Shortening the Hypertrophy Workout for Ectomorphs

Hi James,

Firstly, thank you for all of this information. It has proved to be invaluable reading!

I've started doing the Hypertrophy for Ectomorph program, but I'm finding that with the 3 minute breaks between sets, it's taking too long for me to perform in the time I have available. Would you recommend doing the sets as circuits (IE: all the 10 reps, all the 8 reps etc) or is it okay to reduce the recovery time between each set?

For your information, I'm 6'2", 176lb, I'm relatively fit (used to doing LOTS of cardio - mainly distance running and cycling) but new to weight training and have around 8% body fat - not sure how much of that is relevant!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Thanks again!
Neil


My Answer: I know it's very tempting to turn your strength training workout into a cardio workout, since you come from an endurance background. However, it's important to keep the rest periods long enough for your nervous system to recover and for you to build strength.

You're already going back and forth between exercises when you do bench presses with pulldowns and incline curls with close grip bench presses.  So there is no point in doing the entire series of exercises in a circuit.  But if you must shorten the workout, then go ahead and shorten the rest periods.  Keep in mind that if you do this, then your strength and hypertrophy gains will be compromised.

I would suggest shortening the rest periods for the squats and lateral raises, but keep the rest of the workout the same:

A) Squats- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 1 minute rest.

*The next 2 exercises are an “antagonistic superset.” Perform a bench press, then rest 90 seconds. Perform pulldowns, then rest 90 seconds before going back to bench presses. Repeat until you get 4 sets for each exercise.

B1) Bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.
B2) Pulldowns- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.

C) Laterals- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 30 seconds rest.

Arms Antagonistic Superset:
D1) Incline dumbbell curls- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.
D2) Close grip bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.