Now to get down to the more serious side of body building, we all know that ultimately its all about our own attitude and dedication in terms of nutrition and training. But is it already decided for us what we will look like at the end?
The answer... is yes!
Our genetic make-up will ultimately decide the shape and complexion of our muscle and body, as well as how fast they grow and how our training and diet should be controlled to give us the best results. Let me explain:
There are three types of genetic make-up in terms of body building and each has its own nutritional, gaining and training pros and cons.
The first type is the ECTOMORPH;
Body builders often refer to these guys as 'hard gainers' and they will struggle to pack on any weight no matter what they eat, simply because their natural metabolic rate is so high that any calorie hike needs to be ridiculous for them tio gain weight, but the downside is it makes it hard to gain any real muscle. The best way to defy nature here is to load up, in the kitchen and the gym.
The Rules for training:
1. Keep it intense - go for low resp and high weight, and make sure to use the free weights rather than resistance machines. Also aim to get plenty of rest between sessions to allow your body to grow each time!
2. Feast - You need to eat and eat alot, especially in the protein section, go for smoothies, bars as well as nuts and meats. Also try pasta or rice to hike up the calories.
3. Easy on the cardio - being the natural lean, high metabloic animals that you are, ectomorphs can get away with very little cardio work, and if you wana pack on size then stay away. Your metabolic rate is naturally high enough to maintain your lean form so theres no need to raise it higher and it could result in serious muscle loss.
The Positives:
Well it's pretty obvious. Due to their naturallly high metabolic rates and lean physique most ectomorphs find it easy to appear shreaded once they pack on some hard earned muscle so as long as you stick to a good weigths programme then you should have those washboard abs any day soon.
The second type is the ENDOMORPH;
These heavy-set types have soft stocky boddies and low metabolisms. Weight gain and muscle gains aren't the issue here, its the opposite. But it requires alot of effort and har work to see the results.
The rules for training:
1. Cardio - Endo's need to boost their sluggish metabolisms and the best way to do this is sharp bursts of cardio training, especially in terms of a circuit mixing weigths and cardio. (check out the military workout post on this blog).
2. Superset - This means pairing exercises and only taking short rest times between each set to keep your metabolic rate rigth up there for as long as possible, whilst packing on the muscle. Working opposing muscles like biceps and triceps or back and chest work well here, as they stretch each other out as you go, so you can go harder for longer.
3. High reps - In terms of weight training you need to be doing 10-12 reps with moderate weights and less recovery time.
4. Set up a carbs curfew: Endo's will see the results faster on high protein and fibre diets with good fats, so limit carbs for only immediately after your workout. The high protein will also lead to fast mucle gains in your natural physique.
The positives:
As long as your diet is solid then you have no boundaries to the gains in size and strength you will make in the gym, keep training hard with a good diet plan and you'll be a muscle maniac in no time. This is mainly down to your body's natural anabolic state, bulking periods will be extremely successful for you, just remember to keep a lid on your carbs!
The final type is the MESOMORPH;
Aka the natural athlete. Some of us are just born lucky, or at least physically lucky, mesomorphs find it easy to add muscle mass and as long as they stick to high intensity training they never gain those extra pounds as their metabolism is easily reved, if not constantly high like ecto's.
The rules for taining:
1. Hit the compounds - working multiple muscle groups with compound moves such as bench press, squatts and dead lifts will rapidly increase your muscle gains as well as keeping it intense. These moves will also exploit your natural strength.
2. Intensity - your body can handle the highest volumes of cardio and resistance training, so get intense, try doing fast circuits and aim for 3 cardio sessions per week to complement your muscle gains and you'll be shreaded in no time.
3. Plan your protein - try to get protein with every meal, including snacks and aim for 1 gram of fat per kilo of body weight and you'll be hitting your goals in no time.
The positives:
Do I need to tell you them? These guys are the luuckiest of them all, simply train hard and let your genes do the rest, you'll find you see your gains wll before the others, but dont slacken off just because its easier, remember go hard or go home!
Do some muscles grow faster than others?
Yes! This is mainly down to 3 reasons, 1 of which is genetics based.
Different people have different genes and this can result in differing muscle recovery times, differing strength gains and differing size gains between people and also areas of your own body.
For example I find it hard to make my biceps and triceps grow at the same rate my chest or shoulders grow. Not because they are overtrained or weak, but because my genes promote the chest and shoulders more than other body parts. I'm sure you have similar problems and the only way around it is to alter your training programme to work this troubled area more often or more intensely to stimulate more growth.
The other reasons for muslces growing at differnet rates are overtraining and the muscles everyday use. Your calves are used all the time, standing, walking, sometimes even sitting in a certain way and so it is very hard to get this conditioned muscle to respond to training. Also areas like the shoulders and biceps, both small muscle groups don't respond well to overtraining and loads of extra sets. where as the chest back or legs, both bigger muscle groups will be able to take in more sets before overtraining becomes an issue. So just think about it next time you are comparing your gains and try to understand that not all muscles grow at the same rate, or under the same training style.
The answer... is yes!
Our genetic make-up will ultimately decide the shape and complexion of our muscle and body, as well as how fast they grow and how our training and diet should be controlled to give us the best results. Let me explain:
There are three types of genetic make-up in terms of body building and each has its own nutritional, gaining and training pros and cons.
The first type is the ECTOMORPH;
Body builders often refer to these guys as 'hard gainers' and they will struggle to pack on any weight no matter what they eat, simply because their natural metabolic rate is so high that any calorie hike needs to be ridiculous for them tio gain weight, but the downside is it makes it hard to gain any real muscle. The best way to defy nature here is to load up, in the kitchen and the gym.
The Rules for training:
1. Keep it intense - go for low resp and high weight, and make sure to use the free weights rather than resistance machines. Also aim to get plenty of rest between sessions to allow your body to grow each time!
2. Feast - You need to eat and eat alot, especially in the protein section, go for smoothies, bars as well as nuts and meats. Also try pasta or rice to hike up the calories.
3. Easy on the cardio - being the natural lean, high metabloic animals that you are, ectomorphs can get away with very little cardio work, and if you wana pack on size then stay away. Your metabolic rate is naturally high enough to maintain your lean form so theres no need to raise it higher and it could result in serious muscle loss.
The Positives:
Well it's pretty obvious. Due to their naturallly high metabolic rates and lean physique most ectomorphs find it easy to appear shreaded once they pack on some hard earned muscle so as long as you stick to a good weigths programme then you should have those washboard abs any day soon.
The second type is the ENDOMORPH;
These heavy-set types have soft stocky boddies and low metabolisms. Weight gain and muscle gains aren't the issue here, its the opposite. But it requires alot of effort and har work to see the results.
The rules for training:
1. Cardio - Endo's need to boost their sluggish metabolisms and the best way to do this is sharp bursts of cardio training, especially in terms of a circuit mixing weigths and cardio. (check out the military workout post on this blog).
2. Superset - This means pairing exercises and only taking short rest times between each set to keep your metabolic rate rigth up there for as long as possible, whilst packing on the muscle. Working opposing muscles like biceps and triceps or back and chest work well here, as they stretch each other out as you go, so you can go harder for longer.
3. High reps - In terms of weight training you need to be doing 10-12 reps with moderate weights and less recovery time.
4. Set up a carbs curfew: Endo's will see the results faster on high protein and fibre diets with good fats, so limit carbs for only immediately after your workout. The high protein will also lead to fast mucle gains in your natural physique.
The positives:
As long as your diet is solid then you have no boundaries to the gains in size and strength you will make in the gym, keep training hard with a good diet plan and you'll be a muscle maniac in no time. This is mainly down to your body's natural anabolic state, bulking periods will be extremely successful for you, just remember to keep a lid on your carbs!
The final type is the MESOMORPH;
Aka the natural athlete. Some of us are just born lucky, or at least physically lucky, mesomorphs find it easy to add muscle mass and as long as they stick to high intensity training they never gain those extra pounds as their metabolism is easily reved, if not constantly high like ecto's.
The rules for taining:
1. Hit the compounds - working multiple muscle groups with compound moves such as bench press, squatts and dead lifts will rapidly increase your muscle gains as well as keeping it intense. These moves will also exploit your natural strength.
2. Intensity - your body can handle the highest volumes of cardio and resistance training, so get intense, try doing fast circuits and aim for 3 cardio sessions per week to complement your muscle gains and you'll be shreaded in no time.
3. Plan your protein - try to get protein with every meal, including snacks and aim for 1 gram of fat per kilo of body weight and you'll be hitting your goals in no time.
The positives:
Do I need to tell you them? These guys are the luuckiest of them all, simply train hard and let your genes do the rest, you'll find you see your gains wll before the others, but dont slacken off just because its easier, remember go hard or go home!
Do some muscles grow faster than others?
Yes! This is mainly down to 3 reasons, 1 of which is genetics based.
Different people have different genes and this can result in differing muscle recovery times, differing strength gains and differing size gains between people and also areas of your own body.
For example I find it hard to make my biceps and triceps grow at the same rate my chest or shoulders grow. Not because they are overtrained or weak, but because my genes promote the chest and shoulders more than other body parts. I'm sure you have similar problems and the only way around it is to alter your training programme to work this troubled area more often or more intensely to stimulate more growth.
The other reasons for muslces growing at differnet rates are overtraining and the muscles everyday use. Your calves are used all the time, standing, walking, sometimes even sitting in a certain way and so it is very hard to get this conditioned muscle to respond to training. Also areas like the shoulders and biceps, both small muscle groups don't respond well to overtraining and loads of extra sets. where as the chest back or legs, both bigger muscle groups will be able to take in more sets before overtraining becomes an issue. So just think about it next time you are comparing your gains and try to understand that not all muscles grow at the same rate, or under the same training style.
