As an ectomorph (hard gainer) does it make sense trying to bulk or should I got for the lean look

SnowflakesByTheOZ

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I'm pretty much ecto meso. I hover around 155 lbs and if I eat alot and gym constantly I can put on pounds pretty fast, in like a week. The problem is, I lose it just as fast. Now I know I don't eat as much calories as I should but that shyt gets expensive and my high metabolism means I'm gonna run myself broke just off of food. Should I go for a lean look ? Anyone in this position ?
 

IrateMastermind

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How old are you? I used to be a hardgainer when I was younger because I was doing everything wrong. I had a PhD in muscle and fitness.

I completely understand how expensive that shyt gets and how easy it is to lose the mass you put on. I lost most of my mass last year when I started BJJ. I couldn’t control my cortisol. I figured it out though.

Without knowing more about you all I’ll say is try to get leucine in with every protein meal above 40 grams. And you should have at least 3 a day.

You can get supplements cheap on amazon through bulk supplements.

You can customize your protein shakes for much less through true nutrition
 

get these nets

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I'm pretty much ecto meso. I hover around 155 lbs and if I eat alot and gym constantly I can put on pounds pretty fast, in like a week. The problem is, I lose it just as fast. Now I know I don't eat as much calories as I should but that shyt gets expensive and my high metabolism means I'm gonna run myself broke just off of food. Should I go for a lean look ? Anyone in this position ?
There's always a workaround for gym/nutrition/weight training issues.

In MY experience, bodytypes are true and that there are hard gainers. I am ecto and have always been a hard gainer.

The work around for you is to find inexpensive but nutrient dense foods that allow you to keep your gains. You're proably going broke thinking that you need to eat lots of meat, but that's not the case. You can get protein from other (cheaper)sources and you can get more calories other ways.

Look at your local supermarket circulars, buy and eat an extra 4-6 boiled egg whites a day for protein. Black beans are also inexpensive source of protein.

Purchase whole wheat pasta and cook a bunch of it at once.....or brown rice.....and it eat small bowl of it along with the meals you eat at home.

Won't add more than 6-7 dollars per week to your food budget. You'll buy the eggs weekly..can buy the pasta or rice in bulk.

*Potatoes/sweet potatoes can replace the rice.
 
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SnowflakesByTheOZ

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How old are you? I used to be a hardgainer when I was younger because I was doing everything wrong. I had a PhD in muscle and fitness.

I completely understand how expensive that shyt gets and how easy it is to lose the mass you put on. I lost most of my mass last year when I started BJJ. I couldn’t control my cortisol. I figured it out though.

Without knowing more about you all I’ll say is try to get leucine in with every protein meal above 40 grams. And you should have at least 3 a day.

You can get supplements cheap on amazon through bulk supplements.

You can customize your protein shakes for much less through true nutrition
I'm 26. What were you doing wrong ?
 

IrateMastermind

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I'm 26. What were you doing wrong ?

@Get These Nets had a lot of good to say. I disagree with the carb advice but if that’s your wave riding it’ll get you where you wanna go.

I agree with the nutrient dense foods. That was my biggest mistake. I ate 4000 to 5000 calories of empty foods a day and would lose weight.

I keep my carbs sub 50 grams on non training days with mostly salads.

On lifting days if I’m below 10%bf (rare for me these days) I get about 200g carbs post workout with my protein powder.

On days I do BJJ when I finish I’ll get about 100g of carbs, even if I’m not below 10%. My body can’t handle jiujitsu without carbs.

On all those days I eat at least 2 salads but I normally do 3.

I don’t eat carbs until I workout. I like to earn them.

Being insulin sensitive has helped me stay lean and bulk at the same time.

I consume those pwo carbs with pentacarb. You can buy this through atp labs. I make it myself by buying the ingredients from bulk supplements. It’s much cheaper.

Don’t feel like I’m pushing these supplements on you. You can do all of this with real food and it’ll be better. I just hate the feeling of being bloated and I like how the 5 carbs are absorbed at a different times so I don’t get an insulin spike.

What does your diet usually look like? What supplements do you use?

In case you’re curious I hover between 175 and 215 but I like 195 the best. I wasn’t able to do this until I got my insulin under control.
 

SnowflakesByTheOZ

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@Get These Nets had a lot of good to say. I disagree with the carb advice but if that’s your wave riding it’ll get you where you wanna go.

I agree with the nutrient dense foods. That was my biggest mistake. I ate 4000 to 5000 calories of empty foods a day and would lose weight.

I keep my carbs sub 50 grams on non training days with mostly salads.

On lifting days if I’m below 10%bf (rare for me these days) I get about 200g carbs post workout with my protein powder.

On days I do BJJ when I finish I’ll get about 100g of carbs, even if I’m not below 10%. My body can’t handle jiujitsu without carbs.

On all those days I eat at least 2 salads but I normally do 3.

I don’t eat carbs until I workout. I like to earn them.

Being insulin sensitive has helped me stay lean and bulk at the same time.

I consume those pwo carbs with pentacarb. You can buy this through atp labs. I make it myself by buying the ingredients from bulk supplements. It’s much cheaper.

Don’t feel like I’m pushing these supplements on you. You can do all of this with real food and it’ll be better. I just hate the feeling of being bloated and I like how the 5 carbs are absorbed at a different times so I don’t get an insulin spike.

What does your diet usually look like? What supplements do you use?

In case you’re curious I hover between 175 and 215 but I like 195 the best. I wasn’t able to do this until I got my insulin under control.
I'll look into Pentcarb. I used Universal Gain Fast that's supposed to be 880 cals per serving, I saw slight gain but because of the milk content it triggered my sinuses I stopped taking it (I can't have cheese or milk)

My diet is 6 boiled or fried eggs for breakfst if I'm in a rush in the morning I'll have them when I get home. Lunch is usually brown rice veg and chicken breast or fish (I don't eat red meat) . During the day I'll eat nuts and peanut butter on whole wheat. What nutrient dense foods do you recommend ?
 

IrateMastermind

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I'll look into Pentcarb. I used Universal Gain Fast that's supposed to be 880 cals per serving, I saw slight gain but because of the milk content it triggered my sinuses I stopped taking it (I can't have cheese or milk)

My diet is 6 boiled or fried eggs for breakfst if I'm in a rush in the morning I'll have them when I get home. Lunch is usually brown rice veg and chicken breast or fish (I don't eat red meat) . During the day I'll eat nuts and peanut butter on whole wheat. What nutrient dense foods do you recommend ?

I can tell you from Experience the Universal Gain Fast is a low quality supplement. I didn't realize how low quality most supplements were until I started looking into medical grade supplements and supplements sold from Canada. Most of the Universal Gain Fast is filler. If your BCAA powders say proprietary blend that means sugar or the cheapest AA's they can add to keep cost down. I'll say it again. Bulk Supplements and True nutrition has saved me a ton of money and I get better quality supplements. They don't advertise to keep cost down.

To answer your quality foods question. I eat a variety of things. I eat all types of meat. Animals only :dame:. The leaner the meat the less you have to eat get your protein intake. For example, I'm less stuffed eating 50 grams of protein from shrimp than I am eating 50 grams of protein from ribeye because of the fat on the ribeye. I don't count calories. Just macro's.

So for breakfast I had 50 Grams of Argentinean Shrimp for breakfast with a handful of walnuts. And yes, i mean my hand was full. I don't measure my fat. I only measure the carbs that come from my pentacarb. IMO nothing else is worth measuring.

For lunch I had a large salad with a sliced hard boiled egg, mushrooms, sliced red bell pepper, carrots and garnished with walnuts (not a handful). Topped with a lime vinaigrette I made. I had 50 grams of chicken breast.

Snack. Same as above but without the meat.

Dinner. Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and more shrimp. 50 grams of protein and garnished with more walnuts.

Before bed i'll have 70% or above dark chocolate and a glass of red wine 2 to 3 days a week.

If I worked out I'd have basically the same thing as above with different meats and different vegetables. My pre workout is 2 shots of espresso. During my workout I'd have water with 20g BCAA and 20 g EAA assuming I'm trying to build muscle and not lift for strength. Post workout I do 60 grams of protein and pentacarb with Red Cherry juice or Pineapple juice.

Healthy foods I eat are a variety of vegetable but be careful with carrots because they're sneaky. They're full of sugar.

When I'm lean I'll eat cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, cherries and other high sugar fruits.

When I'm "fat" I'll eat berries (not strawberries) for fruit instead. Buy what's in season.

For fat I eat Pistachio's, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews and rotate them so I don't create a food intolerance. I buy them all in bulk from Sam's club and keep the cost down. Way down.

I just reread your post. Don't skip breakfast unless you intermittent fast, not my thing but I get it. Also, if you have a problem with running late make a double portion of meat for dinner and eat the leftover for breakfast.
 
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