2010 gains -- 6 pounds of lean mass, 2 pounds of fat.
After a foot injury that healed and subsequently turned into a knee injury, It turned out that I only got to have four months of weight training for the entire year.
Being a 30 year old ectomorph, it takes a huge amount of time, like two months for me, to be able to train at a full potential. I simply get way too sore for the first 6-8 weeks and I can barely do each muscle group once per week. Right now, though, I'm wreckin' it in the weight room. I'm getting in 6-8 workouts per week and I can actually do some muscle groups more than once within the same week.
I have found a good rhythm to my workouts that are something like;
-chest-triceps
-quads-glutes
-upper back-biceps
-hamstrings-calves
-leftovers like shoulders-core
I hit my core every day at the end of the sessions and my shoulders do get quite a lot of work from the other arm workouts. I usually hit up the posterior and medial delts with the upper back and the anterior delt with the chest workouts.
I do some light squats every day for my warm ups because cardio is boring as hell and I'm avoiding it for now. They're kinda sweet looking, standing on the flat side of a BOSU with weight on my back. I did some RDLs on the BOSU a week back and I hit an unreal level of soreness. I'll be doing that again this week.
The damn knee is holding me back on my gains. I don't know if I'll be able to hit my goals without that lower body mass I'm missing out on. I'm gonna have to play with "the burn" on some lighter weights and see what happens.
I am almost at capacity for eating. I really cant choke any more food down that I do right now. I wish that I had more of an appetite when I wake up. Some days I do and I can feel a huge difference in my energy levels throughout the entire day. I may need to start supplementing.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Three Days Off: The End of December
I took three days off from working out this weekend. I've been going at it pretty hard this month, sometimes with two lifting sessions per day. I've never been able to do that without problems before. It's exciting to be able to do the required work to get bigger and I actually look forward to my workouts. I've managed to gain about five pounds of muscle in the last two months.
My body fat 13%-ish is and will be the same throughout since I'm eating...as much as I can. Getting bigger is hard freakin work. I'm working out now 6-8 times per week as my schedule allows.
I think my training is catching up to my food intake. I may have to supplement to stay ahead since I'm already eating as much as I can.
I've been working hard on my traps, glutes, triceps and forearms.
The work I've been doing on my trapezius has come with great results. They're increasing in size ridiculously fast. I can't wait until it's strength training time for those.
The forearms will take quite a lot of patience. Mine are really built for endurance type of work and I've got to get those type-2's in moving. I'm confident they'll come around, though.
The triceps are weird. I haven't really figured out how to make them respond with growth. They're also more tuned for endurance. I'm switching all of my push ups to the explosive kind to see what kind of results I can get out of that. I've been wicked sore all weekend from skullcrushing most of my body weight. Yes, I use the smith and lean forward into it in the same position that you would do a skullcrusher and I can rep out 5-6 of them so I know the strength is there. I'll be doing more bench pressing than usual to try and help out my triceps too. It's not something I've done much of in the past.
None of my leg work is going very well. My knee is definitely holding me back. It's bad, sadface. I just have to keep it light and probably work on my hamstring strength/flexibility for now. I can probably handle more isolation type of lifts better than squats.
I'm looking forward to this week's lifting after a three day break.
My body fat 13%-ish is and will be the same throughout since I'm eating...as much as I can. Getting bigger is hard freakin work. I'm working out now 6-8 times per week as my schedule allows.
I think my training is catching up to my food intake. I may have to supplement to stay ahead since I'm already eating as much as I can.
I've been working hard on my traps, glutes, triceps and forearms.
The work I've been doing on my trapezius has come with great results. They're increasing in size ridiculously fast. I can't wait until it's strength training time for those.
The forearms will take quite a lot of patience. Mine are really built for endurance type of work and I've got to get those type-2's in moving. I'm confident they'll come around, though.
The triceps are weird. I haven't really figured out how to make them respond with growth. They're also more tuned for endurance. I'm switching all of my push ups to the explosive kind to see what kind of results I can get out of that. I've been wicked sore all weekend from skullcrushing most of my body weight. Yes, I use the smith and lean forward into it in the same position that you would do a skullcrusher and I can rep out 5-6 of them so I know the strength is there. I'll be doing more bench pressing than usual to try and help out my triceps too. It's not something I've done much of in the past.
None of my leg work is going very well. My knee is definitely holding me back. It's bad, sadface. I just have to keep it light and probably work on my hamstring strength/flexibility for now. I can probably handle more isolation type of lifts better than squats.
I'm looking forward to this week's lifting after a three day break.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Hidden Advertisements
Beware of these articles. They are written so you will ask your doctor for expensive medication.
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/11/reasons.cant.lose.weight/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ectomorph Schmectomorph: Building Muscle Mass
Ectomorphs, like myself, are commonly referred to as "hard gainers" when it comes to gaining muscle mass (hypertrophy). They look thin no matter what they eat or how often they work out. The smallness of the forearms and calves are a good indication.
Ectomorphs are much more sensitive to too much stress during weight training and that is certainly not good for muscle growth. There is an extremely fine line where Ectomorphs will hit minimal essential strain versus over-trained.
1. Warming up. Do it.
• A minimum of 10 minutes of full body warm-up is absolutely necessary.
• Warm up the muscles that will be worked before you start your sets. You should feel slightly winded after a proper warm up.
• Rest for a couple of minutes after your warm up, then begin your workout.
2. Compound sets: Everybody loves ‘em.
• The level of stress that your muscles and joints can handle is low. When doing a compound set for hypertrophy you should be looking at a 10-12 range for the first exercise and then a “burnout” exercise to pair it with. An example set would be; 12 upright rows with 60 pounds, fatiguing at 12, immediately followed by a bent-arm lateral raise with 5 pounds. This will pump those muscles full of burn and will earn you excellent results. If you have to pause for one or two seconds to take an extra breath and crank out a few more reps just stop at the breath and rest for your next set.
• Keep your sets at three maximum for compound sets. Remember you are doing compound sets so you are doing six sets total for each muscle group.
• You will need 1.5 times the normal amount of rest for a hypertrophy workout. This would put you between one full minute and one minute thirty seconds between each set.
• Whatever muscle group you train that day should be paired with the major synergist. For example, if you are working out your chest, work your triceps on the same day.
3. Frequency.
• Work out four to five days per week and take the weekends off.
• One muscle group once per week for the first three months while your body develops neurologically and physically. I know it’s strange to hear that but trust me; Ectomorphs need the extra recovery time.
• Change your exercises every week. There are numerous exercises for each muscle group and you should have no trouble going three weeks for most muscle groups without ever doing the same exact exercise.
• Keep you entire workout around 45 minutes, excluding the warm up and cool down. If you go longer your body will start going catabolic and, well, that’s the opposite of muscle growth.
4. Eating.
• You should be consuming at least 2500 calories per week more than you would eat without an exercise program.
• Eat frequently throughout the day and eat a lot.
• Eat something without carbohydrates before bed to help your body keep from going into starvation mode for as long as possible.
• DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST, EVER. Eat something as soon as you wake up. I can’t emphasize this enough.
• Try to eat nutrient dense foods rather than calorie dense foods.
• Eat something with carbohydrates IMMEDIATELY after your work out. You can get your protein when you get home.
• Stop drinking alcohol, period. It wrecks your sleep, dehydrates your body and wrecks your testosterone production.
• Supplements are not necessary with good nutrition. They should be used mostly for convenience immediately after a workout and before bed.
5. Sleep.
• You will need no less than seven to nine hours of restful sleep every night.
• Try to work out after you wake up when your testosterone is at its highest.
Ectomorphs are much more sensitive to too much stress during weight training and that is certainly not good for muscle growth. There is an extremely fine line where Ectomorphs will hit minimal essential strain versus over-trained.
1. Warming up. Do it.
• A minimum of 10 minutes of full body warm-up is absolutely necessary.
• Warm up the muscles that will be worked before you start your sets. You should feel slightly winded after a proper warm up.
• Rest for a couple of minutes after your warm up, then begin your workout.
2. Compound sets: Everybody loves ‘em.
• The level of stress that your muscles and joints can handle is low. When doing a compound set for hypertrophy you should be looking at a 10-12 range for the first exercise and then a “burnout” exercise to pair it with. An example set would be; 12 upright rows with 60 pounds, fatiguing at 12, immediately followed by a bent-arm lateral raise with 5 pounds. This will pump those muscles full of burn and will earn you excellent results. If you have to pause for one or two seconds to take an extra breath and crank out a few more reps just stop at the breath and rest for your next set.
• Keep your sets at three maximum for compound sets. Remember you are doing compound sets so you are doing six sets total for each muscle group.
• You will need 1.5 times the normal amount of rest for a hypertrophy workout. This would put you between one full minute and one minute thirty seconds between each set.
• Whatever muscle group you train that day should be paired with the major synergist. For example, if you are working out your chest, work your triceps on the same day.
3. Frequency.
• Work out four to five days per week and take the weekends off.
• One muscle group once per week for the first three months while your body develops neurologically and physically. I know it’s strange to hear that but trust me; Ectomorphs need the extra recovery time.
• Change your exercises every week. There are numerous exercises for each muscle group and you should have no trouble going three weeks for most muscle groups without ever doing the same exact exercise.
• Keep you entire workout around 45 minutes, excluding the warm up and cool down. If you go longer your body will start going catabolic and, well, that’s the opposite of muscle growth.
4. Eating.
• You should be consuming at least 2500 calories per week more than you would eat without an exercise program.
• Eat frequently throughout the day and eat a lot.
• Eat something without carbohydrates before bed to help your body keep from going into starvation mode for as long as possible.
• DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST, EVER. Eat something as soon as you wake up. I can’t emphasize this enough.
• Try to eat nutrient dense foods rather than calorie dense foods.
• Eat something with carbohydrates IMMEDIATELY after your work out. You can get your protein when you get home.
• Stop drinking alcohol, period. It wrecks your sleep, dehydrates your body and wrecks your testosterone production.
• Supplements are not necessary with good nutrition. They should be used mostly for convenience immediately after a workout and before bed.
5. Sleep.
• You will need no less than seven to nine hours of restful sleep every night.
• Try to work out after you wake up when your testosterone is at its highest.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
CRAVING
Pack the kids, go to the grocery store, and go buy those wonderful children of yours some cookies. Buy yourself some cookies. Buy your neighbors some cookies. Run through the streets, handing out cookies to everyone you see. They want them, I promise, and you’ll be performing a service to your community.
I’ve tried to skip the snack isle when I did my grocery shopping. I’ve tried setting limits on how many cookies per day I would allow myself. It never worked. When I did finally get my hands on some cookies, chips or whatever, I absolutely gorged myself on them.
What I have found is that if I have a ready supply, I never crave them because they’re always there. If I have a package of cookies lurking somewhere in my kitchen it’s comfort alone knowing that I can have them whenever I want them and it doesn’t have to be now.
It isn’t about some kind of magical willpower, it’s about knowing that I can have my cookie(s) any time I want and finding that I don’t even want them every day.
-Matt
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