Ectomorph mass gain trainings are no different from other programs, therefore, they are ideal for people of other body types. However, this time we will dwell on the body type of ectomorphs in more detail and consider its features, as well as give recommendations. Ectomorph has a thin-boned skeleton, with a minimum supply of adipose tissue, long muscles. not an easy task for an ectomorph. Due to the length of the limbs, they have to do a lot of unnecessary movements when lifting a load. Their muscles are thin and short, and their tendons are long. All this makes training unbearable and exhausting, and the results are negligible.
Among bodybuilders for ectomorphs a special term was invented - "hardgainer" (hardgainer), the word is cobbled together from two English: hard (hard, difficult) and gain (to achieve, get a skill). From the outside, it looks like this: a person can go to the gym for a long time - even several years - and not have a visible result, and at this time his budding friends get stronger from the first days of classes.
Recently, more and more people come to the opinion that the meager results of ectomorphs are due not so much to their natural data as wrong approach to exercise and inadequate nutrition.
An individual approach to training ectomorphs includes rare but intense training (a long break helps to restore strength and lost calories) and special sports nutrition (food rich in fats and nutrients). Subject to a certain regimen, ectomorphs are able to gain impressive muscle volume, although this will be more difficult for them than meso- or endomorphs. Valuable recommendations and even a specially compiled menu for an ectomorph can be found in the book by Michael Migia and John Berardi "From Skeleton to Athlete", completely dedicated to people of this type of physique.
And now we will take a closer look at how to act for an ectomorph who wants to build muscle.
The main task for an ectomorph is to build muscle mass. Such a program method as split - training is suitable for them. Split - training is a separate study of muscle groups by day. It is recommended to attend workouts four times weekly. The number of repetitions in the exercises is 6-8 times, with each approach it is necessary to increase the weight, due to this, the number of repetitions decreases.
Ectomorph nutrition should be treated properly. Eat high-calorie foods with the expectation that body weight increases by 0.3 - 0.5 kilograms per week. For this, an ectomorph needs a special one. Calorie calculation should be 45-55 kilocalories for 1 kg of weight. For example, if an athlete weighs 65 kilograms, it is necessary to follow a diet of 2900-3600 kilocalories per day.
You should eat often, 5-6 meals a day. The portions are even, small. The time interval between main meals should not be less than 3 hours. Food composition: protein 25-30%, 50% carbohydrates, and 20-25% fat. Fast carbohydrates should be practically excluded from the diet. Be sure to include in the diet foods containing a low glycemic index ( brown rice, pasta, oatmeal).
A mandatory intake for an ectomorph is a vitamin and mineral complex.
Select the source of fat from such products as: olive, rapeseed, vegetable, flaxseed oil, nuts, lean fish.
Have small snacks throughout the day in the form of one fruit (banana, apple) and protein-carbohydrate shakes.
Taking sports nutrition is a must!
Having considered the nutrition and training features for an ectomorph, let's move on to the very set of exercises.
For people with a lean physique, gaining muscle mass is as key a problem as losing weight is for endomorphs - people who are prone to overweight. Therefore, in order to create a athletic and fit figure, a thin person needs to follow a special diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins, as well as draw up a training program for an ectomorph according to a specially designed training complex with the most effective exercises for gaining mass.
Ectomorphs are people with low muscle and fat mass. This body type is characterized by the following features:
Thus, it is quite difficult for ectomorphs to gain mass and "pump up", especially if they are faced with the task of increasing the volume and increasing physical strength in a short time. However, there are a number of advantages of this type of physique, such as a less strict sports diet (food can be varied, frequent and rich), high level endurance, the ability to perform intensive strength training already at the initial stage of sports activities, the minimum time spent on cardio exercises.
A clear barrier to building muscle mass in an ectomorph is its rapid metabolism, due to which the required amount of "building" substances does not have time to be stored in the body. In other words, the ectomorph is “programmed” so that with an increase in the individual daily food intake, its appetite immediately disappears, and everything eaten is processed very quickly. It is for this reason that many thin people, surprisingly mesomorphs and endomorphs, can eat much more food without adding a single gram of fat.
And yet, eating only one harmful, high-calorie food will not give the ectomorph the opportunity to build muscle. With such a diet, there is a possibility of a set of additional fat layer, which, although it should be, but in excess amount does not present any benefit to the body.
A fast metabolism makes it difficult to gain muscle mass, however, gaining weight for "grooving" and "swinging" is a very real task if you adhere to the following principles:
To achieve success in gaining a "healthy" weight, an ectomorph needs to perform basic strength exercises, supplementing them with insulating elements. So, the base includes multi-joint exercises that involve several muscle groups at the same time. Insulating elements are exercises for training any one muscle group. In time, the strength training of the ectomorph should be short, but intense. The optimal number of training days per week is three.
Is it realistic to create a dream body at home? Yes, really, but ectomorphs will have to face costs such as a limited number of sports equipment, weight uniformity, independent study of techniques. If you have kettlebells, dumbbells or a barbell, then the first problem is solved, and you do not have to buy other equipment. But since a gradual increase in load is required to ensure muscle growth, the need for additional weighting agents and discs will still arise. And with the growth of working weights, another problem will appear - the need for insurance, which the coach / assistant provides to the athletes in the gym. Nevertheless, all the difficulties that arise in front of an ectomorph in the struggle for a beautiful body can be solved, the main thing is to have the desire and the right attitude.
Working equipment for deadlift: dumbbells or barbell (bar). The exercise is aimed at transforming several muscle groups: the muscles of the back, legs, buttocks and forearms. The classic thrust option assumes the following technical algorithm:
Sets and Reps: 4 x 10.
The peculiarity of this type of squat is a wide stance. Plie, first of all, is aimed at increasing the volume of the muscles of the legs, namely, at the growth of quadriceps, gluteal muscles, and calves. By including additional weight (kettlebells, dumbbells) in squats, you spread the load on the muscles of the back, abs, and forearms.
Execution technique:
Classic standard: 3 sets of 12 reps.
Biceps lifts are performed in two ways: with a hammer grip and a neutral grip with a turn of the hands (supination). Each option emphasizes strength training on the biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis muscles.
Algorithm for performing hammer lifts:
Standard for the number of approaches and reps: 3 × 10.
Algorithm for performing lifts with a turn of dumbbells:
Standard number of approaches: 3 x 12 times.
Pull-ups are a popular exercise that any athlete can do at home or in the gym. If you do not have a horizontal bar, then one can be found on any sports field and this is undoubtedly a plus of exercise. Another advantage of this load is that important muscle groups work during pull-ups: forearms, latissimus dorsi, biceps muscles of the shoulders.
Stages of execution:
Number of approaches: 3 for the maximum number of times.
Not only the base, but also the insulating elements allow you to "rock" the upper body. So, when performing swings, the deltoid muscles receive a payload, the volume of which is important for building an athletic figure.
Features of execution:
Number of sets: 3 x 10 reps.
By signing up for the gym, you get access to a huge variety of simulators and equipment that will speed up the process of gaining mass and pumping muscles. The basic exercises are largely the same, but in the gym you have the opportunity to increase the load using various weights, deadlifts, and bench presses.
If you are a beginner, it is recommended that you use an empty bar to practice your squat technique. Weight should be increased gradually as the muscles strengthen. Squats activate the muscles in your legs, lower back, and abs.
Execution technique:
The number of approaches is 3, the number of repetitions is 10-13.
The video shows how to properly swing with a barbell for a guy (crossfit).
A pulling exercise for the muscles of the shoulder girdle, forearms and back is the base that an ectomorph needs to build muscle, mainly in the upper body. In addition, traction allows you to quickly progress in your own working weights, which also has a beneficial effect on muscle growth.
Stages of execution:
Sets: 4 x 10 reps.
Muscles receive a high-quality portion of the load when they are in the hang, since many small and medium muscle groups are involved in this state. For the development of the press, leg raises on a special simulator are effective, which is a rigid frame and platforms for the support of the forearms.
Execution technique:
The number of approaches is 3 for the maximum number of times.
The row in the horizontal block trainer intensively loads the lats of the back, traps, rhombuses and deltas, as well as the smaller muscles of the arms. Exercise is key to gaining mass as it activates a large number of muscle groups at once. Often this exercise is performed in a split with a pull of the upper block.
Execution algorithm:
The number of approaches is 3, the number of repetitions is 12.
Another basic exercise for developing leg muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes) is barbell or dumbbell lunges. Beginners, as a rule, use dumbbells of small weights or empty bars as weights, gradually increasing the load with the help of shells of greater mass. It is enough for ectomorphs to perform 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions for each leg.
Execution technique:
Consider one training complex for gaining mass for an ectomorph at home and one complex for training in the gym.
Home program:
Workout in the gym:
To train and gain mass as efficiently as possible, an hour-long strength training for a particular muscle group is enough for an ectomorph: back and abs, shoulders and arms, legs and buttocks. In each lesson, try to do one more repetition - this way you can very quickly move from low working weights to heavier ones, since it is high weights that allow you to build muscle mass with the least expenditure of calories, as opposed to exhausting cardio loads.
Are you an ectomorph and already tired of the endless advice to eat more often? In this article, we'll walk you through diet and exercise routines to help skinny guys on their rocky muscle-building journey.
Bodybuilding is always the process of building muscle and then burning fat. You work on gaining muscle mass by focusing on a few basic exercises and then "dry out." It is like a sculptor's work: you cannot create a form if there is no material. Figuratively speaking, you need "clay" in the form of muscles to build a great physique.
If you are a skinny guy with thin bones and long limbs, narrow shoulders and a fast metabolism, then you've come to the right place. In this article, we will tell you how to gain mass of ectomorph, how to choose a training and nutrition program in order to overcome a fast metabolism and start building muscle. You may be tempted to train like everyone else, doing 4-5 different exercises for each body part. However, an ectomorph first of all needs muscles before starting to work on their relief. You need to alternate between the phases of work on the ground and "drying".
Gaining muscle mass requires 3 things:
Sounds corny, right? However, you should eat a lot and often. This is the # 1 rule for ectomorphs. Consume more calories and protein. If you do not eat 5-6 times a day (evenly throughout the day), then you put in little effort to gain weight. Try to eat 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), and also have 2-3 snacks.
Here are some common dietary mistakes that many thin men make when trying to build muscle:
Most ectomorphs do not include enough protein in their diet to build muscle. Consume more meat, poultry, eggs and fish. Take whey protein. Each meal should be high in protein (at least a third of the serving).
Strength training is very energy intensive, so you need to consume more calories. To get them, skinny guys with a high metabolism can eat a little junk food, since their bodies are better at distributing nutrients. In other words, it sends them to where they should be (muscles) instead of being stored as fat. So young skinny guys can include pizza, hamburgers, and burritos in their diets.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If it includes coffee and pastries or a bowl of oatmeal and juice, then you will not gain weight. As I said before, there should be a lot of protein in every meal. In the morning I prefer a large omelet with coffee and toast.
Prolonged fasting puts the body in a catabolic state. In other words, the body breaks down muscles in order to “feed” vital organs. It is normal to feel a little hungry, as this way you know it's time to eat. But don't skip meals. You should have breakfast, lunch and dinner, and one or two snacks.
This is not a dietary mistake, but rather a miscalculation. An ectomorph is always worried about trying to gain weight, eating a lot, but not getting any bigger. He reads everything about training and dieting, and analyzes the information received too much. He suffers from it but forgets 2 simple rules: Abundant nutrition and heavy weight training.
I get a lot of emails from frustrated skinny guys. They cannot make decisions and constantly write to me asking what to do next.
This is where the problem lies. Experiencing does not create the good hormonal response needed to gain weight. Many ectomorphs are overly nervous, cannot sit still and overreact to everything. They should take a deep breath and calm down.
Anxiety triggers the production of cortisol, which inhibits muscle growth and causes the body to store fat in the waist area. So forget about coffee and other stimulants. And no Red Bulls!
If you need to cheer up in the morning, drink green tea as it contains a moderate dose of caffeine as well as threonine. The latter improves attention, but at the same time makes you calm and relaxed.
Of course, diet is only half the battle. Eating large amounts of food will lead to the formation of body fat if you do not train with heavy weights and do it right. Strength training stimulates your appetite, so you can get additional protein and calories more easily. They also improve the body's ability to absorb nutrients so that when you consume protein and carbohydrates, they will benefit your muscles rather than being stored as fat.
But not every strength training program promotes better nutrient distribution and muscle building. The main factor here is strong muscle tension... In other words, you should choose exercises and weights that force the muscles to work actively in order to induce their growth. Muscle fibers stressed grows through nutrition, absorbing amino acids and storing carbohydrates in the form of glycogen.
All exercises use muscles, but not all promote muscle growth. Some are better at causing high muscle tension, while others are worse. The best option heavy weight multi-joint exercises serve here.
Regular and complex multi-joint exercises build up the mass of the entire musculature as a whole. Conventional multi-joint exercises are exercises in which several muscle groups move 2 or more joints in a single chain of motion. For example, squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, and dips.
Complex multi-joint exercises are exercises in which several muscle groups move 2 or more joints through a chain of several movements. In other words, a complex multi-joint exercise involves 2 or more regular multi-joint exercises, which stimulates the ectomorph to gain muscle mass, because it is a good stimulus for the body to increase the number of muscle fibers.
A complex multi-joint exercise is, in particular, the jerk and snatch of the barbell (in weightlifting), since it can be divided into 2 parts: the take on the chest and the press up over the head.
Multi-joint exercises use muscles much more actively than isolation exercises. The more muscles are involved in the work, the more weight you can handle and the more testosterone your body synthesizes. And the more testosterone, the more muscle is known to be.
The following exercises stimulate testosterone production, have significant anabolic effects and cause hypertrophy in all muscle groups:
By focusing on these 3 exercises, an ectomorph can build massive amounts of muscle from a high-calorie, high-protein meal. The problem is that these exercises involve the same muscle groups (squats and deadlifts include the hips and glutes), so doing them in one workout will be redundant.
For a lean man to gain weight, he needs to train with minimal redundancy. In other words, do one exercise for each muscle group. What's good for a fat-burning athlete, in the case of an ectomorph trying to build muscle, can lead to overtraining.
So how do you incorporate these 3 exercises into your training program, and how do you get the most out of your ectomorph muscle mass through strength training? We will talk about this now.
At one time, Charles Staley developed effective program, which involves alternating exercises in such a way that each of them serves as a warm-up for the next. In bodybuilding, this strategy is used in the push and pull split.
For example, in classical weightlifting, the athlete first does the main exercise, and then the auxiliary ones. So you can first do the snatch and jerk and then break it down into deadlifts, chin pulls, and overhead presses.
This technique is very effective for building muscle as it allows for high volume workouts with low volume in each exercise. Thus, each muscle group is worked out in a large number of approaches, since the exercises overlap.
Another advantage of this technique is that each workout begins with high speed multi-joint exercises. This prepares your nervous system for subsequent strength exercises, which will be done at a slow pace. In other words, the snatch and jerk of the bar will allow you to lift more weight in the squat and deadlift.
Below is a program to help you build strength and muscle mass by following a high-calorie, high-protein diet.
An exercise | Approaches | Repetitions |
Snatch and jerk of the bar | ||
Deadlift | ||
Taking a barbell to the chest | ||
Army press | 10-12 |
An exercise | Approaches | Repetitions |
Snatch and jerk of the bar | ||
Squats | ||
Taking a barbell to the chest | ||
Army press |
Rest for about 3 minutes between sets of all exercises.
If you still have questions about how to gain a lot of ectomorph, do not quite understand how to choose the right working weights or food products for compiling a diet, be sure to ask them in the comments. Also share your experiences and opinions on this topic.
Skinny guys with long arms and legs put on heavy weight. What should they do to gain weight? What should be the training program for an ectomorph? Let's take a look at this painful issue.
There are quite a few secrets to gaining mass for thin guys. This is the right training program for gaining muscle mass, and biological rhythms, a way of life.
Remember, it is not so easy for a thin guy to gain mass, but it is possible. Someone's muscles grow faster, others slower. It is difficult to put everyone on the same level here. See for yourself how many nuances there are in this case.
A common reason for refusing to work in the gym is lack of results. Guys come to the gym for the sake of muscles, they train for a month, two, three. They look at themselves in the mirror every day, strain their muscles, but all in vain. As a result, willpower fails, the guys give up training.
And it's not just the structure of the body. Bodybuilding is a slow thing, muscles grow by leaps and bounds in one case - if you take doping. At the same time, of course, you will receive the result only for the duration of the course, after which everything will return back (the so-called rollback). Well, you will harm the body, this is a fact - you still use drugs without prescription.
No matter what the agitators of the steroid world may say, this topic is absolutely unnecessary for those who are not going to become the next champion in bodybuilding. You probably know that professional sports and health are incompatible concepts.
So, back to how to gain weight for a thin guy. And here we are faced with interesting nuances. It turns out that not every skinny guy has a hard time gaining weight. Sometimes, if you adjust your diet and regular exercise, your progress is pretty good. But basically, of course, the person was as a whole thin, and remains, it is just that the muscles acquire relief and the proportions improve.
The nature and rate of metabolism are programmed at the gene level. If the metabolism is fast, then all the calories ingested with food are burned and do not go into mass. A substantial part of the population lives with this. But most of this part is quite happy with their appearance, since fat does not interfere with seeing the athletic figure. Ectomorphs have just such a metabolism.
Others have a slower metabolism. They are on diets and still gain extra pounds. Perhaps endomorphs sometimes even envy thin people. The status of the endocrine system is important. If there are malfunctions in it, a person can gain fat very quickly.
Another factor affecting body weight is age. As a result, everything again comes down to metabolism, because different age groups it has different speed.
For example: you did not limit yourself in nutrition and did not get fat until you were 30, and then you notice that fat begins to accumulate around the lower back. You cut yourself a little in calories, but the deposition continues to haunt you. As a result, you have to limit yourself a lot in order to stop getting fat. This is a typical example of a metabolic slowdown with age. For girls, this slowdown occurs after 25 years, for men - after 30 (on average, of course, no one canceled the individual criterion).
So you may not have to brag about your beautiful figure for a long time. The years will take their toll. Even ectomorphs after 30 years notice the appearance of body fat. They are left with thin arms, legs, narrow shoulders, but their belly runs the risk of turning into a small ball.
To gain a lot of ectomorph, you need to be patient. This is the main thing you need. In addition, you should remember the basic postulates for gaining weight for thin people:
It is foolish to be disappointed if you cannot create the same figure as your idol. Every organism is different. Genetics decides a lot, as well as perseverance, technique, coach and the desire to become bigger, stronger.
Taken together, all this gives an incredible incentive to progress. Believe me, one “I want to be like him” is not enough. So be happy about any results from your workouts in the gym. After all, these are your individual achievements. Not someone else's, but yours!
If you pay attention to the biography of athletes who have gained their excellent shape without chemistry, you can see that in order to reach such volumes (and they are far from the dimensions of steroid lovers), people have spent more than one year. Let's say more - more than a dozen years.
Painstakingly, step by step, kilogram by kilogram, they walked towards their goal, breaking themselves, training spirit and body. And they came. Be patient! If you are an ectomorph, there is a long way to go. Mesomorphs and endomorphs will feel better.
To build muscle you need. Ectomorphs should eat frequently. Protein in the diet should be 1.5-2 grams for every kilogram of your body.
Increase the portions of carbohydrates and fats. Moreover, an experiment should be carried out: first, increase the amount of carbohydrates (we are talking about slow carbohydrates, not fast ones). Watch the month. If there is no improvement, try increasing your daily fat intake.
The diet should contain eggs, cottage cheese at least 5% fat, milk, kefir, fish and poultry, beef, a lot of vegetables, cereals. Pasta and other fast carbohydrate foods can be practiced before dinner. It is not recommended for dinner, since if the mass grows, everything can go into abdominal fat.
Be sure to get a gainer. There is no point in drinking protein. You need a serving of quality carbohydrates in addition to protein. You can use pre-workout complexes. The gainer can be drunk no more than twice a day. It is better not to use it at night.
Find flaxseed oil, or better yet, camelina oil. Linseed oil quickly acidifies in the light, as a result, its benefits are reduced to zero (therefore, pay attention to the darkening of the bottles with it). But the camelina is just right.
Start your day with hearty breakfast, in an hour and a half there should be a light breakfast. Then a hearty lunch, a light lunch and the same with dinner. It is advisable to limit the late evening meal to kefir or milk with cottage cheese.
It is believed that ectomorphs are not particularly hungry, so they may not want to eat. And remember, without training, such a diet can harm you, as the body will receive excess fat.
So, now let's figure out how to gain muscle mass for a thin person with the help of training.
Ectomorph muscle building training programs should be presented in a two-day version. That is, the exercises are done twice a week.
So, a two-day training is suitable for ectomorphs. Three times a week may be too often. Exercises need to be selected extremely hard, no finishing moves for the first time. We produce testosterone on heavy weights.
The first exercises for ectomorphs cannot be started with maximum load. First, you still don't know which weights are hard for you to work with and which ones are not. Secondly, you have not yet developed the correct technique.
So you have to spend a couple of months mastering the basic exercise technique and a smooth approach to your "abandoned" weights.
In each approach, you need to do 4-6 repetitions. The more reps you do, the more calories you burn. Forget about light exercise. Only the base!
Weight gain training programs for men, even ectomorphs, should include cardio. Lack of cardio is very bad.
But do 5-7 minutes on a run or exercise bike. You can interval 1 time maximum to accelerate your heart rate. Then just knead your joints. Approach the working scales smoothly, gradually, through intermediate weights.
You do basic exercises for 4-6 repetitions. It makes sense that the weights will be the ones with which you will have difficulty doing the last repetitions. These are big weights, believe me.
If you reach the so-called plateau, be patient. Just do your best. Over time, you will be able to lift more, or your external results will somehow change. Good way get out of the plateau - add one repetition to each set, make trips 3 times with a little more weight than your workers. If this does not help, increase the amount of protein in the diet, try special supplements (BCAA, creatine).
The plateau does not occur in the first months of training, keep this in mind. If your results got up in the second or third month, just give your body a rest. If your weight has stopped growing for several months, reconsider your diet and your physical activity.
Gaining muscle mass is unrealistic without proper sleep. Gaining pounds means sleeping well for a long time. Sleep from 8 hours.
It is optimal to keep the sleep schedule from 23:00 to 7:00. If you are a skinny morning person, this regime will be just right for you. Owls, on the other hand, need to either adapt to going to bed earlier, or slightly shift the schedule in their own way.
If the ectomorph does not sleep normally, no training program will help him.
Friends, hello everyone. Today we will discuss the body type - ectomorph, namely, how he needs to eat during the day in order to gain muscle mass.
Ectomorph (among the dryshch people) is:
In the body of an ectomorph, everything burns out rapidly, it is never threatened with fullness.
It is very difficult for this body type to gain muscle mass.
But take my word for it, what such a person gets will look very aesthetically pleasing!
This body type is never in danger of being overweight, i.e. this gives them a high plus (you do not have to worry about obesity, and you do not need to limit yourself in nutrition).
To do this, use the formula: Weight (in kg) X 30 =…. Kcal
The resulting figure will show how many calories you need to maintain your body weight - unchanged. If we want to gain (and our goal is to gain muscle mass), then we can safely add 500 calories.
Those. let's say: an ectomorph weighing 70 kg, 70x30 = 2100 kcal per day + 500 = 2600 (I will say more ectomorphs can safely add not 500, but even 1000 kcal) total 2100 + 1000 = 3100 kcal per day.
Ectomorphs will benefit from this in terms of gaining muscle mass.
They do not tend to be overweight, like endomorphs. Therefore, you can.
As I said, you can eat everything you see, and in large quantities every 1-2 hours, but do not forget about the proportion of B + F + U that I gave you above (i.e. eat a lot of complex carbohydrates such as rice , buckwheat to taste, a lot of high-quality protein, such as eggs, chicken, cottage cheese, etc.) do not forget about fats, drink a lot of water.
Always take food with you (you cannot starve) constantly eat a lot, you can and even need to use sports nutrition (if you have finances and desire), namely a gainer is ideal for ectomorphs (after training and in the morning), the rest of the abundance is not needed, you can see the types of supplements in
