Help an ectomorph out... Please!

[thatkidsteve]

Hey guys, i'm an ectomorphic male and have been training for almost 3 years - as you can imagine I find it difficult putting on size. I've made decent gains on my sholders, back and chest over the years but my arms have become under-developed and now look out of proportion (big body, skinny arms)

This may sound silly but should I only focus on my biceps, triceps and forearms until my arms are back in proportion with the rest of my body?

[Matthew Bryduck]

No, I would continue to train your dominate body parts. Do you devote a training day just for your arms? If not I would definitely start doing that and train them twice a week (which would increase the frequency you train them). Try the advice I listed to you and be patient, we all have those lagging body parts. Growth will also come faster if you develop the mind to muscle connection on your arms.

Matt

Hey guys, i'm an ectomorphic male and have been training for almost 3 years - as you can imagine I find it difficult putting on size. I've made decent gains on my sholders, back and chest over the years but my arms have become under-developed and now look out of proportion (big body, skinny arms)

This may sound silly but should I only focus on my biceps, triceps and forearms until my arms are back in proportion with the rest of my body?

[thatkidsteve]

Thanks for the advice Matt. I usually do biceps 1 day then triceps another day - are you saying I should do 2 days of bis and tris a week?

No, I would continue to train your dominate body parts. Do you devote a training day just for your arms? If not I would definitely start doing that and train them twice a week (which would increase the frequency you train them). Try the advice I listed to you and be patient, we all have those lagging body parts. Growth will also come faster if you develop the mind to muscle connection on your arms.

Matt

[Matthew Bryduck]

I would combine your biceps/triceps into one day of training and I would do this arm day twice a week.

[chris mason]

Let's be a bit more specific. What does your training routine look like (not just for arms)?

Chris

[thatkidsteve]

Hi Chris, my routine can be quite varied. Upper body looks something like this:

Monday > Chest:-
Incline bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flat bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flat db bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flys (3 burnout sets till failure)

Wednesday > Delts:-
Military press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Wide-grip upright row (4 sets, 6 reps)
Seated Arnold press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Inverted rows (3 burnout sets till failure)

Thursday > Biceps:-
E-Z bar curls (4 sets, 6 reps)
Hammer curls (4 sets, 6 reps)
Incline db curls (4 sets. 6 reps)
Then to burn out I grab an E-Z bar with a light weight and curl using the 21 method

Saturday > Traps:-
Close grip upright rows (4 sets, 6 reps)
Shrugs behind the back (smith machine) (4 sets, 6 reps)
DB shrugs (4 sets, 6 reps)
Side lateral raises (3 burnout sets till failure)

Sunday > Triceps:-
Close grip bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Skullcrushers (4 sets, 6 reps)
Rope pushdowns (4 sets, 6 reps)
I like to burnout with dips or kick backs

I started doing 3 exercises using a heavy weight and 1 final exercise using a lighter weight to burn out the muscle. Noticed decent gains using this method but would welcome your feed back. Thanks, Steve

Let's be a bit more specific. What does your training routine look like (not just for arms)?

Chris

[Matthew Bryduck]

thatkidsteve,

Have you thought about trying burn out method for all your sets?

[DontTakeEmOff31]

What's your diet look like?

[thatkidsteve]

Matthew - I haven't actually, do you think that would help gain size? I used to lift a moderate weight with 12 reps but decided to go heavier with less reps.

DontTakeEmOff31 - to be honest I should be taking in more calories, i'm hitting about 3,000 a day and that includes protein, carbs - i'll eat anything to try and get bigger!

[chris mason]

Hi Chris, my routine can be quite varied. Upper body looks something like this:

Monday > Chest:-
Incline bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flat bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flat db bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Flys (3 burnout sets till failure)

Wednesday > Delts:-
Military press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Wide-grip upright row (4 sets, 6 reps)
Seated Arnold press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Inverted rows (3 burnout sets till failure)

Thursday > Biceps:-
E-Z bar curls (4 sets, 6 reps)
Hammer curls (4 sets, 6 reps)
Incline db curls (4 sets. 6 reps)
Then to burn out I grab an E-Z bar with a light weight and curl using the 21 method

Saturday > Traps:-
Close grip upright rows (4 sets, 6 reps)
Shrugs behind the back (smith machine) (4 sets, 6 reps)
DB shrugs (4 sets, 6 reps)
Side lateral raises (3 burnout sets till failure)

Sunday > Triceps:-
Close grip bench press (4 sets, 6 reps)
Skullcrushers (4 sets, 6 reps)
Rope pushdowns (4 sets, 6 reps)
I like to burnout with dips or kick backs

I started doing 3 exercises using a heavy weight and 1 final exercise using a lighter weight to burn out the muscle. Noticed decent gains using this method but would welcome your feed back. Thanks, Steve

If you are truly an ectomorph then I vote you are massively overtraining. You are doing waaayyyy too much for a natural trainee who has trouble adding lean muscle mass. Your arms won't grow because of the crazy amount of work you are loading them with. All forms of pressing work the heck out of the triceps and all forms of rowing work the biceps. Heck, I don't even directly train my biceps anymore and my arms are the biggest they have ever been (not saying you should not do some direct training).

[thatkidsteve]

Wow, i'm genuinely shocked! I thought I wasn't doing enough - i'm never in the gym for longer than 45mins per session and I know and see guys who are in traning for hours!

If you are truly an ectomorph then I vote you are massively overtraining. You are doing waaayyyy too much for a natural trainee who has trouble adding lean muscle mass. Your arms won't grow because of the crazy amount of work you are loading them with. All forms of pressing work the heck out of the triceps and all forms of rowing work the biceps. Heck, I don't even directly train my biceps anymore and my arms are the biggest they have ever been (not saying you should not do some direct training).

[method115]

If you are truly an ectomorph then I vote you are massively overtraining. You are doing waaayyyy too much for a natural trainee who has trouble adding lean muscle mass. Your arms won't grow because of the crazy amount of work you are loading them with. All forms of pressing work the heck out of the triceps and all forms of rowing work the biceps. Heck, I don't even directly train my biceps anymore and my arms are the biggest they have ever been (not saying you should not do some direct training).

Yea I barely train my arms as well. I used the BGB routine which suggest doing two different excersise for biceps but I only do 5x5 of seated curls and thats more then enough. Several people have told me my arms are huge.

[thatkidsteve]

I found a post about the BGB routine on here. Sounds like I need to rethink my routine!

Yea I barely train my arms as well. I used the BGB routine which suggest doing two different excersise for biceps but I only do 5x5 of seated curls and thats more then enough. Several people have told me my arms are huge.

[method115]

I found a post about the BGB routine on here. Sounds like I need to rethink my routine!

Yea I found it on this site to and it's the best routine I've ever used and it's not even close.