Thinking about giving up bodybuilding. Can an ectomorph really get big?

hey I wasnt reamin you or nothin man, I couldnt tell it was a joke as it was all stated fairly factually (minus the size of your unit, I figured that had to be a joke and was fairly funny) and just wanted to make sure to set the record straight for the OP and the rest of the readers that happen upon this thread.

Context of posts are really hard to decipher when typed as you do... I love smilies for this reason, they arent called emoticons for nothin, they help put your tone in perspective greatly. :D

see Im happy. lol

agreed. For a second I thought you might need a diaper change.
 
"More impressively, the Penn State researchers showed that the effect of dietary fat on testosterone levels depended on the kind of fat consumed. Specifically, they found that monounsaturated and saturated fat raise testosterone levels, but polyunsaturated fat does not (Faigin, pp. 329-330, emphasis in original)."

Moreover, it is not just any fat, but saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) that raise T levels. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) do not.

As such, "… restricting total fat intake *and replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat (exactly what the experts are telling you to do) would appear to be the perfect prescription for lowering your testosterone levels!

However, it is not necessary to consume a lot of saturated fat. A response to a letter on asking about how to raise T levels reported about a study that showed, "Men with the highest testosterone levels ate nuts! Yes, monounsaturated fat seems to increase testosterone levels, so include nuts, olive oil, canola oil, and peanut butter!"

Moreover, foods high in healthy Omega 3s fatty acids would also be good sources of T-raising fat. The best sources of omega 3s are fatty fish like mackerel, herrings, sardines, tuna, sturgeon, and salmon. But they are also found in plant foods like walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, flax seed oil, and canola oil (Collins).

most nutritionists would say that whole eggs and red meat are bad for you, but there great for building muscle.

But majority of fats can be taken from healthy sources, but there are properties or red meat and wholes eggs that i think are needed,both of these contain high levels of arichindonic acid, and a bunch of other high soluble b vitamins.

Maybe you are doing this alreayd,i dont know.

Pretty interesting post. I am taking flax oil and I will try to up my peanut butter intake (great for protein anyways). Thanks man!
 
well I am glad that i can help, as for you not taking in all the nutrients you thought you were, that is very common, when people stray from their diet log, they tend to stray from their diet. the end result is that the individual takes in about a third less calories and protein than desired and about 25% more carbs, think of the diet log as a leash on a dog, when the dog wants to stray, tug on the leash(revert to your diet log) and the dog stays on track. also, One tip I can give you to help, and I know this sounds a little obsessive compulsive but it is good practice. when I was in college, I did not have much time to eat, or prep my meals, but sundays were my one day that I did not have school and I did not train, so I would gather all my groceries up, cook a weeks worth of food, seperate it into meals for each day(being conscious to leg day and back, for more cals) and then put it in tupperware containers labeled with the day and what meal it was, lunch dinner etc, I had carefully weighed out all the portions and the cals/carb/protein into each meal so that I was taking in what I my body needed when It needed it. the whole process took about 3 hours and a weeks worth of headaches was taken care of. also I have set times that I eat, and they are the same every day. so no matter what, I must stop what I am doing and feed my face. I hope this helps ya out some more.
~yoked
 
well I am glad that i can help, as for you not taking in all the nutrients you thought you were, that is very common, when people stray from their diet log, they tend to stray from their diet. the end result is that the individual takes in about a third less calories and protein than desired and about 25% more carbs, think of the diet log as a leash on a dog, when the dog wants to stray, tug on the leash(revert to your diet log) and the dog stays on track. also, One tip I can give you to help, and I know this sounds a little obsessive compulsive but it is good practice. when I was in college, I did not have much time to eat, or prep my meals, but sundays were my one day that I did not have school and I did not train, so I would gather all my groceries up, cook a weeks worth of food, seperate it into meals for each day(being conscious to leg day and back, for more cals) and then put it in tupperware containers labeled with the day and what meal it was, lunch dinner etc, I had carefully weighed out all the portions and the cals/carb/protein into each meal so that I was taking in what I my body needed when It needed it. the whole process took about 3 hours and a weeks worth of headaches was taken care of. also I have set times that I eat, and they are the same every day. so no matter what, I must stop what I am doing and feed my face. I hope this helps ya out some more.
~yoked
That's dedication. I like making a lot of food on sundays for the upcoming week as well...It definately helps when I have something good ready to heat up and eat vs contemplating eating something quick thats bad...I hate cooking when I'm hungry.
 
Pretty interesting post. I am taking flax oil and I will try to up my peanut butter intake (great for protein anyways). Thanks man!


natural PB helped me out like you wouldnt believe...i swear by it. I was following along with your post and just decided to drop some stuff i did.

I was in the exact same boat as you and was about to just throw in the towel...dont man seriously.

some things that helped me out a lot:

natural peanut butter ... I basically eat this all day in between 6 to 7 meals. Its so easy to take in and works wonders.

a good mass gainer .... I like ON Serious Mass. Liquid calories were what really helped me. Not only are they easy to take in, but are great if you are the kind of person that misses a meal because you have a busy schedule ... school... work etc...

I started with a daily intake of around 4200 calories...that absolutely did not cut it for me. I keep my intake to around 5500-6000 now and i'm making gains. DONT miss meals... just stay consistent with eating.

I went from 135 to 170 in about a 1 1/2 to 2 years....but you'll notice the gains the whole way through. Dont get frustrated
 
hey man i know im a lil late into the whole convo see you got some of the best advice going around in here and couldnt agree more with everyones opinion on what do my brotha. anyway i gues ill share my story as well just cause everyone else did and to help u out.
10th grade in highschool weighed 200lbs and i was like 5'6 so i was a chubby mofo dude alright. end of 10th grade said fu ck this cant do it nemore wanted to lose weight so bad so i did it went from 200lbs-150lbs within a year and half and gained muscle was working out 4 days a week average and doin cardio was probably one of the happiest moments in my life that i accomplished my goal.
Recently bout 4months ago weighed aroung 160ish couldnt gain any size lift 5 days a week couldnt figure it out joined this site and found real quick, i was eating about 1000cals a day and my body burns about 4000 cals a day huge difference so the first thing i turned to was getting some m-drol or h-drol everyone shot me down after they told me what i needed to do. best advice listened and now eat everything i see its like having another job being an ecto and having to eat that much man i know it suxs and it is expensive but i got a weight gainer which gives me 1000 cals just from that and i eat 4000 so it helps make my day a lil easier. bottom line my friend dont give up i was ready to give up and take the easy way out with hardly any effort like a bit ch would. soo my advice dont give up if your goal and dream is to be bigger like mine is. i now weigh 182.
now realizing how much there is to it when i thought u work out u get big not knowing all the science and info u gotta do, eat, rest, eat, eat, train, eat rest, and take ur supps to help u get there a lil easier, dont give up, im sure everyone wants to give up after all the hard work we do day in and day out at the gym, eating to get to where we want when we know we wont see what we want till next year it fukn suxs. so i say dont give up! just up the cals and split your workout up more with heavier compound lifts target 8-12 reps for mass man!! take care good luck and dont give up unless u really wanna give up. think about it you get what you put into life
 
"In the Penn State study, the subjects eating moderate fat exhibited higher testosterone levels than the subjects eating low fat - this finding merely confirmed previous studies demonstrating that dietary fat is positively linked with testosterone levels."

The reason for this is that your body need cholesterol to make testosterone. You, however, don't need to eat cholesterol because your body makes if from fat. It would have been better if the study said what their cholesterol intakes were.
 
glad to help brotha. hopefully some of the other guys here can share their expertise as well.



I am an ectomorph.

at high school being 6 1 I was 130lbs I am now 205 lbs. I start BB about 7 months ago. Before the gym, I was 170, 7 months in, I am not 205. I eat like a god dam horse. Best friend, 2 scoops protein shake and 1 loaf of bread with a **** load of peanut butter.

in just 3 weeks I went from 200 to 205. I finally broke the 200 barrier and all clean. I never did cardio; yeah, I have fat, but I can always burn that off.
 
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