Tall Guys with Thin Muscles

[cajunbob]

I know this is a generalization, but is it true that most tall guys (i.e. 5'10" or taller) with thin bones and thin muscles need more time to recover?

I am the classic Ectomorph. 5'11" with very thin muscles and bone structure. I have made decent gains at the gym over the past 1.5 years but I know my girlfriend (she is 5'1" with the athletic build - rather than the lanky build like me )could go to the gym for 3 months and look alot bigger then I could.

Just curious what your thoughts are on people with long muscles and how they should work out to optimize growth?

To end on an optimistic note, I do have hope that once I do get to the heavy poundages I am shooting for in a few years, my long muscles will look quite impressive.

Thoughts and comments appreciated!

CajunBob

 

[sysopt]

I would say I'm more of an ectomorph than anything else. I've been underweight for most of my life and am just starting to put on some muscle. Everyone is different so you'll have to experiment a little bit with recovery time. I don't know that just because we are thin with long muscles we need more recovery time. Try doing each muscle group once a week and see how that goes. Also, make sure you're eating plenty of good food. Eating enough food was my most critical problem until I got this meal replacement power which is loaded with carbs and protein. If you have trouble putting on muscle make sure you doing either squatting or deadlifting. I personally alternate between the two. One of these exercises alone stimulates about 60% of muscle mass. It will also help your upper body grow. Stick to compound exercises that work relatively large muscles (bench and it's variations, pullup and variations, etc..). Also since you are probably a hardergainer I wouldn't do more that 2 heavy sets per exercise. good luck

 

[DanielBishop]

I'm 6'2" and I think generally, taller people have more slender limbs. All else being equal, it's more or less the same muscle mass.... but with a longer limb it's more stretched out and therefore doesn't bulge the way a stockier person's muscle does.

 

[SSAlexSS]

I know this is a generalization, but is it true that most tall guys (i.e. 5'10" or taller) with thin bones and thin muscles need more time to recover?

I am the classic Ectomorph. 5'11" with very thin muscles and bone structure. I have made decent gains at the gym over the past 1.5 years but I know my girlfriend (she is 5'1" with the athletic build - rather than the lanky build like me )could go to the gym for 3 months and look alot bigger then I could.

Just curious what your thoughts are on people with long muscles and how they should work out to optimize growth?

To end on an optimistic note, I do have hope that once I do get to the heavy poundages I am shooting for in a few years, my long muscles will look quite impressive.

Thoughts and comments appreciated!

CajunBob

I Your recovery is eaither very good or very bad. If you are tall than you are probably more of endurance type of person. Shorter people tend to be more of a "power" and no endurance type with most hypertrophy.

SZo in your case either you should work out a lot or work out very little.


The best routine for size for you would be to

Day1: Squat. few sets of 20 reps
Deadlift few sets of 20 reps
bench press or dips

Day2: 1 set of overhead press 6-10 reps and dips
Chins and rows of your choice.

On that routine (or a variation of it )YOU HAVE TO GROW if you continue to increase poundages. There is NO way you won't grow if you eat and train right!

 

[Enock]

I'm 6"3 started at a weight of 164 (obviously I have askinny build) now I'm 180

As far as recovery goes, nope doesn't seem to take any longer. Age has the most to do w/ it.


Of course the one generalization where I can see why they may say that tall skinny guys take longer to recover is simple, SKINNY hmm prolly not exceeding his calories needs by nearly as much as a normal sized person, thus w/ more added calorie expenditure I can easily see them falling into the category of being deficient in enough cal consumption to be in an anabolic state.