Ecto's battle

[moderateectomorph]

Shit those came out really big, can I reduce  the size somehow, it annoyed even me =/

[p.s.]

Yup they sure did come out rather large!! Oh well it did give us an indication of where you're at though, and you just need to concentrate on eating high protein, moderate EFAs (fat), and keep the carbs low. In all honesty you're at about the same place I was when I started lifting at 19 (I was 145 lbs at 5'10ish), so I know you can accomplish your goals of gaining muscle weight/size. However in order to achieve these gains you're gonna have to devote yourself to a BBing lifestyle, and read/learn as much as possible regarding nutrition as well as training.

[moderateectomorph]

Ok, I'm going to cut down slightly on the pasta bakes, when I actually counted the calories, turns out it was about 1750 each time lol. I'll definitely read up more.. I wouldn't like to think that lack of knowledge is holding me back, I enjoy research anyway.

I stupidly hurt my neck whilst doing the millitary press ( I turned to look at someone talking to me) and exasperated it at my martial arts class the next day. I still went to the gym and tried to workaround it, but had to higher reps.

I'm alright now, this was my last workout

Squats 5x5: 75kx5
Deadlift (standard) 5x5: 90kx2, 100kx3
Bench 5x5: 55kx3, 60kx2
Bar row 5x5: 50kx3, 55kx2
Millitary press 5x5: 35x5 (I remember not even being able to do 20k for one rep a few years back!)
Bar curl 5x10: 30kx2, 35kx3
Lying tricep extension 5x10: 20kx5
Standing calf raises 5x15: 200kx5
Assorted weighted crunches 5x15

Should I continue doing the routine the same?

[HARDCORE]

Hey buddy,

I removed the monster sized photo's you uploaded and here are a more reasonable size of them.

As far as your struggles with calories, I feel your pain. I have to eat a massive amount of calories, pushing my carbs upwards over 700g per day with protein 350g plus, just to see the scale start to move. I couldnt imagine doing martial arts and cardio like you are doing!

[p.s.]

Those pics are much better.....From what I can see Ecto all you need to do is get really consistant with your training and eating and you'll grow just fine, but all the extra martial arts and cardio will make it a bit harder to achieve your BBing goals. However if you eat enough and get lots of rest your goals can be accomplished.

[moderateectomorph]

I took a short break for my joints to recover. They were beginnning to hurt, they've always been pretty weak. I don't think I should have done maximum intensity on every set for the last routine, oops lol.

Anyhow I'm experimenting with routines still, have done more reading. I'm doing a basic strength routine atm that focuses on only compounds. It's got my strength back to where it was in a couple of weeks, but unfortunately I won't get much further for a month or so because I kept stuffing my face when I stopped training and I'm going to keep calories at a maintenance level (with more protein ofc) until my lovehandles piss off lol.

Was my last workout:

Squat: 82.5k (3x5)
mill press 40k (3x5)
powerlift 40k (3x5) ok my first try.. hard to get the technique right even though i've read like 50 pages on it, bloomin eck.

3 sets of weighted crunches.

Ok, even after I lose the bit of blubber I will keep going for strength primarily for a while, I want to get my bench to 80k, squat to 100k and deads to 150k.  Then maybe I'll go for muscle mass.

[p.s.]

Ok ecto here's the thing that routine aint gonna do jack for ya for either strength wise, muscle growth, or fat loss. It just isn't enough volume, and as you've learned a valuble lesson in regards to HIT type training IE it kicks the shit outta your joints, you'll now have to resort to how most of us train (lots of sets and reps per bodypart). I would suggest that you train each major bodypart once per week and pick up abs and calves on smaller body part days (shoulders, chest).

Have a look at coneytt (Theo's) routine and diet to give you a better idea of what you need to do. After you've followed a basic size/strength program such as Theo's (well it's not really basic as it's tailored for Theo, but it's a great starting point for you) for a few months/year then we can address any weak points by customizing the routine a bit for you. or invest in a book like Arnolds encyclopedia of BBing as it's full of great info and routines. As a side note guys like MnB, JT, HC, and myself used books of this nature to learn about training/nutrition and still refer back to 'em even years later.

I hope this helps a bit young fella...