+ 4 Ectomorph Looking for Training Suggestions to Bring Up Arms and Legs
Hi All. I'm a long-time lurker here, first time poster. I'm in my early 30s, have been training pretty regularly for over a decade, but have always struggled to put on weight. In late 2013, my doc diagnosed me with low T and put me on TRT.
Since then, I have made a ton of progress. I think I added about 50 pounds of LBM -- currently sitting at 205 or so. The thing is, although my back, chest, and shoulders have definitely grown, my arms and legs really haven't changed all that much. Now I'd say they're definitely lagging.
For the past couple of years, I've been training with a bunch of power lifters. This has been great to raise my strength and improve my form on compound exercises. I'm wondering though if I should switch up my training style to address my lagging limbs.
Any suggestions -- particularly if you've dealt with this issue -- are welcome. Thanks in advance.
I look forward to being a more active member in the community.
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Checked these old pics as well u came along way great job
AnonThanks, man. I appreciate that. It means a lot coming from others. As I'm sure you know, when you see yourself in the mirror everyday, it's sometimes hard to gauge if you're moving forward or not. I'll continue force feeding and hammering away. Lol.
Give them a vote if you find it helpful.PermalinkAnonWhen training legs, never lock out. Keep constant tension. So when coming up on the squat, stop at about 80% and go back down. On leg press same thing. And when coming down, let your legs fall to the side so torso deops BETWEEN them. Too many ppl keep legs in and knees go straight to their chest. For arms, do a ton of drop sets around 15-20 rep range squeezing really hard on contraction. Eccentric should be slow and controlled, keep constant tension on target muscle
I'm a hard gainer like you and we have some things in common. Your chest and back are more developed because you've been training with power lifters and your core is responding to those heavy compound lifts. I like everything you've posted about diet so I think you just need to change your training from lifting like a power lifter to lifting like a bodybuilder. I would do more isolation movements and keep the repetitions between 10-15 for sets of 3 after a proper warm up set. This should maximize hypertrophy which is stimulated by time under tension. Keep the weight moderate and alternate exercises every other week. I would even go as high as 25 reps for 3 sets on leg sled and extensions. I only use the 5 X 5 strength training method nowadays and only work out 3 times a week but I'm more concerned about strength than size. I trained at a gym that had 12 national level bodybuilders for awhile and they were great sources of information. It worked for me man. Don't be afraid to do burn outs on your last set either..... just keep doing reps until you cant. Good luck
Anonhttps://www.eroids.com/forum/training-nutrition-diet/weight-gain/the-har...
Some good advice in that thread and the weight gain section in general. Whats your diet look like? Calorie/macro breakdown?
AnonThanks for the reference. I took a quick look, and I seem to follow a lot of the suggestions. I will read more thoroughly though.
I eat a lot (like 7-8 small meals a day), or at least it seems like it to me, and it is pretty clean. I don't have a lot of cravings. I keep my protein high, like around 2g/lb. Since I am on TRT, my understanding is that I don't need a lot of dietary fat, so I keep it low -- basically whatever is in my meat, milk, cheese, and peanut butter. I think it is usually under 100g/day. Carbs, I just fill in as necessary to gain weight. I also carb cycle by adding maltodextrin to pre-, intra, and post-workout shakes. But carbs end up being about 300g on off days, 450g on training days. According to myfitnesspal, I eat about 4500 calories when training, and 4000 when I am off. I laugh, because it suggests my maintenance calories should be like 2700. I have a desk job and do NO cardio. My metabolism is a pain in the ass.
My question, I guess lies with training. As I said, I have been able to put on muscle, but it seems to be mostly in my back, chest, ass, and shoulders. (I have gotten too wide for my old suits and dress shirts, for example.) My legs and arms just don't grow proportionately though. I train 4x a week (upper/lower split) and squat, deadlift, and bench pretty heavily. I've gotten my raw total over 1300, which I think is good for a lanky guy. I'm not sure if I should switch to a different split, or do days with more isolation work. But I am open to suggestions, particularly from people who have encountered this same problem.
Give them a vote if you find it helpful.PermalinkAnonRight on, well I would agree if you arent getting the results you want from your training then you definitely need to change it up. My lagging bodyparts didnt really start to grow until I dedicated specific days to train just those muscles. Maybe start a thread in the training section to see if you can find something specific to work for you.
AnonThanks for the help, man. I appreciate it and will inquire in the forums.
Glad to hear you've had some luck addressing lagging body parts. I have heard conflicting stories. Some people are like, "I do arms everyday and it works." Others are like, "just bring up your bench and deadlift, and your arms will grow." My trainer, who's a professional power lifter, falls into the latter camp. He probably has 21" arms, despite never doing direct arm (or at least bicep) work. Then again, he's built a lot different than I am.
But I appreciate the guidance. I will see what wisdom the forums have. Lol.
Give them a vote if you find it helpful.PermalinkAnonHonestly the most effective exercise I ever used to get my biceps to grow was chin-ups. Hitting that with some weighted dips has made the most improvement in overall arm size. For legs its been front squats and sumo deadlifts that have worked best for me. Alternating heavy weight and low reps one week and high rep light weight the next week. Thats just what has worked best for me, there are a lot of good guys on here that I'm sure can provide some new and insightful training advice
franko94Sir,
The main thing I cant help to say is that you are pretty lean. That is such and advantage that you have goin on. I have no idea how your background is towards AAS and other supplements. because of that I dont want to sugest anything in regards that.
Trainning wise, you mentioned alot of compound movements. They are essentials towards a great physique, but we cannot forget the isos. Dirrect stimulation. To me you have the body of a crossfitter no offense intended. If thats the case, get out of your comfort zone. Focus on heavy weight, controlled negative, explosive positive, hard squeze. My legs never grew untill I started squating heavy whit controlled squeze, constant tencion.
Diet, dont be affraid to sacrifise a little leanes. Trow your cheat meals here amd there. The ice cream here and there. The days before a heavy leg day, last meal cheat, replenish that glycogen. Give your body the best possible senario before and after a workout. Stay away from weight gainers, rela food. You know all those basics that we hear over and over, sometimes that is exactly what we forget to do.
By the way, you do look great man. And if everyhing else fails and you are 100% sure trainning amd diet is in chek, inform yourself on insulin, do your homework because we all know the dangera of it whatever, THAT BEING SAID.
Nov R 2h pre work out whit all your intra work out shakes and Humalog post helped me so damn much is sometimes unbelivable to bring up thise stoburn bodyparts. Take it for what is worth, im not a pro, whatever you dont like just pretemd you didint read it. Hope this helps. Good luuck
Should have checked that flappy mouth kid.......................... fuck off..................................
Wtf....insulin, dude are you crazy.. Let's hope this guy has his head screwed on correctly.
Hes 20yrs old bro............... its the thing these days with the young guns because they are so soft and wimpy they shit themselves even at thought of hard graft.
Bro, you took the time to write a well thought out and very informative response to help the guy. Lots of good info and I'm sure it took a while to type out. It can really help this guy out.
But then you suggested the guy to look into insulin. That's against eroids rules even to really talk about the stuff in the open, but suggesting it is a big no no. As I'm sure you know it can be a very dangerous sometimes deadly compound to use. So just for future reference leave out the slin advice. Its one drug we just told advis people to use or even talk about using in the open forums. I know there's a lot of different rules to get fimilar with, but stick around you seem pretty knowledgable. Check out advanced cycle groups or taboo topics group to talk about more advanced drugs and protocols.
Agree with iron very well put
Noone should use slin or dnp if he not make a living out of his physique , it just not worth it
Looking very good in pic man , consistency is the name of the game , open a forum thread and ppl will steer u in right direction