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The ectomorph has a fairly easy time losing fat so they will will generally not need to do as much cardio for fat loss. Two or three times per week should be plenty. An ectomorph trying to gain muscle may need to lay off cardio training completely in order to have enough recovery energy available for their body to even build muscle. Once or twice a week should be the maximum cardio frequency. Even weight training may need to be less frequent (two or three times per week) in order to see results

Moderate-intensity cardio training, such as jogging or swimming, will need to be done a little less frequently. This type of training requires more energy both to perfom and for your body to recover from. A person trying to lose fat can generally perform four to six moderate-intensity sessions per week at around 20 to 30 minutes each. A person trying to gain muscle should reduce this amount to two to three sessions per week.

This type of hard training should be done less frequently than the more moderate forms of cardio as it is much harder for your body to recover from. If you are training for fat loss, you should do at least two but no more than three high-intensity cardio sessions per week. If you are training for muscle gain, once or, at the most, twice per week should be the limit.

High-intensity training is extremely effective for fat loss as it not only causes you to burn a lot of calories during the activity, it also raises your metabolism for a long time after the activity is done.

This would mean an ectomorphic person looking for muscle gain and doing low-intensity cardio training could do cardio two days a week at a minimum to maintain cardio capacity while trying to gain muscle.

The American Council on Exercise suggests male athletes maintain a body fat percentage between 6 and 13 percent whereas female athletes should aim for between 14 and 20 percent. With this body composition, you can expect to see visible muscle gain more quickly.

Building muscle size requires fatiguing the muscle within eight to 12 repetitions of a given exercise in each set. Performing greater repetitions--20 to 25 per set, for example--yields muscle endurance, but this may not translate into visible muscle definition.

To maintain muscle size and strength, engage in at least two resistance workouts weekly. To increase your fitness level, however, perform strength-training workouts every other day. Contrary to popular belief, you do not build muscle while lifting weights; you build it during the recovery time. In the gym, you're actually breaking down the muscle and producing microscopic tears. The muscle repairs itself during the down time, yielding size and strength gains over time. Consequently, eliminating rest days to see muscle gains sooner will only backfire.

Because muscles are made of bundles of fibers, achieving muscle size and strength gains quickly requires targeting all of a muscle's various fibers. A single exercise, such as biceps curls, targets only one segment of the biceps muscle fibers.

To target the remaining fibers, work the muscle from different angles by performing other biceps exercises, such as chin-ups, hammer curls and seated angle curls. The National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends varying exercises with every workout, versus waiting until weekly or monthly intervals to make program changes.

Performing exercises that target multiple muscle groups simultaneously--such as a one-leg squat with reverse wood chop--burns more calories, maximizes strength gains and saves time.

If you are willing to spend a substantial amount of time and energy each week on gaining muscle, then "how long does it take to build muscle", will be a process that takes much less time.

This is fine if you're an actor, but if you lead a normal life, this type of regimen isn't very practical. Although the objective of gaining muscle is reasonable, you should not allow it to become an obsession that rules all aspects of your existence.

Take for example the seemingly overnight transformations that can be observed in some actors that are preparing for specific film roles. These types of dramatic results will only be possible when training is a very big part of your weekly routine. The actors that we mentioned commonly train 7 days per week, twice each day, when getting ready for a film.

n the first 2 years that a novice is training, 15-20 pounds is a reasonable goal for muscle gain. This standard applies to individuals 17 years of age and older. Subsequently, 2-3 pounds of muscle growth each year is typical, for the next several years. These numbers are general guidelines, and your genetics will play a role in your specific results. Therefore, the question of "how long does it take to build muscle?", doesn't have one simple answer. We can only look at what is typical.

Feed him high portions of low-fat, healthy foods. Muscle mass cannot be gained without the fuel provided by food. To gain weight, he will need to consume more calories than he burns. To gain half a pound of muscle per week, he will need to eat 250 more calories more per day than he has been eating, according to exercise physiologist Joseph A. Chromiak.

Add protein to his diet. Select protein sources that are relatively non-fatty, such as baked fish and poultry, advises the Harvard School of Public Health.

Provide a dark and quiet sleep environment for him, and make sure he gets eight hours of sleep every night. It is during sleep that the body repairs damaged muscle tissue and builds muscle mass.

I defeated my skinny genetics just after college and I am about to show you four tips that helped me climb from a 149 pound weakling to a rock hard 190 pounds in six months.

f you are underweight, then your first step to gaining weight is to understand that you must play by a different set up rules. I have said this before and will say it again,

You must think outside the box and give up the excuse of being a "hard gainer." It is time to stop listening to all the naysayers who have told you that is impossible to gain weight because of your genetics. Regardless of what you have been led to believe, you do have the potential to build an impressive physique that turns heads and even intimidates!

Double It Up: One of the most practical steps you can take is to double whatever you are currently eating in the kitchen right now. If you are eating one chicken breast per meal, then cook up two.

Live Your Life Around Food: Sure, you know that you must eat every 2-3 hours, but how well do you execute? Set your clock on a countdown timer to go off every 2 and 1/2 hours so that you reinforce the habit of eating literally not a second late for each meal! Don't turn off the damn beeper until you start chowing down.

se BIG Eating Equipment: If you want to bulk, then you have to eat like Hulk. Do you think Hulk eats out of a small plate, or a small bowel, or a small cup? If you are aiming to get big and huge, you are going to require large amounts of food, most likely close to double of what you are currently eating.

Never Train Hungry: How many times have you woken up, whipped up a protein shake and than headed off to the gym? Or maybe you had a long afternoon and missed a few meals and then attempted a weight training workout after work? I thought this was common sense to avoid, until a few of my skinny clients confessed that they were showing up for their workouts having only eaten a piece of fruit and some crackers within the entire day!

. Eat Nutrient Dense Foods: Focus on caloric-rich foods that are loaded with nutrients. Avoid foods with empty calories, which means there is little or no nutrient value in the calories you are eating. Why would you consume a 500-calorie plus meal that is loaded with fat and sugar which does nothing but make you feel sluggish and soft? Instead, eat a high caloric meal loaded with slow releasing carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Carbohydrates: Oatmeal Rice Breads Yams Beans Potatoes Fruits Veggies

Proteins: Steak Chicken Lean beef Cottage cheese Whole milk Eggs Salmon

Fats: Olive oil Flax oil Avocados Nuts Peanut butter

Extras (high calorie cheat food): Ice cream Raisins Dried fruit Trail mix

Drink A Carb & Protein Drink While You Workout: How hard is to sip on a calorie-rich drink during your weight training sessions? Simply mix up a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein with one liter of water and you instantly have a few extra hundred calories per day. Now have an extra workout drink before your workout and extra workout drink after your workout and that's easily an extra one pound per week. Only use this technique if you are weight training at a very high intensity.

Live The Motto, "Never Stop Eating" Did I hear you say, "But I'll throw up if I eat all day?" Maybe... Is it necessary? Of course not. But this is a part of pushing your body's threshold.

Don't add calories to your meals by choosing unhealthy fried foods such as french fries, chicken nuggets and fish sticks. Choose foods that are prepared with cooking methods like baking, poaching, and stir-frying.

Although online bloggers often suggest that lifting multiple sets is necessary, your body gains the same benefit from one set of each exercise. An appropriate weight is one that fatigues your muscles after between 12 and 15 repetitions

Although a disciplined routine typically produces higher strength levels in about a month, you'll hinder your progress if you test your muscles two days in a row. Resistance exercise promotes strength through a cycle of exhaustion and regrowth.

An effective workout tires your muscles and triggers an alarm response --- or an adaptation process that allows the muscles to adapt to the challenge and strengthen for increased activity. Any muscle tested to a healthy level of fatigue often causes soreness and needs a minimum of 48 hours of rest. Your best chance to continue strength development and avoid muscle deterioration comes with a schedule that lets you work the muscle in your upper body on day and your lower-body muscles in the following workout.

You'll have the greatest chance to meet your strength-building timeline by warming your muscles prior to a resistance workout with up to 10 minutes of mild aerobic exercise, including a brisk walk. Stretching your muscles at end of a workout is also beneficial in order to reduce discomfort and stiffness. Begin a resistance regimen only with your physician's consent.

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Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. Our bodies cannot manufacture nine of the amino acids, so it is important to include all these amino acids in our diets.

Our protein needs depend on our age, size, and activity level.

Record your activities throughout the day as well and use this information to compare how many calories you are consuming to how many you are burning.

Your pre- and post-workout meals should be in the form of a protein shake made with a minimum of 48 g of protein, skim milk and fruit

he protein in skim milk stimulates muscle synthesis better than the protein in soy milk. Carbohydrates like fruit enhance muscle tissue building when combined with protein powder. The amino acids in protein powders are more quickly absorbed into your bloodstream and your muscle cells compared to meat and chicken, optimally enhancing muscle growth.

Protein powders are dietary supplements and must not replace all the sources of protein in your diet. Healthy options of high-protein foods include lean chicken breast, turkey, mackerel, lean meat, low-fat dairy and salmon. Chicken breast, turkey and mackerel are high in magnesium, a mineral essential for optimal muscular contraction

Lean red meat is high in iron, necessary for effective transport and use of oxygen, giving you maximal energy. Low-fat dairy products are rich in calcium, another minimal necessary for muscular contraction. Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which helps to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation.

Plant sources of protein like beans, rice, wheat, nuts and seeds are incomplete proteins. This means such plants are missing at least one essential amino acid. If you do not eat animal products, combine two different sources of plant protein such as beans with rice, seeds, corn, wheat or nuts. Consuming multiple sources of plant protein ensures you eat all the essential amino acids your body needs to build muscle.

A:  First, let me emphasize that our bodies already produce creatine naturally.  Did you ever watch the transformers when you were a kid?  Well if not, there were groups of robots called " combiners. "  They would join together and form an even larger and more massive robot, crushing everything in their paths!  Our liver does the same thing with the three amino acids, Arginine, Glycine and Methionine.  It combines them to form creatine, much like the constructicons combined to form devastator!  Ok so that was a lame example, but it explains the process quite nicely.  

Q: What exactly does creatine do?

1. Creatine works mainly to increase our Creatine Phosphate System

2. Increases The Pump!

3. Increases The Reparation Process of Bodybuilding.

Q: How exactly does Creatine Apply to An Athlete?

A:  Simple, it does so by enhancing your creatine phosphate energy system.  This does a number of things: 1.  Increases explosion - Most athletes notice more explosiveness after utilizing this supplement 2.  Allows yourself to push yourself harder and longer. 

Q: What are the side effects of Creatine, and in General how safe is it? A:  As stated above, creatine is not, and I repeat not a hormone.  Therefore it does not have the side effects associated with any Prohormone or illegal steroid. There have been hundreds of studies done on creatine that all show that it is a safe supplement. To further prove its safety two an a half million kilograms of creatine were consumed in the United States alone in 1999!  That statistic alone speaks volumes about the safety and efficiency of this supplement!  Not only that, but creatine has been the number one supplement on the market for almost a decade and no one has reported any adverse side effects from it. ( aside from the ones I listed above. )

: I don't workout, but do you think that creatine will build muscles and help me to lose fat?

No!  If you don't workout I cannot imagine what supplement would help you.  Creatine provides your muscles with more short term energy - but that is wasted if you do not exercise them. If you take creatine you should push yourself even harder in the gym. The idea is with more energy you should be able to workout harder. A harder workout leads to increased muscle mass.

Q: Since Creatine makes you gain weight should I not take it on a cut?

Yes, creatine causes your body to hold water, but that is a good thing!  The fact that your muscles are super hydrated even on a cut is fantastic.  I see absolutely no correlation between taking creatine and our body storing fat.  If anything, creatine will assist us in maintaining more lean mass while dieting.  In my mind there is no point to discontinuing the use of creatine while trying to burn fat.

Can I take Creatine and Protein at the same time?

Firstly, protein is a food product.  If you couldn't take creatine and protein at the same time, then you would have to be a strict vegetarian and still you would end out consuming around 40 grams a day just from normal foods.  To top this off, creatine is not much use without a significant protein intake.  What is the point of pushing your muscles further than they are used to, if you are not going to provide the amino acids necessary for their repair?  

Which supplement is Better Creatine or Protein?

:  ( I probably get asked this question at least once a day through email.)  Amino acids are the building blocks of our muscles.  If you do not get enough than there is no point to working out.  Creatine is an outstanding supplement, but if you have to choose from getting at least 1 gram a day of protein or getting your creatine then opt for the protein.  However I do want to stress that creatine is an excellent supplement.  In fact for assistance in muscular gains I would rate it second only to whey.

Do you feel that creatine is cheating?  I want to earn my muscles the hard way and don't want to cheat to get them.

( I can't stand these types of questions!!! )  Yes, you would be cheating.  You would be cheating yourself out of great gains by not supplementing with it!

s there anything I can take to make creatine a more effective supplement?

The first thing I would like to emphasize is that creatine will not work if you are not properly hydrated!  It relies heavily on this, so you must drink tons of water, if you want optimal results from it.  Super hydrating your body will also improve your weight room pumps tremendously!

What is the best method, dose wise, of taking creatine?

For creatine to produce optimal results, muscle stores must be topped off or saturated with it.  To accomplish this you need to load the creatine for 5 days at 20-25 grams, spread out throughout the day into 4-5 servings.  This is the quickest and in my opinion the " best " way to saturate your muscles with creatine.  Following this phase, all you need is to take 5-10 grams a day to maintain your saturation levels.  After this, any creatine you take will be excreted as creatinine.

Do I need to Cycle Creatine?

My recommendation is to load for 5 days, followed by a 5-10 gram maintenance dosage for 4-6 weeks.  Following this, there are two particular strategies: 1.  You can take one to two weeks off and then start the cycle over.  Many athletes attest to receiving a better results this way.  2.  However, several athletes will never come off of it.  They will load it for 5 days, maintain for a few weeks and then reload again.  This is increasingly becoming the more popular method of usage.

Adolescents should obtain 13 percent to 14 percent of their entire calorie intake from protein. If an adolescent weightlifter's diet contains 3,000 calories, 14 percent of the total calories would be 428 cal.

diet containing protein-rich foods such as eggs, lean meats, beans, nuts and low fat cheese and milk easily fulfills the young weightlifter's requirements.

The National Kidney Association cites studies showing accelerated kidney damage in diabetics on high protein diets.

However, Body Building For You suggests that athletes regularly exceed protein requirements with no adverse effects, and that no study ever scientifically proved that high protein diets are dangerous to healthy individuals.

n 1998, "Journal of Nutrition" reported excessive protein metabolism encouraging calcium loss through excretion, yet in 2003 the same journal suggested that calcium is not always lost, possibly because phosphorous helps to enable calcium re-uptake by the kidneys -- at least in people with no prior health problems.

hus, protein supplements may not harm the young weightlifter, even if those supplements contribute to protein intake beyond recommended levels.

Still, two concerns remain: one is financial loss at the expense of weight gain. Expensive protein supplements are unnecessary if the young weightlifter includes protein-rich foods in every meal.

Another danger is hidden ingredients. Some of the most respected Olympian weightlifters have tested positive for banned drugs or steroids hidden in nutritional supplements that they believed to be protein or energy supplements.

Some cause physical and sexual characteristics to alter, and some hasten cancer. In short, young weightlifters aspiring to world-class competition must exercise the utmost responsibility regarding nutrition. It is never too early to start such discipline.

Even though further research needs to be done to gain a better understanding of the benefits of organic food, there is still much valuable information to share with you.

this food is highly nutritious and contains higher levels of vitamins and minerals.

contain higher amounts of antioxidants, which help reduce the risk of developing cancers.

GOALS Create mini goals. Don't just expect to put on a ton of muscle in one year without checking yourself along the way. Set weight-gain goals every 2-4 weeks and evaluate the results. If you fall short, make an adjustment for the next goal. When you stop setting goals, you stop critical thinking and stop making gains.

MAINTAIN Every 8-10 weeks, take a couple of weeks to prevent a plateau. Don't stop training, but back off a little and let your body recover. Stop trying to get stronger and don't push sets to failure. After two weeks of maintaining your previous gains, go back to 110%. Reduce your calories during this back-off phase as well. This gives your body a break from digesting and utilizing all the food you nee

FST-7 This is the advanced training technique I've used with all my athletes.

Basically, you train that bodypart heavy as you normally would on any given day, keeping the rep range at 8-12, but on the last exercise you perform the 7 sets to finish off that particular muscle, with minimal rest in between to get the best pump possible.

Alternate the first exercise between dumbbells, barbells and machines. Use them all each workout, but change the order and angle. On all chest moves, you must arch your back, throw your chest high and keep your shoulders back. This takes the shoulders out of the movemen

Low-rep flat-bench presses (fewer than eight reps) are a quick way to tear a pec. Use a full range of motion on all exercises. The only exceptions are intensity multipliers used on the last set. When you reach failure, push your muscles further with assisted negative reps or partials. Lean forward on dips to emphasize chest.

Work the angles. There are three sides to the shoulder muscles and countless angles to hit them. Sit, stand, lean; barbell, dumbbell, machine; use them all. Start the workout with a press. Hit the big compound movement while you're strongest. Don't be afraid to work your rear delts near the beginning or middle of the workout. If you always do them at the end they will never grow!

Warm up your shoulders, chest, triceps and rotator cuffs before training. The shoulders are vulnerable to injury. Try seated lateral raises to really isolate the side delts. This is my favorite move to build round shoulders!

BALANCE YOUR PROTEINS: Take in protein of all types from all sources — fast acting, slow acting, whey, casein, egg, fish and animal proteins (beef, chicken, turkey, etc.).

WHERE'S THE BEEF: Beef is great for offseason growth. In addition to the amino acids, you get tons of B vitamins, iron and testosterone-boosting fats.

JUNK IT UP: Don't be afraid to eat some junk food once or twice per week. This boosts your metabolism and gives your body a different type of fuel. Stick to the "clean junk." These are calorically dense, but not super greasy foods. Examples are pasta, burgers, steak, sweet potato fries and cheesecake.

If you want to grow, insulin spikes are your friends. You just have to time them correctly, like breakfast and postworkout. These are the times to have some fast-acting carbs that quickly replenish glycogen stores.

Consume Enough Protein "I eat enough protein. I probably ate around 50 grams today." Now if this sounds like you, we are in some serious trouble. That is unless you are a 60-pound child whose major energy expenditure for the day is playing with your Tonka Trucks. Ok, down to the serious stuff here. If you don't eat optimal amounts of protein, you will never put on the muscle mass that you so much desire. You are also hindering your strength gains as well. If you are going up a weight class and you aren't eating the proper amount of protein, guess what?

have some of my athletes consume between 1.25-1.5 grams of protein per pound when trying to pack on size.

# 5 Maximize Your Carbohydrate Intake

# 6 Bump Up Your Fat Intake

Milk…It does a body good! You should have known this would be on the list. Milk is the drink of all strength champions throughout history.

I knew you would like this one. What true powerlifter wouldn't? Now again, don't get me wrong here. The point is that you should increase you lean meat consumption during a mass phase. Note I said lean meat consumption. This doesn't include bacon, ham, sausage, deli meats, beef jerky, or pepperoni sticks.

Eat more often to keep your metabolism elevated and to constantly supply your muscles with nutrients. Have a meal as soon as you get up and do not go more than three hours without eating for the rest of the day. Combine protein and complex carbs in every meal. Turkey tenderloins with a baked yam and steamed cauliflower is a meal example.

Perform cardiovascular exercise to lose weight. Do any type of cardio that you enjoy, such as jogging, brisk walking, cycling, swimming, elliptical training, rowing or stair climbing. The American College of sports Medicine recommends 60 to 90 minutes of cardio for weight loss.

Lift weights to build muscle mass. Spend most of your workout time doing compound exercises. These involve more than one muscle and joint working at once. The end result is faster gains in size and strength. Perform exercises such as bench presses, military presses, back rows, squats and dead lifts. Aim for 8 to 12 reps and three or four sets of your exercises and work out three days a week, alternating with cardio days.

Utilize a maximal amount of weight with your exercises. This will ensure that you fully tax your muscles and gain a maximum amount of size. Have a spotter on hand whenever possible to assist you.

While protein-rich foods don't cause digestive problems by themselves, eating a lot of them may leave less room for high-carbohydrate foods in your diet, which tend to have a lot of dietary fiber.

More severely, taking in too much protein could raise your risk of serious diseases including cancer, heart disease, and liver or kidney problems. Partially, that is because so many protein-rich foods are also high in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, all of which can enhance risk factors for those diseases. If you choose plant-based proteins instead of animal proteins and full-fat proteins, your personal risk may not be quite as high.

Protein contains calories -- sometimes more calories than carbohydrate- or fat-rich foods. Although it can help you gain lean muscle mass, eating protein in excess of your body's needs will result in fat gain.

The question of how much protein to eat can be a tricky one because the right amount for one individual may be far too much for another. MayoClinic.com recommends getting between 10 percent and 35 percent of your daily calories from protein, or about 50 to 175 g per day.

You can also calculate recommendations based on your body weight. Dr. Melina Jampolis, physician nutrition specialist for CNN.com, suggests getting about 0.8 g of protein per day per kg of your body weight.

Unless you're following a diet that is very unbalanced, you're likely not at risk for eating too much protein. It's also important to realize that some protein is essential for health, since protein-rich foods build and repair muscle and bone tissue, satiate hunger and provide energy. If you have concerns about the protein amounts in your diet, talk them over with your doctor or a registered dietitian.

The five are: whey protein, egg protein, milk protein also known as calcium cassienate or micellar protein, beef protein in the form of liver tablets, and soy protein.

Weight gainers are a blend of protein, carbohydrates and fats, with a high calorie content designed to help you gain weight. They are particularly useful if you are a hard-gainer with low body-fat and a high metabolic rate. Meal replacement powders are a blend of protein and carbs, but lower in calories than weight gainers. Protein powders typically contain no more than 5 percent carbohydrates. Protein bars contain proteins and sugars. Ready to drink protein shakes, contain low carbs and essential fatty acids. Beef liver tablets, a protein supplement that dates back to the 1960s.

Take a weight-gainer protein supplement or meal replacement supplement within an hour of finishing your work out. These contain simple carbohydrates to replenish muscle stores of glycogen used as energy during your work out, and a blend of quickly assimilated whey protein and sustained release milk protein to accelerate muscle recovery and enhance growth. Hoffman believes the insulin response generated by simple carbs helps the body's uptake of amino acids.

Muscle breakdown occurs during resistance exercise and depletes the muscles stock of the branch chain amino acids, leucine, iso-leucine and valine. Take a quick digesting protein supplement like whey protein before your work out. An article by Jay R Hoffman PHD. in the December 2007 edition of the "National Strength and Conditioning Journal," suggests taking a protein supplement immediately before your workout enhances muscle growth.