help eith macros and a good routine to build muscle mass

Good nutrition advice above definitely determine your true TDEE or calorie maintenance. Your only going to figure that out by doing some testing i recommend what JoRocka suggested, add ~300cals a day run that for 2 weeks and see if the scale goes up. Weigh your self everyday at the same time, cause weight fluctuates alot throughout the day. If the scale isn't moving then u have found your maintenance level.

I know alot of people think the ectomorph/hard gainer is a myth but not exactly.. there is some science behind whats happening. NEAT(non-excercise activity thermogenesis) is messing with you. Not to get to deep into it..but what's happening is all our body's react differently to adding a calorie surplus, some bodies will actually start burning more calories when a surplus is added, your NEAT will actually increase with overfeeding. Crazy part is studies have shown that NEAT can vary drastically from one person to the next..thus u have the mythical hardgainer..I keep eating and just cant gain any wait!! So 3 different body types A/B/C adding a 500cal surplus will deal with it differently. So the best way is to just monitor the scale and track trends on a weekly basis and readjust as u go. Looking at your picture it looks like your in great shape and already pretty lean so I'm going to go ahead and guess ur body is a furnace at this point.

As for actually gaining muscle mass low reps aren't ideal, in a nutshell I would keep your reps to 8-10 minimum/ 4 sets, increase time under tension ie (incorporate 4 second negatives) your sets should last a minimum of 40 seconds if your just speeding thru your sets in under 10seconds ur not maximizing growth. Focus on contracting the muscle your working and squeezing it like it owes you money thru the entire range. In order to create growth u need to give your muscles a reason to grow..caloric surplus and maximum hypertrophy. Stuff like drop sets on your last set are a great addition. 6 days a week might be a lil much be careful not to over train, listen to your body. I would take one of the days out and make it a mobility or yoga day to tune things up.

With the way your body is looking I think ur at an ideal place to hit your goals. Good luck!!

As the others said just listen to your body if it wants to go..go for it. Based on your routine..if anything I would only double up on your weak point body parts, during the week and i would get an active rest day mid week (ie. mobility/stretching/yoga light/ cardio for example). Rep tempo looks good.. if u wanna try a tweak, I would try an explosive 1sec concentric, no rest on top, straight into your 4sec eccentric, max squeeze..explode. (this will recruit maximum muscle fibers)

The only other bit of advice, if u r indeed going hard on your workouts is get some BCAA for recovery during and after workouts and just overall work on keeping your cortisol levels low... good amount of sleep, I usually fit in some some vitamin C and Red Siberian ginseng in the morning and pre-workout as well.. both great cortisol blocker. Looks like your on your way to Gainz city!!

Good lord u again...Thought u learned last time, if I quote a study.. it's because there is one. Here's yet another study please read it this time. It shows the the variance between the amount of calories burned via NEAT from one person to the next is different:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9880251
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11310775

Now let me break down the concept so u understand why some people are in fact more of a hard gainer then others...

NEAT as I'm sure u know is defined by calories burnt thru the day as a result of things u do over the course of the day besides working out, from walking to figgiting, getting dressed etc. For many people NEAT increases with overeating. So when u consume more calories to create a surplus, NEAT upregulates and your body naturally burns more calories. So the more calories u consume the more calories your body naturally burns.

Studies as listed above show that the variance between the amount of calories burned via NEAT from one person to another is quite different.

So some people don't upregulate at all thus the online formulas get them pretty close but not quite there. So when they eat more they don't burn more calories. But for others, eating more calories causes the body to burn additional calories. Thus bro science tossed around..just eat more is actually true. You just need to monitor your weight eat more until the scale starts tipping and you find "YOUR" maintenance level.

Put into an example back to persons A/B/C lets say they have a maintenance level of 2000 cals x/day. They start a 500 cal surplus so total of 2500. This is what can happen and cause some to scream HARD GAINER doing everything right can't gain wait!!

Person A may burn no additional cals in that case they ate an extra 500 cals and have a full 500 cal surplus. Totaling 2500

Person B may burn an additional 100cals via NEAT in that case they ate an extra 400 cals and have a full 400 cal surplus. Totaling 2400

Person C may burn an additional 300cals via NEAT in that case they ate an extra 200 cals and have a full 400 cal surplus. Totaling 2200

So 3 people same maintenance but obviously person C will have a harder time gaining weight. Person A is predisposed to being fat like person C is predisposed to being skinny. Person C's body is just very efficient at burning calories via NEAT.

Thus for some people that an additional 250 cals is right, while for others it wont even make a dent. They might need 500-1000 for the same weight gain to occur..that's why back to bro science..just eat more and monitor ur weight is actually pretty on point. If we were all equal those awesome online calculators would be working for everybody and we wouldn't be on forums wondering wtf is going on..and telling people to just eat more. So I do agree with u in terms that, Yes it all takes time and patience.

Now I really don't approve of alot of the petty crap I see in the forums where everybody is just busting out technicalities and trying to disprove each other its like one big pissing fight. If u want to have a constructive conversation I'm all ears otherwise contact me directly and lets not clog up the OP thread with more BS..

MrM27 wrote: »

Yup, always me. If you don't like being asked to provide your sources then don't use them to begin with. I learned last time? I'm sorry I didn't even know you were holding a class. You must be new here if you think anyone in this section will just role over act accept thing as fact blindly.

JoRocka wrote: »

the reality is there is no exact way to calculate the EXACT amount of calories any one thing is attributed to- which is why trial and error is required and why general trend lines are important- rather than day to day.

It has nothing to do with the shape of your body. Or your blood type- or anything else.

Slapping labels and blaming or point at certain potential loosely woven together studies doesn't help anyone.

Reality- calories are a best guest scenario- only trial and error and proper data points and feed back gives you the information you need- and yes it varies from person to person. This isn't rocket science.

Which bring us back to the "generic advice" we give, eat more. It's not really that hard to understand.

So MrM27 you have provided no feedback on the details u so sarcastically asked for u just came into the post to troll and add nothing to the conversation..Bravo! If u read my original post.. I kept it brief gave some advice and hinted at some details to back it up. I'm pretty sure we don't need u to be the forum police, share some knowledge don't go around trying to police posts and call people out, it does not do much to further the conversation or to help anyone learn more. Like I said I'm all ears if u want to have a constructive conversation or have a different viewpoint to share, no classrooms are being held. OP asked for some advice and I shared. I'm here to learn as well as share any knowledge I can on the way.

-JoRoka there was no intent at labeling people, but like it or not, fact is, alot of people to consider themselves "hardgainers" and don't understand wtf is going on when they are eating and not seeing results. Just trying to shed some light on some issues that alot of people in this section, including myself have run into..just eat more doesn't really give the explanation that the subject is due. Some people may be looking for more information than "just eat more".

If u read my post that's pretty much what i hinted to.. trial and error and track trends. There was no need for the post to be picked apart if u r both agreeing with the principle I presented.

OK, lots of good info here...thanks! I don't know what macros are, or TDEE, NEAT or how you all are using the word 'eccentric'...but I'm learning! (don't worry about explaining any of that, I'll Google it ) I'm trying to gain muscle mass and have always been told to keep increasing the weight I'm lifting. Since starting approximately 3 weeks ago, I have actually lost pounds, but my body is slowly looking more cut. So I'm convinced that as I increase my daily caloric intake and continue to lift to the point of failure, I'll start gaining back.

Following because I have also been trying to bulk since mid-January. I have been following this plan http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jake-wilson-project-mass-trainer.html
I really like the way it is structured and have enjoyed the workouts, I've made good strength gains. I too am still figuring out the whole eating enough, but not too much, etc part.