Ok, so youre a skinny ectomorph who is struggling to put on weight. Youre training hard, trying to eat as much as you can, but you just cant put on weight- either as muscle or fat. Well, look whose here to save the day. But before I get to this, I just need to lay out a few things you need to accept before you read any further.
- This is not a “bulking” article. The concept of bulking and cutting is completely dated. This is an outline of how to gain as much muscle as possible whilst minimising fat gain.
- You will learn that macro ratios and caloric goals go hand in hand- you cant just use one or the other. Calories set you energy intake for the day, and your macro ratios determine how that intake is consumed.
- Nutrition is more important than training. If you are not consuming adequate calories in the right forms of macronutrients, you will not progress no matter how good your training programme is.
- Im not going to give you a training programme, don’t be so fucking lazy. Im going to give you a template of a programme; follow its principles.
- This is a template. It is not the Bible. I am only providing you with a basic structure as I doubt you have one in place currently. Cookie cutter nutrition/training plans are BS. I couldn’t tell you exactly what you need to do on a completely individualistic level unless I met you. So, consider this as a starter template. Once you see how your body adjusts to this structure, adjust it.
Ok so lets get started. How do I determine how much I need to eat? Well, ive got a nifty little formula for you. This is the Harris-Benedict Metabolic Rate Formula. This essentially estimates how many calories you burn in a 24 hour period in a completely sedentary state.
BMR = 66 + (13.7 x Weight in kg) + (5 x Height in cm) – (6.8 x age)
So, input your stats, and lets see what you get. It should look pretty low; don’t freak, you get to eat a whole lot more than that you little wannabe fat ass. Next, you need to multiply this figure by your basic activity level. This is a measure of your daily activity between 1 (not active) and 2 (extremely active). Don’t kid yourself, even if you train 6 times a week your DA isn’t above 1.6. So, guage from that where you are. Most intermediate gym goers are around 1.55.
So, we now have a figure which essentially tells us what we need to eat per day to maintain homeostasis. But, that’s not what we want. Because youre a skinny-fat ectomorph, we need to bump this up a bit. Multiply your figure by 1.2. this is what I want you to aim for in terms of total calorie intake for the day.
Lets assume you are a 18 year old 182cm ectomorph who weights 70kg. Your activity level is 1.55. You should be aiming to consume nearly 3400 calories a day. Yes, that’s a whole lot of food. But if you want to grow, you had better get eating. This is actually only a 600 calorie surplus from maintenance. It seems a lot, but that’s likely to be because you were drastically under eating in the first place.
So, now we have a daily caloric goal. How do we fill it? For the sake of learning how to structure a diet, lets introduce the carb cycling method. Carb cycling is great, I have used it for about 6 months now and it is, so far, my favourite diet structure (I call it structure as loosely as possible, it’s a very liquid system). The concept of carb cycling is that you eat high, moderate and low carb days. A high carb day is usually the day of an especially intense training session, or a target session- my high carb days are usually on leg day. A high carb day is high protein and high carb, with a lower fat intake. A moderate carb day usually takes place on every other training day. Here, protein is high, with moderate carb and fat intake. A low carb day takes place on a rest day. Here, protein is still high relative to a lower daily caloric intake, but carbs are lower and fats are higher.
Now you are looking to gain weight- the need for a low carb day is pretty low even on non training days. If youre going balls to the wall and training 6 times a week, your rest day should probably be moderate carb. I can only justify a low carb day because im single digit bodyfat. You may be too, but you probably also hold less muscle mass then a pre-pubescent ginger girl. So, I would focus on predominantly high and moderate carb days. Mix it up as to how many of each you do. A good starting point is two high days and 5 moderate days a week. Change as you see fit, though.
So, how do you structure a high carb day and a moderate carb day. Again, remember this is a template. Alter your macro ratios as to how your body reacts to them. But, give this a go to begin with.
High Carb Day:
Protein: 40% of total cal intake
Carbs: 45% of total cal intake
Fats: 15% of total cal intake
Moderate Carb Day:
Protein: 40% of total cal intake
Carbs: 35% of total cal intake
Fats: 25% of total cal intake
We now have a rough calorie and macronutrient goal. But how do you fill it? When do you eat what? Ive observed a few things with skinny people who struggle to put on weight, and it startling how these sweeping generalisations apply to most of you.
1) A huge proportion of your daily carb intake comes in the morning
2) You eat very little fat
3) You eat a lot of shit, but still don’t eat enough in total calories
Now, I am not for one second slating carbs at breakfast. I know some people swear by Loloquin’s steak and nuts breakfast, and are hugely anti morning carb. I don’t think carbs in the morning are inherently bad, but I think that carbs in the post workout time frame are optimal. If you are getting in sufficient carbs in the time around your workout on top of eating a carb saturated breakfast, it is likely that you are going to exceed your carb macro target for the day. Granted, if you react well to pre workout carbs, and your only meal before your workout is breakfast, then carbs at breakfast are great. As well, if you are on a “high carb day”, carbs in the morning are a great time to get them in. I am just making the point that carbs in the morning aren’t absolutely essential, and it may be easier to give them a miss here if trying to hit daily macro targets.
Take home points regarding carbs
- Try and get the majority of your carbs in around your workout time.
- Don’t rely on carbs in the morning. They aren’t detrimental, but they aren’t beneficial.
- Try to consume high GI carbs such as jasmine rice or potato post workout, with your other carb meals consisting of moderate or low GI carbs, such as basmati rice, rolled oats and Quinoa.
- Wheat isn’t the enemy- its just not optimal. Compared to other carb sources it isn’t particularly nutrient dense, and there a few issues regarding its digestibility. So, try to switch the bread and pasta for the aforementioned carb choices. You wont spontaneously combust if you consume wheat, just don’t rely on it.
Fats are a favourite topic of mine because they are so misunderstood. The potential anabolic impact of consuming good fats is vastly underrated- your testosterone metabolism is vastly inhibited if fat intake is too low. Fat has a bad rap because it is the most calorie dense per gram of the 3 main macronutrients. This isn’t a reason to ditch it in any case, especially not if youre looking to gain weight. Don’t get too hung up on your omega 3-omega 6 balance, just consume a wide variety of healthy fats. NB saturated fat is good. Don’t avoid it. Try to avoid over consuming trans fats.
Great sources of healthy fats
- Nut variations- Walnuts, Almonds, Pistachios
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (cold), Coconut Oil
- Real Butter, Coconut
- Oily Fish, Red Meat
Protein
Ah, protein. The king of muscle builders. You probably think your post workout scoop of Promax is sufficient for your daily protein intake. Wrong. You need to consume a larger amount of protein if hypertrophy is your goal. In all liklehood, you should be consuming 200g plus of protein a day. Spread out across 4-6 meals, that is actually pretty easy to do. Great sources of protein are obviously a post workout whey shake, alongside animal sources such as poultry, lean meat and fish. Protein intake in every meal is optimal. In all honesty, if the majority of your daily protein intake comes from whey, that isn’t too much of an issue. It’s the most bioavailable source of protein, and thus the most anabolic. However, do try and eat whole food on top of whey in order to add vital micronutrients into your diet.
Ok guys, thanks for reading part 1 of this two part series. Next up is training, Peace!
Patrick Chapman Fitness 
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