I started working out as a way to gain weight. I naturally have a very skinny frame (Ectomorph), so I felt embarrassed often when around others shirtless, etc. I hated being called lanky. So Junior year I started hitting the weights hard and eating heavy and went from 175lbs to 200lbs. Senior year I went from 200 to 230. After a brief cutdown back to 195, I worked my way back up to 250 as my body began to fill out with age. I began to realize however, that when I bulked I would get big, but hold a lot of fat in my midsection which can be expected, but when I would cut, I would still keep a good amount of fat and would lose tons of muscle. I cycled through bulking and cutting countless times trying every program and diet out there. Luckily I was able to learn that not only am I an ectomorph, but I am a skinny fat ectomorph which means my body holds onto fat in the midsection and loses muscle very easily. Now that I better understand my body type and my need to avoid all out bulks and cuts and to focus more on slow gains, I have been able to reshape my workout programs.