Gaining muscle as an endomorph
levibuttigieg
Posts: 24 Member
Hi everyone. First post on here after having the app for years. Just wondered what everyone's experiences are gaining muscle as someone who tends to gain fat easily. I've always had the body type which gains fat very easily. Therefore gaining muscle and eating over maintenance has always been scary. How do you guys go about this?
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Replies
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Maintain a small surplus and keep progressing on your weights. If you gain fat too fast, your surplus is probably too high or you aren't lifting effectively. How much are you aiming to gain per week? What is your program like?3
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DancingMoosie wrote: »Maintain a small surplus and keep progressing on your weights. If you gain fat too fast, your surplus is probably too high or you aren't lifting effectively. How much are you aiming to gain per week? What is your program like?
I've just started back after a couple of weeks off. I'm enjoying push, pull, legs sessions atm. 5x5 and some other low rep range work for strength. I'll add in some battle ropes and skipping a couple of times per week too. Obviously I don't mind a small amount of fat gain but I'm trying a few hundred cals over maintenance atm and seeing what happens! Thanks for your reply0 -
It might be a controversial opinion, but I think it's your training that's probably the problem. 5x5 and strength programs are not the most efficient for building visible muscles on your physique. I would sort the training out to a more bodybuilding style and push harder so you need the calories. Add in a bit of cardio and most importantly a CLEAN diet, and only then will you minimize fat gain but not stop it. Good luck bro you'll make it.13
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@levibuttigieg I'm on the same road as you. Gotten BF down but trying to pack on some mass without bring the BF up. So far I'm trying clean eating, increase in lifting (weight) and a 350 caloric increase a day and seeing how my body reacts to it. Add me. Looking for more people with the same struggle and goal.2
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It might be a controversial opinion, but I think it's your training that's probably the problem. 5x5 and strength programs are not the most efficient for building visible muscles on your physique. I would sort the training out to a more bodybuilding style and push harder so you need the calories. Add in a bit of cardio and most importantly a CLEAN diet, and only then will you minimize fat gain but not stop it. Good luck bro you'll make it.
Are you suggesting a bro-split? I would agree that a 5x5 is not ideal for muscle gains as it's on the lower side for volume and wouldn't induce a hypertrophic response as several other programs, like a PHUL, PHAT, etc..
Clean diets also doesn't add context because the definition is vague and differs between the individual. If anything, it's better to aim for 80-90% whole foods (meats, fruits, veggies, fish, cheese, etc..) and than add in sweets, if you prefer, where you can. Ultimately, the main thing you need is to follow a diet that puts one in a surplus by roughly 300-500 calories for a male. And than follow a well structured routine that will provide adequate volume. I personally like PHAT.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p111 -
It might be a controversial opinion, but I think it's your training that's probably the problem. 5x5 and strength programs are not the most efficient for building visible muscles on your physique. I would sort the training out to a more bodybuilding style and push harder so you need the calories. Add in a bit of cardio and most importantly a CLEAN diet, and only then will you minimize fat gain but not stop it. Good luck bro you'll make it.
Not sure why you are being downvoted. I think people who says bro-split/bodybuilding style training don't work, never actually tried them personally the right way. Of course don't do 40 sets for your biceps and triceps like Kai Greene who is a genetic elite with supraphysiological amount of hormonal support, adjust your volume based on your recovery.
I can understand it though, most people today start training with 5x5 and see great gains but when it is actually just newbie gains, and they associate bro-splits with drug users from Youtube videos and other platform. So, their mind automatically thinks that 5x5, 5-3-1, etc are the best way to gain muscle when in most cases it is not. Hypertrophy occurs mostly in 8-12 rep ranges and volume is the main driver for hypertrophy. You can actually be natural and make amazing gains with bro-split as a NATURAL.
I have always been saying this. Train according to your goals. If you wanna jump high, train like a basketball player. If you wanna be strong in 3 major lifts, train like a power-lifter. If you wanna be as strong as possible, train like a strongman. If you wanna gain the maximum amount of muscle you possibly can, then train like a bodybuilder.
People wonder why they can't build their pecs when all the do is do one or five-rep max on a bench. Duh. It just does not make sense to train like a power-lifter and then expecting the most muscle gain you can possibly obtain. The steroids argument is false. Elite-level power-lifters take drugs too. Of course adjust your intensity and volume as I said earlier.
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It might be a controversial opinion, but I think it's your training that's probably the problem. 5x5 and strength programs are not the most efficient for building visible muscles on your physique. I would sort the training out to a more bodybuilding style and push harder so you need the calories. Add in a bit of cardio and most importantly a CLEAN diet, and only then will you minimize fat gain but not stop it. Good luck bro you'll make it.
Not sure why you are being downvoted. I think people who says bro-split/bodybuilding style training don't work, never actually tried them personally the right way. Of course don't do 40 sets for your biceps and triceps like Kai Greene who is a genetic elite with supraphysiological amount of hormonal support, adjust your volume based on your recovery.
I can understand it though, most people today start training with 5x5 and see great gains but when it is actually just newbie gains, and they associate bro-splits with drug users from Youtube videos and other platform. So, their mind automatically thinks that 5x5, 5-3-1, etc are the best way to gain muscle when in most cases it is not. Hypertrophy occurs mostly in 8-12 rep ranges and volume is the main driver for hypertrophy. You can actually be natural and make amazing gains with bro-split as a NATURAL.
I have always been saying this. Train according to your goals. If you wanna jump high, train like a basketball player. If you wanna be strong in 3 major lifts, train like a power-lifter. If you wanna be as strong as possible, train like a strongman. If you wanna gain the maximum amount of muscle you possibly can, then train like a bodybuilder.
People wonder why they can't build their pecs when all the do is do one or five-rep max on a bench. Duh. It just does not make sense to train like a power-lifter and then expecting the most muscle gain you can possibly obtain. The steroids argument is false. Elite-level power-lifters take drugs too. Of course adjust your intensity and volume as I said earlier.
Speaking from personal experience and from training people, bro-splits will work but are inferior from a muscle protein synthetic response. Increases in frequency will more optimally improve muscle gains. A frequency of 2-3x per week with reps ranging between 30-60 reps per body part is ideal from a hypertrophic standpoint.
And most modern bodybuilders know you should work in a variety of rep ranges and incorporating powerlifting into their routines will improve their overall physique and gains.
Additionally, Brad Schoenfeld has already demonstrated in studies that hypertrophy can occur in a variety of rep ranges. Its just easier and more time efficient to have sets in the 6-12 rep range.
ETA: I use the big lifts in the lower rep ranges so I can then increase muscle efficacy, which allows me to increase load with my accessory lifts.7 -
You said it yourself. 6-12 rep ranges. So, you are basically agreeing with me in this point, not sure what you're fussing about. Lifts in lower rep ranges (1-5) can be helpful to get past strength plateau but they shouldn't be the majority of your workout. The guy above isn't really wrong to say that 5x5 isn't maximum for optimum muscle gain.
Who says you can't hit a muscle group more than once per week in a bro-split? Again everyone can believe whatever they want. Bro-splits get bad reps but I made great progress using bro-splits as a natural, and I knew some natural bodybuilders that have done so as well.
The best bodybuilders train like a bodybuilder. The best powerlifters train like a powerlifter. I'll leave it at this.
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Nutrition is 85% of bodybuilding.
Lots of approaches are viable, I have found, for me, the ‘Slow-Carb’ diet to be the easiest to comply with. First introduced/popularized by Tim Ferris in ‘the four hour body’. Keto also great for endomorphs, but not so easy to keep long term...7 -
Just needs to be emphasized, Endomorph = psuedoscience...but I think everyone here understands the frustration/need for balance OP has with building muscle whilst minimizing fat gain.6
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You said it yourself. 6-12 rep ranges. So, you are basically agreeing with me in this point, not sure what you're fussing about. Lifts in lower rep ranges (1-5) can be helpful to get past strength plateau but they shouldn't be the majority of your workout. The guy above isn't really wrong to say that 5x5 isn't maximum for optimum muscle gain.
Who says you can't hit a muscle group more than once per week in a bro-split? Again everyone can believe whatever they want. Bro-splits get bad reps but I made great progress using bro-splits as a natural, and I knew some natural bodybuilders that have done so as well.
The best bodybuilders train like a bodybuilder. The best powerlifters train like a powerlifter. I'll leave it at this.
Hypertrophy can occur even in the 3 rep range if sets are appropriate. Even so, and the point is, you don't just want to be in a specific rep range. Working a variety to include power sets (at 3-5) can lead to improvements in other rep ranges. So telling someone to just work in 1 rep range will more than likely be suboptimal. What matters more is total volume.
And in my experience, the majority of people doing brosplits aren't doing them right. Most hit each body part once a week. Now, if you want to go 6 days a week to do an effective brosplit, than by all means. But the person who design that is a rarity, not the norm.5 -
It might be a controversial opinion, but I think it's your training that's probably the problem. 5x5 and strength programs are not the most efficient for building visible muscles on your physique. I would sort the training out to a more bodybuilding style and push harder so you need the calories. Add in a bit of cardio and most importantly a CLEAN diet, and only then will you minimize fat gain but not stop it. Good luck bro you'll make it.
Thanks for the response man. I appreciate the feedback.0
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