Knowing your body type may help you meet your fitness goals.
You go to the gym every day, watch what you eat, maintain a healthy lifestyle, but still, aren’t hitting your physique goals. There are a lot of things you can tweak: your diet, your exercise schedule, and the types of workouts you do, to name a few… Switching up your routine frequently is a major key, but there’s more that could be going on .. Factors like sleep, stress, hormones, and your fitness history also play a part.
Your lifestyle, genetics, history, and training style all play a part in how you look, and you can definitely change it over time.
There are many factors that go into losing weight, burning fat, or building muscle. Your genetics play a significant role both in your current body composition and how difficult it is to change it. It has a huge factor in how the body responds to exercise, diet, and your everyday routine.
There are various studies that indicate, how genes may determine up to 80 percent of your weight and body shape.
The ease with which you develop muscle mass, for example, is genetic. Also, doing the same training as somebody whose body you admire and want for yourself may not work for you. If you and your partner follow the exact same fitness routine, starting at the exact same fitness level, one of you might end up stronger than the other. Hence, attaining your fitness goal may require you to train specifically for your body type. .
There are three basic human body types: the endomorph(curvy), the mesomorph(Muscular), and the ectomorph(thin). However, not many people fall into one category, usually, you will be a combination of these. Most people are a blend of two body types, with one being more dominant. Genetics plays an interesting role in body composition, especially when it comes to body fat. Your body is designed to store fat in certain places, depending on gender, age, and of course, your family genes.
It’s important to be able to identify and understand your body type. Different body types require different training methods, routines, and diet plans.
ECTOMORPH: Ectomorph is characterized as Skinny build people.
- Small joints, Long arms, and legs.
- Linear physique, Small shoulders.
- Lightly muscled, Small chest and buttocks, and Low body fat.
- Can eat anything they like without weight gain.
- Difficulty gaining weight, Difficulty in gaining muscle mass.
- Generally, ectomorphs can lose fat very easily which makes cutting back to lean muscle easier for them. They have a fast metabolism which burns up calories very quickly.
Diet: In terms of nutrition, a diet that is high in calories, carbs, protein, and fat should be taken. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of calories should come from carbs, 25 percent from protein, and 25 percent from fat. The key is to eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in nutrients.
Workout: The ectomorph looking to maintain overall fitness for general health and longevity should only do cardio at a moderate pace for 30 minutes three times per week.
To become more muscular, ectomorphs need to keep cardio sessions to a minimum and focus on an intense workout. Too many workouts every day would speed up the metabolism leading to more fat burning. So it’s good to follow, three workouts a week, keeping the actual training time after a warm-up to 45 minutes or less, and work harder on weights to build a toned muscle.
MESOMORPH: Mesomorph is characterized by athletic, medium-size joints/ bones, wider shoulders, Well defined muscles, Rectangular shaped body, Strong build.
- Female mesomorph: defined hourglass figure
- Male mesomorph: V or rectangular shape
- Mesomorphs can lose and gain weight easily, are
- Build muscle quickly.
- They are naturally strong which is the perfect platform for building muscle.
They gain fat more easily than ectomorphs. This means they must watch their calorie intake. Usually, a combination of weight training and cardio works best for mesomorphs. Of the three body types, mesomorphs are the best for bodybuilding as they are naturally strong and can lose or gain weight easily.
Diet: A basic guideline for mesomorphs to follow would be to consume meals: one-third protein, one-third vegetable (or fruit), and one-third whole grain (or healthy fats). The calorie needs of a mesomorph body type are slightly higher than the others, due to their higher ratio of muscle mass. Muscle weighs more than fat and requires more calories to maintain the desired weight.
Mesomorph body types often can lose weight quickly when following a meal plan that is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates, and when they are getting plenty of exercise. However, mesomorphs gain weight just as quickly if their eating plan contains too many calories from high-sugar foods.
Workout: Mesomorphs are naturally strong because their muscles are thick and dense. Lifting moderate-to-heavy weights, with limited rest in between sets, five days a week is ideal to stimulate muscle growth.
Aside from weights, regular cardio is the best way to prevent fat gain if you’re a mesomorph. Attempting at least three cardio workouts a week for 30 minutes at a moderate level is recommended.
ENDOMORPH: Endomorph is characterized as naturally chubby, Shorter build people.
- Round or soft physique.
- Short neck, Thick arms, and legs.
- Wide bone structure.
- High levels of body fat, Maintains higher weight/ BMI range.
- Slow metabolism
- Muscles are strong
They usually carry their weight in the lower abdomen, hips, and thighs rather than evenly distributed throughout the body. This pattern of fat distribution makes it a bit harder to lose weight, but with the correct training and nutrition program, they can achieve positive results.
Diet: To keep fat gain to a minimum, Endomorphs should eat more protein and healthy fats and try to minimize carb consumption. Nutrient distribution close to 30 percent carbs, 35 percent protein, and 35 percent fat.
Endomorphs tend to be carbohydrate and insulin sensitive, A Paleo-like diet is best suited, where each meal contains protein, vegetables, and some healthy fats,
Starting the day with a high-protein breakfast is a great way to jumpstart metabolism and keep insulin levels in control. Endomorphs typically have a difficult time losing fat with diet alone, so a well-rounded fitness program is a must. Slower metabolism and extra body fat make it much harder for endomorphs to stay lean.
Workout: Four days of weight training throughout the week, One or two cardio days should also be included, and Weight Training Should Be The Main Focus Of An Endomorph’s Workout. Incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIIT) two to three days a week limiting to 30 minutes per workout. Incorporate 30 to 60 minutes of steady-state cardio, two to three days a week. Endomorphs should work all the major muscle groups — arms, legs, abs, and back — two to three days a week.
Stretching, Yoga, Pilates, and other related activities aren’t cardio workouts. And while they possess immense benefits, they won’t help you lose fat. It’s good to include them in your exercise routine, but don’t substitute your cardio for it. For endomorphs, almost daily cardio is really important. Follow a cardio workout you love and have fun doing. You need to incorporate it into your lifestyle not only to achieve the body you want but also to maintain it.
As an endomorph, you need to work out long enough and hard enough to lose weight.
There are no hard-and-fast rules to what your body can achieve, and being active, following a healthy routine is always good!
The best exercise is the one you enjoy most. If you like it, you’ll do it. In general though, If an individual tends to build muscle quickly and is looking for a slimmer look, they incorporate cardio and yoga with their strength training routine, versus lifting weights on a daily basis. A leaner body type looking to gain muscle should focus more on strength training and less on cardio.
You should know that regardless of your body type, you should first focus on appreciating the body you have. If you want to look different, then put in the hard work to get the results. Yes, it’s sometimes difficult but if you’re willing to put in the hard work it can be done.. If your workouts are bringing joy to your life and allowing you to find peace and balance, then you’re doing something right.
I would love to know your thoughts on my post and any feedback is always appreciated..
Stay Happy And Healthy!
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Great website, content outstanding…
Nice tips.
I enjoyed this! I will come back to check out more
Hello! I really enjoyed your post and appreciate the reminder. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of all the little factors that can affect the results we get. Thanks for sharing some helpful tips and tricks!
<3 Alana
Thanks for this interesting post. I am doing exercise twice a week, but will try out different things from now on based on your post and see if that helps.
Informative post. Thank you.
This is very informative, so much great detail! Check out my page for everything ectomorph and fitness related! Thanks.
This post was really helpful
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Thank you this is very helpful. So if u are a mix of meso and endo what should u do in type of workout?
This post conveying great information!
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This is a great post!! Thank you for sharing!
This is definitely accurate. The only way I can lose weight (as an endomorph) ever in life is to do A LOT of cardio…almost daily!
I have some confusion about the value of yoga as a weight loss strategy. My sessions for my age are quite strenuous. Doesn’t that lower one’s fat accumulation? Thanks for reading my blog.
Nice content. I workout frequently so i need these tips. I also appreciate the “like” of my post.
Look, I’m not trying to talk trash. Everybody makes mistakes, and nobody knows everything.
However Somatotypes have been debunked.
Yess!! A lot of people don’t realise this!
Very well written and helpful!
This is such a great, helpful resource! Your body type definitely pays a major role in reaching your fitness goals x
Great post!
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thank you for this post !! ^^
Nice read!
I thought this was super interesting! This is definitely applicable to my situation. Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
thanks for sharing this post. great information on the body types which many people not know. keep sharing these amazing posts..
Thank you!
Nicely written. I straddle the endo and meso . 😃
This is a great, informative post! Thank you ☺🌻
This was so interesting and really helpful! Great post 😊
Fabulous post
Very informative! Thanks for sharing!
As someone that is 200 pounds overweight and trying really hard to change, any tips would be appreciated
Good post too many don’t understand start your work out with information long before your start sweating for good result less wasted time as a bodybuilder myself no better way to get where you want to go
Very informative. When I actually put in the work, I can lose weight pretty quickly, so I must be mostly mesomorph. Maybe slightly endomorph though, because I really have to focus on nutrition and the workouts- cutting carbs is big for me. I can also think of specific people for each body type you mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Informative and helpful post! Thank you for sharing 😊
I’m ectomorph and would like to gain muscles specially on my buttock. I have high metabolism and I just can’t gain weight. Sometimes, it’s frustrating!.
Very informative and helpful post! After reading this, I know how to alter my fitness regime based on my body type. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I really appreciate this information!
This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing