Somatotype
The first thing I want everyone to realize that you are not stuck in your specific somatotype. Most books I read make it seem like your stuck in that certain somatotype and you will never be able to change it. Depending on your lifestyle, you can move from being a huge endomorph to a skinny ectomorph. It is all about your LIFESTYLE (Diet + Habits). In my years of experience as a personal trainer I've gotten an awesome chance to meet people with different somatotypes and all of them responded differently to diets and exercise regimens. Below, I will go over some of my observations and what I read in medical journals.
That being said the first thing to do is identify what somatotype you are:
That being said the first thing to do is identify what somatotype you are:
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Mesomorphs
-Mesomorphs have hips about as wide as their shoulders. They are muscular all around, they have strong looking legs and upper body.
-Mesomorphs should be eating about 40% protein, 30% carbohydrate, and 30% fats in their diet and maintaining their daily caloric needs. Your body uses different types of macronutrients for energy. Some somatotypes are better than others at utilizing fats vs carbohydrates. In this case, mesomorphs are both good fat burners and good carbohydrate burners. Their bodies are usually trained both aerobically (fat utilizing-marathon) and anaerobically (carbohydrate utilizing-weightlifting) |
Endomorphs
-Endomorph's have bodies that are predisposed to gaining a lot of fat/muscle tissue. If you are an endomorph your biggest concern should be losing fat and living a lifestyle that will keep that fat off. It is best to start from a young age. If you gain weight at a young age and want to lose it when you are forty years old it will be hard to do so, since your body has already gotten used to it. Not saying its impossible, but HARD, and it will take a lot of dedication to change your lifestyle (Habits+ diets).
-An endomorph should have a diet that consists of 60% protein, 20% carbs, and 20% healthy fats while maintaining a hypocaloric diet. If you want to find out how many calories you need based on your goal please visit the diet page. -If you diet and exercise right you will be a mesomorph in no time! Your body is awesome at gaining muscle, you just need to give it the right fuels! |
Ectomorph
-Ectomorphs are usually very skinny and have small waists. Legs might be very lean and muscles on entire body might be very prominent. I was actually an ectomorph when I first started. I played soccer for many years and as I was finishing up my last year of high school I realized that I needed to gain some weight. In the beginning it was very hard and I had to eat a lot to cross the barrier from ecto to meso.
-Ectomorphs are very efficient at burning their excess fats. My dietary recommendation (for gaining weight) for an ecto would be to eat 55% protein 40% carbs and 5% healthy fats. Why so many carbs? Carbohydrates and protein are the building blocks of muscle and you will get the quickest results if you add those up. Why do you think most post-workout shakes use carbohydrates? -On the otherhand, if you would like to maintain your current ectomorphic somatotype stick to about 30% protein, 30% carbs, and 40% fats. |
Hate to say it folks but maintaining your weight and body fat is the easiest thing to do, while gaining/losing weight is super hard and requires huge discipline and focus. You need to focus on your goal and stick to it!
Adipose tissue (fat) storage sites
Where your fat gets stored in your body is actually something you cannot control and it is based on your genetics. You can thank mommy and daddy for this. But if you figure out what type of fat storage your body has, you can use it to your advantage. In terms of exercises, there is no specific exercise for your body type but there is a specific workout regimen that you could use.
There are three types of bodyshapes:
1. Pear: stores fat everywhere below waist, mostly butt and legs, skinny upper body. (mostly females)
2. Apple:stores fat in the waist area, legs and arms are usually pretty a lot lower in fat. (mostly males)
3. Brick: A brick is a brick, someone who stores fat all around pretty evenly, if you have a brick shape you would make a great mesomorph so get to work!
There are three types of bodyshapes:
1. Pear: stores fat everywhere below waist, mostly butt and legs, skinny upper body. (mostly females)
2. Apple:stores fat in the waist area, legs and arms are usually pretty a lot lower in fat. (mostly males)
3. Brick: A brick is a brick, someone who stores fat all around pretty evenly, if you have a brick shape you would make a great mesomorph so get to work!
The Pear shape.
Description: A pear shaped body type carries fat around the hip, thigh, and buttocks area to give a "bottom-heavy" look. Pear shapes usually have smaller breasts and upper bodies, and will remain a pear shape even after weight loss.
Diet: You need to follow a low fat diet, eat lots of whole grains (complex carbohydrates), and keep your calorie intake low. 20% fats 50% protein and 30% carbohydrates. Eat lean! Stay under your recommended daily calorie limit.
Benefits: The benefits of being a lean, mean, vegetable eating machine and having this pear shape is that most guys will actually find your shape attractive. You also have health benefits from your fat being mostly stored at this site. Most scientific journals found that there was a decreased chance of heart disease and diabetes in pear shapes since the fatty acids made their home in your lower area instead of floating around in your blood stream.
Workout TIPZ: Higher intensity workouts or long distance runs work awesome to keep your pear shape under control.
Diet: You need to follow a low fat diet, eat lots of whole grains (complex carbohydrates), and keep your calorie intake low. 20% fats 50% protein and 30% carbohydrates. Eat lean! Stay under your recommended daily calorie limit.
Benefits: The benefits of being a lean, mean, vegetable eating machine and having this pear shape is that most guys will actually find your shape attractive. You also have health benefits from your fat being mostly stored at this site. Most scientific journals found that there was a decreased chance of heart disease and diabetes in pear shapes since the fatty acids made their home in your lower area instead of floating around in your blood stream.
Workout TIPZ: Higher intensity workouts or long distance runs work awesome to keep your pear shape under control.
The apple shape.
Description: Apples carry fat around their middle but usually they have a slim upper and lower body. It is a lot easier to drop weight as an apple than as a pear. Researchers have found that abdominal fat breaks down more quickly than fat stored in the butt and thigh area. They think this because abdominal fat likes to enter the bloodstream and circle around all your organs while the fat in the butt and thigh area usually sticks around in that spot and does not enter the blood stream.
Diet: You need to eat a high fat/protein diet while keeping the carbohydrates low. Carbohydrates usually go straight to the belly. Most of my male clients have this shape and I found that cutting out most of their carbohydrates literally makes their belly dissapear. I would recommend a diet with 10% fats 20% carbs and 70% protein for weight loss. Eat lean! Stay under your recommended daily calorie limit.
Risks: Abdominal fat poses a greater risk for heart disease. I mentioned that abdominal fat likes to travel throughout your bloodstream and there are a lot of vital organs in that area. Sometimes the fat can impair their ability to function properly. People who have more abdominal fat also have higher risks for diabetes.
Workout TIPZ: High intensity total body training since it involves glucose utilization, I would focus on total body workouts, putting the most focus on developing strong legs and core muscles. By working out legs and gaining muscle in that area, the fat will get dispersed a little bit better throughout your body.
Diet: You need to eat a high fat/protein diet while keeping the carbohydrates low. Carbohydrates usually go straight to the belly. Most of my male clients have this shape and I found that cutting out most of their carbohydrates literally makes their belly dissapear. I would recommend a diet with 10% fats 20% carbs and 70% protein for weight loss. Eat lean! Stay under your recommended daily calorie limit.
Risks: Abdominal fat poses a greater risk for heart disease. I mentioned that abdominal fat likes to travel throughout your bloodstream and there are a lot of vital organs in that area. Sometimes the fat can impair their ability to function properly. People who have more abdominal fat also have higher risks for diabetes.
Workout TIPZ: High intensity total body training since it involves glucose utilization, I would focus on total body workouts, putting the most focus on developing strong legs and core muscles. By working out legs and gaining muscle in that area, the fat will get dispersed a little bit better throughout your body.
Brick shape.
Description: Fat is distributed evenly throughout the body, its actually pretty easy to lose weight. You are actually a mesomorph on the inside but you probably didn't choose that athletic lifestyle. Parents might have been athletes or involved in heavy duty work and you were just predisposed to have a thicker bone structure and more fat/muscle storage sites than most people.
Diet: I would recommend a diet with 50% protein, 25% fats, and 25% carbohydrates. Click here for your daily recommended caloric guidelines
Risks: the general health risks of being overweight, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
Workout TIPZ: Focus on burning off the fat first, before building too much muscle (for females). Your body is predisposed to build muscle pretty quick. I recommend to lose as much fat as possible in the beginning and once you lose enough fat, focus on exercising slower, smaller intensity, for a longer duration of time. Cardio is key here. For males, just go hard at the gym whether it is cardio/weight lifting. You actually have an awesome body shape, you just need to change your lifestyle!
Diet: I would recommend a diet with 50% protein, 25% fats, and 25% carbohydrates. Click here for your daily recommended caloric guidelines
Risks: the general health risks of being overweight, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
Workout TIPZ: Focus on burning off the fat first, before building too much muscle (for females). Your body is predisposed to build muscle pretty quick. I recommend to lose as much fat as possible in the beginning and once you lose enough fat, focus on exercising slower, smaller intensity, for a longer duration of time. Cardio is key here. For males, just go hard at the gym whether it is cardio/weight lifting. You actually have an awesome body shape, you just need to change your lifestyle!