Body Types
Having a good understanding of your body type is helpful for you to reach your fitness goals. If you haven’t worked out already, there is more than one body type that men conform to. To be exact, there are three broad body type men can be identified with, however, they may, in fact, sit somewhere between two of these three broad categories.
Being able to identify your body type will help you get a better understanding of what challenges you will likely face when trying to attain your fitness goal. Each body type has different responses to training, highlighting your body type will allow you to develop robust training programmes that will engage and develop your body faster than before.
These three body types have a similar impact in regards to diet and nutritional requirements. Each body type often needs to adapt its calorie intake and overall dietary plan specific to their needs. A lot of men have trouble with changing their body to a physique that they are hapy with, and a lot of the times it is due to following dietary programmes that are unsuited to them – it works for other body types just not theirs.
Understanding how diet and calorie intake will respond to your body will help you to either increase the rate of muscle growth or speed up and better control fat loss.
So now you should be asking “what body type am I?” Most people have a body type that marks them as an ectomorph (lean), an endomorph (big with high body fat), or a mesomorph (muscular).
You should be training for your body type for the most effective way to build lean muscle mass. So know your body type.
Ectomorph (body type)
Ectomorphs’ look: Lean and long due to difficulty building muscle
Do…
Train with compound moves
Get sufficient protein
Use isolation moves as ‘finishers’
Don’t…
Overemphasis isolation moves
Do too much cardio
Ectomorphs have to work harder on the weights in order to gain a toned physique.
Are you this body type?
You’ve got the build of a marathon runner, lean but short on muscle. It can be hard to pack on size despite hours in the gym.
What you might be doing wrong if you are this body type
Three days of strength training should be coupled with two days of low-intensity cardio. First, ditch the treadmill. Ectomorphs often gravitate to long, slow distance work, but it’s the worst thing they can do. It may be tempting to pack your routine with classic bodybuilder moves such as the biceps curl, but it’s a mistake. You often see ectomorphs focusing on isolation moves, whereas big, compound movements such as the squat will utilize more muscles and give you the hormonal boost that helps build muscle. You should still use isolation moves, but supplementary to the main workout moves – the majority of moves should be working big muscle groups.
What you should be doing for this body type
Compound movements, sets in the eight-to-12 rep range and quite a lot of volume are what you’re looking for. And there’s no need to spend hours in the gym to put on muscle – quite the contrary, in fact. If you’re working out four, five days a week you’ll be speeding up your metabolism too much. Limiting your workouts to three a week, keeping the actual training time after a warm-up to 45 minutes or less may be more effective.
What to eat for this body type
You must have a diet high in calories; carbs, protein, and fat will aid muscle gain. This shouldn’t be mistaken for eating precisely what you like. Rather, it just means you should eat more of what is healthy. Ectomorphs should respond well to carbs, which will spike blood sugar and help to drive protein to their muscles. Stick to the complex kind, such as sweet potatoes and brown rice. Aim for 1g per pound of bodyweight per day of protein minimum.
Mesomorph (body type)
Mesomorphs’ look: Well-built due to high metabolism, responsive muscle cells
Do…
Train like an athlete
Time your workouts
Set personal bests
Don’t…
Take your body for granted
Eat whatever you like
Mesomorphs can take their naturally athletic builds for granted, which can result in diluted workouts and poor diets. Keeping in peak physical condition is often tempered by a scattered approach to eating and training.
Are you this body type?
Mesomorphs look well built without setting foot in a gym and pack on muscle the instant they pick up a dumbbell.
What you might be doing wrong if you are this body type
Mesomorphs often won’t train as hard as they can. Timed workouts may be effective, to give goals to aim for and raise the workout intensity.
What you should be doing for this body type
Mesomorphs should train athletically. Sprints, box, and vertical jumps or other plyometrics are good. They respond well to low reps and power moves. Alternatively, interval sprints will pump up their metabolism and burn fat.
What to eat for this body type
Although the usual caveats apply, your body will respond well to whatever healthy food consumed. You can eat a moderate amount of carbs. And more when it comes to protein. A basic guideline for mesomorphs to follow would be to consume meals that are 40% complex carbohydrates, 30% lean protein and 30% healthy fats.
Endomorph (body type)
Endomorphs’ look: Pear-shaped due to high tendency to store body fat
Do…
Train with intensity
Watch your carb intake
Build your shoulders
Don’t…
Do endless crunches
Run for hours
Drink sports drinks
The endomorph is the hardest body type to have in terms of managing your weight and overall fitness.
Are you this body type?
If you have trouble shifting weight, the chances are you’re an endomorph, characterized by a relatively high amount of stored fat, a wide waist, and a large bone structure.
What you might be doing wrong if you are this body type
There’s no point in spending hours plodding away on a treadmill. The first thing when trying to lose weight is to ditch the long, slow cardiovascular work. Then doing more interval- based conditioning to strip away fat. And if you’re doing hundreds of crunches to try and shift your gut, ditch them now. Spot-reducing fat just doesn’t work. You need to lose it from everywhere to see results around your waistline.
What you should be doing for this body type
Endomorph’s focus should be on shedding fat through aerobic exercise, however, weight-training is best because it carries on burning calories long after your final set. Also, the calories you ingest during the recovery period will help your muscles grow rather than fuelling your waistline. We recommend doing four days a week of hypertrophy training (heavy weight, low reps) alongside your cardio. Combine hypertrophy work – basically, muscle building – with conditioning to strip away unwanted body fat
What to eat for this body type
From a nutritional perspective, a low-carb diet that still includes oats and brown rice should be complimented with a high protein and fiber intake. Nutrients such as green tea and spinach will help with the fat burning process. You’ll have to watch what you eat more strictly than people with other body types. Get your carbs from vegetables, and steer clear of white bread and rice.
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