Hey, Ecto Chicks

A

Amadeus

Cathlete
Angela, I totally missed your post or I would have responded! I'd be happy to return to ecto-posting maybe not once a week but every other would be good.

How are we all? Briee, I need details on the "stability ball":+ . I bet you look so cute.

I miss hearing what the "undermuscled maidens" are up to.

Julie:7
 
Hey Julie,

I was just over on the KP&C thread moaning and groaning. If I'd known you'd started this thread, I would have come over here with my gloom and doom.;)

I was telling Briee I plan to ask Cathe for recommendations for ectos when the BB DVDs are done. I know she's got more important things on her mind at the moment.

Sounds like you guys had a great weekend! I wish I could have been there, but I could never keep up with y'all!

Angela
 
Hello fellow ectos! Do you mind if I join in too? Is there some kind of initiation (like, oh, bench pressing 5 lbs:p)?
 
OK, so if you're an ectomorph, you have long limbs and don't put on muscle easily, right? It's not that I can't lift heavy weight, just that I don't look like I can. I hate endurance work because it hurts more, but it works best for me. Years and years of weights of all sorts have not resulted in huge muscles, but I certainly am not bench pressing 5 pounds. I use 30 lb dumbells for S/H chest, but my chest looks pretty wimpy. If I have this all wrong, please let me know.
 
Nope, you're right. Ectos have long limbs, don't put on muscle easily and many of us have trouble putting on any weight at all. Small bone structure is also an ecto trait.

Endurance work by itself never did much for me. I spent years doing Firm workouts without much to show for it. My wake up call was when my neighbor's friend saw me working in the yard in shorts and asked her if I was anorexic.

I never had much muscletone until I started doing Cathe's strength training. I started with the PS series. Now, I work each body part twice a week - once endurance: light weight, higher reps, and once strength: heavy weight, lower reps.

I can see nice muscletone when I'm flexing, but I don't see much when I'm just standing naturally. It's frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I've really made progress, then someone makes some hurtful remark about how "skinny" I am, and I get pretty discouraged. That's what I was "bitching and moaning" about on the other thread. Anyone want to join me?:D

P.S. I guess I don't look very strong either, 'cuz people are always saying, "Let me carry that for you!" or "Here, you can't lift that!" although I obviously am doing it without distress.
 
I am long-limbed, underweight (5'9", 125 lbs) but with weak, flabby abs that finally seem to be improving.

I was, of course, kidding about bench pressing 5 lbs. I can usually match or exceed what Cathe lifts (except shoulders and triceps) and you can see some definition on me because there's not much body fat to cover the muscles, except in my abs.

I vary the types of strength training I do, sometimes within the same week and sometimes I do an entire rotation with one type. I almost always include Bootcamp in my rotations (I count it as cardio plus a third weight training session) and I'm always trying to find ways to include more yoga in my rotations.

I don't love the "too skinny" comments either and try to educate people that comments like that can be as hurtful as "too fat" comments, which most people would never say to someone's face. At this point, though, I feel lucky that I can eat a lot of calories without gaining weight and I think I look healthy. I'd love to see a bit more definition and less flab in the ab area. Anyone got a magic bullet?
 
Hi ladies:

hey Susan, I knew you were joking about bench pressing 5 pounds, by the way! What I want to know is when will I ever progress beyond 5 pounds for tricep kickbacks?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I have just had my Dad to stay for 2 weeks and he may think it is the chivalrous thing to do, but his insistence on carrying every bag for me drove me nuts!!! OK so I look like a beanpole, but he watched me doing my SLow and heavy legs with the 50 pound barbell (c'mon! you gotta be impressed here!) and CTX upper body workout, and he still assumes I'm a pathetically weak female who needs rescuing from her shopping bags! What does he think I do when he's not around?


Every time I see certain people, and my PCP, i get the same question: "have you lost weight? you seem thinner than usual." only to point out to my PCP that my weight is 128 pounds for my 5' 8" frame and has been for several years now....... so she looks at her chart and agrees that it's true, there are the numbers in front of her......and still, those gaunt cheeks...... I wish I could put more fat on my face, I would look so much bigger all over!

I wish I had greater shoulder and chest strength.....my back is strong, I match Cathe for back weights or go beyond her. I have managed to get up to 2 15 pound weights for all chest work, and 2 15 pound weights for all bicep work in the Slow and Heavy tape back in July, and that was my strongest moment EVER!!!!!


Angela: truly, no matter what I do, and CTX upper and PUB have given me nice definition when done regularly, the only tape that really built muscle was the Slow and Heavy series. I reckon we ectos need to be doing it for longer rotations.....someone said that on a S&H thread the other day, she does 8 weeks of it....

Well, that's my bitching and moaning over with.

I have just had a break of a week due to a really bad cold that my Mum brought over for me from London, so I am starting back today with CTX upper and maybe S&H legs and glutes too.

Talk to you all later!

CLare (new ecto chick member)
 
Slow and Heavy

Hi Clare,

I agree that S&H seems to be the overall winner for mass building. I'm doing a rotation now that uses the upper body tapes.

I've been struggling lately with my lower body workouts. For some reason, lunges were really bothering me. And it's hard for me to go heavy enough with squats to really see results. I had good luck with LL for quad development. I like PLB alot because of the ball work. Great for the hamstrings which are a problem area for me. I'm looking forward to trying Legs and Glutes since I heard it has a lot of non-traditional moves.

I dunno. Seems like heavy, strength workouts work best for my upper body and lighter endurance works best for lower. Maybe just be a stage I'm going through.

Once the BB DVDs have shipped, I'll ask Cathe for ecto pointers. Y'all keep an eye peeled for her response.

Angela
 
RE: Slow and Heavy

I'm responding guys, but I hardly qualify for an ecto right now. My abdominals have long since disappeared and the stability ball is attached to me, I think for 6 more weeks. I could moan about all kinds of things, but I just had a can of diet pepsi and happen to be feeling extremely chipper. I'm up for checking in very soon and I am proud to say that I can bench more than 5 pounds - yahoo!!

I've seen much more muscle transformation with the heaviest weights I can possibly lift at least once per week and an endurance rotation for the other lifting day. I also put PS upperboy in between the two and go moderate to heavy. This loosely follows the HST program (hypertrophy specific training method). I would have loved to see even more results from this, but alas found myself growing a baby right after I had begun. I have found that it "TAKES TIME" guys, I love things to happen overnight, but I'm realizing it's gonna take some years. I've also had to add more protein to my diet. I am beginning to see some striation in the shoulder area which is a triumph for me. I'm looking forward to the legs and glutes DVD to give me some relief from that awful curse entitled "leaner legs".

Amadeus...I missed you, thought you might have been abducted or something, but seeing that you can still workout with AJ...you must be fine and dandy.....PTL. So has her bicep vein grown any????? I would have LOVED to have been there, but wouldn't have fit in the hot tub I'm sure.

Briee
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top