Muscle Building Rules for Ectomorphs

Your skinny because you have an extremely fast metabolism. That means your resting rate of burning calories is very high. It’s like doing cardio while just sitting there. Yes, you’re an ectomorph like me. I was actually an extreme ectomorph as I remember weighing about 110 lbs at 6’0. Sometimes I blame it on the fact that I was so picky with food when I was growing up. By the time I was about 17 years old, I found myself to be way more skinny than the average person. I wanted change so I started working out in hopes of gaining some muscle mass. It’s been a long and hard journey however I did go through some really great phases throughout my transformation. Every couple of months, I would see results with my body changing shape and that just kept me going. I’ve learned alot throughout my transformation and my goal is to help all ectomorphs out there attain the body of their dreams. I just wanted to share some of the most important things I’ve learned so anyone reading this doesn’t need to go through what I went through.

Here I go...

Rules for building muscle for Ectomorphs

1. Carbohydrates are your best friend. If you want to build some muscle, you need to be on a high carb diet. Have carbohydrates with every meal. Your choices of carbs are oatmeal, brown pasta, brown rice, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes/yams. Load up you’re plate with carbs and don’t shy away. The carbs I just listed as complex carbohydrates meaning their slow release so they will be constantly supplying your body with the building blocks it needs to build muscle.
2. Have at least 5 meals a day. You’re not going to build muscle by having 3 meals a day. You need to eat every 2-3 hours. If you don’t eat this much right now, you’re stomach is probably small now. You will feel like your forcing yourself to eat at first but in time, your stomach will stretch out and allow for more food. You’re appetite will get better too as you continue to workout. Working out will actually make you more hungry. Remember, you can also have some weight gainer shakes as a meal as well. Liquid meals also count but solid food is always recommended.
3. Balanced Diet. You need to have Proteins, Carbs & Fats with every meal. Your protein sources should be chicken breast, beef, fish, egg whites (you can eat the yellow as well as it’s good for gaining weight). Veggies are important as well but not as important as protein and carbs. Veggies do help keep your body in an alkaline state which is a must for muscle recovery. Number 1 vegetable for building muscle is Broccoli. It promotes testosterone production which is a vital hormone for building muscle. Be sure to include good fats with every meal. You can simply throw back some fish oil or flax seed oil pills with your meals for a good fats source.
4. Cheat DAY. Yes, have one day during the week where you have an EXTREME amount of carbs. They can even be simple carbs like white rice. This is going to shock your body and force it to grow. Have multiple cheat meals. You can finally have those home cooked meals that your mom cooks every day. I would recommend that you don’t workout on this day. My cheat day was always Sunday. The one day I would give my body a break from the gym. My recovery day.
5.  Have Simple Carbs post workout. Simple carbs are ones that are broken down quickly by the body. Examples are White rice, White pasta, White Bread. Have simple carbs for your post workout meal. When you consume simple carbs post workout, the insulin spike can fuel your muscles and help start the recovery process. I would recommend consuming simple carbs in liquid form as they will reach your muscles faster (eg dextrose).
6. Train hard. When your in the gym, don’t sit around and talk to your friends. It’s not a social club. Train with a partner and take it serious. If your lucky enough to train with a partner, you can push each other to lift heavy. You don’t need to lift heavy with every exercise. Being an ectomorph and new to the gym, you can injure yourself easily by having really bad form when trying to lift beyond your limits. Your goal in the gym is to get that pump in your muscles. If you’re using lighter weights, do high reps or till you can’t do no more. The bigger the pump, the better!Don’t forget to train your legs. Your body releases the maximum amount of growth hormone when you train legs so by training legs, your upper body will get bigger too and you will end up with a nice symmetric body.
7. Supplements. Protein Shakes. Have a protein shake in the morning, 30 mins before the gym, immediately after the gym and before bed. Yes, 4 times a day. This will help keep your protein intake high. You obviously need to also consume protein in solid form. Glutamine. Have glutamine after workouts and before bed. Glutamine is critical for muscle recovery.
8. Sleep. You need to sleep at least 7-8 hours. Six hours is bare minimum but 8 hours is my recommended minimum. Your body grows while you sleep so be sure you get enough sleep to recover your muscles properly.
9. No Cardio! Your body is burning calories while your just sitting there so no need to go on that treadmill. Your goal is to gain weight so no need to burn extra calories that you don’t have. Try not to even walk too much. Sounds crazy but i’m just being real. Your goal is to gain weight. You will gain mostly muscle weight and some fat as well which is fine. If you try to burn fat while gaining muscle, you will take double the time to gain muscle mass.
10. Don’t give up. As much as it’s a physical game, it’s also a mind game. You have to have the mindset to transform your body in order to really do it. You have to really believe in yourself. You have to be hard working. You have to be organized. You have to be able to make the right decisions every single day. You have to have the like-minded people around you. You have to cut out the negative people from your life.

Those are my top 10 rules for building muscle for Ectomorphs. I hope you found this article useful and hopefully you’ll see the benefits of applying these rules in your muscle building journey. It worked for me and I assure you that it will work for you as well.

I’d love to hear your feedback.

Brock

Vegetable Rice & Quinoa - Muscle Building Food

This is the recipe and cooking directions for my muscle building vegetable rice & quinoa mix. Loaded with carbohydrates and proteins. Great when served with a source of protein such as Chicken Breast, lean Beef or fish.

Ingredients

-          3 Cans of non-salt added Tomatoes

-          Veggies such as Broccoli, Bell Pepper, Zuchini, Grean Beans (unlimited, the more, the better)

-          1 Onion

-          4 Garlic gloves

-          4 Cups Brown Rice

-          1 ½ Cups Quinoa

-          2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-          4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

-          Spices and Herbs such as 2 tsp Paprika, 1 tsp Black Pepper, 2 tsp Curry, 2 tsp Basil, 2 tsp Oregano, 1 tsp Bay Leaves, ect. 

-          3 Tbsp Pure Tomato Paste

-          2 large pots, blender, sharp knife, cutting board, sieve, 1-2 Big plastic Containers

Direction

1.Wash the Quinoa with hot water, add with the Brown Rice to a large pot und fill up with the double amount of water. Cook on medium heat until all the water is soaked in.

2. Peel  and chop Onion and Garlic, add with the Tomato Paste and canned Tomatoes into the blender and mix them up (mix only 1 can of Tomatoes at once) Add the sauce into another big pot, set stove to medium heat.

3. Wash and cut all the veggies into small pieces and add into the pot with the tomato sauce.

4. Stir in Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Spices and Herbs  and let the entire Mix cook for rughly 30 minute.

5. Once all is done cooking, add the Rice with the Veggie sauce into a Big plastic container and mix well. Let cool down and put into fridge.

You can mix the rice/quinoa with the vegetables all in one pot as in the picture above or you can keep them separate.

Hope you enjoy it.

Bon Appetit..:)

Brock

Loaded Protein Bars - Meal Replacement

Here are the ingredients and simple cooking directions to my loaded protein bars. A quick and easy way to insure that you get your meal in your system on time. Great to carry while traveling or even during a busy working schedule. There more healthy than any protein bar you can purchase at your local supplement store.

Ingredients

*3 cups organic raw oats
*1/2 cup ground flax seeds
*1/2 cup unsweetened organic shredded coconut
*1 tablespoon cinnamon
*1 teaspoon Himalayan or sea salt
*(natural sweetener, your preverence)
*2 cups organic non-fat Oikos Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
*1/2 cup organic peanut butter or almond butter
*1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
*1/4 cup organic coconut oil, melted
*1 cup organic chopped seeds or nuts or a combination ex. sunflower, pumpkin, or sesame seeds or almonds, walnuts or pecans, hazelnuts
*1 cup chopped dates, raisins, figs or other dried fruit--optional (if you want the bars sweeter but you don't want to add more sweetener)
*up to 1 cup vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder--optional (go with 1 cup if you want the bars to have significant protein content;

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175 C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with a little coconut oil.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients

4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined

5. Taste a little of the homemade protein bar mixture. Is it tasty? You can add more peanut butter or the optional nuts at this point if you like. Is it sweet enough? If not, you can add some additional sweetener or some of the optional dried fruit. Mix well using very clean hands (warning--it will be sticky!)

6. Spread the mixture into your prepared dish and bake for 15min (check inbetween, every oven is different). Take the pan out of the oven, let them cool a little, and then slice the bars as you desire. Your homemade protein bars can be sliced into squares, or into the more typical bar shape you would purchase, if you prefer. Spread the bars out onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes more. Allow to cool, and then wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Let me know how you liked it?

Mine turned out amazing.

I can eat these bars all day.

Gluten Free Ezekiel Tortillas - Mexican Style

 Ingredients

(for 2 Tortillas)  

-         2 Ezekiel Tortillas (you can find them in your local health-grocery store

-         2 Average Turkey or Chicken breasts

-         1 Tomato

-         ½ Bell Pepper

-         ¼ Onion

-         1 big Garlic cloves

-         Lettuce, chopped (1 handful)

-         1 Avocado

-         Seasoning: Curry, Chili or red Pepper, black Pepper

-         ½ tsp Coconut oil for cooking

Direction 

-         Add Coconut oil to a pan and pre-heat on medium to high heat

-         Cut Turkey or Chicken breast in little pieces, add to the pan and season with curry

-         While Chicken/Turkey is cooking, cut lettuce, tomato and bell pepper into

           bite-size pieces, cut onion into rings and mix everything together

-         Peel Avocado, crush the garlic clove and add into a small bowl with some 

          chilli/red pepper and black pepper and mash with a fork until you get a paste

-         Cook your Ezekiel Tortillas according to packet instructions

-         Spread the Avocado paste onto both Tortillas, sprinkle the veggies with lettuce

           over it and add the Chicken/Turkey over it

-         Fold or roll the tortillas and they are ready to eat

Gluten Free Brown Rice Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients

(2-3 Portion sizes)

• 1 pound extra lean ground Veal (ground Beef works as well, but make sure it's extra lean)
• 300 grams gluten free brown rice Spaghetti
• 500ml (or 15 oz) salt free canned Tomatoes
• 1 round tbsp pure salt free Tomato paste
• ½ Onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 8-10 Cherry Tomatoes
• 6 average Basil leaves
• Coconut Oil (for cooking)
• Black Pepper
• Paprika powder
• Dried Italian herbs (Basil, Oregano, Thyme)

Direction

• Mix the canned tomatoes with the tomato paste in a blender
• Chop Onions, Garlic cloves and Basil leaves in little pieces
• Quarter Cherry tomatoes

Cooking

• Pre-heat a big pot on medium heat
• Add Coconut Oil, Onions and Garlic to the pot, cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the Onions are softened but not browned, about 1 minute.
• Add the veal and cook over moderately high heat until just barely pink
• Stir in the tomato sauce (canned tomatoes)
• Add the chopped basil leaves and the dried herbs
• Season with a generous pinch of black pepper and paprika powder
• Add the cherry tomatoe quarters
• Cover partially and cook over moderately low heat for 45 minutes
• Just before you are ready to serve, drop the spaghetti into a large pot of boiling water (NO SALT). Cook according to packet instructions until al dente - about 6 minutes. Drain thoroughly, mix in 1 tsp of Coconut oil, heap into a serving bowl and add the sauce on top of the Spaghetti

                                                                                                                                              Enjoy your meal!

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