Hardgainer Ectomorph looking for some experienced suggestions.

[Espresso]

Currently i'm at 170 lbs weight and 6'2" of height for the last 14 days I have been taking weight gain shake plus, eating consistently usually in two hour intervals not junk but alot of complex carbs plus lean protein thru out my day.

My 45 hr Mon-Fri work week consists of sitting in a cubicle but evenings I am training 4 times per week around 1:20 mins per session that is the only activity that I am doing. No cardio at all just weight training.

What type of results can I expect when it comes to effective weight gain per month from a person of my body type.

How many calories per day is needed in order for a person of my type to effectively gain weight.

Also any helpful suggestions would be appreciative for those who have been their and done that.

Thanks, Espresso

[quiksilver6]

--- find ur maintenance calories and add way more. Count ur calories for a few days to get an idea of how much food that actually is. For you, skimpy eating is worse than a ****ty lift. (for example: according to my stats my maintenance cals are about 2000, so trying to gain, I eat 3200+)

--- don't lift over an hour. The type of lifting u should be getting into for ur goals wont go over an hour, and you don't wanna be just burning calories go nothing anyway.

--- ur mass gain shakes are just protein and sugar, so you'll save and be smarter to use just protein and peanut butter/bananas, whatever u want dude, u get the picture. By the way peanut butter is your best friend while shooting for mass. Milk is easy protein/calories that you can chug throughout the day.

--- ur gonna have to eat if I haven't mentioned that yet. This is all a mind game tho. U have to think about lifting while ur eating. You'll get sick of eating so much, so you'll need to get ur head right and remember how much being America's next top model with a wiener instead of a lumberjack sucks. Sneak food at work. If u don't, by the time u get out, u'll barely have enough of the day left to get in all ur cals. The more often u eat, the more achievable ur cal count will be. Don't ever skip breakfast, and go to bed full.

--- do your big lifts. Lift 4 days a week. Do sprints on Saturday. No dumb jogging. At least not with ur goals.

I went thru this garbage. It's totally doable if u stick to it. The human body is actually really fun to mess with.

[dterry1982]

I started out at 6'5" 171 lbs lean 2 years ago. I am now 200lbs lean. It takes a lot of consistency and a lot of work. I have a very active job(tennis pro) so it was even more difficult for me. I am currently doing carb backloading, but I have a good grasp on my macros. I get a solid 300-350protein a day. I also get 400-500 carbs on training days and 200 on non training days. I also get a solid 75-100 grams of fat.

Bottom line is if your not gaining weight your not eating enough. You can eat more, many have gone before you.

I will leave you with another tidbit. Abs on a skinny guy don't count. If you are afraid to lose your abs for a bit, you will never get big

[::xander::]

eat as much as possible, if you haven't puked or come really close to puking from over eating yet, you aren't eating enough.

eat pasta, ground beef, bacon, and eggs. Lots of milk, and those weight gainer shakes are really good too if you can squeeze them in. They should be EXTRA though.

also, sit on your ass as much as possible. Hit the gym and do you big 4 lifts, and lift heavy.

I gained 70lbs naturally when I committed to it.

[Ninja Boot]

Get an app called "My fitness pal" and start tracking your eating. I thought I was eating enough and was doing like 2,000cal/day, which was way too low. You'll be surprised how much you don't eat. Doing 3000+ now. Compound lifts: Squats, deads (working on proper form), bench, over head press, squats....or just look up Rippetoe or 3x5.

I'm up 4lbs in 3 weeks

Tip: 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your shake. 1tbls = 120 cal

[kryptonik]

I love introducing people into tracking their foods. My roommate was convinced he ate pretty well, and was just born to be a 6'0" 150lb person. After tracking for a while, he realized he was eating something like 700 calories a day on average for the first week. It was great.

My girlfriend on the other hand, thought very similarly. But, once she tracked, realized she was eating a good amount of calories, but, that they were like 80% carbohydrates.

[Espresso]

Thanks for you imput every one that app is wonderful godsend!!!!! I was running clueless for two weeks now I know exactly where I am at calorie wise. So far today i'm running around 3100 calories as I added up today so far. I'm eating alot of tunafish and peanut butter but once again every two hours eating. A a tad bit ancy to do this from the post above yes I am hesistant in losing my abs =( but I am giving this a full 100%. I just want to see if it is truly possible for me to reach over 200lbs within one to 1 1/2 years period of time.

I always thought it was impossible that I would always be that lean tall dude. So im giving this little experiment a go.

So I hear peanut butter is a man's best friend when it comes to bulking? Been eating a bit of it before I go to sleep every evening.

Cheers

Once again Much appreciated! Espresso!

[quiksilver6]

Try this out.

Baked beans
Cheddar
Can of tuna
Fav hot sauce

Mix it up and eat it with a spoon or chips for some crunch. This is packed full of protein and a great bulk meal. Also great to throw I'm the mic at work.

[spoolin215]

in b4 op gets fat.

[pops]

in b4 op gets fat.

yup

[kryptonik]

in b4 op gets fat.

yup

Why?

[pops]

Why?

In my experience, being sedentary for a large part of your week (M-F 45 hours a week) plus simply overeating leads to fat gain. Macros are more important - for me, also sedentary 45 hours a week - than overall calories.

[Espresso]

Yea but i'm watching what I am eating when it comes to that stand point alot of complex carbs with lean cuts of protein, including vegetables. Yes I sit in a desk 40 plus hours a week for work but i'm usually doing spearfishing or diving on the weekends including the four times I train at the gym after my 8-5 work is over. I'm not purely on a sedentary life style as my first post says.

[quiksilver6]

Yeah disregard that. Eat smart, but as much as u can. Everyone is a little different, but I do fine going big on good carbs, heavy protein and smart fat. I've learned over time sugar is what I need to avoid. I don't really do much fruit or juice. How would anyone get fat without trying, if they are looking in the mirror daily, with the power to cut back the week they finally see the need to? Use ur head and get the job done, ur good.

[Espresso]

Honestly I do not really drink juice nor carbonated beverages usually ill have 2-3 cups espresso with a small amount of sugar in it but thats about it. I about a gallon of day on spring water that i usually try to finish per day thats about it.

[GodSquadMandrake]

I'm not sure about the body type things. I used to be an ectomorph I guess, 150 lbs and 5'11'. After working out for a while I eventually got to 208 lbs and of course still 5'11' and I wouldn't say that I have ever been an ectomorph since then.

Anyway you just have to eat until you actually start to get fat. It's the only way. I was eating insane amounts of calories, just pouring oil into my 3 daily protein shakes. I put like 4 raw eggs in each protein shake with a scoop of peanut butter, ice cream, all the junk I wanted. I'm sure it was over 5,000 calories per day. Then I finally started to gain muscle AND fat. That's the important part, don't try and retain low body fat. Get fat. Then once you bulk up a little, you change your routine and cut weight. So it goes in three cycles. Powertraining, bodybuilding, and then endurance training or toning or whatever you want to call it. It should be easy for you to cut weight if you are naturally skinny. It's still easy for me.

[02GTIFREESKIER]

Im 6'2" and stuck at about 190 (for a few months now). Gaining weight is really hard if you are active. i work roughly 48 hrs a week as a heavy equipment mechanic and I cannot gain weight past 190 it seems. Im excited to see what works for you because I really do need to try something new. Good luck hope you get some speedy(and healthy) gains.