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When it comes to formulating a bodybuilding diet, you are going to have to pay attention to where your calories are coming from, not just take a 'free-for-all' approach and eat whatever you are in the mood for.
While you will gain weight if you just focus on getting more calories in, there is a greater chance that this weight gain will tend towards being fat gain rather than muscle gain - which is not what you're after.
A better approach is to calculate your target calorie intake, and then from there, determine how many calories from carbohydrates you should be eating.
Your Needed Calorie Intake
First figure out how many calories you need to successfully add muscle mass to your body. A good guideline to go by is to take your current body weight (in pounds) and multiple this by 16 calories if all you are doing is lifting weights and are pretty sedentary the rest of the time, or 18 calories if you are performing more cardio activity or have an active lifestyle (have a job where you are moving around much more).
Once you've got that number, then you can figure out your carbohydrate needs.
Figuring Out How Many Carbohydrates To Eat To Gain Muscle
In order to gain muscle then, you're going to have to supply your body with more energy than it needs just to sustain itself so that it has this extra energy to put forth to building new muscle mass tissue.
Since carbohydrates are the preferred source of fuel by the working muscle tissues, it only makes sense to eat more carbohydrates, rather than getting the extra calories from protein or fat (although some do prefer fat, however this is an entirely different diet approach).
It's a good idea to aim for at least 1.5 to two grams of carbs per pound of body weight, however this can easily be raised up to three or four depending on your calorie needs. For those of you who have an extremely fast metabolism, you're likely going to find that you simply require huge amounts of carbs if you hope to achieve the calorie target you're aiming for.
Where To Place The Carbs
Next you need to decide where you should place the carbohydrates in your day.
Ideally you want a very large portion of these extra carbs to come right around the workout period as this is when your muscles will really suck them up into the cells and create the greatest muscle gain possible.
Aim for at least 200 calories worth of carbs (there are four calories per gram) before your workout and another 300-400 immediately after. Again, this can be increased depending on your own individual needs, but this should be used as a good guideline for minimum amounts.
After that, eating them during the portion of the day where you are most active is a good idea, however don't fall for the myth that if you eat carbs right before bed they will automatically turn into body fat, because this simply is just not the case.
Getting in your daily carbohydrate total is important so if this means having some right before you go to sleep, so be it.
So, have a look at your current diet and determine whether you might be falling short. Not eating enough carbohydrates is a surefire way to derail your progress fast - and cause you to pretty much waste away your time spent in the gym.
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As an ectomorph you're no doubt well aware of the struggle to gain any kind of weight, build muscle and get bigger, no matter how much you eat or train.
Unfortunately, much of the bodybuilding advice available in the fitness press is not really geared toward the ectomorph and hardgainer and so it can seriously hamper your efforts to gain muscle mass if you follow what they recommend.
Here I'd like to offer you some ectomorph bodybuilding strategies that can really help you to gain weight and build muscle quickly, without turning you into a gym rat.
You Are What You Eat
The biggest aspect of ectomorph bodybuilding is getting your diet right. My favourite phrase is "if you want to get BIG, you need to eat BIG"...and this is so true of the ectomorph.
You need to seriously increase your daily calorie intake and split them over 6 meals. This ensures a regular supply of calories and energy to feed your muscles, which is essential since an ectomorph has a naturally high metabolism.
Reduce Your Cardio Workouts
Cardio workouts are great for fat loss, but can make muscle building a little tougher, especially for the ectomorph.
Since our goal is to bulk up fast, we need to create a caloric surplus as much as possible (hence why we'll be eating a heck of a lot more each day). In this respect, cardio only makes our life more difficult since it burns more calories, that could otherwise be used to bulk up our muscles.
A good ectomorph bodybuilding routine has a small element of cardio, usually as a warm up, or simply short sessions once or twice per week.
Work Out No More Than 3 Times Per Week
Most ectomorphs who start a bodybuilding routine make the mistake of thinking that the more they train the better, after all they need to "catch up" with everyone else at the gym, right?
This is a big mistake. Ectomorph bodybuilding requires that you workout no more than 3 times per week (lasting between 45 minutes to 1 hour each) as this leaves essential rest days in between each workout and prevents the possibility of overtraining. Rest is essential for muscle growth, as this is when the most growth occurs...not in the gym.
Focus On Compound Exercises
A solid ectomorph bodybuilding routine relies heavily on compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises, since they recruit more muscle groups and muscle fibre per exercise, resulting in faster muscle growth.
Compound exercises such as Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press and Bent Over Rows are the bread and butter of any ectomorph bodybuilder, since they allow you to lift heavier weights and generate a greater amount of testosterone which fuels bigger, stronger and better muscles.
