Ectomorph looking to gain for the first time

[yerbabeats]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice on how I should generally go about gaining weight as an ectomorph. I have not weighed myself recently as I do not have a scale yet, but based on where I was last, I would assume I am about 120-130, 5'10(if it helps lol).

Basically, I do not know where to start. I am generally familiar with types of exercises and my roommate is very fit and can help me with my form and routine, but I have some other questions.
I would like to ask y'all about how many calories I should be eating a day to start gaining weight, and
I was told that I could find some help with mass gain protein powder and would like to know if it is a good idea to purchase or not.
And what should my workout routine look like? I was told to focus on compound exercises, but I have no idea how to structure a plan.

Any help? Thanks!

[supermangik]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice on how I should generally go about gaining weight as an ectomorph. I have not weighed myself recently as I do not have a scale yet, but based on where I was last, I would assume I am about 120-130, 5'10(if it helps lol).

Basically, I do not know where to start. I am generally familiar with types of exercises and my roommate is very fit and can help me with my form and routine, but I have some other questions.
I would like to ask y'all about how many calories I should be eating a day to start gaining weight, and
I was told that I could find some help with mass gain protein powder and would like to know if it is a good idea to purchase or not.
And what should my workout routine look like? I was told to focus on compound exercises, but I have no idea how to structure a plan.

Any help? Thanks!

I'm ectomorph as well. You don't need a mass gain protein powder (it's waste of money.) It's not weight you want, it's muscle you want. Since you don't have much body fat, you should be good. You need to start tracking your calories/food everyday and weight yourself everyday.

1) Find out your BMR. BMR is what your body needs to function on a daily basis. Eating under BMR will cause you to lose weight.
2) Depending how active you are, multiply your BMR with 1.2 - 1.9. (1.2 being sedentary, no working out and 1.9 being extreme athlete.) 1.5 would be working out 5 times a day and some cardio.
3) Once you figure out the calorie intake you need for maintenance, add 500 calorie to it. That's how much you need to eat to gain weight on a surplus. I suggest you aim for gaining 0.5 lb per week and lesser. You don't need to add a lot of weight as most of it will just be fat. Your goal is not fat weight, it's muscle weight.

Whatever exercise program you choose, you just train harder than last time until failure. There's a difference between DOMS and failure. DOMS is when you are so sore, you can't hardly walk or limp and can't even lift a bottle of water. You don't want DOMS.

4) Last, but not least. You need protein and most of us eat enough protein a day for muscle synthesis. I suggest 0.5 LB to 1 LB your body weight. 130 * 0.7 = 91 grams of protein per day.

[MyEgoProblem]

Just Google TDEE calculator.

But basically yes. Find that, add a few hundred calories to the number.. See how you bw goes as its all just ball park.
Adjust.

[yerbabeats]

I'm ectomorph as well. You don't need a mass gain protein powder (it's waste of money.) It's not weight you want, it's muscle you want. Since you don't have much body fat, you should be good. You need to start tracking your calories/food everyday and weight yourself everyday.

1) Find out your BMR. BMR is what your body needs to function on a daily basis. Eating under BMR will cause you to lose weight.
2) Depending how active you are, multiply your BMR with 1.2 - 1.9. (1.2 being sedentary, no working out and 1.9 being extreme athlete.) 1.5 would be working out 5 times a day and some cardio.
3) Once you figure out the calorie intake you need for maintenance, add 500 calorie to it. That's how much you need to eat to gain weight on a surplus. I suggest you aim for gaining 0.5 lb per week and lesser. You don't need to add a lot of weight as most of it will just be fat. Your goal is not fat weight, it's muscle weight.

Whatever exercise program you choose, you just train harder than last time until failure. There's a difference between DOMS and failure. DOMS is when you are so sore, you can't hardly walk or limp and can't even lift a bottle of water. You don't want DOMS.

4) Last, but not least. You need protein and most of us eat enough protein a day for muscle synthesis. I suggest 0.5 LB to 1 LB your body weight. 130 * 0.7 = 91 grams of protein per day.

Dope, thanks! This really helps me out.

[Brandon2576]

Mass gaining protein powder is not the way to go. That stuff is wayyy to expensive per serving. Just eat some real food. It’ll have the same effect or an even better effect because food is probably gonna be more nutritious in micronutrients.

[Darksidi]

Try creatine in the right amounts, beta alanine, ZMA, and protein powder. Add some vanilla or chocolate protein powder to every little sip of milk you take.
https://www.wubmed.org/blog/genbrain...t-scam-or-not/

[yerbabeats]

Mass gaining protein powder is not the way to go. That stuff is wayyy to expensive per serving. Just eat some real food. It’ll have the same effect or an even better effect because food is probably gonna be more nutritious in micronutrients.

seems to be the going answer for that question. I'll take y'alls advice and not go that direction. I'm a good cook and live with someone who is as well so I'm eager to start making myself better meals. what types of food are best for gaining muscle?

[Brandon2576]

seems to be the going answer for that question. I'll take y'alls advice and not go that direction. I'm a good cook and live with someone who is as well so I'm eager to start making myself better meals. what types of food are best for gaining muscle?

It really depends on your goals.

If you are trying to be the fattest, biggest, strongest powerlifter or strongman around the answer is gonna be food that is relatively high in protein and super high in calories. These types of food are probably gonna be fatty foods (1g fat=9cal; 1g Carb or Protein=4cal).
Ex: 80/20 or 70/30 Beef, Peanut Butter, Whole Milk, Fatty Steaks, Nuts, Higher Calories Fruits/Vegetables like Bananas, Whole Eggs
These are just some healthy examples, they are also probably gonna be eating a good bit of pizza, cereals, ice cream, etc.

So if you are just trying to stay relatively lean and muscular you are gonna shoot for foods high in protein and low in calories BUT you still want to have lots of volume of food so you feel full. These types of foods are gonna be lower in fat generally.
Ex: 93/7 Beef, Chicken, Lean Steak, Strawberries, Asparagus, Spinach, PB2, 1% Cottage Cheese, Greek Yogurt, Almond Milk or Skim Milk, Tuna, Egg Whites
I would recommend not to use any sauce besides mustard or some other “0” to low calorie sauces. Sauces add up super fast in calories so basically you are just throwing food volume out the window. Also, try to use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar it will majorly up the taste and keep the calories low.
P.S. remember to get some fat like at the least 50g+ cause your body can’t function without fat

As far as foods go, my absolute favorite right now is Cottage Cheese Pancakes. I eat it every morning they taste even better to me than regular pancakes (and I don’t even like cottage cheese). The recipe is simple it is a 1:1:1 ratio of cottage cheese, egg whites, and oatmeal. Then you blend them together and throw it on a pan. I add blueberries or strawberries too. Then I smother it in my low calorie syrup (1/2 cup-1 cup). I typically use just half a cup of each instead of 1:1:1 I do .5:.5:.5 and it makes either 2 or 3 large ones or 6 medium ones if I am remembering correctly. The whole macros (with my ingredients) are 34g carb 4g fat 31g protein 296 calories. I’d say that is a pretty high protein, low calorie, high volume meal.