Guys, will I still make gains if?

[Anonymous]

I'm not being sexist, but I'm asking the guys because they usually do give better workout advice when it comes to weight training.
So lately, I've just been doing three sets of 10-12 reps. If I can do more than 12, the weight is too light and if I can't get to 8, the weight is too heavy.
I train upper body and lower body twice a week. Upper body is back, tris and bis, chest and shoulders. Lower body is quads, hamstrings and glutes. I just do abs whenever I feel like it. Then, I do cardio twice a week. I'm very ectomorphic and it's hard to gain weight so I'm trying to steer clear of too much cardio.
Anyway, I hear a lot of high reps/low reps mumbo jumbo and I don't know what I should be doing. So, I was thinking I should do my usual 12 reps on one day, and start lowering the reps on the other day. Of course, while changing the weight to suit the reps.
So, I usually do lower body on Monday and Thursday. Using the squat as an example, if I do a 30 kilo squat at 12x3 on Monday, and then on Thursday, a 40 kilo squat at 6x3, will I get bigger (what I want)? All while doing an hour of total body pilates twice a week to get that endurance in there, too.

Updates

+1 y

Hellloooo I need more answers!!

[Red_Arrow]

"I'm not being sexist, but I'm asking the guys because they usually do give better workout advice when it comes to weight training." Even if you believe the guys generally give better advice on this topic, you have excluded women and many of them have great answers but you are not giving them a chance to answer.

Also, the gals are quite likely to have better answers because they have experienced it from the female side and since there are differences, they could probably have helped you more.

"Hellloooo I need more answers!!" See the above.

[Asker]

Yes, but I have asked fitness related questions on here before not excluding the girls and all I've gotten from them is "Do cardio to lose weight". Pretty much.

[Red_Arrow]

Which was more that you are getting now. All I am saying is that yo can choose to ignore the answers you don't like, even if they are all women, but don't exclude them because there are probably many women who actually could answer you excellently. And some of the real fitness buff n here are women who really know their stuff. Sorry that I can't give you any help, because I concentrate on exercises for some physical problems and cardio for my heart.

[Masculine]

Women will have a more sexually desired body if they do high reps low weight.
Low reps/high weight=ripped. High reps/low weight=toned.
Men are typically far more attracted to toned women than ripped women.
You will make gains largely based on the food you eat. Eat high volume protein rich foods. The exercise will cause your body to use the food properly to make beautiful gains.

Source: I like women who eat the food and know how to use it with their bodies (aka: thick/toned)

[Asker]

Well, I hardly ever go too heavy with my upper body. But I need to get thicker in my legs and butt because I'm pretty naturally skinny. Gotta fix my flat butt! Muscle butt is better than no butt lol
Thanks for the advice. :)

[Masculine]

Yes, do the butt and legs more than anything else. If you got that down I wouldn't even care if you had a belly.

[Asker]

No belly. Just no abs hahah I have a straight waist so I avoid much abdominal work. I find dead lifts and squats do the job anyway!

[Anonymous]

If you want to get bigger--as in increase weight--you'll need to eat more. Adding more workouts will do nothing for you if you aren't eating enough. In fact, it will be counter productive because you'll burn more calories.

If you do more reps at lower weight you'll build more endurance than strength. If you want to increase strength, I'd suggest moving to 5 sets of 5 reps. Also, I'd recommend adding weight more slowly. 10 kgs per workout is a LOT. Add something more like 2.5 per workout and pay attention to your form.

[GreenTeaIceCreamPlz]

As an ectomorph your biggest enemy is your metabolism (body will only build with enough excess calories over bmr/daily calorie burn) so you need to eat more. What type of gains are you looking for? strength or size? The set/rep combos will differ based on your training goals.
P. S. when typing sets/rep schemes sets always go first eg: 4 x 8 reps of 315lbs

[Dtegesd123]

if you are trying to build muscle you need to either go super heavy (5 reps per set|) and eat a ton or do 12 x 3 and at least 3 exercises and eat just enough. Hopefully you drink a preworkout shake and postworkout shake too with this ratio, 25 grams protein, 25 grams carbs,10 grams fat.

[amphet11]

Try skipping cardio completely, as with more energy expelled you need to eat more calories a day just to keep your weight. 8-12 at the most weight you can handle is the general range for optimum muscle hypertrophy, but try doing 4-5 reps at a higher weight on some days to increase your strength, thus you can push higher weights at the 8-12 rep range and break through plateaus. If you want something more specific ask, i have been lifting seriously for years.