Harder for tall guys to look buff?

[Guest 高瘦佬]

I'm 6' and more endomorphic than ectomorphic. Through a lot (and I mean A LOT of HIIT cardio) of hard work, I'm finally somewhat content with how my body looks (like 95kg to 73kg). I could do with a bit more muscle, as I would classify myself now as athletic more than muscular. For a 6 footer, I figure a muscular weight must be in the 80kg range? But I seem to be making the right gains very slowly compared to some shorter gym mates who train about the same or less. Or am I doing too much cardio? 

 

My cardio is:

Mon - 20 mins elliptical or HIIT (morning) + 60 min flow yoga (evening after 60 min of weights)

Tues - 45 min spinning + 60 min flow yoga

Wed - about the same as Mon

Thur - about the same as Tues

Fri - about the same as Mon/Wed

Sat - 40 min HIIT swimming 

Sun - chill

 

 

[xydboy]

No resistance training for muscular strength/endurance development? How's the schedule like? types of exercise, sets, reps, and intensity?

[Guest 高瘦佬]

Yes I do. When I say weights training, usually it's:

- 4 supersets of chest press; 6, 10 & 15 reps per superset; 6 reps at max and then dropping weight by about 30% to 10, and then another 30% to 15.

- 4 supersets of lat pull; same rep as above; or 15 pull ups.

- 4 sets of incline chest fly; 12-15 reps each.

- 4 sets of seated/standing rows; 12-15 reps each.

- 4 sets of decline chest fly; 12-15 reps each.

- 3 sets bicep curl on each side.

- 3 sets quads

- 3 sets hamstring curls

 

i don't break it down by body part. I train all each visit to the gym. I have what looks more like swimmer body, but would like a more "superhero" look.

[xydboy]

22 hours ago, Guest 高瘦佬 said:

Yes I do. When I say weights training, usually it's:

- 4 supersets of chest press; 6, 10 & 15 reps per superset; 6 reps at max and then dropping weight by about 30% to 10, and then another 30% to 15.

- 4 supersets of lat pull; same rep as above; or 15 pull ups.

- 4 sets of incline chest fly; 12-15 reps each.

- 4 sets of seated/standing rows; 12-15 reps each.

- 4 sets of decline chest fly; 12-15 reps each.

- 3 sets bicep curl on each side.

- 3 sets quads

- 3 sets hamstring curls

 

i don't break it down by body part. I train all each visit to the gym. I have what looks more like swimmer body, but would like a more "superhero" look.

How often do you increase the intensity of the exercises (i.e. increase weight), and how often do you go down to the gym?

[Guest 高瘦佬]

Ok, maybe that's why, I tend to not add weight until I can do 8-10 reps of the max load, which takes forever.

[Guest 高瘦佬]

Gym 3-4x per week.

[xydboy]

On 2/23/2017 at 1:59 PM, Guest 高瘦佬 said:

Ok, maybe that's why, I tend to not add weight until I can do 8-10 reps of the max load, which takes forever.

try increasing the intensity from time to time. Even if you fail its alright. 1.25kg is also an increment, so don't be worried about it. Such small increment and performing at around 10RM shouldn't be much of a concern. It wouldn't be such where you will crumple immediately on your first rep. I would also want to add more volume. The amount of volume placed onto the major muscle groups , especially for the lower limbs isn't there. I would want to do things like lunges, box jumps and even squats. if you worry about the form, can start with static lunges and also goblet/kettlebell squat. Those are manageable without compromising of form. Similar to the back, I would want to add in rows (e.g. T bar rows, barbell rows). Increase the volume per muscle group and it would be alright.

[Guest 高瘦佬]

Txs. What u mean by "volume"? The number of exercises? But by the time I finish the large group exercises, I already feel very week and can only work with lighter weights. For example, I do cable flys with about 15lb. After that, for the incline flies, I can only manage about 7.5lb. 

[xydboy]

6 hours ago, Guest 高瘦佬 said:

Txs. What u mean by "volume"? The number of exercises? But by the time I finish the large group exercises, I already feel very week and can only work with lighter weights. For example, I do cable flys with about 15lb. After that, for the incline flies, I can only manage about 7.5lb. 

Volume can be counted by the reps, sets and sometimes intensity of the workout. Particularly if you have high amount of exercise per muscle group, then the amount of "volume" per muscle would also increase. I would believe that your whole body exercise is very energy draining, and as a result, you are focusing your energy to every part of the muscle. It's not wrong, good to do whole body exercise. But to really work on increasing hypertrophy, then you would need to dedicate higher amount of exercise per muscle group. Eg. deltoids, you would focus 5 to 6 exercises on it. That's why many of these bodybuilders or physique athletes would dedicate a day for each major muscle group.

[tinkero]

Yes.. i think so too... i eat like a frigging dog... and ive stopped swimming for a while... started gymming since december

[iwearthongs]

Definitely harder for taller guys to look buff compared to shorter ones. Taller guys have longer bones and more areas that need to be filled out. They can have more muscle mass overall than short guys but still can't look as muscular because that mass has to be stretched out over a longer area. That's why most Mr Olympia contest winners are usually average to slightly below average height. The only tall guy I know who's ever won it is Arnold Schwarzenegger.