66Kg Monster!

[-FIGJAM-]

G'day boys and gals,

As title suggest, I weigh about 66kg and have since year 11 when I was 16yrs old. Now 22 and still weigh the same. Lifestyle and my own lack of real dedication is a major hindrance to getting any size, but eh thems the breaks. Been training on and off since bout yr12, only since the last 12 months have i been training well. But due to a heart condition I was out for about 3 months not long ago which was a big set back.

Trying to get to about 75kg with about 10% body fat!! I am just under 6ft tall.

As the ectomorph that I am the obvious challenge is eating. A dietitian once told me if "if you eat a semi trailer truck a day, your body will find a way to digest it and discard it" Apparently i have an abnormally fast metabolism or something along those lines. Also when I eat too much I feel so sick that I want to spew....

Have just started this workout routine with my spotter, will be interested to see how it goes.

Monday

1. Shoulders – Shoulder Dumbbell Press

2. Back – Superset (Machine Row + Tbar Pulldown)

3. Chest – Incline Bench

4. Legs – Sqauts

5. Biceps – Superset(Hammer Curl + BB Curl)

6. Calves – Machine

7. Triceps – Kickbacks

8. Abbs - Routine

Wednesday

1. Chest – Bench Press

2. Back – Pull Ups

3. Shoulders – Superset (Upright Row and Laterals)

4. Legs – Leg Extention

5. Calves - Machine

6. Biceps – Standing DB Curls

7. Triceps – Superset (Cable Rope + Machine PushDown)

8. Abbs – 5 Mins of Planks

Friday

1. Back - Deadlift

2. Shoulders – Rear Delt

3. Chest – Superset (Incline DB Press + Incline DBFlys)

4. Legs – Seated Press

5. Triceps – Push up/Skull Crusher

6. Biceps – Barbell Curl

7. Calves - Machine

8. Abbs – 3 Sets of Heavy Machines

[Birds]

Good luck dude!

Don't worry too much about fast metabolism stopping you from gaining weight - you want to gain muscle weight, not fat. The more you work out, the more you will eat to replenish energy and fuel muscle growth...through that will come size and weight. I too am an ectomorph and went from 63kg to 83kg without force feeding myself (though I was eating a lot, simply because I was hungry all teh time). You have a very realistic weight goal on your hands that you should be able to achieve without complex bulking and cutting phases etc.

[Dani Boi]

Best of luck, it's a lifestyle change

For bulking and gaining size my advice would be to isolate muscle groups on different days i.e. day 1 chest/biceps, day 2 shoulders/back etc. This gives time for full recovery if you're doing it once a week. Just make sure you have a solid diet and count calories <-- can't stress that enough.

[GTR_JOEY]

i agree with Dani boi

you need to break up ur muscle groups to ensure u really give them a good smashing then a have a good week to repair

For example my schedual is:

Monday: chest and tri

Tues: Legs/abs

Wednesday: upper back and Bi's

Thurs: Shoulders/abs

Friday: lower back ie Deadlifts and back extensions

To be honest mate training 3 days a week might be ok to start with but soon enough u will plateau as ur body gets used to it:

You say u have a fast metabilism, personally i think people use this as an excuse for not growing:

For example i left school at 17 years old to join the army, i would eat ok as i was still living at home and i wieghed in at 69kgs

after the first 6 months of just eating properly i put on 10kg. since then ive really concentrated on getting bigger by eating everything and anything, and along with training ive hit a peak of 91kg, im now 22.

I wouldnt say i have great genetics either

Main points

train hard

eat often (at least every 3 hours) especially before and straight after training

maintain a constant sleeping patterns 8-10hours

You should get some pics up as well so u can keep a track

take some measurements every 3 months to track progress

good luck!!!

[-FIGJAM-]

to be honest I dont think the full body workouts will work that great for bulking..... well not for a small person like me.

eating is my biggest hurdle as I really am not used to it and find it hard.

will see how i go with pics

[Tangles]

I went from 2m tall 75-ish kgs at age 17 to 110kg age 19.

3x gym sessions a week, 5x football training sessions, 3x games on weekends.

Cardio was huge, was forever hungry, and weight lifting was focused on form.

Every 12 weeks Id mix up the lifting process as such - my favourite for gaining muscle mass was the "matrix' system

example - bench press.

5x full bench press

5x half down

5x half up

5x full movement

decrease weight slightly (10% lower) & do it again

decrease weight slightly & do a 3rd set, 4th set if you can manage but I doubt that!

By the second and third set your muscles are screaming, 20% less weight feels like its insanely heavier. A great way to gain strength and size (muscle mass).

Id do this system for 3 months, have a week off, a few weeks of general lifting, then back to it for another 12 weeks.

Two years of this I had gained well over 30kg in mass and was very fit cardio-wise. At my biggest 3yrs in I was 115kg of solid mass.

Unfortunately I pushed my knees far too hard with all the footy training, daily would dislocate them countless times, and its pretty much ruined my life to this point in time (12 knee surgeries now, dble patellectomy, and at 6'8 with no kneecaps Ive found it just doesnt work).

Moderation is the key, using good solid form when lifting. The body must rest and recuperate or you'll find you are placing too much stress on your body to make the gains you are working towards.

Try the 'matrix' system (1 full set, 1 half up, 1 half down, 1 full set). You should rest for no longer than 10seconds between the change of movements. Dont increase the weight between sets as you wont be able to lift with solid form. Use this system for triceps, biceps, chest, shoulders, calf, thighs, hamstrings & you'll gain weight. Throw in some ab work and heavy squats/deadlifts and you'll gain weight easily. For your upper body to gain size you'll need to push hard on your upper legs.

Best of luck.

[Dani Boi]

To be honest mate training 3 days a week might be ok to start with but soon enough u will plateau as ur body gets used to it:

You say u have a fast metabilism, personally i think people use this as an excuse for not growing:

Agree with this from personal experience. I did 3 x workouts a week for about 18 weeks and it worked (probably not to my maximum potential) and gained 8kg's. Then I hit a plateau for 6 weeks and I look back at that as wasted time. As soon as I changed my workout to a 4 day split I was on the path to gaining again.

to be honest I dont think the full body workouts will work that great for bulking..... well not for a small person like me.

eating is my biggest hurdle as I really am not used to it and find it hard.

Full body workouts are essential for ectomorphs but they shouldn't be done on the one day, they should be split over the week. Your routine has some good compound movements in it but you should really split muscle groups onto different days. As for the eating a lot, to put it blunt - get used to it. You have to constantly eat that's why I said it was a lifestyle change. If you split your meals up into 6 meals a day your body will adapt to it in no time.

In your first year you will gain the most muscle. Honestly take advantage of that and train hard for the first year and you will see big results if you eat and rest well.

[GTR_JOEY]

Tangles the reason u got so big between the ages of 17 and 19 by only doin mostly cardio is because 1. U were still filling out and growing 2. Because at 2m tall u have a rather large frame to start with 3.u may also have very good genetics... Figjam is 22 and is still 66kgs, if he wants to get big he should be doin alot of weight lifting and no more then 20 min of cardio a day

[Birds]

You don't need a whole week to rest your muscles. Maybe for the first couple weeks of training when you're new to it. Repeating the exact same exercise twice a week is perfectly fine and IMO better than once a week stuff. I can feel it when I've missed my second repetition of an exercise, for when I return to it a week after having last done it, it is noticeabley harder to do.

[NickR33]

You don't need a whole week to rest your muscles. Maybe for the first couple weeks of training when you're new to it. Repeating the exact same exercise twice a week is perfectly fine and IMO better than once a week stuff. I can feel it when I've missed my second repetition of an exercise, for when I return to it a week after having last done it, it is noticeabley harder to do.

agreed, that's why I don't like split routines (at least for the first year or two)... training a body part once a week isn't enough IMO... also initially while your still trying to put on size I wouldn't bother with arm, calf or ab stuff... if your doing heavy deadlifting, squatting rowing and pressing you will work those secondary muscles more than enough

you should be spending more time on the big lifts, learning the technique (free weights not on the machines) and pushing yourself... then maybe at the end of the workout if your not completely shagged you might do some curls or laterals... but if you've been working hard enough at the big lifts you should find your not even able to lift your arms, let alone do some tricep extensions

try doing an extra set of close grip bench press after your finished benching or throw in some weighted dips... when dipping just by changing the angle of your body you can hit your chest more or your triceps... chin ups (palms facing you) are good for your biceps as well, try them weighted for max pain

[sydking]

you can train all you want but if you diet is not in check dont expect anything, You get big in the kitchen.

[GTR_JOEY]

Disagree! Twice a week is too much if u doin a smashing work out, only if ur on the juice should u train twice a week.... Maximum would be to train in 5 day cycles ie same muscle group every 5 days with no days off. Just because ur muscles aren't sore anymore doesn't mean they are not still repairing themselves, It's not training that makes the muscle grow, it's the recovery.

[dezz]

Disagree! Twice a week is too much if u doin a smashing work out, only if ur on the juice should u train twice a week.... Maximum would be to train in 5 day cycles ie same muscle group every 5 days with no days off. Just because ur muscles aren't sore anymore doesn't mean they are not still repairing themselves, It's not training that makes the muscle grow, it's the recovery.

Strongly disagree with that statement...

I train 4 days a weeks with a split routine at the moment, but before the start of the footy season I trained the 5 big lifts (squat/bench/dead/MP/BOR) 3 times a week, 5 sets of each for 5 reps, as heavy as you could go..

Same exact exercises 3 days a week, longest break between sessions would be 2 days, normally 1. Some days you'd still feel a bit sore, but could always push, at the very least, the same as you did in the session before once you got going. Increased weights on all 5 exercises every week for the ~3 months I was doing it.

As long as you're eating/sleeping enough to recover, you can't go wrong

[Tangles]

You want size? You want strength? Im a firm believer of the matrix system.

The 'Matrix Principle' & 'Matrix for muscle gain' by ron laura & ken dutton are the texts to read.

I gained my mass from using this system. At my peak I had a body similar in size to Matt Primus (AFL ruckman, now coach). Went from being called Stix to, just quietly, 'fark me, look at the size of him'. With the hours & hours of weekly cardio I went through I firmly believe my muscle gains were achieved by training to the matrix principle.

To the OP - Do 12 weeks of the system, a few weeks of "mix-em up" lifting, another 12 weeks of matrix training, and I reckon you'll feel in need of a week long rest..... overtraining results in injury. Every second day is plenty. Take supplements such as Creatine & you'll gain that size and shape you're currently after.

[R-SPEC]

you're doing way too much on the one day...

monday: chest & biceps

tuesday: back & triceps

wednesday: rest/abs

thursday: shoulders & forearms

friday: rest/abs

saturday: legs

sunday: rest/abs

lift as heavy as you can aslong as you're doing 6-8 reps for every workout

eat like a f**king pig

people complicate shit way too much.

[Basti]

whats the deal with chest&biceps/back&triceps rimon? seems counterintuitive to me

[R-SPEC]

i dont follow?

Edited September 19, 2011 by R-SPEC

[dezz]

I personally go chest/tris back/bis as most exercises for chest use tris and most back exercises use bis.

So basically my arms get their workout while supporting the major muscle group (chest and back in this case).

At the end of a chest workout I'll finish with dips, after a back workout I finish with some curls or hammer curls. Other than those 3 sets at the end I dont do any dedicated bi/tri work

[Basti]

I personally go chest/tris back/bis as most exercises for chest use tris and most back exercises use bis.

So basically my arms get their workout while supporting the major muscle group (chest and back in this case).

At the end of a chest workout I'll finish with dips, after a back workout I finish with some curls or hammer curls. Other than those 3 sets at the end I dont do any dedicated bi/tri work

this. it's been about a year since i did my last set of bicep curls. they get what they need while im doing back

[R-SPEC]

this. it's been about a year since i did my last set of bicep curls. they get what they need while im doing back

you're only lightly working them when doing back, you shouldn't just rely on your back workouts when wanting to properly target biceps...

most exercises for chest use tris and most back exercises use bis.

which is why i prefer chest with biceps that way i'm hitting chest biceps and triceps (lightly)

and back with triceps that way i hit back and triceps hard while still lightly working biceps