SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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I am going to warn you that this is a long read and I may get some exercise names wrong.
So I will start out with a little bit of background knowledge on myself.
I am 18 years old. I am an Ectomorph. I have always had a skinny frame by nature. I am 6'3" and weighed have always weighed around 70-75kg.
I started the gym at the start of this year, originally for my new years resolution. The first 3 months of which I was making a lot of mistakes which near enough stopped me from making any progress. I then started a new gym and asked a few more questions and seem to be making slow but steady progress. I havent weighed myself in about a month but last time I weighted around 82kg.
I try to head to the gym 4 times a week, minimum of 3 times a week. I work my days like this Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs/abdominals and finally shoulders/HIIT. I try to run two or three times a week too. One-two within the week, short runs (3 mile-ish) and I am going to start trying a longer run on the weekends (6 mile maybe?).
My diet isnt great, this will need to be worked on (alot tougher than going to the gym. I will miss my junk foods). At the moment I just eat what a normal person would do + my Optimum nutrition Serious Mass (1200 calories, lots of protein and carbs).
Now I have a few questions about working out.
I want to gain muscle mass quick. I also want to be healthier in general and cut my body fat percentage (which I havent had calculated yet).
Any ideas what are the best exercises for gaining muscle (for each muscle group) and how many reps/sets?
At the moment I do the following:
Chest/Triceps
8 Reps 3 sets Bench Press
8 Reps 3 sets incline bench press
8 reps 3 sets decline bench press
8 reps 3 sets Pectoral flys (either machine or free weights)
8 reps 3 sets tricep cable extension
8 reps 3 sets skull crushers
Back/biceps
8 reps 3 sets cable row
8 reps 3 sets wide grip lat pull down
8 reps 3 sets dead lift
8 reps 3 sets reverse flys
Then we superset the below for biceps:
(get highest weight you can for 8 reps)
8 reps dumbell curls
8 reps hammer curls
8 reps Cross-body curls
(this is one set. repeat this 3 times, lowering the weights by 2kg after completed all 3 exercises. 30 secs rest after sets)
Legs/Abdominals
8 reps 3 sets leg press/squats
weighted lunges until failure
8 reps 3 sets calf extension
8 reps 3 sets quad extension
8 reps 3 sets seated hamstring curls
50reps, 75 reps, 100 reps sit ups
25 reps 40 reps 60 reps leg raises (All abs exercises vary in reps. I have just put numbers to show how the reps are spaced out.)
50 reps 75 reps 100 reps Abdominal side reaches
50 reps, 75 reps, 100 reps Side plank hip raise
reps till failure plank bringing your knees up to your side, one at a time.
Shoulders
8 reps 3 sets front shoulder press
8 reps 3 sets rear shoulder press
8 reps 3 sets diverging row
8 reps 3 sets side deltoid raise
8 reps 3 sets front deltoid raise
8 reps 3 sets shoulder raise/circles
8 reps 3 sets upright barbell row
HIIT
40 seconds sprint, 20 secs jog (either on bike, treadmill etc.) until failure.
Does this sound okay to you? Any improvements/suggestions?
I have only just started this routine so I am looking for some opinions. Sorry that the topic is so long!
Thanks in advance! 
[Edited on 12-08-2013 by SXIBrad]
[Edited on 12-08-2013 by SXIBrad]
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K2 GTi
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Registered: 21st Oct 04
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Diet is key mate.
Keep up that routine and focus on your diet and you should see results in no time
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Conway563
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Registered: 7th Jun 06
Location: Yate, Bristol
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I've had about the same weight gain as you since Feb but have lost around 6% body fat in that time as well
I use this routine at the moment except I do Arnold's instead of shoulder press and have added drag curls to bicep day. Have seen good strength and size gains in the last 2 months
I also do ab work everyday, run twice a week for 20-30 mins, sprints once a week and swim once a week
As said though diet is the key, if you don't eat properly you'll always limit your gains
At your current weight you should be having at least 3115 calories a day just to maintain weight
If you're looking to gain you obviously need to eat more than that plus 180-360g of protein a day
[Edited on 12-08-2013 by Conway563]
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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Thanks for the comments guys.
Yeah I want to start eating right. I get paid friday so I might make a new start eating right from Monday.
I want to get my body fat percentage worked out too? Where is the best place? Does it cost? and how accurate is it?
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IvIarkgraham
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Registered: 27th Mar 04
Location: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
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you can get it done on those scales you see in supermarkets. not massively accurate but close enough.
my gym has one in the locker room costs a quid
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sc0ott
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Registered: 16th Feb 09
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I would ditch the cardio. Its harder for tall skinny guys to gain muscle fast without juicing, and all that cardio will just make it harder imo.
Youre metabolism and natural test levels will be through the roof as well so go on a bulking diet.
Never liked the low rep high weight training, i prefer 15, 12, 10 just increase weight each set as well.
And put traps in with your shoulders.
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by IvIarkgraham
you can get it done on those scales you see in supermarkets. not massively accurate but close enough.
my gym has one in the locker room costs a quid
Im not too confident in them, if they are the ones you simply place your hands on the metal bits.
It says that I am like 25-30% body fat. I asked my friend who is at college for sports and he said that its probably wrong. I think id be more around 15% to be honest.
quote:
Originally posted by sc0ott
I would ditch the cardio. Its harder for tall skinny guys to gain muscle fast without juicing, and all that cardio will just make it harder imo.
I can't ditch it completely. I am running tough mudder in a month so I need some for that. I dont do loads of cardio, but from what I understand, a healthier heart and lungs will help you lift more (increase oxygen intake and spread it around the muscles)
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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Bathroom scales and likes are not going to tell you an even remotely accurate number, when it comes to body fat. Especially if you're skinny.
Best diy method for measuring body fat is with a special body fat caliper, but to be honest it's kind of a pointless figure for most mortals.
Look in your mirror. Either you have excess fat or you don't. It's pretty easy to spot.
Are you aiming to be a lean athlete or a bulky weightlifter? You can't choose both.
You're tall and skinny, hence you have an ectomorph body type. Cardio will work against you, when it comes to putting on weight, Scooter is right in this.
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Balling
Bathroom scales and likes are not going to tell you an even remotely accurate number, when it comes to body fat. Especially if you're skinny.
Best diy method for measuring body fat is with a special body fat caliper, but to be honest it's kind of a pointless figure for most mortals.
Look in your mirror. Either you have excess fat or you don't. It's pretty easy to spot.
Are you aiming to be a lean athlete or a bulky weightlifter? You can't choose both.
You're tall and skinny, hence you have an ectomorph body type. Cardio will work against you, when it comes to putting on weight, Scooter is right in this.
So I am skinny, however I am not the type that is skinny enough to see abs constantly. I only have a thin layer of fat above my abdominals.
I understand about the cardio working against me. But I definitley cannot stop yet because of the 12 mile obstacle course I am running in around a month.
The body I want is probably neither of what you said. I want to be toned, but also a bit bigger. I want to run marathons in future years so I dont want to be too big.
I guess my main aim is to be able to lift my bodyweight with relative ease. At the moment, I struggle getting a single set of 10-12 pull ups. Due to my height, I weigh a lot compared to my muscle mass. Also my arm span is quite large so every pull up, press up, tricep dip etc etc covers a bit more distance than my friends.
If I am doing press ups, I will do 3 sets of 20 press ups. I think my chest is developing quite well. Its more my back and biceps (for climbing walls and pulling myself over obstacles) that will need more work. This is a little weird since I can absolutley destroy the reverse fly, I just struggle a little more with rows, lat pull downs etc.
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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Oh and I understand that for something like tough mudder, resistance training would be best (get used to my own weight). But I struggle alot with pull ups/chin ups so I dont know if I should carry on with weights until I can complete more pull ups.
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sc0ott
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Registered: 16th Feb 09
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The main issue is your height. Youre going to weigh more just by being taller, youre going to need to put on more size to actually see a difference (compared to someone average height who wouldnt) and thats going to increase your weight even more, and that will affect your fitness level. Im 6ft2 and used to be under 10st around your age, naturally low bf, veiny and fit. Now 15st5 i cant run anywhere near as far as i used to.
You can always just bulk up then cut, but as said already its harder for tall people to bulk up in a short period of time hence why you cut the cardio until you cut.
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by sc0ott
The main issue is your height. Youre going to weigh more just by being taller, youre going to need to put on more size to actually see a difference (compared to someone average height who wouldnt) and thats going to increase your weight even more, and that will affect your fitness level. Im 6ft2 and used to be under 10st around your age, naturally low bf, veiny and fit. Now 15st5 i cant run anywhere near as far as i used to.
You can always just bulk up then cut, but as said already its harder for tall people to bulk up in a short period of time hence why you cut the cardio until you cut.
Ahh right ok. I might cut the cardio out for a few months then after tough mudder to see how I do.
Healthy diet starts monday. Fish/chicken/eggs accompanied with pasta and other dishes that are similar.
Thanks for your replies lads.
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Mark Prydderch
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Registered: 7th Mar 07
Location: Chester
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You can still do cardio and get big. It'll just take longer and you'll need to eat more. Look at rugby players, Akinfenwa etc.
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dan_m1les
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Registered: 8th May 06
Location: Burnham, Buckinghamshire
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if you are looking at getting "big quick" or more likely just bigger I would cut back on the cardio, and also increase the weights, reduce the reps and increase the sets.
So do 4 sets of 5 on a heavier weight, also you WILL have to clean upo your diet this is the massive key.
Stay off the carbs too (pasta/potatoe's espicially) much also otherwise you'll struggle ot keep the fat at bay.
Downlaod My fitness pal and set your carb/protien/fat intake to aroudn 30/40/30 and see how you get on and go from their.
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
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callipers accurate 
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IvIarkgraham
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Registered: 27th Mar 04
Location: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
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diet will be the thing that is keeping you from the body you want!
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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Okay so less reps, more sets.
Diet is starting Monday. I will download MyFitnessPal tonight and take a look.
I have read somewhere that eating just before you go to bed (either a small meal or a meal replacement shake) it will help keep your weight up, and help prevent muscle catabolism (where your body eats away at your muscles) Is this true? Not sure whether to believe it or not.
I'm going to get some photos of me to keep and then take more in 6 months to see progress. I know I have definitely made progress, but I forgot to take pictures before so I am not sure how much.
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Conway563
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Registered: 7th Jun 06
Location: Yate, Bristol
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You want to have a slow release protein before bed
Cottage cheese or casein shake are good IMO
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Tom G
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I'm massive and i say you need to increase the workload of legs and back tbh. Squats 4 * 10 sets, presses 4 * 15-20 etc. Add stiff legged dead lift & lunges
I'm also surpised not to see a bent over row.
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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So I also have quite bad spots on the back of my shoulders. I have been told that this can be to do with dairy and the whey protein.
Think I am going to cut out all forms of dairy for a month to see if it improves. Anyone know of any decent pea/hemp protein weight gainer?
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Tom G
I'm massive and i say you need to increase the workload of legs and back tbh. Squats 4 * 10 sets, presses 4 * 15-20 etc. Add stiff legged dead lift & lunges
I'm also surpised not to see a bent over row.
Weighted lunges are included, just below press/squats.
Havent got a clue what stiff legged dead lifts are but I will youtube it.
Wouldn't a bent over row just be like a normal row? Your arms make the same movements
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Conway563
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Registered: 7th Jun 06
Location: Yate, Bristol
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quote:
Originally posted by SXIBrad
Anyone know of any decent pea/hemp protein weight gainer?
Although he uses it for recovery after cycling/triathlons rather than mass building my brother swears by the MyProtein vegan blend
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McWillster
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Registered: 23rd Mar 09
Location: Huntly, Aberdeenshire
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Personaly if you want to get big i wouldn't do a low rep high set routine. That will increase your stregth as apposed to building muscle mass.
To see good results i'd stick to 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps.
Don't lift more than you're capable of, you will sacrafice form on lifts, cause injury and not stimulate your muscles as effectivley.
Nobody built the best physique by being able to lift fuck loads. Time under tension is more important than weight shifted when it comes to adding decent mass.
Eat fuck loads of good stuff. Your a skinny fucker naturally, you're not suddenly going to turn into the blob if you eat lots of decent food. Keeping the intensity high during your workout will be more than enough to keep your body fat at a low level.
If you feel the need to keep your cardio up then do it away from when your lifting weights. Run in the morning and go to gym at night, or assign a couple days in the week to fit it in seperate. Doing it before or after a weights session will only comprimise size gains.
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
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Do gvt and let noobie gains get you huge
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Russ
Do gvt and let noobie gains get you huge
What's GVT? 
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