Can you do cardio on "off" days?

Q: I did your Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph (HTE) program last fall during my first semester of law school. I had lost a ton of weight the year prior and weighed only 170 lbs. despite being 6'3" and normally weighing closer to 200 lbs.. After doing the program all fall and stuffing myself with as much healthy, clean food as possible, I ended the semester weighing 217 pounds when I went home for winter break. I began a different program in the spring and got up to 228 lbs. by the time we had to leave campus for COVID. 

I had my body fat tested and found I was lean as all hell at just 10.8%, which was surprising because I felt I was pretty bloated, but I probably overdid it with the creatine and was carrying some extra water weight.

Anyway, I loved doing the program and the results speak for themselves. After having to move back home when classes got cancelled this spring, I had no access to weightlifting equipment and decided to focus more on cardio and body weight exercises. As a result, I've lost some of my gains and am back down to 218 lbs. I want to do the HTE program again because I really loved the 10-8-6-15 system and had stellar results last time. 

My question is, can I continue doing cardio training on the off days? I've gotten back to training Muay Thai, since I have a heavy bag at home, and rediscovered my passion for the art. Do you think hitting the bag will limit my recovery on the off days?

Thanks again for the awesome program! 

Best,

B. G.

My Answer: Glad you liked on the program.  As far as doing cardio on your off days, that's perfectly fine.  Steady state cardio can limit your recovery, but doing explosive bouts of cardio (such as Muay Thai) can tap into those fast twitch muscle fibers.  These fibers have greater growth potential than the slow twitch endurance fibers.

Just make sure you're still eating well.  Don't restrict carbohydrates, since they fuel you with glycogen for those explosive strikes against the heavy bag.

Q: "I just read your article on Pyramid training and the ectomorph. I am a dad that is 'monitoring' my son's workout program. He would probably be what you would call an ectomorph. 5'8", 120lbs, 16yrs old. He is currently working out twice a week with this routine (Monday and Thursday). Doing 8-6-4-10 (70%, 80%, 90%, 60% of his max):

1. Smith Machine Bench
2. Tricep "push down" machine
3. Machine rows
4. Lat pulldown machine
5. Curl machine
6. Shoulder press machine
7. Squats (seated with free weights)
8. Leg extension machine
9. Leg curl machine
10. Calf raises on the same squat machine
11. Situps

"Is there anything he is doing wrong or he needs to change? I appreciate your help."

-Dwayne


MyAnswer: Looks fine, but there is one glaring problem with your list of exercises: You have too many of them. 4 sets per exercise with 11 exercises would put you at 44 total sets. Your son would be working out at least 90 minutes to 2 hours. Anything over an hour and 26 sets is overtraining. 

Cut some of the exercises out and avoid training redundancy. You've chosen all machine exercises, but if your son started out with free weights, then you'd be able to eliminate this redundancy in training. Cut out the leg extensions and leg curls. If your son performs barbell squats, then his thighs should get enough stimulus.

Get rid of the sit-ups for now, as ab work is pretty traumatic for ectomorphs trying to gain muscle and size. Take out the triceps pushdowns and machine curls, since your son's arms will get enough work from the presses, rows and pulldowns. Your son's program should look like this:

1. Smith Machine Bench
2. Machine rows
3. Lat pulldown machine
4. Shoulder press machine
5. Squats (with free weights)
6. Calf raises on the same squat machine