

[ANumber1]

Thanks so much for your advice mate Ye I think I need to get over my phobia of Back injuries and man up. I start with the squats, probably is even when I walk I Slouch my back so it's gonna be hard for me to maintain a straight back while doing squats but it's worth a try. I'll also start doing some overhead presses as well for my shoulders and later on deadlifts.

Anyway really appreciate your reply as well as everyone's in this thread. You'll are good guys

When you're standing, make fists and put your hands down to your sides. Imagine you are holding a pencil in each hand. Where is it pointing? If your shoulders are properly positioned, the pencils would be pointing forward out ahead of you, not inwards toward each other. Many people have a forward/slouching shoulder roll that causes their hands to tilt inward toward the thumbs/mid-line of their chest (where the thumbs on their fist or the palms on their open hand are facing behind them, instead of toward their side). Tuck them back.



Once you've done this, where is your head? Many or most people have 'forward head posture', where their ears are out in front of their bodies. Your head should be back so that your ears are lined up above your shoulders and hips. When you put your head back properly, you might find yourself looking up at the ceiling a little. This is because your neck is so used to leaning forward, that you've basically tilted your head back in order to get your ears where you want them. So, take your index finger, touch it to your chin, and literally push your chin back gently. This might feel strange, but you'll find that once you tuck your chin, you are now probably standing up straight and looking dead ahead. This is where your head should be, and the weird feeling are your "deep neck flexors", which you've not been using when you're slouching. (If you have tension headaches or even what you think are migraines or sinus headaches, you might find fixing 'forward head posture' makes them stop. This position, especially if you're looking down at a computer screen positioned too low all day, puts an immense amount of stress on your neck and trapezius muscles, since your head is now bobbing forward like a weight pressing down on the end of a lever. Eventually, this starts to compress nerves and causes all kinds of pain.)



When you're sitting, do you sit on your glutes, or do you sit on your tailbone? Many people, from sitting in chairs all day, have shortened hip flexors that have adapted to being in that sitting position. As a result, instead of sitting up straight, they actually slide down onto their tailbone so that they can 'slouch' even while they're sitting up. (Instead of leaning forward at the shoulders, they 'rock back' and their shoulders are up, but now their butt has moved forward.) This is comparable to the 'butt wink' you want to avoid in your posture while deadlifting and squatting. Pay attention to keeping your tailbone back and your glutes on the seat.

Pay attention to this over time, when you're walking around, and the smaller muscles that control all of this will adapt and you will gradually find yourself naturally using your back and neck properly all the time. Strength training that strengthens your back and shoulders will help with posture so that it becomes more natural, too. (All types of rowing are good, and some people really like reverse flys for posture, too, since you're using the whole girdle of muscle around your shoulders to pull your shoulders back against resistance.) Just pay attention to it consciously when you're lifting to be safer. Back injuries are no joke, but start small and pay attention to what you're doing and you'll be OK. There's nothing wrong with practicing squat form without a bar or with a broomstick or something if you're still nervous about even the bar, just to get used to the idea of keeping your hips in position and back straight while squatting low. Deadlifting automatically improved the way I pick up heavy objects like boxes, not just because I was stronger, but because my body learned how to pick things up "correctly".

[pr0digy11]

LOL @ ectomorphs who waste time lifting srs

im an "ecto" you sloot

so eat my ass

but lol at waiting 5 years to think youre doing something wrong.....

[TheAdlerian]

Lifting weights is meaningless.

You have to KNOW how to lift the right amount of weight to get results.

For instance, if you're doing 10 reps, then at the end of the 10, you shouldn't be able to effectively do an 11th. After you figure that weight out, then how many sets do you need to do at that rep weight to completely exhaust the muscle?

You have to experiment with all of this and figure out your routine. If not you will be doing next to nothing.