Workout in an hour
Create a training program for yourself with enough exercises to complete it in one hour or even faster. Train intensely, don't allow yourself to procrastinate and stay in the gym. Don't get distracted by talking too much. Remember that rest periods between sets and exercises should be no more than 1 minute. Your training style should resemble a sprinter running a hundred meters with full dedication, rather than a marathon runner with a measured expenditure of energy for tens of kilometers. Why? Just look at the photo below: on the left is a marathon runner, on the right is a sprinter. Who do you want to be like?
Marathon runner (left) and sprinter (right)
Ectomorphs[edit | edit code]
Body types: endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph
Body types
Ectomorph: how to gain weight
Ectomorph
- a type of human physique or constitution, identified by the American psychologist Sheldon, along with mesomorph and endomorph.
A typical ectomorph is a person who has low levels of physical strength and size before training. Typically, these types of people are tall and thin, with relatively low levels of subcutaneous fat and small, narrow bones.
An ectomorph is characterized by a relatively short upper body, long limbs, narrow feet and hands, a small body and relatively narrow shoulders. Ectomorphs usually have long, thin muscles that hypertrophy very slowly.
Although their joint structure often serves as a barrier to strength and vigorous sports, they nevertheless tend to have an edge in endurance activities due to their typically increased proportion of slow-twitch muscle fibers.
When engaged in bodybuilding, an ectomorph should pay minimal attention to aerobic training, and build the entire training program on heavy basic exercises, in the form of a split. Their rapid metabolism often makes it difficult to gain weight when following more traditional diet programs. The ectomorph's diet should consist of high-calorie foods rich in proteins and carbohydrates. An ectomorph may adhere to less strict dietary rules than other body types, since its metabolism is not prone to liposynthesis. Thus, for an ectomorph, the amount of food eaten is more important than the composition of the food.
Based on their characterological characteristics, Sheldon classified ectomorphs as introverts, socially anxious individuals who have a penchant for intellectual work.
Regular meals
A fast metabolism interferes with muscle growth. Your body instantly processes and burns the calories that enter it, providing energy for all vital metabolic processes, which does not include muscle growth. In order for the muscles to also receive nutrients and energy, it is necessary to increase the daily calorie intake, and I’m not talking about increasing the portion to gigantic proportions. After all, this is pointless because neither your stomach nor intestines can cope with such a volume of food at one time. And besides heaviness, a feeling of nausea and indigestion, it will lead to nothing. I'm talking about multiple meals. You should provide yourself with meals 5-6 times a day, with breaks of 2-3 hours. This way the body will constantly receive energy and nutrients not only for metabolic processes, but also for muscle growth.
Eating
Ectomorph before and after. Way to success.
As you know, back in 1940, the English scientist William Sheldon proposed a system for determining human somatic type based on three components: endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic. This article will focus on ectomorphs and the methods that have helped some of them build muscle mass and achieve success in bodybuilding.
Before we talk about what an ectomorph experiences before and after he decides to change himself through bodybuilding, it’s worth giving the classic definition of an ectomorph. So, this is a lanky man with a thin, elongated face, on which a high forehead stands out. Such men have narrow hips and chests, long and thin arms and legs, muscles are practically undeveloped, and the subcutaneous fat layer is almost absent. Obvious ectomorphs are not at all susceptible to obesity, since their body has an increased metabolism and all calories coming from food are processed and do not settle in the body. However, for the same reason, it is very difficult for ectomorphs to gain muscle mass as a result of training in gyms, and therefore it is much more difficult for them to achieve high results in bodybuilding than, for example, for mesomorphs.
For people around the ectomorph, it does not visually change with age, so the ectomorph before and after the period of growing up looks almost the same, and stands out against the background of mature peers. This often becomes the cause of complexes. However, there is a positive aspect to this as some young men finally become motivated and decide to start bodybuilding to build muscle mass. On this path they have to overcome great difficulties, since their productivity is much lower than that of people belonging to other somatic types. The difficulty in this case lies in the need for a strict and extremely high-calorie diet, otherwise the lack of nutrients combined with a high level of metabolism will lead to the body “engaging in cannibalism,” i.e., spending most of the muscle volume produced for its needs. during training. By the way, ectomorphs should know that now they will have to live in a similar schedule for the rest of their lives, otherwise the body will quickly return to its natural state.
However, people with such a physique also have some advantage over representatives of the other two types: during training, their muscle definition manifests itself, while other athletes have to carry out special training to obtain a similar result.
In order to be successful, an ectomorph must take special measures before and after training to minimize energy loss:
- you should minimize, so to speak, “useless” physical activity;
- learn to relax, for example, sleep longer at night and a couple of hours during the day;
- do not be nervous and relax to relieve tension;
- train intensively, but not for long;
- ectomorphs do not need to make any effort to burn fat, so an individual program for them is compiled without cardio and aerobic exercise;
- The ectomorph’s diet is specially selected and he is strictly forbidden to disrupt the daily routine, especially in terms of meals.
- the daily diet of such athletes must include foods such as nuts, salmon, flaxseed and peanut oil and seeds containing healthy and essential fats;
- The most preferred diet for an ectomorph is high-carbohydrate. In general, in percentage terms, the diet of such athletes should include at least 50% carbohydrates, 30% lean proteins and 15-20% fats.
To increase motivation among those who are currently just thinking about trying to argue with nature and, despite everything, acquiring a beautiful athletic figure, we can cite several stories from the category “Ecomorph before and after. Way to success". So in 1982, the highest title in bodybuilding went to Chris Dickerson, who came to the sport from the opera and at the time of his triumph weighed only 86 kg with a height of 170 cm. Frank Zane became Mr. Olympia three times, weighing 93 kg at the peak of his career with a height of 176 cm.
Sports nutrition
You must understand that sports supplements are not a panacea and you should not place high hopes on taking them. As the name suggests, supplements are just an additional source of nutrients to your main diet. A complete breakfast, lunch and dinner is a must. However, sports nutritional supplements can be indispensable in cases where there is simply no time to prepare and eat normal food, for example at work, between classes at the university, on the road or immediately after a workout.
A gainer (protein-carbohydrate mixture) is suitable for an ectomorph in sports nutrition. A gainer will be useful not only for muscle growth thanks to the protein in its composition, but will also help you get the missing amount of calories if eating normal food is difficult or not at all possible.
Gainer is best for ectomorphs
Strength training program
Breast
Bench press with medium grip. Performed in 4 approaches, starting with eight repetitions, decreasing by two repetitions in each subsequent approach and increasing the weights, and on the fourth, perform 10 with minimal weights.
The second good exercise for developing chest muscles is doing dumbbell raises while lying on an incline bench. 4 sets of 8 reps.
Legs
Squats. It is recommended to perform in 4 sets, starting with 10, ending with 4 repetitions, each time increasing the weight.
It will also be useful to extend your legs while sitting on a bench, while wearing weights on your legs.
Deltas
Standing barbell press with a medium grip. Performed in 3 sets, starting with 8 repetitions, in the second - 6, in the last - 4.
Another type of exercise for the deltas is the standing barbell row. 4 sets of 8.
Back
For the back muscles, the ideal exercise would be a standing, bent-over row. Perform 4 sets of 8 repetitions.
The deadlift is another essential exercise for the back.
Biceps
Bending the arms at the elbow joints while standing. A barbell or dumbbells are used as weights. For variety, change the grip width of the barbell. The same 4 sets of 8 repetitions.
Triceps
Bench press with a narrow grip. The exercise is performed lying on a bench or standing. It is also called the French press. The first approach is performed in 10 repetitions, the remaining three - 6 each.
Press
Lying fold with the knees touching the chest, while the hands are behind the head. For greater effect, you can pick up a dumbbell or a weight plate.
Calorie counting
Learn to count the number of calories you consume. It's not as difficult as it might seem. Remember that the number of calories consumed per day should be equal to the number of calories needed to maintain metabolism + muscle growth. And if you are not growing, it means that this energy balance is not maintained and you need to consume more calories, in other words, eat more.
To rebuild the constitution of your body, you will have to force your body to process more of the nutrients entering it. The body by itself will not express a desire to change - it is in the comfort zone, so you need to make an effort on yourself.
Increased results
Work out in the gym regularly (2-3 times a week), progress, achieve results, gradually increase the number of repetitions (no more than 12) or working weights. Work with full dedication. Lifting weights will make your muscles grow. They will have to adapt to increasing loads. And as a result, hypertrophy, that is, the growth of muscle mass.
If you feel that your muscles are no longer responding to the load you are receiving (plateau state), try changing the exercise program, or working the exercises from different angles, or changing the repetition range (for example, downward, while increasing the working weight). It may be enough to change the order of exercises or change the grip. In general, the task is to ensure that the muscles constantly grow and adapt to the new load.
Ectomorph rest
No matter how much you would like to gain muscle mass as quickly as possible, without proper rest there will be no benefit from training. Fatigue will appear, and exercise will only have a detrimental effect on the body. The main rules of rest can be presented as follows:
- sleep should be at least a third of the day;
- A day's rest, at least 30 minutes, is very useful.
Gaining muscle mass does not occur during exercise, but during sleep, so only by following the correct training regimen, nutrition and proper recovery can you quickly achieve impressive results.
