Ectomorph Training 101

[rockhard1]

Well, I am an ectomorph that is tired of being small so I am deciding to get bigger. I am going to list some of the possible things that can help an ectomorph to safely bulk while still putting on lean muscle.

I. First of all, nutrition. You need adequate nutrition to become bigger and stronger, if you don't get enough of the proper nutrition, then you could just be wasting your time in the gym because you will gain some size but mainly become more cut. You need to take in a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Most people recommend that you take in two grams for every pound of body fat.
Example: If you weigh 120 pounds like I do, then you need to take in around 240 grams of protein a day to gain true lean mass.
You may take supplements such as whey protein to make up for some of the protein that you cannot get in with normal nutrition and eating.
Next, you need to increase your calorie intake. Junk food can be helpful with this as long as you exercise properly and do not consume more junk food then healthy food. For isomorphs, subsuming a double-cheeseburger from Mc Donalds in for a meal can give you about 50 grams of protein in your daily protein intake and it has plenty of calories. Also, increase your calorie intake by 500 calories and it should help you to put on some mass.
Example: If you are currently taking in 2500 calories a day but are not gaining any weight, then you should increase them by 500 and see if you get results.
When I say results, I mean that if your muscles start to look real full and losing definition then you should decrease your calories by 250 a day. If they look to lean or cut, then you should increase your calorie intake by 250 and if you still have the same results, increase them by 250 again until they look bigger but not real full.
Also, you need to take a multi-vitamin. Something that is designed for very active kids and that has a variety of vitamins and minerals. You can try Animal Pak and Mega Man multi-vitamins if you want. Just remember that vitamins are an essential part of working out and exercising, they not only help your body to maintain homeostasis (keeping a constant internal environment) but they also allow your immune system to stay strong and help you with fatigue and keeping you from injury. Also, liquid, make sure that you drink plenty of water, juices, Gatorade, etc. since water is a very large percentage of your body.

II. Supplements
you can take a variety of supplements to help you with nutrition and muscle building. The number one supplement that can and will help an ectomorph is protein. I cannot stress enough about how much protein will help you to maintaining your body and making it safely grow. Remember, protein is built with tiny amino acids and peptide bonds and your muscles are too. The more protein (to a certain extent) the better. Just take Whey Protein after your workouts to replenish your muscles with the protein that they will need to repair themselves.
Also, creatine is another good supplement to take. Creatine is supposed to allow your body to retain water better, gain strength faster, and recover quicker. If you are going to take creatine though, make sure that you are drinking more then normal the amount of water and liquids because if you don't, you will become dehydrated. Creatine should be taken at no more then 5 grams a day and with proper liquid amounts and working out, you will get noticeable gains within a couple of weeks, There is one thing that can happen with creatine, you can be a non-responder. If that is the case, then there are alternatives to creatine and/or other supplements that may help your body to respond to creatine.
Last but not least, multivitamin, make sure that you are taking these, especially if you are taking supplements or doing high-intensity workouts.

III. Lifting
This part I am not to sure about but I will tell you the things that have worked for me. First of all, do small sets with heavy weight and low repetitions. That means like 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps max. Don't work the same muscles over and over in one week, if you do, you may just get more cut. Like me, I do this...
Monday: Chest and Triceps
Tuesday: Biceps, Shoulders, and abs
Wednesday: off
Thursday: Back
Friday: Legs

I always do 4 sets of 4-8 reps per exercise so I can get the maximum fiber stimulation and still get a good hard workout.
Something else that has worked out to me is doing reps till failure (maxing out). Lets say that I am on the bench and I have just put up 155 pounds three times and I try it again and I can't get it back up, I can do one of two things, I can wait 1 minute and try it again or I can do another exercise or two and come back with that weight on and see if I can do it again. If you will do this twice a month, you will get serious gains in strength and size.

IV. Rest and sleep
you will always need this. When you sleep, after about two hours, your muscle pumps kick in and start repairing all of those torn damages fibers. You need to try to maintain a good deep sleep for maximum muscle build and repair. Most people recommended 6-9 hours of sleep at the minimum. Also, before you go to bed, if you are hungry, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of eating a bag of potato chips or popcorn, it will help you a whole lot more.

[thepump]

good work

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later