The human frame and how it relates to bodybuilding – Part 2

Where do ‘hardgainers’ fit into this picture?

The popular perception of a hardgainer is of an individual who can work out regularly with weights for weeks on end and hardly see any improvement in muscle mass other than a slight increase in muscle tone quality.

The classic hardgainer is also most commonly the classic ectomorph, the kind of person that can eat almost anything they want and never put on an ounce of extra weight until they reach the later years of their 12

life when the hormones that control their bodily shape and development are less in control than they were in earlier years.

As previously suggested, being naturally ectomorphic does not necessarily mean that you cannot achieve success as a bodybuilder. However, it does mean that you need to approach your bodybuilding development program somewhat differently from the way the classic mesomorph might approach building up their muscle mass.

‘How will I look?’

For anyone who is considering taking up bodybuilding, this is probably one of the first questions that you are likely to ask yourself. While there can never be a definitive answer to this question because to a large extent, the final ‘you’ will be a result of the amount of work you are prepared to put in, there are many physical characteristics that could have some influence on your final success levels and physical shape.

For example, your body type as already discussed is relevant.

However, to take this analysis one stage further, it is the different components of your body that make up your complete shape, so each of these different parts needs to be considered in isolation to establish how likely it is that you can become a successful bodybuilder.

For instance, your bone structure is extremely important, with the ideal for bodybuilding being wide shoulders and a narrow waist and hips. However, despite the fact that the majority of the most famous bodybuilders do conform to these criteria, not every bodybuilder had naturally wide shoulders and narrow hips.

If you want to become a successful bodybuilder and you do not have the perfect bone structure, it simply means that you have to focus your muscle building activities on developing your body in such a way that it appears that you have ideal bone structure.

For example, by concentrating on adding inches of extra muscle mass to his deltoid and pectoral muscles while keeping his waist as lean as possible:

Larry Scott was able to create an illusion of the classic V shape torso that is characteristic of successful bodybuilders.

The size and density of your bones is also extremely important for anyone who wants to become a successful bodybuilder, because while strong, heavy bones are a major advantage in full body contact sports like rugby and football, they are not going to be advantageous when your success or failure as a bodybuilder is judged on the way you look.

The opposite is also true. If your skeletal frame is too light and perhaps a little weak, it could limit on the amount of muscle mass you can carry on your frame as well as the amount of weight you can lift in the gym.

Other individual characteristics of bone structure are also important if you want to achieve the perfect bodybuilder pose and look. As an example, a big rib cage as exemplified by Arnold Schwarzenegger is a huge advantage for a bodybuilder, because it naturally creates potential for a bigger chest and greater upper back muscle development.

In a similar manner, the length of your bones makes a difference to the final shape you can achieve, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change the shape of your bones, so it is a question of working with what you have.

For instance, long legs suggest an ectomorphic body area, so they may be more difficult to develop, but long legged bodybuilders naturally look taller.

Then you have the muscles which are the ‘building bricks’ around which all of your bodybuilding development work will be centered. Many people do not understand that natural muscle shape is a characteristic unique to every individual with the shape itself been dictated by how far the muscle is naturally stretched.

If you have muscles that are attached to the bone at each end quite closely together, you are likely to have fairly compressed muscles which form a noticeable peak when the muscle is tensed. Such big muscles are a big advantage in competitive bodybuilding, which is one of the reasons that Schwarzenegger was so successful (take a look at his biceps to see what I mean).

Others have muscles that are attached much further down the bone, with the attached ends being further apart. In this case, the muscle will demonstrate a considerably smoother, more flowing image, rather than appearing to reach a peak. Again, compare biceps between Schwarzenegger and Larry Scott to see a couple of very good examples of the differences.

What does all this mean to you?

After reading through this chapter, the main thing that you have to take away is that while every individual who decides to become a bodybuilder enters the fray with different ‘raw materials’, it does not automatically follow that your body shape or bone structure limits what you can do.

However, it is going to be helpful if you can analyze the kind of person you are before starting your bodybuilding training, because knowing what your raw materials are should enable you to approach bodybuilding far more practically. While it is probably not realistic to expect you to understand all of the fine-detail niceties of whether your bone structure is perfect for bodybuilding or not, or whether your muscle attachment points are suitable, you should be able to come up with a general idea of the kind of person you are before embarking on bodybuilding training.

The importance of this is that bodybuilding success ultimately depends on three factors – your general lifestyle, the training program you adopt and proper nutrition.

As we progress through this book, we will look at all of these different aspects of how to become a successful bodybuilder, but only you can know what raw materials you are starting with before you begin doing whatever is necessary to become a bodybuilding success.