by jackcoxwell on Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:38 am
Alright dude, let's get started then! First of all, the basics:
From the looks of things you are a classic ectomorph. If you had a regular eating style I could look at I'd get a better idea if you were an endo/ecto, or a solid ecto. That being said I'm going to assume you're a solid ectomorph for the time being.
*** ectomorph is a person who generally has trouble gaining weight, they always appear to be thin. General characteristics are the narrow shoulders, and lanky build.
You didn't include whether or not you have any past history at the gym, or if you know how to correctly maneuver your way through a gym. that being said I'm going to assume you're a total newbie! i'm going to be giving you a list of exercises to do, some of the names you won't know, so you need to print this off and go to your local gym and ask one of the veterans there to show you how they're done. (ask a REALLY big guy, chances are he knows what he's doing) Alternatively you can google them and you'll most likely find a website with visual aided descriptions.
I am designing your workout plan for someone who's goal is a big chest, tightly carved abdominals, and mediocre sized arms yet defined. I am going to assume you don't care to work your legs at this point, and your main goals are upper body based, so we'll leave legs out of the equation for now.
This is going to be a 3 day split: Translation, your entire upper body will be worked fully every 3 days, and then you'll rest one day, and repeat once again. Giving you a total of 6 full days spent in the gym a week, with one day rest, and your entire upper body being worked out twice per week.
However since you are just beginning, I advise you start off slow in the case you can't handle to jump right into such a workout plan. For the first 2 weeks - 1 month it'd be possible to work out 3 days a week instead, with a days rest between each workout day instead of consecutively. Either option is entirely up to you!
Since you ARE an ectomorph, I find ecto's have a much easier time building mass using more so powerlifter's workout techniques rather than body builders. I'll quickly cover the difference:
In body building it is the norm to choose a weight that is 75% of your 1RM (1 rep max) and perform that exercise for 8-12 repetitions per set. Because of the higher repetitions and less weight, you generally wait anywhere from 30 seconds to 90 seconds between each set, and perform 3 - 4 sets per exercise.
In powerlifting it is the norm to choose a weight that is as much as 90% of your 1RM, and lift that weight consecutively for as little as 3 reps per set! Since you are lifting heavy you are to take a 3 minute rest between each set, and perform 5-6 sets per exercise.
***The reason body builders only wait approximately one minute between sets is because after 1 minute the muscle worked recovers about 70% of it's muscular strength. it is believed allowing the muscle to recover anymore than 70% of it's strength (the longer you wait the more is recovered) causes your next set to contain old muscle fiber and not new muscle fiber. Working the same fibers over again would prove useless and the need for more than one set per exercise demolished. So it is IMPERATIVE you take no more than 1.5 minutes between sets when training like a body builder, otherwise new muscle fiber isn't recruited for the next lift and you end up using the old fiber again.
The exact OPPOSITE is true to powerlifting. I will explain, the goal of a powerlifter is to become VERy strong, VERY fast. The goal of a body builder is to become VERY big, VERY fast. Strength and size don't necessarily correlate with one another. When powerlifting there is a very precise reason why the rests must be longer, and these long rests MUST be obeyed or else the purpose ruined.
The reason is simple, and as follows: After you wait for 3 minutes after any given exercise, the muscle being worked recovers 90% of it's fiber (opposed to 70% from just 1 minute) This means that when that muscle is worked again, it's going to be pretty much using all the old fiber again. When powerlifting this is EXACTLY what you want. You see since the goal is to become strong very fast, the body has a precise way of dealing with strain. When you put the body at strain (performing your exercise with insanely heavy weights) the body reacts to this strain and instantly tries to build back stronger for next time! So everytime you let the muscle rest, and then hit it again! Then let it rest, and hit it again! For as many as 6 sets per exercise, you're letting your body recover only to force it to adapt once more! Science tells us the more you force it to adapt, the more used to the weight it gets, and the more used to the weight it gets the stronger it has to build back to be sure it can handle it next time! Meaning you become stronger and bigger as your muscles grow back!
Also, all famous body builders first began with powerlifting. A very good example is Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was JUST AS SKINNY AS YOU, and look at what he became. He knew the core to being successful was to train like a powerlifter! Thus the majority of your exercises will be focused on powerlifting techniques.
Note: when I write in your workout plan below the required number of sets/reps eg: 4 sets, 6 reps. What that translates to is for the VERY first set of that exercise you must be able to perform minimum 6 reps. All consecutive sets after the first will naturally be less reps. It's very probable for your last set to be as low as 2 reps! The important thing is that the FIRST set can be accomplished given the specific rep range!
Day #1 - Chest/Triceps/ABS
notes: 3 minutes of rest between each set (except for abs, abs will be 30 seconds between each set) A very slow tempo. The tempo will be 4.1.2, meaning if the lift was bench press you'd count 4 seconds while you lower the weight, hold for one second, then count 2 seconds as you raise the weight back up to the starting position.
CHEST:
Bench Press, 5 sets of 4 reps.
Dumbbell Fly's, 4 sets of 6 reps.
TRICEPS:
Laying Triceps Extension (EZ bar) 5 sets of 5 reps.
ABS:
Cable pull-down crunches with your body weight in plates.
4 sets of 25 crunches.
Day #2, Biceps/Lats
notes: 1 minute rest between sets, slow tempo, 3.0.1 (3 seconds during eccentric motion, hold for 0 during the static, and 1 second during the concentric motion)
BICEPS:
Dumbbell Preacher Curls, 3 sets of 12 reps
Concentration Curls, 3 sets of 11 reps
barbell Cheat Curls, 4 sets of 8 reps
LATS:
Lat pull downs, 3 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell lateral raises, 3 sets of 8 reps
Day #3, Shoulders/Abs/legs/Cardio
notes: 3 minutes of rest between each set, fast tempo 1.1.1, but only 30 seconds of rest between each ab exercise.
SHOULDERS:
Clean and Jerk, 5 sets of 5 reps.
Butterfly's, 3 sets of 10 reps (with 1.5 minute rest between sets, instead of 3)
LEGS:
Squats, 5 sets of 8 reps (rest 2 minutes between sets)
note: This exercise works your entire leg, calves through hamstrings through quads.
ABS:
Abdominal cable pull downs, 4 sets of 25 with body weight in plates
4 sets of 25 REVERSE crunches
CARDIO:
Your choice of either 15-30 minutes of biking, jogging, swimming, skipping, elliptical or boxing.
General Notes:
It is very important that within 30 minutes of each work out you consume a protein shake/bar. Go to a health store and purchase Whey Protein Isolate - the brand doesn't matter, as long as it's isolate.
As for your diet, that part is simple! Since you're an ectomorph you have to eat a lot! When working out to build muscle it is IMPERATIVE, I repeat, IMPERATIVE that you eat MINIMUM your body weight in grams of protein PER DAY! So since you weigh 140 pounds, you must add up all the foods you eat each day that have protein in them, and it MUST add up to at least 140. You'r lucky though, I'm going to give you an example diet to follow for your body type:
The guide lines are simple, you are to eat 6 evenly sized (kind of) and even spaced meals per day. What goes into those meals is entirely up to you. However there are more guide lines!
1. Each of the 6 meals must contain at LEAST one item of protein.
2. Each of the 6 meals must be MINIMUM 300 calories, and MAXIMUM 800 calories.
3. You must drink at LEAST 2 liters of water per day.
4. you must carry around a small notepad and write down the protein content of each meal, and be sure at the end of the day it adds up to 140 grams minimum.
Now I will give you a sample diet:
meal #1: 3 eggs (270 calories, 18 grams of protein) 2 pieces of Rye bread (220 calories, 5 grams of protein) and orange juice (120 calories)
Total: 620 calories, 23 grams of protein
2-3 horus later,
Meal #2: Protein bar (300 calories, 30 grams of protein)
total: 300 cals, 30 grams protein.
2-3 hours later,
Meal #3: 2 tuna wraps (700 calories, 45 grams of protein)
total: 700 cals, 45 grams protein
2-3 hours later,
Meal #4: Protein shake, some almonds (300 calories, 30 grams protein)
total: 300 calories, 30 grams protein
2-3 hours later,
Meal #5: 2 chicken breasts, rice, salad (700 calories, 45 grams protein)
total: 700 calories, 45 grams protein
2-3 hours later,
Meal #6: Protein bar
Total: 300 calories, 30 grams of protein.
TOTAL FOR THE DAY,
Calories = 2920
Protein = 180 grams of protein
That would be a quite successful day of eating! And if it was a work out day (which it most likely would be) you'd be having one of those meals (preferably one with a protein shake/bar) directly AFTER your work out.
I'm pretty sure I've touched on everything here, please post again in at least 2 weeks with an update on your progress after you've started!
If you have any further questions feel free to post them here, I'll respond to any/all of them!
Have fun dude!
- Jack Coxwell
