Ectomorph training & diet: how to gain weight for skinny guys

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When I first starting working out, I was about 17 years old, 120lbs. And yeah… I’m a guy. Pretty small, scrawny and pathetic, wasn’t it? Trust me… it was.

But I wasn’t the only guy fitting that embarrassing description. You see, I’m what’s known as an ectomorph, and there are literally millions of other skinny guys out there who are just like me. That’s the bad news.

But the good news is, I’ve been about to adjust my workout and diet in a way that has allowed me to successfully gain weight and build muscle. In order to show you how to do the same, we need to start with the reason guys like us are so skinny in the first place…

Ectomorph is a term used to describe people (both men and women) with naturally skinny body types who were probably always thin and/or underweight their entire lives and seem to have no idea how to gain weight.

In fact, an ectomorph is the type of person that usually pisses off fat people, because we make it look like we can eat as much as we want and never gain weight. That’s not actually true of course, but our skinny genetics just make it appear that way.

What I mean is, an ectomorph typically:

Has a crazy fast metabolism.Has a thin and lanky bone structure (skinny wrists, skinny ankles, long limbs, etc.).Is sometimes a little hyper, and often times overly frigidity (which increases our “NEAT” – non exercise activity thermogenesis – which is a big part of why our metabolic rate is so fast in the first place).Is a picky eater who doesn’t always possess a large appetite.Is naturally lacking muscle and strength.Is naturally skinny, although not naturally lean (there’s a difference).Finds it almost impossible to gain weight or muscle mass no matter what type of diet or workout they use.

Does any (or all) of that describe you? If so, you’re an ectomorph! And now that you know why you’re so naturally skinny and have such a hard time gaining weight and building muscle, it’s time we start getting to the solution. Let’s start with the most important area of all… your diet.

As I’ve explained in detail in my weight gain article, the single answer to the “how to gain weight” question is quite simple: you just need to eat enough calories.

But the big problem for an ectomorph is that they NEVER eat enough calories, even when they think they are. While this is sometimes just a result of some skinny guys having the appetite of little birds, it’s mostly because the amount of calories an ectomorph needs to eat to gain weight is WAY more than they think.

I know this not just from dealing with countless skinny guys, but from my own firsthand experience as one. I used to eat and eat and eat and not gain weight. Why? Because even though I thought I was eating a lot, it turns out that my definition of “a lot” still wasn’t as much as it needed to be for my body to actually gain weight.

That’s just part of what sucks about the ectomorph diet. It requires WAY more calories than any normal person would ever need in order to gain weight.

So what’s the solution? Simple. EAT MORE CALORIES! I don’t give a crap how many calories you are currently eating or how full you feel or how it seems like you’re already eating enough. The simple fact is, if you’re not gaining weight, you’re just NOT eating enough calories.

Multiply your body weight in pounds by 17, and start eating that amount of calories each day (example: if you weigh 150lbs, you’d do 150 x 17 and get 2550 calories per day). From there, make sure you weigh yourself once per week (first thing in the morning before eating) and keep track of what your weight is doing. Then…

If you’re gaining weight at a rate of 0.5 – 1 pound per week, you’re perfect.If you’re gaining MORE than that, you’ll be gaining more fat than muscle. In that case, reduce your calorie intake by about 250 calories, wait a couple of weeks, and see if you’re within this ideal range then.HOWEVER, if you are still NOT gaining any weight (or just gaining LESS than half a pound per week), it means you are still not eating enough calories. In that case, add another 500 calories to your daily diet and see what happens then.

Basically, skinny guys who want to gain muscle and not just get fat should aim to gain about 0.5 – 1 pound per week. All you need to do is adjust your calorie intake and monitor your weight to ensure it’s going up at this ideal speed. If it’s not, adjust it until it does. As for other aspects of your diet (protein, carbs, fat, etc.), my diet plan guide will explain the rest.

With the most important aspect of your diet all figured out, it’s time to move on to the most important aspect of your workout.

The first thing you need to know is that most of the typical bodybuilding and muscle building routines you see are complete and utter crap for an ectomorph like yourself. They work great for steroid users and guys with amazing genetics, but for skinny guys like you and me? They absolutely suck.

An ectomorph can’t waste time with 100 sets of little isolation exercises and bicep curls and high reps and light weights and “advanced” methods and other similar nonsense. Instead, the majority of your workout routine needs to be focused on big compound exercises like:

Bench PressSquatsDeadliftsPull-UpsRowsShoulder Press

These are the exercises that are going to add the most muscle mass to your body in the shortest amount of time. Make sure you’re doing some variation of all of them at least once per week, and make sure you’re lifting heavy enough to stimulate growth (ideally within the 5-8 rep range most of the time).

From there, you must remember that the #1 workout goal of skinny guys is NOT to get a “pump” or do “super sets” or “shock your muscles” and any other bullshit. Your goal is to get stronger and make progressive overload happen as often as possible.

What is progressive overload, you ask? It’s the scientifically proven requirement of muscle growth. You need to constantly push yourself to lift heavier and heavier weights over time (and/or lift the same weight for more reps). This type of progression is what signals your body to use the extra calories you are eating to build new muscle. It’s the key to getting results from your workout routine.

For this reason, progressive overload is the key aspect of ANY ectomorph workout. Sure, your split, exercise selection, frequency, amount of sets and reps and so on all matter as well (and my article about weightlifting workout routines covers most of it). But the truth is, for a skinny guy like you and me, it’s all just minor details in comparison to just getting stronger and increasing the demands being placed on your body.

Combine this type of growth stimulating workout progression with eating enough calories to support it… and you WILL gain weight and build muscle. Don’t waste your time or energy on anything else.

We’ve now covered the 2 major diet and workout factors that go into allowing an ectomorph to successfully gain weight and build muscle despite having below average genetics for it. The articles I’ve linked to throughout this article will help provide a few extra details as well.

Now, it’s still possible that you’ll have some additional questions about how to put your entire muscle building workout routine and weight gain diet together as effectively as possible. You may also just want some help doing it. Well, after nearly 10 years of people asking for it, I’ve finally created the solution.

It’s called The Ultimate Fat Loss & Muscle Building Guide, and in it I provide every additional answer, detail and fact you will ever need to get the best results as fast as possible. It contains the proven sample workouts and diets that I’ve used to help countless skinny guys completely transform their bodies.

Ready to do the same? Then go here to learn all about it: The Ultimate Fat Loss & Muscle Building Guide

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Cardio exercise: best time to do Cardio workouts to lose weight

If I had to guess, I would say that the most common question I asked on cardio exercise has nothing to do with what kind is best (steady-state, training interval, etc.) or how better (jogging, cycling, etc.) but rather to what time is best done maximum weight loss benefits.

Now, this question involves two very important things that greatly influence my answer:

Firstly, that there actually is a certain time of day to do cardio workouts is any more effective way to burn fat and causing weight loss.And second, then there are other times of the day that they are less effective in terms of these same benefits of cardio exercise weight loss and therefore should be avoided.

Due to these two implications, I really have two different responses to this question.

Years ago, the only response that never gave any question about what time of day was the best to do cardio exercise is this: the first thing in the morning in fasting (before eating and drinking anything).

This is what is commonly known as fast cardio, and why was the only answer that gave is because it is the answer, you are true saber….

Research (and real world experience) tends to show that burnt grease cardio exercise benefits increase slightly when performing workouts fasted instead at any time of the day after eating.

Now, before you begin to wake up extra early to jump in the race before breakfast, let me mention that the key word in the paragraph above is "slightly".

Fat burning benefits of exercise cardio in a rapid State do not seem to be anywhere near as important as the majority of the people to incorrectly leave be. In fact, the more fat has to lose, less these benefits there first.

What it means in many cases, the benefits do not truly is large enough to justify the fasting out of his way of doing these workouts.

At the same time, although technically this could be the best time to do so in terms of weight loss, fast tomorrow cardio (specifically to the fact in the moderate to high intensity is usually) is the worst way to do it in terms of performance (which means that it will be more difficult for most people if they do not eat something first), and probably to maintain muscle and lose fat as well.

Not to mention, making these training first thing in the morning might not be feasible for most people due to their schedules.

For these reasons, although it is often the most technically accurate answer to this question, it cannot be the best answer. What is it? Let's find out…

And now the answer now give most of the time when asked about the best time to do cardio exercise. Simply have it is always more convenient and sustainable for you.

In other words, it is always better for you and fits better into the programming will be the time will be probably systematically do this cardio. Always make it to you, which is where it should do so.

Why? Because honestly, only do so in the first place it is the most important thing. Do if you are trying to force you exert sometimes uncomfortable or just generally annoying for you, then guess what will happen? You're going to hate and eventually quit.

So knowing that the benefits of fast cardio morning not so significant in the first place for most of the people, and adding that it perhaps not ideal for its programming and preferences, may be there is that it should not be trying to do work.

This is what comes below a. Cardio fast may have some small burning benefits of fat (mainly between people trying to move from the lean to really lean), but the key to any form of weight loss of any form of cardio exercise benefits is simply doing these workouts in the first place.

Therefore, any time of the day works best for you, its programming, your life and your preferences... is when must do you so. If it is the first thing in the morning in a rapid State or at any other time of the day after eating many foods, however, it is so that he can decide.

The most important thing is that you get really this cardiovascular exercise carried out on a consistent basis. It is always going to produce real weight loss results. When you do it is only one minor relative detail.

* NEW * still has questions about his training routine? Confused about your diet? Need help to put it all together? Well, after almost 10 years of requests, I've finally created the definitive solution.

I call it The Ultimate Fat Loss & muscle building Guide and it provide all the answers, details and events that make up the system of diet that I used to help countless men and women and highly proven training completely transform their bodies. It is now your turn. Learn more here.

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