Where are my Ectomorphs at??

cus7462

Hey guys! My name is Kate and am 117lbs and 5’6. I have the Ectomorph body type and just realized I may not be training and/or dieting for my body type. I want to gain muscle but don’t want to start in with a heavy bulk. Does anyone have advice on rep ranges, macros, diet, etc?? Thank you!!!

livingleanlivingclean

Body types have been debunked...

To gain muscle whilst limiting fat gain, keep your calorie surplus small as you follow a progressive lifting program.

If you have some fat to lose, but are at a healthy weight, you could also consider a recomp - eating at maintenance as you follow a program, to enable you to very slowly grow muscle as you very slowly lose fat.

ninerbuff

Well first you need to disregard the somatotype of being an "ectomorph" since they've actually been debunked and only unknowledgeable trainers, fitness instructors, etc. who still acknowledge them aren't well versed in physiology.
If you lean and lack muscle, it's because you're NOT supplying enough calories to support muscle growth. So you may just want to start with just going 250 calories over your TDEE and making sure that your protein intake is suffficent (1gram per pound of bodyweight is usual consensus).

Training should consist of compound movements in the 6-12 rep range with 3-5 sets progressive overload.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

billkansas

Do heavy basic barbell exercises for 3-5 reps (maybe Starting Strength) and back off the cardio.

Being an "ectomorph" is a good thing as you age... you'll never be overweight. If you want muscles, you need to train heavy and for power and stick to basic, compound exercises (more bang for your buck).

Iain__Fraser

Hey, I’m tall (6ft3) and quite lean (190lbs) so would be classed as an ectomorph or hardgainer. The eating struggle is real!

kdrentahusbandtx

Literally all i do is eat all day! 5 7. 165lbs

JoRocka

Haven't been here for a minute- but it's okay- I can still bring popcorn

AnvilHead

"Ectomorph" translated into English means "Doesn't eat enough".

If you want to gain weight, you have to take in more calories than you're expending. It's as simple as that. Somatotypes have nothing to do with it. They were invented by a psychologist in the 1940s - he looked at pictures of people, classified them by how they made him feel, then arbitrarily assigned traits to each group. Feelz are not science.

giantrobot_powerlifting

billkansas wrote: »

Do heavy basic barbell exercises for 3-5 reps (maybe Starting Strength) and back off the cardio.

Being an "ectomorph" is a good thing as you age... you'll never be overweight...

Depends. Is Mars ascending? It used to be easy to determine this before the Lizard People started spraying chem trails in the air to further their GMOs and over saturation of sugar in our diets, but now all bets are off.

Ok just giving you a hard time. As the others pointed out, body typing is a fallacy — really it is a species of paradiola.

But your advice of finding a program, like Starting Strength isn’t bad one though, just throw out the concepts that are not helpful like body typing.

sijomial

cus7462 wrote: »

Hey guys! My name is Kate and am 117lbs and 5’6. I have the Ectomorph body type and just realized I may not be training effectively and/or dieting for my body type. I want to gain muscle but don’t want to start in with a heavy bulk. Does anyone have advice on rep ranges, macros, diet, etc?? Thank you!!!

FIFY.

Pick a well designed program appropriate for your training experience and goal.
Eat foods you like in sufficient quantities to allow you to gain weight slowly (keep a casual eye on macros).
Be patient.

stanmann571

billkansas wrote: »

Do heavy basic barbell exercises for 3-5 reps (maybe Starting Strength) and back off the cardio.

Being an "ectomorph" is a good thing as you age... you'll never be overweight. If you want muscles, you need to train heavy and for power and stick to basic, compound exercises (more bang for your buck).

That's funny. I was an ectomorph until I turned 22.

I'm up almost 100 lbs since then. my highest was 120 lbs over that weight.

ljmorgi

stanmann571 wrote: »

billkansas wrote: »

Do heavy basic barbell exercises for 3-5 reps (maybe Starting Strength) and back off the cardio.

Being an "ectomorph" is a good thing as you age... you'll never be overweight. If you want muscles, you need to train heavy and for power and stick to basic, compound exercises (more bang for your buck).

That's funny. I was an ectomorph until I turned 22.

Me too. Isn't that weird?

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billkansas

Some people are naturally more muscular than others and it ain't just their diet and exercise. Some people naturally carry more or less fat. We all have different genetic gifts.

I think only super buff people believe that everyone could look like them if properly trained and fed... sadly not true. Skinny and fat people have to work harder and may never get to "super buff" status.

Z_I_L_L_A

I'm a Zillamorph!

ForecasterJason

billkansas wrote: »

Some people are naturally more muscular than others and it ain't just their diet and exercise. Some people naturally carry more or less fat.

I agree with this part of your post. While somatotypes don't really exist in the way they are generally described, not everyone has the same bone structure/natural muscle mass.

Anyone can gain weight if they exeed their TDEE, which is what the OP is being advised to do in combination with an appropriate strength training routine.