Dream about gaining extra pounds and muscle mass? Probably, you have a special body – ectomorph. In other words, you are hard gainer.
Such people require a special meal plan, such as Emily Ratajkowski diet. As a rule, it is difficult for them to gain weight and muscles. But this article will help ectomorphs to maintain stable weight.
Would you like to know about the special ectomorph diet?
We’ve prepared some useful information on how ectomorphs can get the perfect shape and stay healthy. Surely, this diet is not only food but hard exercising too.
Bodybuilding ectomorph diet
Relying on Reece Mander‘s article on bodybuilding.com, our fitness experts developed a special ectomorph meal plan:
- 1-2 servings of BCAA
- 1 banana, peach or apricot
- 100 g of oatmeal (dry)
- 1 banana
- 1 tbsp of peanut butter
- 4 cooked or fried eggs
- 1 serving of vitamin-mineral complex
- 0.5 servings of creatine
- 150 g of cereal, pasta or potatoes
- 250 g of beef
- salad of fresh vegetables and olive oil
- 100 g of rice
- 200 g of chicken or turkey
- salad of fresh vegetables and olive oil
- 1-2 servings of BCAAs
- 1 serving of pre-training complex
- 1 serving of pre-training complex
- 1 serving of pre-training complex
- 1-2 servings of gainer or whey protein
- 100 g of cereal, pasta or potatoes
- 200 g of chicken or turkey
- salad of fresh vegetables and olive oil
- 250 g of fish
- salad of fresh vegetables and olive oil
- 200 grams of cottage cheese or a portion of casein
- 50 grams of nuts
According to acefitness.org, it is not necessary to follow this ectomorph nutrition plan thoroughly.
You can always add, remove or replace something. The main thing is to eat healthy food, consistently keep the daily calorie content, work hard in the gym and do not forget about recovery.
- 100 g of oatmeal and a tablespoon of peanut butter
- 1 large banana
- 3 large scrambled eggs and 30 g hard cheese
- 0.5 servings of creatine
- 0.5 servings of creatine
- 2 cups of whole milk with a portion of whey protein isolate
- 30 grams of almonds
- Total: 563 kcal, 46 g of protein.
- 100 g of quinoa or rice with sauce for taste
- 250 g chicken breast
- 100 g broccoli
- Total: 541 kcal, 57 g of protein.
- 2 cups whole milk with a portion of whey protein isolate
- 30 g of almonds
- Total: 563 kcal, 46 g of protein.
- Dinner is the meal after working out. So, choose products instinctively. Just note, it should be about 1000 calories, a lot of vegetables and complex carbohydrates, and at least 30 grams of protein. It’s required to push muscles growing after exercising
- A cup of whole milk with a serving of whey protein isolate
- 60 g of dark chocolate
- Total: of 557 kcal, 34 g of protein.
- 100 g of oatmeal
- 250 ml of milk
- 50 g of raisins and 5 g of olive oil
- 150 g of chicken breast
- 100 g of grilled vegetables
- 15 ml of olive oil
- 100 g of pasta (dry weight)
- 150 grams of chicken breast
- Cocktail with 50 grams of gainer
- 70 grams of rice
- 100g of chicken breast
- 130 g of cottage cheese
- 10g of olive oil
According to this daily menu, you can get: Protein – 134 g – 530 kcal, fat – 72 g -650 kcal, carbohydrates – 360 g -1440 kcal.
Totally it’s about 2600 kcal. If this quantity is not enough for you to gain muscle mass you should add another 20% to all products, that is, about 520 kcal.
The personal level of calories
Mindvalley writes on her blog.mindvalley.com:
Each body is individual and for each one, you need to select the right calorie level. The specific diet is ideal for one ectomorph, but the other can acquire the fat mass due to the large ratio of carbohydrates.
- Remember about vegetables and fruit.
In some cases, you can replace the meat with Ulisses Jr protein additives. It’s better for them twice a day in between meals. And the most important, do not stick to this ectomorph diet completely. You may replace and vary the ingredients.
- Oatmeal, soft cottage cheese toast, peanut butter, eggs, and bananas are great for breakfast.
You can have the usual meal for lunch and dinner. Do not forget about the vegetables. You always can include some useful but high-calorie products.
Let’s take an almond for a sample. 100 grams of peeled almonds contain about 600 kilocalories, and whole almonds contain even more.
A couple of handfuls almonds a day will add about 1,000 calories to your ectomorph diet without feeling bloated. This is a huge amount of healthy calories for a relatively small amount of food.
150 grams of almond contains 30 grams of protein and is also rich in iron and calcium. The most solid meal comes after exercising. If you need extra calories, eat them at this time.
Meal plan for ectomorph to gain weight
On her blog issaonline.com, Issa overviews 3 crucial types of nutrients in the required food:
They are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Proteins have animal and vegetarian origin. Both types are important and necessary for people. Concerning carbohydrates, they are simple and complex ones.
Give preference to complex carbohydrates. They are the fuel of the body. The healthy fats have to be on the menu too. Ectomorphs’ diet should contain 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 20% fat.
- The main part of the diet includes carbohydrates. Note that 1 gram of carbohydrate is equal to 4.1 calories. To gain muscle mass, ectomorphs may require from 6 to 9 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight.
- The second value for ectomorph is protein. One gram of protein is equal to 4.1 calories. Muscle growth is impossible without protein. Protein intake is about 2 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight. Try to divide the daily protein evenly. Consume them every 2.5-3 hours. In this case, you will constantly maintain protein synthesis.
- Fat is the third in the bulking diet plan for ectomorphs. About 1 gram per 1 kg of body weight will be great. One gram of fat contains 9 calories. This amount is useful to manage the hormonal, digestive and cardiovascular systems.
The privilege of healthy products
As already mentioned, about 90% of the diet for the ectomorph should consist of healthy products. It’s true, that they can eat much more compared to the other types.
But junk food can bring unsuspected results. Instead of desired muscles, you can obtain only unnecessary fat.
Really, they have the risk to become skinny fat. In other words, they still could look thin in clothes. But the mess in food and lack of corrects training creat only flabby and fatty body.
Hollywood weight loss alkaline diet is an optimal variant if you want to improve your body and skin eating healthy. So, let’s devote some time to investigate what is the ectomorph diet plan for men and women.
Proteins in ectomorph diet
The main sources of animal proteins are chicken, turkey, beef, fish, egg whites, dairy products, and seafood. For your consideration some helpful tips to choose the right protein-rich foods.
- Red meat must be present in the diet. Time to time you can replace the beef with pork. But, try to choose the least fatty pieces.
- Easily vary red and white fish. Both are rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus, and omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids. The same applies to seafood.
- Include dairy products in your diet. They have rather good amino acid composition. It is better to buy milk, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese and hard cheese with a less percentage of fat content. However, so-called light or zero fat products will bring no benefits.
Vegetable proteins
If you are ectomorph and vegetarian:
Then it’s more difficult to gain the muscles. The experts connect this matter with the origin of proteins. There is a variety of Vegetable proteins. They are also useful for people.
But, there are differences between animal and veg proteins. The main one is the different amino acids content.
- Plant proteins are completely different in structure
They contain more amino acids than animal ones. However, our body does not absorb only 22 essential amino acids, the others are removed from the body.
People digest about 30-50% of vegetable protein and 50-98% of animal ones. Some irreplaceable amino acids are not produced by our body. We get them from food only. Plants almost do not have them.
These vegetable proteins are covered with a hard shell, which complicates their digestion. Soya has the highest content of proteins. Sometimes it is also called a meat replacer. Soy contains 40-50 grams of protein per 100 grams. I would say that these proteins are also necessary for us.
It’s fact that besides proteins, they also supply us carbohydrates, vitamins, and macro microelements. The best source of vegetable protein: Legumes (soybeans, peas, beans. Lentils), nuts and seeds. Each of these products has its own unique amino acid composition. So the combination of different plants in brings the balance in your diet.
These plants are low in fat, do not have cholesterol. They are rich in carbohydrates that serve us as an energy source, rich in vitamins and mineral elements.
Carbohydrates in ectomorph diet
It’s no sense to research carbohydrates from the point of view of chemistry and biology. Complicated explanations and long formulas will give us no idea. Carbohydrates are a common name for very important macronutrient which is the main source of energy for our body.
Carbohydrates mainly consist of fiber, starch, and sugar.
They are divided into simple and complex ones. Simple carbohydrates or monosaccharides have a high glycemic index. Complex carbohydrates or polysaccharides have a low glycemic index.
Simple carbohydrates are broken down quickly by the body. It gives a strong insulin jump, which processes them into fat. Because of their structure, the body needs more time to break down complex carbohydrates.
Without a high level of insulin, they give us energy for 3 -5 hours. The simple carbohydrates are all types of sugars, glucose, fructose, and sucrose, syrups, juice concentrations.
The optimal and inexpensive sources of complex carbohydrates are buckwheat, rice, durum wheat pasta, oatmeal, potatoes, vegetables, and fruits. Pay attention to the products with a low glycemic index. It helps to avoid strong insulin secretion. Otherwise, you risk to gain excess fat and harm your pancreas.
Select the minimally processed cereals. Brown rice is basmati rice or more beneficial compared to the white one. There is no special limit to the vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and fiber which improve the digestion. You need to be more careful with fruits. Many of them are very rich in sugar.
As the example:
One banana contains up to 30 grams of sugar. It is better to eat simple carbohydrates when the body needs fast energy, namely after waking up, before, during and after working out.
Fat in ectomorph diet
Some time ago bodybuilding diet was concentrated on large portions of proteins and carbohydrates. They advise a strong limit of fats. Recent studies proved that it was a mistake. Fats play a big role in a new way of nutrition.
Why?
It is stated on eufic.org that the fats are strong catalysts for muscle growth and make them not only stronger and larger but also more relief. For example, the popular ketogenic diet is a low-carb meal plan with the advantage of fat.
Therefore everybody should know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fats are harmful to health. They can cause obesity and increase the level of “bad” cholesterol. This is one of the reasons for cardiovascular system diseases and atherosclerosis. Read about how to lower cholesterol levels to avoid health problems. Unsaturated fats bring benefits.
They reduce the level of “bad” cholesterol, normalize cellular metabolism, and minimize the risk of atherosclerosis. Saturated fats are animal originated. Trans fats are also dangerous Try to avoid them at all.
Our muscles get microtrauma after hard training. Accordingly, they need special material to treat these small wounds. It’s known now, that saturated fats perform this role.
These useful fats help to keep the calcium in the joints and bones of the athletes. The lack of fats is the risk of injuries, sprains, and breaks. Calcium and some vitamins are not digested without fat. They are the best fuel for our hearts.
Some harmful substances appeared in the body within and after strength training. Saturated fats neutralize them, protect our liver from toxins, strengthen the immune system and have antimicrobial properties. They allow our hormone system to work stable.
Egg yolks, vegetable oils, nuts, avocados, peanut paste are the product with a high range of useful fat.
- Chicken breast – the main source of protein
- Eggs – a balanced set of essential amino acids
- Oatmeal – the focal energy supplier
- Fish – the store of Omega-3
- Nuts – release the tiredness
- Cottage cheese – lovely night protein
- Water – 80% of muscles
- Vegetables and fruit – vitamins and fiber
How to gain weight fast?
As we already know ectomorphs need about 3000 calories per day to reach muscles goal. Sports nutrition is an additional source to get all required carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins and microelements.
Ectomorphs should pay attention to the products that develop anabolic processes and prevent catabolic ones. The market offers a huge amount of different products and additives assisting the athletes to shape the body. The main types are proteins, gainers, complexes of vitamins and amino acids.
There are two main types of proteins to gain muscles and weight. They are whey protein and casein.
- Casein is a kind of milk protein. Taking into account its digestion use it before going to bed. Small quantity feeds the body during the whole night.
- Whey protein is the other kind of dairy protein. In other words, it is a whey protein concentrate. It’s obtained from milk whey.
Eva Andressa whey protein have a great impact on the human body. Compare to casein whey products are digested easier. The technologies offer products of different concentrations. The level of protein varies from 34 to 80%.
And the whey protein isolate has 85 %. The hydrolyzed derivatives have 90% of protein.
Therefore athletes with lactose intolerance can use this supplement. Depending on your budget you can apply any type of whey proteins in the ectomorph diet. It blocks catabolism, so take it after a workout.
- Gainers
Gainer is a mixture of proteins and carbohydrates. Mostly you dilute the powders with milk or juice. You can buy ready-made gainers or make them by yourselves. Here are some options.
- Mix in a blender 200-300 ml of milk, 4 raw eggs, and 1 banana.
- Blend 100 g of cottage cheese, banana, nuts, 1 tbsp of cocoa powder.
- Mix 200-300 ml of milk, 40 g of oatmeal, berries to your taste, add some honey.
Create your own recipes:
Basic ingredients, according to team CELLUCOR on cellucor.com, are protein (cottage cheese, eggs, egg powder, milk powder, proteins) and carbohydrates (fruits, chocolate, condensed milk, berries, honey, oatmeal).
The ratio is 1 to 3. Add milk or juice. It should be approx 20 grams of protein per serving. Use gainers before and after exercising, as well as between the main meals.
- BCAA amino acids
ВСАА – branched chained amino acids include leucine, isoleucine, and valine. They are 3 essential amino acids, which are also found in our usual food (fish, meat, peanuts, eggs). The best time for BCAA or complex amino acids is after waking up, before, during, after workup and before bedtime.
However, the daily dosage of amino acids should about 30 grams.
This schedule gives the energy and One more amino acid as glutamine is perfect to use with BCAA. It’s great for immunity. BCAAs boost the production of leptin. These acids impact fat burning, which is important for gaining weight.
- Increase protein synthesis;
- Reduce catabolic processes in the body
- Improve the breakdown of fats
- Accelerate recovery after workouts
- Stimulate insulin production
- Creatine
They consider it rather effective for ectomorphs. The most common is creatine monohydrate. Creatine helps to increase strength and endurance, keeps enough water in the muscle fiber. It’s is enough to use about 5 grams a day.
Split this amount into several small doses. It’s easy to mix creatine with a gainer or protein, otherwise, use it separately. The supplement gives strength and extra value for the training process.
- Vitamin and mineral complex
These complexes support and maintain immunity and metabolism. It’s a great preventive measure.
- Omega-3
These are useful unsaturated fatty acids. They are involved in many body processes including the structural one. Omega-3 components form new cell membranes, boost the brain functions and prevent inflammation.
They are participants of the fat burning process. Flaxseed, nuts contain unsaturated fats. But fish is the best sources of Omega 3. It’s worth to purchase capsules with high-purity fish oil.
- Pre-training complexes
These powder preparations are advisable for ectomorph athletes. These combinations effect workout motivation. They also increase blood filling in the working muscles. They accumulate energy, increase concentration a fat burning effect due to a slight body temperature increasing.
Many pre-training complexes contain various stimulating substances (DMAA, DMHA, ephedrine, etc.). So, be careful with them to avoid overtraining and spending too many calories.
Therefore, it is better to choose complexes with less stimulator. 100 mg of caffeine is more than enough. Arginine, agmatine or yohimbine are also good for this body type. Due to their components, manufacturers don’t propose these drugs under 18 years.
Ectomorphs should pay attention to:
The nutrients that decrease catabolic but boost anabolic processes and are fast digested. Special nutrition and additives are beneficial for the ectomorph. You will see the tangible results combining the diet, sports nutrition and workout routines.
Top 6 bulking recipes
How do these recipes help ectomorphs?
All these recipes are rich in calories, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and, of course, protein. However, they are especially loaded by carbohydrates. Hardgainers are more sensitive to insulin compared to other people. It helps to utilize glucose and convert it into muscle glycogen.
So, these snacks supply complex carbohydrates with protein. It prevents muscle from destroying during and after an intensive workout.
- long limbs with thin bones
- relatively short body
- narrow shoulders and hips
- elongated wrists, palms, fingers, ankles, feet
- narrow chest
- small muscle mass
- long face a high forehead and a thin nose
- usually thin hair
- low body fat content
- the ability for fast weight loss
- high metabolism
Due to their phenomena overweight is not gained throughout life, even if a person eats enough. Ectomorph’s body shapes are often seen on the pages of fashion magazines:
The narrow bones, long limbs, and flexible body allow them to become famous supermodels, ballet dancers, and basketball players.
- Brad Pitt
- Bruce Lee
- Bradley Cooper
- Chris Rock
- Tobey Maguire
- Edward Norton
- Angelina Jolie
- Kate Moss
- Gisele Bündchen
- Nadya Auerman
- Audrey Hepburn
- Thandie Newton
- Cameron Diaz
- Whitney Houston
- Calista Flockhart
Highlights of weight gain for the ectomorph
Kris Gunnars points out on healthline.com some main general tips to gain the weight for ectomorph body type. It’s important to know and follow them to get success.
- 1. Keep the limit in the gym
When it comes to workouts the common mistake is long and frequent exercising.
The optimal period to spend in the gym is 3-4 times per week for 45 minutes workout. Especially at the beginning, it will bring the best possible results. The fact is that mainly muscles are growing after exercising when you recovery or sleep.
Note:
Ectomorphs’should start with basic exercises to develop strengths. The concentration is directed to deadlifts, squats, pull downs, rows, etc. It will encourage the muscles building. Do not be a fan of cardio at this stage. Gradually enrich your lessons by isolated exercised and heavier load.
- 2. Count calories
You think that hard calculations with calories are not your business. Ectomorphs are lucky to eat what they want. Truly to say, it’s wrong position. If they consume less required amount they will never bulk the weight and muscles.
Too many calories will bring undesirable effects too. So, be patient and keep the rule to count your daily calories schedule. Tracing calories is an easy but helpful mode to be sure you use enough calories to reach the results.
- 3. Enough sleep
Sound and long sleep will help to gain success. The target is eight hours night sleeping. The muscles need full value the recovery. It is the key factor for their growth.
- 4. Select the right calorie food
Choose the food with high calorie dense. It’s better to eat less quantity but get enough calories. Low-calorie products are not for ectomorphs. The days starting with oatmeal will bring energy. Prioritize nuts, avocadoes, dried fruits, meat, and fish.
- 5. Meals schedule
To get the aim you should eat less but more often. It helps to avoid the feeling of hunger. Split your daily calorie demand into 6-8 meals. The body will be fed regularly. Keep the balance of proteins, carbs, and fats.
It’s worth to eat less but more often. It helps to avoid the feeling of hunger. Split your daily calorie demand into 6-8 meals. The body will be fed regularly. Keep the balance of proteins, carbs, and fats.
- 6. Shakes assistance
Open the benefits of shakes. You can complete or enrich your daily calorie goal with shakes. Include them into the menu blending different ingredients. The variety is wide. Of course, it’s possible to buy ready-made gainers or shakes.
You are guaranteed extra 500+ calories. The only caution, these cocktails have too much sugar.
Their result is very short in time. It means that you will be hungry very soon. Cook your own receipts to manage what you put into each shake. Do not forget about natural weight gainers as yogurts, cottage cheese, oatmeal, flaxseeds, nut butter, coconut oil. Just switch on your fantasy
- 7. Control the activity
Those who want to bulk the mass and shape the muscles have to limit their extra activity. As usual, ectomorphs are restless, to some extend nervous people. It’s difficult for them to sit in one place for a long time.
They could do different movements by hands, fingers, and feet constantly. Very often a kind of extra activity is the habit for them. The advice is to reduce speed. It can be a booster to achieve the weight goal faster.
How much daily calories does ectomorph require?
We’ve already known that diet plan for an ectomorph to gain muscle needs to have much more calories compared to the other body types. This quantity is absolutely individual.
Everybody can use the following formula to calculate your daily calorie consumption. In this formula, 60 calories are the best indicator for ectomorphs and hard gainers. Mesomorphs should use around 45, in endomorphs 40 and less.
60 calories x the weight in kg x daily activity level = daily calories
Activity level calculation
It is important to define your level of activity correctly. Take this value for 1 if you are an office worker and mostly seat during the day. If you work hard physically 1.5 is your indicator. The higher your activity range l, the more nutrients you need to recover and grow.
The below estimation if you prefer to do it in pounds.
Get the weight in pounds and multiply it by 18-20. So, the person of 160 lb will require 3200 calories = 160×20 to succeed in weight and muscles growing. Of course, it depends on the activity. If there are no results within one-two weeks, add approx 500 extra calories.
For sure, the ectomorph diet plan for men will be more essential in calories compare to ectomorph women diet.
The way from ectomorph to mesomorph
We believe you’ve got the ectomorph diet vision and advice helpful. Keep them in mind, add your own tips from the practice. Just to note that main criteria for diet plan for an ectomorph to gain weight is plenty of healthy calories.
The most solid meal comes after exercise. You can always add some useful ingredients to the dishes. Create your own recipes with useful for ectomorphs products.
The crucial in building muscle for ectomorphs is consistency food assortment. Meals and workout routines in mutual cooperation will lead you to the target weight and body shape of your dream.
