So, I looked up the article on this website called the Perfect Bodyfat Percentage, written by Shelby Starnes, and it seem liked a really a good article. Though, when I looked on the livespill section where people had there questions, comments, and concerns in relation to the article, someone asked Starnes how does one know if they are an ecto or endo.
He further explained that he was 6’4 185 pounds and that his goal was to gain 10 pounds of lean or dry muscle. Starnes responded to him that “6’4 185 pounds seems pretty ectomorphic to me. If your goal is to be 194 lbs. lean, plan on getting up to maybe 210 or more with a bit of extra girth, holding that for a while, then slowly dieting back down to the mid-190s.”
So Starnes is saying that the 6’4" guy should put on at least 25 lbs. of fat during his bulking phase in order to gain 10 lbs. of solid muscle. Now, that to me seems like a hell of a weight for guy to put on, regardless of how tall he is. I mean, is Starnes telling him that he has to get fat in order to build a great amount of muscle? I am 5’9" 145 lbs. 25 years old, with 8.1 % body fat, and I would say that I am an ecto-meso, having always been very thin with long arms and long legs, 6.5 in. wrists, but have broad shoulders, always been athletic with good muscle tone, and I believe I have good genetics for having developed pecs, lats, and shoulders muscles for someone my size, etc.
I am concerned if someone like me has to bulk up so much to the point of ending up being at least 10 lbs. overweight if the goal is to build optimal gains in strength and muscle mass over years.
Starnes gave that guy advice for that guy. It isn’t necessarily true for you and isn’t necessarily true for anyone, it was just his professional informed opinion.
Why don’t you eat a bunch of food and do some heavy weights four days a week and see how much muscle and fat you gain. Repeat that with alterations over the next 5-10 years and you’ll know what works for you.
[quote]Bull_Scientist wrote:
So, I looked up the article on this website called the Perfect Bodyfat Percentage, written by Shelby Starnes, and it seem liked a really a good article. Though, when I looked on the livespill section where people had there questions, comments, and concerns in relation to the article, someone asked Starnes how does one know if they are an ecto or endo.
He further explained that he was 6’4 185 pounds and that his goal was to gain 10 pounds of lean or dry muscle. Starnes responded to him that “6’4 185 pounds seems pretty ectomorphic to me. If your goal is to be 194 lbs. lean, plan on getting up to maybe 210 or more with a bit of extra girth, holding that for a while, then slowly dieting back down to the mid-190s.”
So Starnes is saying that the 6’4" guy should put on at least 25 lbs. of fat during his bulking phase in order to gain 10 lbs. of solid muscle. Now, that to me seems like a hell of a weight for guy to put on, regardless of how tall he is. I mean, is Starnes telling him that he has to get fat in order to build a great amount of muscle? I am 5’9" 145 lbs. 25 years old, with 8.1 % body fat, and I would say that I am an ecto-meso, having always been very thin with long arms and long legs, 6.5 in. wrists, but have broad shoulders, always been athletic with good muscle tone, and I believe I have good genetics for having developed pecs, lats, and shoulders muscles for someone my size, etc.
I am concerned if someone like me has to bulk up so much to the point of ending up being at least 10 lbs. overweight if the goal is to build optimal gains in strength and muscle mass over years. [/quote]
I didn’t see this original conversation. But, no one is going to recommend gaining fat alone. So Starnes didn’t suggest the 6’4" guy put on 25lbs of fat. He recommended that the lifter bulk up to 210 or more…which means putting on muscle weight and don’t freak out if you gain a little body fat with it. Hold that weight for a while. Then slowly cut weight trying to save as much muscle as possible.
Bull_Scientist you seem like a nice guy, but you over-analyze yourself into the ground. I did the same thing starting out and wasted a shit load of time. If you’re really averaged height and 145 lbs gaining 10 lbs of fat would still probably help you. Please stop being your own worst enemy with this, man.
And just for clarity, you are not ecto-meso. You are quite soundly ecto. 145 at 5’9" at 25 means you are not a very densely packed individual. The fact that your bench has basically stalled (according to you) at a 5RM of 145 is also a decent indicator.
By the way, there are multiple open questions to you in one of your “My bench is stuck” threads. I know you have repeatedly exhibited that you are more knowledgeable than the people trying to help you by arguing with literally every piece of advice they give you by parroting something that you read and cant fully explain when questioned but would you please return to those threads and humor the rest of the mere mortals who are waiting explanations of your methods??
As a general rule, if what you’re doing isn’t working, try something else. Use other people’s experience and knowledge as guidance on what you try, but in the end, it’s up to you to just try and see what happens for you.
There are many paths to a goal, but if you don’t pick one of them, you won’t get anywhere.
What’s worked for Shelby and his client is but one way to do it. If you have doubts about that approach, try something else instead. If you try something else, and don’t get the results you want, revisit your assumptions and try Shelby’s approach.
Before focusing on the optimal way to get to a goal… make sure you’re at least heading toward the goal in the first place.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
And just for clarity, you are not ecto-meso. You are quite soundly ecto. 145 at 5’9" at 25 means you are not a very densely packed individual. The fact that your bench has basically stalled (according to you) at a 5RM of 145 is also a decent indicator.
By the way, there are multiple open questions to you in one of your “My bench is stuck” threads. I know you have repeatedly exhibited that you are more knowledgeable than the people trying to help you by arguing with literally every piece of advice they give you by parroting something that you read and cant fully explain when questioned but would you please return to those threads and humor the rest of the mere mortals who are waiting explanations of your methods??[/quote]
You haven’t seen what I look like, but I can assure you that I have always had broad and shoulders. Also, I don’t mean to brag, but I also have a very well proportioned body --at least in terms of my skeletal structure and shape–. I can post pictures to show you, but I am telling you that I don’t look like a scrawny string bean.
[quote]Bull_Scientist wrote:
You haven’t seen what I look like, but I can assure you that I have always had broad and shoulders. Also, I don’t mean to brag, but I also have a very well proportioned body --at least in terms of my skeletal structure and shape–. I can post pictures to show you, but I am telling you that I don’t look like a scrawny string bean.[/quote]
[quote]Bull_Scientist wrote:
You haven’t seen what I look like, but I can assure you that I have always had broad and shoulders. Also, I don’t mean to brag, but I also have a very well proportioned body --at least in terms of my skeletal structure and shape–. I can post pictures to show you, but I am telling you that I don’t look like a scrawny string bean.[/quote]
That must be nice to have that skeletal framework. I wish I started with broad shoulders.
The point was that while you seem to have a genetic advantage structurally/skeletally, 145lbs on a 5’9 is fairly ectomorphic from a muscular development standpoint.
I’m hovering right around 150lbs at 5’10, which looks significantly different today than 150lbs did a year ago. However, I’ve realized that it’s going to take at least another 15lbs of solid muscle before I even have a clue how much I need to gain. I thought I’d have a clearer picture at this point but I don’t.