Ectomorphic Thoughts

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Greetings,

I’m completely new to the forums but not new to ‘pump’. Its taken me a few months to decide on which forums I wanted to take my thoughts to, and after some deliberation I decided on T-Nation. Some of my buddies told me the forums here were shit & obviously they are members of BB.com. I can’t be held responsible for their ignorance. I’ve been reading the articles here, and doing most of my form research in terms of videos here too. I really like this site.

I’m 6’2, I’m 190 right now, but a few months ago I was 165-168. I’m the typical tall skinny mofo who never thought i’d be able to gain weight. I used all those famous excuses, until, I stepped back, and attempted science. I’ve played soccer for 15 years and I had a full-ride to a div1 college(I was a blackbear), so I’ve definitely been ignorant to anything to do with hypertrophy and general awesomeness of ‘bodybuilding’.

Nowadays I do my research and I take in different POVs in order to found out what works for me. Its tough sometimes tho because I obviously don’t have ‘time’ in my favor. I don’t know if the shit I’m doing is beneficial in the long term. Regardless, there are some things I’m conflicted about. For instance, I’m very “proud” of the fact that I never dedicate a day to my arms. It’s somewhat principle thing with me, that I refuse to work on my biceps/triceps, because thats douche bag material. I am, however, slowing starting to have internal discussion about it, for obvious reasons. It’s not good to neglect anything.

Let me put down my realistic/actual training for the different muscle groups. I’m not a stranger to intensity, hard work etc. What I’m looking for is a harsh correction on my routine. Leg day is the only day that I’ve actually mastered. Everything else I’m still tinkering with, hence not really getting a good routine/training in on a weekly basis.

My way of training is, I warm-up set, then I gradually add weight on the exercise until I basically die(2-3 reps). This ends up usually around 5-6 sets per exercise… I know…too much, but I don’t feel tired/like I accomplished anything otherwise.

Legs:
Squats
BB Static Lunges
Front-Loading Squats
Lying Leg Hamstring Curls
Straight Toed, Inside, Outside Calf Raises (usually 10 10 10 - that constitutes 1 set)
Leg extensions

Chest:
Decline BB Press(This is the only BB exercise I can actually put up weight on)
Incline DB Press
Decline Flys
Push-ups
Flat Bench Press Machine

Back:
Dead-lifts(My favorite exercise, I’m thinking about switching to sumo per my ratios)
Behind-the-back Lat Pull-downs.
Straight-arm Lat Pull-downs
DB Shrugs
Seated Rows
Iso Lat Row Machine (Finally a machine that feels like it works, for the lats tho not so much thickness)

Deltoids:
Standing BB Presses
Sitting Rear Delt Raises(on a machine)
Lateral Raises
Front Raises
Face-pulls(Haven’t actually done these yet but I just found out about them and I’m eager to try them out)

So I might hit biceps/triceps once or twice a month and when i do:
Bicep:
BB curls
Sitting Iso Hammer Curls
Ez-bar Curls(close grip)
DB Iso preacher curls
Pulley via Rope Attachement Hammer Curls

Tricep:
Dips
Pull-downs via Rope
Supinated Iso pull-downs
Close-Grip BB

I don’t do any core-work, which recently has become a big concern. I honestly just don’t understand the abdominals enough to know how to train them properly. If I could figure out a routine, like I have with my other muscle groups, I would blast them. I just don’t know how to blast them without wasting my time. Also, I’m usually EXHAUSTED after each one of these workouts, and have barely any energy left to stay intense and focused for fucking crunches planks and leg-raises.

I track my diet, and on a normal day, without “overdoing it” or emphasizing my intake, I reach about 4500 calories. It’s pretty clean, with the exception of nigh-time meal/dinner which includes as much ice-cream as I can handle, AFTER regular dinner. Fiber-intake is around 30-45g depending on the day.

Hmm, I’m trying to remember if neglected to add anything but I think this is pretty in-depth. I don’t do cardio, because if I did, I would lose weight. I’m around 187-190lbs right now, and my arbitrary max weight would be 210lbs. Most of my development so far, is in my legs. Sure I look “wide” but I lack middle-back thickness, bicep/tricep size as well as chest size. Chest is my absolute weak-point. Every other muscle group responds fairly to the training, besides, the pecs.

The only thing I really want to complain about is having a spotter/lifting buddy. I just moved to Portland, OR and eHarmony.com doesn’t have “compatibility criteria” for dead-lifting so…

My question to you is, how can I optimize my muscle/weight gain. Teach me.

2

Well for starters stop doing your current routine.
How on earth could you do 5 or 6 sets of all that? The exercises are fine but it’s way too much.

You’re new to this site so I suggest you use the search function and actually pick a ready made program.
This site has heaps of top strength coaches and the training programs are endless. Just pick one and stick to it for at least 8 weeks. Forget about trying to make up your own. No point until you get a better understanding of what training is all about.

A good place to start would be this thread:

Edit: Push/Pull/Legs would be a good split to try. Read the above link and it will tell you how to do it.

3

very cool, will look into it.

4

[quote]Claudan wrote:

Regardless, there are some things I’m conflicted about. For instance, I’m very “proud” of the fact that I never dedicate a day to my arms. It’s somewhat principle thing with me, that I refuse to work on my biceps/triceps, because thats douche bag material.
[/quote]

I don’t think that is a very productive way of thinking about arms.

If you need an excuse to train arms, think of them as (1) functional (what’s more functinal than lifting stuff up or throwing stuff?) and (2) as shoulder exercises. I learned that when I injured my rotator cuff and scapula a few years ago and found that the injury was preventing me from doing biceps, and in the years since I very much learned that, for example, bicep curls, if done correctly, are just as much a shoulder stability exercise as an arm exercise. I think the traditional arm exercises have done more for my shoulder recovery than any of the traditional targeted shoulder stuff.

5

Its obvious that you are right, and that my thinking in regards to biceps/triceps training is faulty. It’s never good to neglect anything. I don’t know, curls just seem so fucking boring. The bicep muscle itself is SO Small.

But… Yeah, I’ll start incorporating my arms into my routine i guess. I’ve been thinking about doing it twice a week then since I doubt once a week will be enough for it to grow proportionally. I’m still reading about the splits recommended in the link above, however I’m probably looking to modify them slightly since I don’t like the idea of NOT dead-lifting.

Did some face-pulls today for the first time. Felt really really good.

6

Compound and whole body explosive lifts are no doubt more important …but i do enjoy working arms a bit. Other than using up more time and being more workload, its probly not gonna hurt you any.