Best workout.....

WORKOUT DESIGN

HOW CAN YOU DESIGN A WORKOUT ACCORDING TO YOUR BODY TYPE? BE SPECIFIC.

When designing a workout for your body type, there are a few main points that you have to consider, which I will list in each category. If you don't keep these things in mind, your workout regimen may be counterproductive.

TRAINING FOR THE ECTOMORPH:

This is probably the hardest training program to design. I don't want to discourage these people but there aren't a whole lot of things going your way if this is your body type, so yes you will have to be patient and train hard. So let's look at what we have to consider for the Ectomorph:
  • Very hard pressed to gain weight, in this case muscle
  • This body type is not "Tailored" for high frequency weight training
  • This body type does not fare well in high intensity weight training
  • Excessive intensity or frequency in weight training is likely to result in overtraining. In other words, it is much easier for this body type to develop the overtraining syndrome.
Looking at those points, it paints an ugly picture. To gain muscle, it's obvious that you must workout with intensity and frequency. But this body type is not good at handling any of those! Therefore these are a few key points you have to keep in mind when designing a workout:

1THE KEY IS STARTING OFF SLOWLY:

The key to training an Ectomorph is starting off slowly as much of a pain as this seems. Trying to increase intensity and frequency faster won't work, you'll end up either being overtrained, burned out mentally or frustrated.
As a matter of fact overtraining might even result in reduced muscle mass and strength. Plus each time you do not succeed it lowers your confidence about being able to gain some decent muscle. Also do not add more sets than necessary for your workout. Doing so will not increase gains. Each progressive set decreases in intensity since you get more fatigued, therefore

2WHEN STARTING OFF, KEEP IT SIMPLE:

If you're starting off, then keep it simple. I can remember how many times I've said this but complicated programs don't mean they are "good." If you over complicate things then you're more likely to make mistakes and try the wrong training methods.

3KEEP WORKOUTS UNDER ONE HOUR:

This helps an Ectomorph in two ways. First of all it prevents overtraining which is a very important factor. Training over one hour increases the chances of overtraining since it taxes the recovery systems so much and adds unnecessary stress to the body.
Secondly, 30-45 minute workouts are more intensive since more is being done in less time. For example if I had 20 sets to do, and I did them in 30 minutes as opposed to one hour, that 30-minute training session will be more intensive. This will in turn help better promote muscular hypertrophy.

4CHANGING THE EXERCISES:

Changing the exercises is another key point to increase hypertrophy. If you keep the same workout for over 2 months, it is likely your body will adapt to those exercises. In this case you will hit a plateau and all your hard work will be in vain because you won't be making nearly as much progress as when you initially started.

5CONSISTENCY:

Keep a consistent schedule. This is probably one of the best things you can do to increase your likelihood of gaining more muscle. If you keep missing workouts, then you will never train your body to handle the stress of weights.
In essence, you won't ever be able to handle the higher intensities of more advanced and better programs. As well, if you keep missing workouts, you won't be training your recovery systems. This is important if you're trying to increase your workout frequency without overtraining.

6FORM, FORM, FORM:

OK, this requires that you let ego go. Even if it means your curling eight points to keep good form and technique. The thing is Ectomorphs are generally weak and have little muscle mass. Therefore, if you load up the weight and start curling and arching your back like a bridge, you're WAY more likely to get injuries and muscular problems down the road. Weaker muscles have a greater chance of getting injured, you should already know that.

SAMPLE PROGRAM:

Here's a sample program to get you all started:
So here is what the program will help you do:
  • Progressively increase your body's tolerance to weight training
  • Progressively increase your body's recovery rate (Doing this will help you increase workout frequency)
  • Initiate strength and muscle gains.
The program will consist of:
  • 12 week plan which is divided into three stages
  • Each stage increases in intensity and frequency
  • Short 30-45 minute workouts. The longer the workout, the more likely overtraining will occur. Also shorter workouts promote muscular hypertrophy.

WEEKS 1-4:

  • Between each set rest a maximum of 1 minute. Try to shoot for 30-45 seconds if you can.
  • The intensity in each set should be such that after each set your muscles feel quite fatigued. So on a scale of 1-10 (10 being failure) you should be at about 6-7.
  • Do not go to failure each and EVERY set. However it is acceptable to perform till failure on a FEW occasionally sets. Ectomorphs aren't designed for real heavy training yet. Also do not try techniques like drop sets, rest pause training, eccentrics etc. This is an easy route to overtraining if your body isn't prepared for it.

TRAINING SPLIT:

  • Monday - Legs, lower back
  • Tuesday
  • Wednesday
  • Thursday - Shoulders, abdominals
  • Friday
  • Saturday - Chest, upper back
  • Sunday
* Quick Note: You might be saying, where is the workout for the arms? I recently learned less than 5 percent of your muscle is in your arms. For the Ectomorph were trying to gain as much muscle as possible without increasing workout frequency too much.
Does it really make sense to add in another workout just for your arms, which has less than 5 percent of your total muscle? If you're an Ectomorph trying to gain muscle, I'm assuming you're not a professional bodybuilder, therefore workouts for the arms aren't terribly important. Beside, your arms will be worked when you do chest, back and shoulders. I've seen people with fantastic results who don't have a separate workout for their arms.

MONDAY - LEGS, LOWER BACK

THURSDAY - SHOULDERS, ABDOMINALS

SATURDAY - CHEST, UPPER BACK

WEEKS 5-6

  • Like before try resting 30-45 seconds to try to keep workouts at 30-45 minutes.
  • Intensity should be increased from the first stage. Now your muscles should be even more fatigued after each set. On scale of 1-10 your muscles should feel 7-8 or 7-9 (10 being failure).
  • At this point you should be trying to go to failure on more sets than before. This will increase the intensity for more muscular hypertrophy. Just don't do it on every single set. Also if you do not feel your ready, then don't do them.

TRAINING SPLIT:

  • Monday - Legs
  • Tuesday
  • Wednesday - Shoulders, Traps
  • Thursday
  • Friday - Lower Back, Abdominals
  • Saturday - Chest, Upper Back
  • Sunday

MONDAY - LEGS, LOWER BACK

WEDNESDAY - SHOULDERS, TRAPS

FRIDAY - LOWER BACK, ABDOMINALS

SATURDAY - CHEST, UPPER BACK

WEEKS 9-12:

  • 30-45 second rests are a must
  • 30-45 minute workouts are the standard
  • At this point you will have been training for 2 months. Given you've been following the program CONSISTENTLY and training hard it is time to once again time to increase the intensity. Going to failure should be a regular thing 1-2 times per 3 sets. Just not every set.
  • You can also start experimenting with techniques such as supersets, drop sets, rest pause training to increase intensity. But use these sparingly, never on every set. Even experienced weightlifters would overtrain if they used these techniques for every set. In the following workout I have included some possible techniques to use.
  • Also because you've been training for 2 months and can take more weightlifting frequency and intensity, it's time to add in some arm workouts. The thing I said before about arm workouts it not being necessary is because someone with an Ectomorphic body type just starting to lift doesn't need to spend time on a separate workout for the arms which contains less than 5 percent of your total muscle mass. As you get more experienced, arm workouts become more important to get muscular arms. Even so, I have met a select few who still insist they don't need to workout their arms (They just rely on back and chest workouts). If that doesn't work for you then don't do it, but if you don't include arms and get fantastic gains and you like it that way, then keep doing it.

TRAINING SPLIT:

  • Monday - Legs, Lower Back
  • Tuesday
  • Wednesday - Chest, Triceps
  • Thursday - Back, Biceps, Traps
  • Friday
  • Saturday - Shoulders, Abs, Wrists
  • Sunday

MONDAY - LEGS, LOWER BACK:

WEDNESDAY - CHEST, TRICEPS

THURSDAY - BACK, BICEPS, TRAPS

SATURDAY - SHOULDERS, ABS, WRISTS

Triset for all heads of shoulder
Superset For Wrists

TRAINING FOR THE ENDOMORPH:

Let me just say, if you're an Endomorph, weight training will be a lot easier. That is, if your main goal is weight training. First of all, Endomorphs have the ability to put on muscle fast, but this also comes at the expense of fat gain.
Secondly, they are also generally more suited to the stresses of weight lifting since it is anaerobic in nature. Endomorph's are not as well suited to aerobic activity since it requires more endurance.
Since many Endomorph's are carrying around extra weight in the form of fat, they have low endurance. Therefore they don't really have too many disadvantages going for them when talking about weight training. Even so there are a few things to keep in mind:

1ENDOMORPHS CAN START OFF WEIGHT LIFTING AT HIGHER INTENSITIES

That's right, Endomorph's usually have decent muscle mass covered by fat, and their bodies are more suited for the strenuous weight training. Because of this, these types can usually start off at higher intensities without risking overtraining.
Just keep in mind that just because you have this advantage doesn't mean you can attempt the most grueling and advanced bodybuilding workout there is. Like everyone, you have to train your recovery systems and muscles to BETTER handle the stress weight lifting. But if your just beginning, you should start off slow. Just to get your muscles used to the weight lifting.
Once you notice your not as sore after your workouts, then increase the intensity and experiment a LITTLE bit with some techniques such as going to failure, drop sets, supersets, trisets, rest pause training etc. Just don't go overboard.

2THE KEY TO ACHIEVING A GOOD PHYSIQUE IS DROPPING FAT AND PRESERVING MUSCLE

Because this is a bodybuilding site, I will talk about training in terms of that. I'm assuming most people in this body type are wanting to lose fat and achieve a good physique. Well then the key is losing that fat while preserving as much muscle as possible. There are a few ways to do this
HIIT or high intensity interval training is the best way to preserve as much muscle as possible. As you might know, cardiovascular activity is catabolic, meaning it burns muscle.
The thing with HIIT is that it is relatively short and high intensity, about 15 -20 minutes max. Therefore, little muscle is burned. Also because it is high intensity, its burns more net calories than long 30-60 minute runs which a lot of people do when trying to lose fat.
HIIT Articles:
To do HIIT you pick an exercise such as sprints. After you warm up you start off with doing 1 sprint for 20-30 seconds. This is followed by 1 minute of medium paced running. You repeat this until you have done 12-15 intervals or about 15-20 minutes worth of cardio.
Lifting weights while doing muscle is actually a great way to burn more calories to hasten the time you are spending in weight loss. This helps in two ways. First off all it actually burns more calories than cardio, over a longer period of time (a couple days). This will help you get through your fat loss stage quicker.
The less time you are in the fat loss stage, the less muscle you will lose. Also it keeps your muscles working, so right when you're finished you weight loss program, you can immediately begin a higher intensity weightlifting program without having to start off slowly.
Here is a way to fit in your HIIT cardio with your weight program:
  • Monday - Legs, lower back
  • Tuesday - Rest
  • Wednesday - Chest, triceps - HIIT cardio after the workout or spaced a couple hours away from workout
  • Thursday - Back, biceps, traps - HIIT after workout or spaced a couple of hours from workout
  • Friday - Rest
  • Saturday - Shoulders, abs, wrists - HIIT after workout or spaced a couple hours after workout
  • Sunday - HIIT cardio
The goal here is HIIT at least 3-4 times per week as well as weight sessions. However there are a few main things you should consider:
Never do cardio before weights. This is a bad combo. The thing is cardio will use up your glycogen stores. Therefore when it comes time to workout, you will have limited energy resulting in a compromised workout. You might lose fat but your workouts will suffer a great deal.
Rather, if you have to do cardio and weights on the same day try spacing them out as far as possible. So, doing weights in the morning and cardio in the late afternoon or vice versa. Just allow for enough time to recover.
Another option is doing cardio right after weights. This has an advantage of burning more fat. The reason is because your glycogen stores are all used up, so therefore your body looks to your fat to burn as energy. Keep in mind though weights take a lot out of the body. So your cardio might suffer just a little bit.
The last thing you should never do is cardio and leg workouts on the same day. I've tried this and it does not work. You feel terribly wobbly, unbalanced, and your legs tire extremely fast. Try spacing cardio as far away from leg workouts as possible, because doing cardio on super sore legs sucks.

TRAINING FOR THE MESOMORPH:

This is the best body type to be in. Most people in this category have been weight lifting for some time or are either involved in sports that require great physical exertion, not including the pure endurance sports such as marathon running.
Lets look at the advantages the Mesomorph's have:
  1. Their bodies are actually designed for the stress of weightlifting.
  2. They can handle high intensities well.
  3. They can handle high frequency training well because they have good recovery systems, this is most likely because they are advanced lifters or athletes.
  4. Their bodies are physically stronger and therefore less prone to injury. Because of this they can attempt advanced programs.
From here the only place to go is up, and to be honest, it would be pointless to have a sample workout schedule. First of all, there are millions of options and I don't want to limit your possibilities. The thing is you have to decide what kind of workout is best suited to you.
For example there are thousands of different kinds of workout programs you can attempt:
  • High frequency training
  • Hypertrophy specific training
  • Max-OT training
  • German Volume Training
  • Mark Riptoe Program
  • Vince Gironda 8x8
  • Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty HIT Program
  • S.A.I.S Mass Building Routine
  • 3x3 Training
  • Abbreviated Training:
  • Bulgarian Training
  • Dual Factor Hypertrophy Training (DFHT)
  • Pendulum Training
These are just a few of the THOUSANDS of programs that exist out there. There are probably a few that you will just love and some that you will just hate. It's just a matter of finding the correct programs for YOU and tweaking them to suit your own needs.
Given all these kinds of workouts. There are still just a few things to keep in mind when choosing your workout program:

1HIGH INTENSITY IS A MUST:

One article by Lee Labrada said if your not going to failure on every set, your not training hard enough. While I don't agree with this, it does have a point. The main thing you should get from this is, your muscles should be very tired after each set.
If you can do 2 more reps, then you're not pushing yourself. Unless otherwise specified by the training program, you should be going close, or at failure on nearly every set.

2WEIGHT LIFTING TECHNIQUES WILL BOOST YOUR PROGRESS:

Techniques such as drop sets, rest pause training, eccentrics, forced reps, burns, negatives, supersets, etc are important. Most advanced trainees will use at least one or a couple of these techniques. They are great to boost intensity and overload your muscles to a greater extent. The more stress your muscles are under, the more they will become stronger and grow to respond to that extra stress.

3CHANGING WORKOUT STYLES, REPS, EXERCISES, AND SPEED OF REPS IS ESSENTIAL:

Firstly changing your exercises is probably the most important of all. This ensures your body doesn't adapt to the exercises. If your body does adapt, it won't get as good of a workout from that exercise, and your progress plummets.
Changing the reps is second most important in two ways. First of all it prevents your body from adapting to a certain rep range and more importantly it works different muscle fibers. If all the different muscle fibers are worked, it provides greater muscular growth, rather than if you just worked one muscle fiber.
The speed of reps isn't really essential to change, but it will help you change your workout so your body is always being challenged and making progress. For example, some repetitions you can perform fast and others you can go fast up and slow down, or just the whole rep slow.
Experiment with different speeds to see which gives you good progress. Milos Sarcev is an advocate of this kind of training.
Last, changing the workout style is an important point you should consider. For example if you just did hypertrophy specific training, you will get bored of that kind of training. Also your body can get used to it easy if that's all you've been doing for a year. Different workout programs challenge and exert the body in different ways that will increase your progress and make your body more physically able.

WIDEST RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS

WHICH BODY TYPES HAVE THE WIDEST RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS?

This is obviously the Mesomorph. As I already said their body types are designed and conditioned for intensive weight training. Therefore they can attempt a wide variety of workouts. For example, someone in this body type can switch from high frequency training, to HST training, and then to Max-OT training without much trouble at all.
The Ectomorph also fares well when talking about the range of workouts they can attempt. They too have bodies more suited to intensive weight training since it is anaerobic, requiring limited endurance. However they could run into potential problems if attempting a workout that emphasizes endurance such as circuit training.
Therefore it narrows the types of workouts they can do just by a bit. Also, most Endomorphs are inactive, which is why they have such high fat levels. Because of this, these Endomorphs cannot attempt the most advanced training programs since they have not trained their bodies to handle that kind of exertion.

LIMITED RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS

WHICH BODY TYPES HAVE THE MOST LIMITED RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS?

In dead last comes the Ectomorph which is the most painful of all the body types when talking about bodybuilding. They cannot handle the effects of intense weight lifting nearly as well as the Mesomorphs or Endomorphs. In this case they have to stick to the basic training programs.
Variation among these programs is slim since many of the programs out there are designed to be extremely intense to promote maximum muscle hypertrophy. Even some Mesomorphs have trouble handling these programs and even overtrain doing them.
If an Ectomorph even attempted some of the most advanced programs they would be murdered within a week or two. It's almost like telling an Ectomorph or in other words an over weight person to attempt a professional marathon runners program and see how they fare.

BONUS QUESTION

WHICH BODY TYPE ARE YOU? DO YOU DESIGN A WORKOUT ACCORDINGLY TO YOUR BODY TYPE?

I'm a cross between an Ectomorph and a Mesomorph, and yes I do design a workout specifically for my body type, although it's NOT the ONLY thing I take into consideration. Because of my body type I know I can attempt some advanced programs, but I have to be careful as well not to go over the limit. I stay away from the extremely hardcore programs because I know I will overtrain on those programs.
For the most part I keep a high frequency 3-5 times a week and I also use a variety of techniques such as drop sets, supersets, burns, eccentrics etc. As well I like to go to failure since it gives my muscles a better workout, but I never do it on ever set.
Lastly I like incorporating cardio into my programs. One thing I did not mention is how Ectomorphs are geared more toward endurance sports, hence the reason why many long distance runners and cyclers are skinny. The cardio helps develop a more efficient respiratory system and heart. This helps me pump blood to my muscles faster, and make better use of oxygen to further assist in my workouts.
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