Low T

I've got a few questions that hopefully you'd be willing to answer related to ectomorph bulking:

- I've lost my sex drive for the past couple of months. Today I got my lab result telling me that my testosterone level is 6 nmol/dL, whereas the normal range is supposed to be 60 nmol/dL or higher (SI units).

- From what I know, low testosterone levels are associated with loss of lean muscle mass and increased fat storage, causing the skinny fat look eventually. I've almost lost hope not to mention my lack of sleep as well as decreased energy level. This also causes me to be unable to workout to reach muscle fatigue, which is critical to stimulating muscle growth. Do you have any tips to alleviate this whole situation?

For your info, I stay away from junk foods and always incorporate healthy whole foods in my diet. Some of them are even known to boost testosterone levels (bananas, garlic, onions, red meats, skim milk, oats, A-Z multivitamin, almonds, olive oil, whey protein, spinach, peas, carrots, eggs, kiwis, apples, sweet potatoes).

Thanks in advance. All the best.


My Answer: There are a number of ways to naturally boost testosterone, which I go over in my books Neo-Classical Bodybuilding and Tactics and Strategies.

1) Training- If you aren't producing much T, then you can force your body to produce more by performing heavy squats or deadlifts. Don't overdo it though, otherwise you will deplete your body's testosterone. Once a week of heavy squats or deadlifts (not both) is enough to up your T.

I would also suggest not training longer than 45 minutes and no more than three times per week. Any more than this will deplete your testosterone. The key to training with low T is to train just enough.

The thing is that there other hormones which govern muscle growth, and you can elicit these other hormones through training. I go over such training methods in Neo-Classical Bodybuilding.

Muscle growth is not just dependent on your hormones, but on your fiber makeup as well. The combination of your T-levels and your fiber type (whether you're predominantly fast-twitch or slow-twitch) is what determines your ideal type of training. This is what I go over in Tactics and Strategies.


2) Diet- Your diet is OK, but you seem to be focusing on micronutrients as opposed to macronutrients. In other words, you're focusing on specific foods to eat as opposed to the big picture: how many calories you are ingesting? How much saturated fat are you eating?

Low calorie diets kill testosterone. The bottom line is you should up your calories. You may not need to eat so clean.

Saturated fat is needed for the formation of testosterone. You might want to take in some coconut oil for the extra calories and saturated fat.


3) Supplementation- You might want to look into supplements that naturally boost your testosterone. I would suggest a tribulus terrestris supplement, but that tends to work better for younger guys and not so much for older guys. I have no idea how old you are, but T levels naturally decline with age. There are other herbs that boost T, however, such as Vitex agnus castus and Eurycoma longifolia. Here's one supplement that contains all three herbs:

Alpha Male.

NO2

Hey James,

I've been looking into supplements and am looking into the reviews for NO2. I've found that a large majority of persons using it don't see results in weight gain or weight loss, and only seem to feel the effects of a "pump". I guess my question for you is, with the increased expansion in the blood vessels (which would be the cause for the "pump") would it be safe to say that this product would be better used as a way to assist the body in consuming other supplements i.e. creatine, protein, etc? In other words would this product be better used as an enhancer for other fitness supplements as opposed to by itself?


My Answer: Interesting theory, but I would say no. Some people swear by it, and for some people it does absolutely nothing. I always get samples from magazines that I write for, and the NO2 supplements do absolutely nothing for me. No pump for me at all.

Now would the hemodilation help you absorb other supplements better? Maybe, but it'd have to keep the hemodilation up for quite awhile. Besides, effective supplements usually have proprietary delivery systems already, so you wouldn't need another supplement like NO2 to force feed your body other supplements.

I give NO2 a thumbs down, but I know that a lot of people have a hard time resisting advertising propaganda. "Must... buy... NO2... will... make... me... BIG... BEYOND... BELIEF!"

So if you want to try NO2, then just give it a test run and note the results on your physique and strength levels. Whether or not you get results from NO2, at least you'll get an answer as to its efficacy.

Consistency is Key

My name is Clay. I currently live in Queensland, Australia. I have been going to the gym for some time in the past. However for the last 1-2 yrs have not been able to fully get involved with the routine. Living in a remote area of Australia as a pilot we have a backyard gym with all the necessary equipment to train. I have thus been getting back into the gym everyday resting after about 5 days, then back into it again.

I'm around 6' and weigh 73Kg's (have done so for the past 2 years without any shift, minimal weight gain). Age: 24.

I realise that I am an ectomorph. My metabolism is amazingly fast. I eat quite a lot of pasta, chicken, spaghetti and fruit but never seem to put on any weight. I'm quite thin however. After going to the gym, my definition comes about quite quickly. The issue I have is that I want to put on bigger muscle and some weight. With the right diet and the combination of the right protein and calories with the right workout I know this can be achieved.

I would like to know from your experience, and if it is not to much trouble, could you layout the best possible program for me in the gym to gain muscle and more definition and what are some good supplements I can take for my body type.

Currently I do one body part a day, 12,8,6,4,2 reps with three different stations. I move from one station to another after each set of reps, working down. Is this the right routine for me? Or is the 10,8,6,15 working on all muscle groups but one machine each day better?

Any advice you can forward me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks mate!!


My Answer: First off your training is all wrong. You're essentially doing circuit training, which is why you're getting ripped, but not bigger. The 10,8,6,15 is more appropriate for you, since it is HYPERTROPHY training for the ECTOMORPH. I explain every reason why you need to train each muscle group with ONE exercise 3 times per week as opposed to devoting a workout to each body part.

Consistency is what you need, seeing as you have not been training consistently for the past 2 years. And that means hitting each body part 3 times per week. No five day lay-offs.

Secondly, pasta, chicken and fruit alone will not get you big. You need to eat a wide variety of foods and ingest more calories from fat. Eat more varieties of meat. If you want a supplement, then get a good protein powder. A combination of whey and casein is best. Not the cheap Muscle Milk they sell at Costco to unsuspecting newbies who don't read labels.

Heavy-Light Crosswiring

I would like a sample routine for the heavy/light training program that you have listed in Strength & Physique Vol. 1. Also a sample routine for a cross wiring workout.

Thanks for your time.
Joanna

My Answer: The Heavy-Light Method is a solid strategy to follow in your quest for size and strength. It is simple but complete, versatile and effective. The Heavy/Light strategy goes like this: perform heavy sets to develop strength and muscular density and then perform light pumping sets for that same muscle group to increase blood flow and capillary development. Hence, you develop both sarcomere and scarcoplasmic hypertrophy of your muscles.

Here’s a sample Heavy-Light Program in detail:


Day One
Pull-ups (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes of rest between sets)
Seated cable rows (3 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)

Incline barbell bench press (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes of rest between sets)
Pec deck machine flyes (3 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)

Standing dumbbell curls (3 sets of 6-8 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)
Parallel bar triceps dips (3 sets of as many reps as possible, 1 minute rest)


Day Two
Standing dumbbell lateral raises (4 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest)

Barbell front squats (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets)
Leg extensions (3 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)

Standing calf raises (5 sets of 15-20 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)


Day Three: Off


Day Four
Same as Day One:

Pull-ups (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets)
Seated cable rows (3 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)

Incline barbell bench press (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets)
Pec deck machine flyes (3 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)

Standing dumbbell curls (3 sets of 6-8 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)
Parallel bar triceps dips (3 sets of as many reps as possible, 1 minute rest)


Day Five
Standing dumbbell lateral raises (4 sets of 10-12 reps, 1 minute rest)

Barbell deadlifts (5 sets of 4-6 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets)
Leg curls (3 sets of 6-8 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets)

Standing calf raises (5 sets of 15-20 reps, 1 minute rest between sets)


Day Six and Seven: Off


If you want to construct a crosswiring program, then take the above program and mix the light sets with the heavy sets in each exercise pair, but rest 30 seconds between exercises.  For example:

Pull-ups: 5 reps

Rest 30 seconds

Seated cable rows: 10 reps

Rest 30 seconds

Pull-ups: 5 reps

Rest 30 seconds

Seated cable rows: 10 reps

Rest 30 seconds

And so on and so on.

Grip Variations on Dumbbell Curls