Body Type: The 3 Ectomorph, Endomorph, and Mesomorph Body Types

Body Type: Ectomorph Endomorph and Mesomorph Types - sharpmuscle
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Updated: April 30, 2023

How to train your body type? Whatever your characteristics are, you should know that regardless of your body type, anyone can lean or put on massive amounts of muscle – and, even if they are not careful, get fat.

Your body type is the hand you were dealing with – what you do with it is entirely up to you. Some were born lean, some were born obese, but all were born with the ability to shape their bodies. 1

Genetics determines the type of anatomy we determine. But this does not mean that we cannot change how our body will look at all due to genetics. 2

Sleeping facts

Whatever your body type, to get the most from your training you need to focus on your nutrition (on which below) and recovery – the key to the latter is sleep. The positive effects of achieving forty winks are huge.

Most of us associate testosterone and growth hormone with pure muscle growth. However, they are equally important in recovering from fat loss and exercise. Sleep has a huge effect on your body’s production of the said hormone. 3 4

A study at the University of Chicago found that if your sleep level falls below eight hours a night during a week, testosterone can be reduced by 10% or more. Your body’s levels of testosterone and growth hormone are also controlled by the amount of sleep you have, known as the “circadian rhythm”. You should aim to synchronize your circadian rhythm with the time of day and night. 5

Your sleep may be abnormal at night or negatively affected by excess light. A great step you can take to reduce any light contact with sleep is to turn off the lights and electronic devices at least one hour before you go to sleep.

Below you will find more information on identifying your own body type – or mixture of types – and learn to tailor your fitness strategy to this: what you should do in the gym and the kitchen, where you might be wrong, what Eat what moves make the biggest difference and how supplements can help you improve further.

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At least, you will have a better understanding of why your body shape and know how to best use your genetic makeup.

Ectomorph body type

Ectomorph Body Type - sharpmuscle
Ectomorph Body Type

An ectomorph body type is thin, and struggles to gain weight in the form of body fat or muscle. If you have got an ectomorph, You’ve got the build of a marathon runner – lean, but small in muscle. It can be hard to pack in size, despite the hours in the gym.

In a study of 66 people, the top 17 “respondents” experienced a 58% gain in muscle cross-sectional area, while the bottom 17 achieved nothing. Unfortunately for ectomorphs, they are the worst “responders”.

Ectomorph is good at processing carbohydrates into energy, and your fast metabolism means that you burn fat easily. The downside is that you struggle in bulk because your sharp-skinned fibers are underdeveloped.

To achieve the more muscular goal, you need to keep cardio sessions to a minimum and focus on intensive workouts using compound exercises to maximize growth hormone release. 6 7

Requires

  1. Train with compound movements (*requires)
  2. Do Isolation movements as finishers
  3. Take around 3000 calories daily from supplements including starchy carbs
  4. Take sufficient amount of protein
  5. Use Isolation Moves as Finishers

Don’t require

  1. More isolation exercises
  2. Avoid doing too much cardio
  3. Get away with 3-4 full-body workouts a week.

Mesomorph body type

Mesomorph Body Type - sharpmuscle
Mesomorph Body Type

A mid-road is constructed in the Mesomorph that takes the best of both worlds. Mesomorph has broad shoulders, a narrow waist, relatively thin joints, and round muscular bells.

A body type that seems easiest to add new muscles and you do not accumulate body fat. Mesomorphs are ready to take on their naturally athletic build, which can result in thin workouts and poor diet.

A scattered approach to eating and training often takes into account peak physical condition. The key here is to create the maximum size of your body. This means following a progressive plan that will make you stronger by increasing your power without making you too strong.

To complete your workout, you’ll need about 2,500 calories per day, plentiful, but by limiting your total fat intake.

If you are, you look at it with envy. The mesomorph is well built without setting foot in a gym, and they immediately lift a dumbbell packed on muscles. If this sounds like you, you’ll hit the genetic jackpot – but you can make the most of your DNA with some tactical workouts.

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The same research that is much more ineffective for ectomorph provides a lot of positives for mesomorph. While the worst respondents in the above-mentioned study saw no change in their regulation of myosin – a key gene responsible for muscle growth – on the same schedule, mesomorph saw a spike of up to 65%.

Requires

  1. Train like an athlete at the time of your workout
  2. combine a compound movements with a isolation movements that works similar muscles.
  3. Use training methods: high-intensity, low-intensity, high-volume, low-volume, explosive reps, tempo sets, short rest intervals, long intervals.
  4. Workouts should be done three to four days a week.
  5. Break down your workouts to focus on certain parts of the body each day.
  6. Mix in some cardio (or circuit training) to keep away any fat.
  7. Consume food that is 40% complex carbohydrates, 30% lean protein, and 30% healthy fats.

Do Not Require

  1. Initiate your body
  2. Eat what you like.

Endomorph body type

Endomorph Body Type - sharpmuscle
Endomorph Body Type

The endomorph tends to gain weight; to keep fuel storage, muscle, and fat are concentrated in the lower body. It is the most difficult body type in terms of managing your weight and overall fitness.

Their formation is slightly wider than that of an ectomorph or mesomorph body type, with a thick ribeck, wide hips, and small limbs. They may have more muscle than other body types, but they often struggle to achieve this without significant amounts of body fat.

If you ever feel like you are only gaining 5 pounds from a donut shop, you can be an endomorph. If you are doing hundreds of crisps to try and shift your gorge, then dig them up now. Reducing fat doesn’t work. You need to lose it from everywhere to see results around your waist.

Requires

  1. Train with intensity
  2. Focus on fat shading programs and removing excess fat from your lower body.
  3. Low-to-moderate intensity cardio plan (*helps to shift fat)
  4. Compound movements are the basis for an endomorph’s program, and circuit training is ideal.
  5. Choose three to five exercises and go through each that is not resting between the two.
  6. Rest two minutes between circuits.
  7. HIIT is very important to aid in fat loss.
  8. Hypertrophy works best – basically, building muscle – to remove unwanted body fat with conditioning.
  9. Consume 1,750-calorie-a-day diet that is high in fiber
  10. Eat low-carb diet with oats and brown rice should be praised for a high protein and fiber intake.
  11. Add Nutrients like green tea and spinach will help in the fat burning process.
  12. Get carbs from vegetables.
  13. Minimize carbs, and choose fat wisely
  14. Build your shoulders.
  15. Try to minimize the effects of the stress hormone cortisol to get plenty of sleep
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Don’t require

  1. Avoid overtraining
  2. Do not do endless crunches
  3. Jog for hours (*restrict)
  4. Don’t drink a sports drink.

No matter what body type you have now, with a little planning and complete hard work, you can create your desired body.

Sources

  1. Institute of Medicine (US) Subcommittee on Military Weight Management. “Weight Management: State of the Science and Opportunities for Military Programs.” Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2004. “3, Factors That Influence Body Weight.” Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221834.[]
  2. SÁNCHEZ-ANDRÉS, ANGELES. “Genetic and Environmental Influences on Somatotype Components: Family Study in a Spanish Population.” Human Biology, vol. 67, no. 5, 1995, pp. 727–38. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41465423. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.[]
  3. Sattler FR, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Binder EF, Schroeder ET, Wang Y, Bhasin S, Kawakubo M, Stewart Y, Yarasheski KE, Ulloor J, Colletti P, Roubenoff R, Azen SP. “Testosterone and growth hormone improve body composition and muscle performance in older men.” J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Jun;94(6):1991-2001. doi: 10.1210/jc.2008-2338. Epub 2009 Mar 17. PMID: 19293261; PMCID: PMC2690426.[]
  4. Gharahdaghi N, Phillips BE, Szewczyk NJ, Smith K, Wilkinson DJ, Atherton PJ. “Links Between Testosterone, Oestrogen, and the Growth Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis and Resistance Exercise Muscle Adaptations.” Front Physiol. 2021 Jan 15;11:621226. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.621226. PMID: 33519525; PMCID: PMC7844366.[]
  5. Leproult R, Van Cauter E. “Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men.” JAMA. 2011 Jun 1;305(21):2173-4. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.710. PMID: 21632481; PMCID: PMC4445839.[]
  6. Wideman L, Weltman JY, Hartman ML, Veldhuis JD, Weltman A. “Growth hormone release during acute and chronic aerobic and resistance exercise: recent findings.” Sports Med. 2002;32(15):987-1004. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200232150-00003. PMID: 12457419.[]
  7. Mangine GT, Hoffman JR, Gonzalez AM, Townsend JR, Wells AJ, Jajtner AR, Beyer KS, Boone CH, Miramonti AA, Wang R, LaMonica MB, Fukuda DH, Ratamess NA, Stout JR. “The effect of training volume and intensity on improvements in muscular strength and size in resistance-trained men.” Physiol Rep. 2015 Aug;3(8):e12472. doi: 10.14814/phy2.12472. PMID: 26272733; PMCID: PMC4562558.[]

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