E-book questions

by Adam Cooper
(IL)

I bought the e-book and i feel the intense insane burn on some of the exercises like the upright iso-row, but on the iso-bicep curl (the one with you pushing down with one arm and your other arm at a right angle at your side) I do not feel the intense burn, am I doing something wrong?

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Aug 13, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Further to my comment
by: Stephen Hopper

Hi Stephen,

:~)

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I offer no excuses. Now to answer your question as best I can.

Firstly, come to the realisation that being an ectomorph is not a problem. Do not think you have something to fix. You are not broken. True, we have our challenges and limitations. So do the other somatotypes. And there are advantages. For example, we are naturally lean and slim. Equally true, We are unlikely to develop 22" arms and barn door shoulders, but I don't see that as a problem. I see it as part of the natural boundaries in which we need to work. We can still build really excellent physiques and a superb level of health and fitness. Bruce Lee was an ectomorph. Take a close look at photographs showing his arms up close. Do you see the insertion points of his biceps? They are far from optimally placed, typical of our somatotype. Perhaps yours look very similar? Mine do. Something you might like to think about.

Some suggestions for your consideration.

1. Eat a lot. Here, I'm echoing the same advice Paul gave me when I asked him about gaining muscle for someone with our body type. Full credit to Paul for that advice.

2. Make adaptions in terms of the exercises you use. The original poster of this thread, Adam, mentioned difficulty making the Single Arm Bicep Curl work for him. I find the very same thing. I suggest you omit the isolation exercises, at least for now, and work exclusively with the compound exercises...Leg Press, Bench Press,
Deadlift, Lat Pulldown, Seated Row, etc. As well as using them in their original form, learn to be creative with those big compound exercises. Make shifts in the angle in which you perform them to target muscles they do not normally target. For example, I personally find both Lat Pulldown & Seated Row make excellent biceps exercises with a change of angle. Learn to experiment and adapt.

Be safe and well.

Kind regards,

Steve
Jul 13, 2011
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by: Stephen

Steve, I'm an ectomorph too. What do you to overcome the problem? It might help me with my own trouble.
Oct 22, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		My thoughts on your question
by: Stephen Hopper

Dear Adam,

:)

Paul is the ultimate authority on these matters, but I would like to offer my thoughts. I've been involved with isometrics, on and off, for 40 years. In that time, I've had the opportunity to reflect on certain matters.

I, too, respond to different isometric exercises in different ways. One of my challenges is inefficient leverage, in my arms in particular. I am an ectomorph. I have the physical body build typical of that somatotype (body type)...tall and thin, long limbs, short torso, poorly placed muscle insertion points. It is that last characteristic that accounts primarily for the poor leverage. I'm wondering whether this might apply to you. Do you happen to have a build similar to mine?

I hope this has given you food for thought.

Kind regards,

Steve

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