Ectomorph: how to build muscle

If you’re an ectomorph, this probably sounds familiar: you seem to eat normally and train properly, yet your weight never budges. Here’s an honest, practical plan for building muscle with a slimmer body type, without getting caught up in promises of miracle supplements.

Why do ectomorphs need to think differently?

Okay, the headline might sound like a Pokémon slogan. But the point is serious. I’m an ectomorph, and I know exactly how it feels when others at the gym gain weight faster while your arms and legs still look long and thin.

Body types are usually described using three terms: ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph. These aren’t rigid categories. Most people are a mix of several types. You might have an ectomorph’s upper body, a mesomorph’s legs and a little of an endomorph’s tendency to store fat. That’s why it pays to look at your body as a whole, instead of searching for a single label that explains everything.

Ectomorph: a short upper body, long/thin arms and legs, a low body fat percentage, narrow shoulders and chest, and long, thin muscle fibers. Ectomorphs are often hard gainers. In plain English, that means gaining muscle and body weight is harder.

Endomorph: a softer appearance, usually less defined muscles, a round face, a short neck, wide hips and a higher body fat percentage.

Mesomorph: a large chest, a long torso, a powerful muscular build and considerable strength. Mesomorphs are often the lucky ones whose training and eating translate into visible muscle mass more quickly.

At first, I had no idea where I fitted in. If you’re unsure, ask a family member or training partner for an honest assessment. Sometimes they can see your build more clearly than you can.

You can also jot down a simple breakdown of your body type. For example:

Ectomorph: //////
Endomorph: //
Mesomorph: /

This isn’t a scientific test. It’s a practical way to see which combination you are. Many professional bodybuilders are, in a sense, _____-mesomorphs, because their build is better suited to gaining muscle. But that doesn’t mean ectomorphs have no hope.

Frank Zane and Flex Wheeler are good examples of how a narrower, thinner frame doesn’t rule out an impressive physique. Reaching Mr. Olympia level obviously takes extraordinary work, but the same principle applies to the average gym-goer: ectomorphs need to take eating, recovery and heavy compound training seriously.

Eating as an ectomorph: growth starts on your plate

The simple truth is that if you don’t eat enough, you won’t grow. You can take creatine, protein powder and everything else, but if your daily food intake doesn’t cover your training and recovery needs, your body has nothing to build new muscle from.

The original article set a target of fitting in 200-300 grams of protein a day: 75 grams in the morning, 75 grams at lunch, 17 from snacks, 100 at dinner, plus everything else. We’ll keep those numbers as they were, because they illustrate the old-school approach to bulking. These days, though, it’s also worth considering your digestion, how you feel and whether you can actually manage to eat all that food.

So what actually happens? Many thin gym-goers think they eat a lot. Write down a day’s intake, though, and it often turns out that breakfast was small, lunch was only half eaten and the evening was spent trying to make up for it all at once. Ectomorphs do better with a routine: several substantial meals, simple snacks and enough carbohydrates.

The best choices are familiar and boring, but they work: quark, cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, dairy products, meat, nuts, rice, potatoes, pasta, rolled oats, bananas and other fruit. Carbohydrates aren’t the enemy. If you train hard and want to gain weight, they give you strength and help protein do its job.

Quark and cottage cheese are straightforward sources of protein. They’re easy to add to breakfast or an evening meal, especially when your appetite is low.

Eggs are a practical food choice. The original article stated that the body uses about 94% of their protein, although the theoretical figure was 90. There’s no point overstating the exact percentage, but eggs remain a solid choice.

Protein powder helps when you aren’t getting enough from regular food. It doesn’t replace eating. It’s simply a convenient addition.

Yogurt and dairy products provide protein and energy. Choose the ones that agree with you, because your digestion should support your training, not get in the way.

Meat and nuts help you get more calories. Red meat, fish and poultry, along with nuts and peanut butter, are easy options when bulking.

Anything containing carbohydrates deserves a place in an ectomorph’s diet. Bananas, grapes and other fruit provide quick energy. Just make sure you aren’t eating only sweet foods all day.

An example of a homemade mass gainer

The original article included a homemade mass gainer recipe. It was very high in calories and quite an intense mix, but we’ll keep the quantities exactly as they were:

• 0.5 l milk (any kind)
• 0.1 l corn oil
• 0.15 l water
• 15 tablespoons protein powder
• 4 eggs
• 6 teaspoons lecithin granules

The original also included a warning about salmonella in raw eggs. That warning still makes sense. Don’t take nutrition advice from watching Rocky. If you use eggs in a drink, think about safety and opt for a heat-treated version.

The mix contained about 68-70 grams of protein and plenty of calories. It may help someone who struggles to eat enough solid food. Still, not every ectomorph needs to drink a mixture of oil and protein powder. You can often achieve the same goal with everyday foods: milk, oats, banana, quark and nut butter offer a gentler option for your stomach.

Training as an ectomorph: heavy compound exercises

Training comes second in importance. Yes, second. If your diet falls short, even a good training program becomes a waste of time. As an ectomorph, you need exercises that give your body a clear reason to grow stronger and bigger.

The original principle was simple: sets of no more than 7-8 reps, with an emphasis on strength exercises. This fits well with the idea of a bulking phase. Endless reps with light weights may give your muscles a pump, but compound exercises often provide a better foundation for a skinny lifter.

• Chest: barbell bench press – 3x 6, 4, 4 reps
• Back: deadlift – 3x 6, 4, 4 reps
• Shoulders: barbell upright rows, barbell clean from the floor followed by an overhead press to full arm extension – 3x 6, 4, 4 reps
• Arms: standing cable pushdowns – 3x 6, 4, 4 reps
• Legs: SQUATS! The fundamental exercise in bodybuilding. They are just as important in your leg training.

Do power squats for 3x 6, 4, 4 reps, but don’t assume they can always replace full squats. Squats teach you to engage your whole body. For many ectomorphs, the legs start gaining strength fastest once they finally take squatting seriously.

Compound exercises should be at the heart of your program, at least until you’ve put some muscle on your frame. Isolation exercises aren’t bad, but they shouldn’t take the place of movements that let you use heavier weights and work more muscle groups at once.

Chest day

• Flat, incline and decline bench presses
• Flat and incline flyes
• Pullovers to stretch the rib cage

Back

• Pull-ups
• Lat pulldowns
• Bent-over barbell rows and rows with one or two dumbbells
• Deadlifts
• Back extensions
• Barbell good mornings

Legs

• Squats, all variations
• Leg presses
• Machine leg curls and leg extensions
• Forward lunges
• Stiff-legged and conventional deadlifts

Arms

• Biceps curls, all variations
• Dumbbell triceps kickbacks
• Cable pushdowns
• Triceps extensions
• Parallel bar dips

Shoulders and traps

• Barbell upright rows
• Standing barbell overhead press from the chest
• Barbell clean from the floor followed by an overhead press to full arm extension
• Barbell and dumbbell shrugs
• Arnold press
• Dumbbell shoulder presses
• Dumbbell front raises, lateral raises and bent-over lateral raises

Use exercise variations, but keep things simple. For example, you can do flat, incline and decline bench presses. That is enough. More exercises do not automatically mean more growth.

There is no magic number of training days. Training 4 times a week instead of 5 makes little difference if the quality of your workouts is poor. Focus on every rep, keep your technique under control and try to increase the weight or reps over time.

The original article took a fairly hard line on cardio: do no cardio or aerobic training at all. The translator made a sensible point: if you care at all about your heart, you should not cut out aerobic activity completely. A practical modern approach is simple: do not do so much cardio that your diet and recovery suffer. But light activity can only benefit your health.

Abs, supplements and diet

An ectomorph’s abs are often visible simply because their body fat percentage is low. That does not mean their abs are strong or well developed. As the rest of your body grows, your midsection needs to keep pace through training.

Your abs are a muscle group like any other. If your goal is a thicker, more defined midsection, weighted exercises can make sense. You sometimes see skinny young people whose six-pack is visible simply because they are very thin. That may suit their physique, but alongside a bigger upper body, you will want stronger abs with deeper definition.

With a heavily muscled physique like Nasser El Sonbaty’s, the goal is different: the aim is not always to build more abdominal muscle mass, but rather to improve definition and keep body fat percentage under control. An ectomorph usually starts with the opposite problem. They need to add muscle.

Supplements deserve a measured discussion. They can help, but they cannot make up for a poor diet or inconsistent training. For a young ectomorph, the priorities are still calories, protein, sleep and consistent weight training.

Creatine is a popular supplement. The original article took a somewhat mixed view: it was effective, yet the author felt it was a little like cheating. If you use it, do so sensibly and do not expect it to make you big on its own.

Methoxy products, Methoxy and Ecdysterone were highlighted in the original article. Methoxy Factor HP was also mentioned. Today, it pays to be cautious about such promises: if your everyday diet and training are off track, no trendy tub of supplements will save the day.

Glutamine was described as a supplement that supports the immune system and affects metabolism. Again, do not build your plan around it. If you use it, treat it as an addition, not the foundation.

Protein powder is convenient. One shake can provide 20-40 grams of protein. It can be useful when you feel full but are still short of your daily protein intake. The mention of 100 % whey protein is retained from the original article, but here, too, what ultimately matters is your diet across the whole day.

Multivitamins and multiminerals can help, especially if your diet lacks variety. Centrum’s advertising said “From A to Zinc,” and the point was clear: your body needs more than just protein.

Vitamins A, E, C and the B vitamins were listed in the original article as important for bodybuilders. Orange juice, for example, provides vitamin C. The B vitamins are a group of several vitamins, not a single miracle pill.

Zinc was highlighted as a mineral that supports protein synthesis and health. The original article also mentioned that zinc can reduce the body’s ability to use copper, with a reference to Wilson’s disease. With health issues like these, speak to a doctor if needed rather than experimenting with arbitrary high doses.

*All information about vitamin C and zinc in the original article was credited to the GNC website, http://www.gnc.com/.

There are plenty of ways to get protein: protein bars, meal replacement powders and Myoplex shakes. But do not forget regular food. Meat, fish, poultry and dairy products already provide much of what you need.

Dieting for fat loss comes into play once you have finished bulking and want to show off your physique in summer. An ectomorph usually carries less fat than an endomorph, but cutting calories too sharply can quickly strip away hard-earned body weight. The original article recommended losing no more than 0.9-1.1 kg of fat per week. That is an aggressive pace at the upper limit, so keep an eye on your strength, how you feel and the quality of your training.

Let’s recap the basics:

• (1) EAT – eating is the most important activity for an ectomorph because gaining mass is difficult.
• (2) Train hard – hard training helps add mass to those small, skinny arms.
• (3) Use supplements wisely – do not take supplements that do not help you, because you are simply wasting your money on them.

FAQ: ectomorphs and muscle growth

Do ectomorphs need to eat junk food to gain weight?

No. You need more calories, but that doesn’t mean your diet should consist of potato chips and whatever sweets you can find. A better approach is to eat larger portions and add liquid meals, nuts, dairy products and carbohydrate-rich foods.

Should ectomorphs avoid cardio completely?

There’s no need to avoid it completely. If you’re not gaining weight, don’t do so much cardio that you burn off your entire calorie surplus. Light aerobic activity, however, can benefit your heart and recovery.

Are supplements essential for ectomorphs?

No. Protein powder and creatine can be convenient, but they’re not essential. If your food, sleep and training aren’t doing their job, a tub on the shelf won’t work miracles.

Thank you, and I hope you found this article useful.
Ryan Mclane: GrowEctomorph,Grow!

Translated by Tomster

Come and train! ArtGym