I believe that when it comes to training, specifically when you’re an ectomorph, you should sacrifice effectiveness for fun and sustainability. But before I go any further, I am not condoning:
- Sloppy technique, resulting in injury and total, 100% ineffectiveness
- Laziness and the removal of all stress on your muscles
- Taking the easy way out
But if someone was told they need to bench press with a barbell (an exercise they don’t like) three times per week obviously this person would need a partner to spot them, as well as a bench plus adequate room for this equipment or a gym membership.
You can see how much clutter (both physical and mental) is already forming. Perhaps if this person was incredibly motivated they could work through the inconvenience, but that’d also be overlooking the ineffectiveness of will power.
The alternative – the alternative I’d prefer – would be to instead of getting a barbell, perhaps picking up a pair of dumbbells to do floor presses, or choosing to use their bodyweight for the most important exercise for an ectomorph (the pull up). Yes, you will struggle to build huge, bulging muscles with this method, but I’d still recommend it over the first approach because it’s:
Doing an incredibly effective exercise is useless if you can’t maintain it for a long time. Think about what form of training you enjoy and work on making that suitable for your aims instead of conforming your aims to an uninspired approach.
