What is your body type: ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph

Have you ever thought: why do some athletes manage to achieve their goals and create a beautiful relief body in a relatively short period of time (1-2 years), while others cannot even get off the ground after three years of training? Of course, it is difficult to judge immediately about the reasons for this situation, because the issue is complex, and there are a huge number of factors that influence this state of affairs.

The final result is influenced by such reasons as:

1. training system;
2. conditions for classes;
3. intrinsic motivation;
4. aspiration etc.

But the most important factor is and will be genetics, or rather, particular physique. Of course, no need to think, if you have a thin physique, then with a dream to create yourself a beautiful taut figure, you can immediately say goodbye. You just need to be prepared for the fact that to achieve it will take an order of magnitude more time and effort. After all, you enter into battle (even if not always equal) with nature itself, which gave you this source material for work.

The main goal of all people involved in the gym, regardless of body type – the formation of a beautiful, harmonious body. Therefore, knowing how to grow muscles is a must. Owning this knowledge and the training process and recovery will be more efficient!

What is a somatotype and what is its role in drawing up an individual training schedule?

Of course, at first glance it may seem that the knowledge of what types of human figures exist is an exclusively female prerogative. But this is a fallacy. And now let’s take a look at what types of physique generally exist depending on certain physiological signs.

There may be only three of them:

1. Ectomorph;
2. Mesomorph;
3. Endomorph.

So it depends on what type of your physique is and the effectiveness of training and the speed of gaining muscle mass.

Important: the main advantage is that each somatotype can be changed and subjected to transformation. The main thing is to know how to do it, and to meet the necessary time for the transformation.

The main reason, because of which you still need to know your somatotype, is to make a training plan correctly, choose a diet option and a set of exercises. If, initially, everything is done incorrectly, then you can do it for a very long time, but never see the desired result.

That is, you can give yourself up to the last effort to workouts, stick to a diet, but still not get any results. It is not difficult to determine one’s own membership in one type or another, since each of them has its own individual characteristics (see the image).

More on each body type

Ectomorph

This type of body is not at all different status or high power performance. There is practically no layer of fat in their body, but there are no muscles as such either. It is very difficult for them to gain muscle mass, but it is possible. The only caveat, the whole result of training can come to naught if you stop practicing.

The strategy of nutrition and training for them should look like this:

1. Training – short and high intensity (no more than 40-50 minutes, 2-3 times a week), you need to use an average weight and minimize cardiovascular exercise;
2. Nutrition – enhanced with a high content of calories and proteins (3g per 1 kg of body weight);
3. The content of nutrients (as a percentage) – 20-30% of proteins, 50-60% of carbohydrates, 20-30% of fats.

Important: if you remember the famous athletes, in which the body type is just an ectomorph, then Frank Zane deserves attention. With his medium build (height 1.77 m, weight 90 kg), he was awarded the title “Mr. Olympia” three times.

Mesomorph

People with such a figure are literally shown to do bodybuilding. They are well built, and by nature they are considered the most suitable for sports, the so-called “lucky” by nature. But one should not think that with such a constitution one will not have to work hard and take care of oneself. Without proper care, even the highest quality and malleable “material” will lose its properties and will not be able to show its full potential.

The strategy of nutrition and training for them should look like this:

1. Training – any set of training suits them well, the main thing is to practice regularly in the gym (at least 2-3 times a week) and to approach the exercises wisely (the duration of training is 60-90 minutes);
2. Nutrition – you need to adhere to the basic principles for gaining muscle mass (how often an athlete will eat), and also not violate the protein intake rate – 2.5 g per kg of the body. Cardiac loads should be of moderate severity and lasting about 30-45 minutes;
3. The content of nutrients (as a percentage) – 30-40% of proteins, 40-50% of carbohydrates, 10-20% of fats.

Important: one of the brightest representatives of the world of athletes, whose type of figure is mesomorphic, is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who received the title “Mr. Olympia” 7 times.

Endomorph

It is considered the most common type of figure among men, the main characteristics of which is the tendency to corpulence, slow metabolism and barrel-shaped body shape.

The strategy of nutrition and training for them should look like this:

1. Training – intensive training (basic exercises) with a large number of repetitions (more than 10), drinking large amounts of water (from 1.5 liters per workout);
2. Food – with a high content of protein foods and moderate amounts of carbohydrates. The selection of products must be done very carefully;
3. The content of nutrients (as a percentage) – 40-50% of proteins, 30-40% of carbohydrates, 10% of fats.

Important: a typical popular representative in the world of bodybuilding with the mesomorph body build, – Jay Cutler, 4-fold “Mr. Olympia.”

If we consider the types from a scientific point of view, even a special 7-point system has been developed, with the help of which it is possible to create a classification of somatotypes as accurately as possible (depending on how many different components are contained in the constitution):

• The first digit is the endomorphic index;
• The second digit is the mesomorph index;
• The third digit is the ectomorph index.

If we consider a specific example, then a clean endomorph will look like 7-1-1. Other types are defined in the same way.

So we figured out what are the types of physique. But this is pure theory, in practice absolute absolute belonging to one or another type practically does not exist. Most often, athletes for some indicators relate to one type, for others – to another, for the third – to the third. Therefore, it is very important to derive some kind of averaged index and “dance” from here.

It is also important that this classification applies not only to athletes, but also applies to ordinary people. And most importantly, your somatotype is not a sentence, the constitution of the body can always be changed at its discretion, the main strength of will, desire and perseverance.

Training tips for all somatotypes

In order to more or less summarize all the above information and draw certain conclusions, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the general recommendations for training that are suitable for any of the types. Regular and proper performance guarantees minimal muscle mass gain. So:

• Buy a subscription to the gym, after which it is recommended to consult with a trainer that suits you;
• Do your workouts with large and medium weights;
• Carefully study, and then use mostly basic exercises in your workouts;
• Do not exhaust yourself (let the training be intense, but not long, about 60-80 minutes);
• Do the exercises correctly and avoid any kind of injury;
• Forget about prolonged illnesses;
• Make a plan for yourself (nutrition, training, regime, and other things) and strictly adhere to it;
• Regularly take vitamin and mineral complexes;
• Every day, drink 1.5-2.5 liters of water;
• Forget about stress and get more positive emotions.

As practice shows, if you follow the above recommendations, then you can safely rely on such indicators of muscle gain:

From the age of 18 to 25 years:

• Ectomorphs – up to 5 kg;
• Mesomorphs – up to 6 kg;
• Endomorphs – up to 7-7.2 kg.

From ages 26 to 35 years:

• Ectomorphs – up to 4 kg;
• Mesomorphs – up to 5.4 kg;
• Endomorphs – up to 5-5.85kg.

Once again I want to remind you that everything written above is not the ultimate truth. This is a certain starting point in order to observe yourself, your body and the reaction to the load, then draw conclusions and adjust the training system for you.

And remember, genetics is a very important moment when building a beautiful athletic body, but it can be changed at will. This requires only perseverance and regular training and, of course, a sensible approach. Therefore, do not complain that someone is lucky, but you are not very.

The beautiful relief body has several secrets:

• Effective training strategy;
• Proper nutrition;
• Positive emotions.

And only then genetics.

As a conclusion

We dealt with this topic: we learned what somatotypes are, learned to distinguish between them, and were convinced that genetics is not the most important indicator, although very important. The knowledge gained is necessary in order to properly organize your workouts and build the right nutrition system.

As a result, efforts will not be in vain, but will help to move even more effectively to the goal, called “beautiful relief body”.