![]() You cannot change your body type in the sense that an endomorph will always have a greater tendency to put on weight compared to a mesomorph or ectomorph. 19 20 21 That each of us is unique, and that we don’t all have the same tendency to have a BMI of, say, 22. What people are less apt to talk about, the inconvenient truth if you will, is that the ease and degree to which fat loss and muscle gain can achieved varies between people. However, no amount of exercise will transform a short-limbed person into a long-limbed one, because characteristics, such as the width of you hips and shoulders or whether you are small or big-boned are unchangeable.įurthermore, anyone can lose weight and anyone can gain muscle. Body Types Are A Starting Pointĭiet and lifestyle habits directly affect our level of muscle and body fat. ![]() muscular, but muscles not as well defined, a more shapely physique, and a tendency to gain weight a little more easily). While an endo-mesomorph is predominantly a mesomorph with qualities of the endomorph (e.g. muscular with a more slender, narrow shape). However, while we may not fit a body type exactly, most people are dominant in one or two body types.įor example, ecto-mesomorphs are mainly like a mesomorph, but have traits of the ectomorph (e.g. No-one is just purely one body type, but a combination of all 3 body types. Here’s a deeper look at the characteristics of each body type. ![]() Body types are key to understanding that when it comes to weight loss and weight gain we are not all the same.īody types can help us understand our struggles, capitalize on our strengths, accept our amazing bodies, and learn what we can healthily and realistically achieve. Each of the three body can gain or lose weight, but the degree and rate at which they do varies. The 3 Body Typesīody types don’t just help to explain physical differences in physique and body composition, but also metabolism. 18 However, fitness trainers for example may simply make a rough assessment by looking at which traits best describe their client in order to design a more individualized weight loss, nutritional, and fitness program. 14 15 16 17 A precise assessment of body type is done in a lab, where several measurements are taken. ![]() 11 12 13īody types is sometimes used in research, particularly in the study of elite athletes. 8 9 10 Body type can also influence different playing positions in team sports, while in individual sports it might be a factor an athlete considers when forming a game plan (e.g. 7 Furthermore, sprinters tend to be very mesomorphic, while endurance athletes become increasingly ectomorphic the longer their distance (e.g. Having a high degree of mesomorphy is associated with greater strength performance. 4 5 6 This is important, because it helps explain individual differences in both physique and athletic performance that can’t be explained by lifestyle factors such as nutrition and exercise alone. Research shows that genetics has a substantial influence on body type, particularly on ectomorphy and mesomorphy. Ectomorph: Thin, lanky, and slender, with a small frame and little mass.Mesomorph: Athletic build, with a medium frame and naturally muscular.Endomorph: Shapely physique, with a large frame and more body fat.Today body typing is used by exercise physiologists, nutritionists, coaches, personal trainers, and sports scientists. Presently the most commonly used method of somatotyping (or body typing) is the Heath-Carter method. Since the introduction of this classification, it has continually evolved and developed. While the element of behavioral science may have been poor, the study of somatotyping itself has merit. His theories on the relationship between personality and physical appearance have since been roundly debunked and dismissed. William Sheldon was not an anatomist, instead he was a behavioural psychologist and thus the core of his theory lay in associating the three somatotypes with temperament types. Sheldon and his colleagues proposed a system of classification of the human physique that comprised of three body types (also known as somatotypes), which he called ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. In the 1940’s American scientist William H. What is Body Type?įrom Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and even Galileo’s Square-Cube Law, to the medical classifications by Hippocrates, traditional Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda, the human physique has fascinated scientists for millennia. It can allow you to personalize diet and workouts to suit your specific needs, work with your body instead of against it, and achieve better results. Knowing your body type can be be helpful if you have been trying to achieve fitness, strength, or weight loss goals less successfully than you’d like to. Do you struggle to lose weight, or find it difficult to put on muscle no matter how much time you spend in the gym? The answer may lie in understanding your body type.
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