As a hard-gainer or ectomorph, your metabolism is extremely fast and your body burns through the fat and carb reserves you have provided through your diet, and moves on to burn muscle mass as fuel. Consequently, putting on weight and musculature is quite the ordeal for you.
On one hand, the need to gain weight could be fuelled by seeking social validation, on the other, it might be because you are clinically underweight.
Both of these are equally legitimate reasons- and while the latter addresses your physical health, the former ensures your mental well-being.
Psychologically, putting on some weight if you are too skinny can help you boost up your self-confidence and improve your view of self. If underweight, one often becomes overwhelmed by societal expectations and develops depression or anxiety. Gaining weight can be an avenue of reclaiming your mental peace and working through the depression and anxiety.
Typically, we are warned against the ills of obesity, but there is a sore lack of awareness regarding the dangers of being underweight and just how fatal it can prove to be in the long run. In fact, studies conclude that being underweight exponentially increases your chances of an early death, reportedly more than even obesity does.
The internet is a treasure trove of information, and you will find thousands of articles and videos on isolated techniques and exercises to gain weight. As an amateur, this is a tough spot because weight gain, and fitness in general, requires a considerable amount of trial-and-error. Without professional guidance, it is very likely that you will make a lot of mistakes along the way to perfect your routine- mistakes which may prove to be costly.
Creating a fitness routine for yourself involves a lot of time and effort gone into tonnes of research- but they may not give you your desired results.
You may not be able to reach your desired weight goals, or do so within the anticipated time frame. Given the amount of energy you have put into constructing your routine and implementing it, this can be very demotivating indeed. On the internet, it is very difficult to differentiate between misinformation and credible information until you have faced the brunt of it yourself. Without the experienced discerning eye of a professional, you can easily fall prey to misinformation and end up wreaking havoc on your body.
This is where a credible online program crafted by a professional comes to your rescue. Having a bulking program for ectomorphs ensures that you get all your information from a single platform and have a clear idea of what you can realistically expect. Establishing specific goals also allows you to track your progress effectively.
All in all, an online weight gain program will help you maximize your efforts in the right direction without having to waste your time trying out a bunch of different things that may confuse your body. There are a bunch of raved about weight gain programs out there for hard-gainers.
Whatever your lifestyle or gender may be, there is a program out there that can help you achieve your desired goals. However, it is important to cross-check their legitimacy to ensure they are the right partner to safely coast you along your weight gain journey. I have researched and tried out a multitude of these programs to figure out which ones work best for hard-gainers and help make your decision process easier.
At the end of each workout you can add in a few sets of isolated exercises if you like, but it's not required by the program. One of the biggest advantages of this set-up is going to be an increased frequency of training. Since you will stimulate so many muscle fibers every other day, you will see a very high release of testosterone, promoting a good degree of muscle mass growth.
Most individuals also find that they become hungrier while following this program, which is representative of the intense nature of it. The drawback to this program is that it's one that a beginner likely shouldn't jump into as it will be intense and could lead to overtraining if you're not careful.
It's best to have a month lifting history behind you so you can be sure your body is ready for this stress load. The second con to this set-up is due to the fact that you'll be lifting heavy three times a week - it doesn't lend so well for a lot of other activity, such as heavy sports training. If you're involved in high-level athletics, it may be better to choose a slightly less demanding program so you don't become overly fatigued.
You'll want to aim to perform the 5 X 5 protocol for the core exercises as described above and then cut back on the volume for the accessory lifts. If you know going in you're someone who tends to have difficulty recovering, then you may want to attempt a 3 X 5 set-up first and see how you do. It can be easy to overtrain on this program if you're not careful.
Alternate between workout A and workout B three times a week with at least one day off between sessions. Aim to rest for to seconds between sets of the core exercises and to seconds between sets for the accessory exercises. The next higher volume muscle-building program is German Volume Training. This one is quite similar to the 5 x 5 program in that it too is going to call for a higher set number, but it differs in that it takes the rep ranges much higher to ten reps for each set.
The design of this program is to focus on two main muscle groups per day, alternating between them over the course of three days a week. For someone who has some training behind them, this type of workout can allow you to build muscle mass at an incredibly high pace provided you're following a proper nutritional protocol with it as well. Some individuals will make the mistake of not looking after their nutrition on this program and it's those people who are at a much higher risk of burning out after a short period of time passes.
If you want to get good results with this program, eating a higher calorie diet will be a must to support the volume. Similar to the 5 x 5, if you're planning on doing a lot of additional activity with this program - sports training, cardio , or otherwise, you may run into some problems. Typically you will need to reduce everything else you're doing so the body can have enough time to recover and progress The other con of this program is that if you are interested in maximum strength development, it may not be the absolute best idea either.
The reason for this is that pure strength gains typically require you to lift in a lower rep range, while this program pushes it a bit further. There are advanced variations with German Volume Training that bring the rep range lower to allow for more weight. If this is an important issue for you, think about looking into that. For this workout protocol, you are to select one compound exercise for each muscle group and hit it hard with ten sets of ten reps.
Once those have been completed, then you can add a few isolation exercises if you wish but bring them down to only sets of reps. Aim to keep up the pace of the workout by keeping your rest to seconds. Remember that since you are shooting for the higher rep range of 10 reps, you will not be using as high of a weight as you would on a rep protocol, so be sure you adjust your load accordingly. The workout is broken up into three different days: chest and back, legs and abs, and then shoulders and arms.
Take one day off between workouts and have the full weekend for solid recuperation. The third type of volume training program that's catching on rather rapidly is the FST-7 Training Program. The FST-7 name stands for Fascial Stretch Training, which indicates that one of the primary objectives this program attempts to achieve is to stretch the fascia tissue, which is the soft connective tissue that is found surrounding your muscles as well as throughout the rest of the body.
It is primarily responsible for helping to maintain the structural integrity of the body, provide support and protection, as well as work as a shock absorber when you perform activity throughout the day, both in the gym and out. When this tissue is stretched you will see increases in muscle growth.
There will be a higher deliverance of minerals, amino acids and oxygen to the tissues. With this set-up, perform seven sets of 15 reps for the last exercise you do for each muscle group. It's important to keep your rest periods between these sets shorter - right around 30 seconds total. Note: it will be common to adjust the weight downward from what you'd normally use for this particular exercise due to the fact that you are using a much higher total number of sets and the longer rep range will demand that you're not lifting as heavy.
The pros to this program beside the obvious better fascia health are that it still allows for a great deal of flexibility on your part with overall structural design. If you want to specialize in certain body parts you can definitely do so or if you prefer to keep the rest of the program lower in total volume because you don't have the best of recovery rate, you can certainly do that as well.
Another pro to this approach is that the higher rep and set range for that one exercise will stimulate the metabolic rate considerably, so whether your goal is muscle building or fat loss, provided you're eating the correct accompanying diet, you can see a boost in results through that manner as well.
Potentially the one con you may see with this approach is, if you struggle with recovery, you may not be able to work out as frequently as you're accustomed after performing this protocol. After time you will likely find that your body adapts, so try not to abandon the program too quickly if this is in fact what you find.
Stick with it and make sure you eat properly and stretching in between sessions without adding too much cardio training to the week overall and you'll likely start seeing results and improvements with the level of fatigue you feel.
This is another extremely intense training program so you must always monitor recovery between sessions. Some people may choose to only employ the FST-7 principle in one of their workouts for a particularly lagging muscle group, while others may try it through all workouts during the week. Do expect more soreness from this program than you may have experienced before and be prepared to adjust and adapt your own schedule based on this. In excess though, they are stored as fat.
This is why you hear about some popular diet fads that recommend cutting out carbohydrates completely from your food. The problem isn't the carbohydrates, but the amount of them that people eat at a sitting. Out of the three types of calories, carbs are the most eaten by far in average people's diets. Why do people eat so many carbohydrates?
The answer is because the ones that eat so much often don't know what they are or how they work. Almost all food has carbohydrates in it. The two most prevalent forms of carbohydrates are sugar and grains. Now think of all the food that has sugar and grains in it.
Some of the obvious sources are candy, soft drinks, breads, pasta, rice and cereals. Now some of the least obvious sources are milk, barbecue sauce, fruits and juice to name a few. We like to say that the food we like most is the food with the most fat. This is not always true, often the food we like most does not have high fat content, but carbohydrate content.
It's important to understand the amount of carbohydrates you consume, because they can catch you quickly Incidentally rice and pasta are also examples of simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are unhealthy forms while complex are the healthy forms. Simple carbohydrates include sugar, white rice and white bread while complex carbohydrates include wheat bread, brown rice and whole grain cereals. Usually when dealing with carbohydrates, "If it's white it's bad, if it's brown it's good.
Next we will discuss proteins. Protein is what serves as structural support for our body, which is known as our muscles. Protein is used to repair our muscles after a workout and to build them further. Remember that our muscles repair themselves most during sleep, however some during the day. This is why it's important to spread out your protein intake over the entire day. It is recommended to get around 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
This number can vary up or down, as some people recommend 0. Protein is abundant in foods such as fish, red meat, poultry, milk, nuts and eggs. Unlike carbohydrates, there is no "healthy" and "unhealthy" form of protein.
However what you eat that has protein in it determines if it's a good food or not. A Pizza Hut pizza may have protein in it, but it's also loaded with saturated fats and simple carbohydrates. This is generally where bulkers go wrong. They assume that if it's loaded with protein and calories then it is a good bulking food, in reality it's a good fat gaining food. Now on the other hand a chicken breast or a grilled fish fillet has a great deal of protein in it, and they're lean sources too which makes them great bodybuilding foods.
There are two main types of protein, whey and casein. Whey protein is absorbed fast by the body, which makes it great for post-workout nutrition. Casein protein is absorbed slowly, which makes it great for long periods when you will not have anything to eat, such as when sleeping. Fats have their bad forms and good forms. Saturated fat, which is mainly found in cooking oils coconut oil, peanut oil and butter, is the unhealthiest form of fat.
The healthier fat is called monounsaturated fat. This fat is found mainly in olive oil, sesame oil, nuts, avocados and fish oil. Another type of healthy fats is the EFA's Essential fatty acids. These are found mainly in flaxseed oil , leafy vegetables, fish, shellfish and nuts.
EFA's should always be a part of your diet, as they maintain healthy skin and hair, maintain body temperature, promote healthy cell function, and are the only way your body can absorb vitamins A , D , E , and K.
Now the trick to bulking is gaining the most muscle while being efficient with fat gains. If you start eating calories a day you may gain a little more muscle than eating , however your fat gain would be insurmountable. Bulking is the art of eating just the right amount of calories for your body to build muscle, not any over. This means for every meal, you will try to eat that ratio of carbs, protein and fats.
A sample layout of a day's meals could look like this A healthy bulking diet may seem like a burden, especially at first. However after a few weeks you'll adapt to having to eat many meals a day and buying more food at the grocery store.
Supplements are just what they are named, a supplement addition to your workout and diet. They should not be used to replace a diet, but to aid it. While it would be ideal to consume many supplements a day, unless you have an unlimited income then that isn't possible. There is no easier way to increase your protein consumption than mixing powder with milk in a blender.
Like I mentioned above, there are two types of protein for our purposes, whey and casein. Whey is used for rapid absorption and casein for slow absorption. There is no greater benefit in a bulking diet than taking a casein protein shake before bed or a whey protein shake after a workout. Recommendations - My favorite protein shake for post workout is the Met-Rx meal replacement. The Berry Blast flavor has an awesome taste that cannot be beat.
It has a great mix of whey and casein protein, and along with two cups of skim milk, your body will have enough protein to last a while. It is impossible to eat foods that contain all of the vitamins and minerals your body needs daily. Multivitamins fill in this gap to keep your body running at high efficiency.
Creatine is naturally used in your body to increase ATP production, which is energy for your muscles. However as bodybuilders, we required more creatine than what we consume in our meals. This is where creatine supplementation comes in, our muscles are fueled to lift more weight for more reps. Recommendations - There are ongoing disputes on whether creatine ethyl ester creatine designed for efficient absorption actually works or is turned into waste as soon as it enters the body.
For this reason I stick with the proven supplement, creatine monohydrate. Like protein shakes, these serve as a meal addition or replacement. They are great for people who do not have time to fix meals every 2 or 3 hours. Nitric Oxide has been recently getting a lot of promotion in the media for a great supplement, and for the good reasons. Nitric Oxide increases nutrient delivery to your muscles, which is especially good for during and post workout.
During a workout it allows you to lift more weight for a longer period of time and after a workout it serves as a means to help repair your muscles. Not to mention that it also gives you a great "pump" feeling during the workout and extreme vascularity. Since we are bulking we want to cater our workout to not only size, but strength also.
Building strength equals more weight able to be used for workouts, and that means more size gains in the long run. As our cardio will be cut down for the bulking phase, we will be able to spend more time weightlifting. We first start off with a 2-day split, which means we will work our entire body in only 2 days. However we will not only workout 2 times a week, we will workout 4 times a week, meaning our body will be fully worked twice a week. So our routine begins with weightlifting on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Note that these don't have to be set days, they just provide a template. The idea is to workout 2 days in a row, followed by a day of rest, followed by 2 more days of weightlifting which is completed with 2 days of rest. As you can see from the above chart, this workout hits every body prt with various exercises for the best efficiency. For the reps and sets listed, you should do the maximum weight possible for the rep range.
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