Your body type is the hand you were dealt—what you do with it is completely up to you. Some were born lean, some were born thicker, but all were born with the ability to shape their body. Genetics determines the type of body structure we will have, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t change how our body’s will ultimately look due to genetics.
To be fair, these “body types” are more like guidelines than they are hard-and-fast definitions. Very few people are “true ectomorphs,” for example, and there are a host of other physical factors—natural resting metabolism, for example—that will define a person’s body composition (fat-to-muscle ratio) and ability to change.
The same kind of training will not work for every body type. Just as different trees require differing amounts of water and sunlight, differing body types require different stimuli in different amounts.No one program can effectively train all three body types. Some people need lower reps, and more rest, while others need higher reps and shorter rest periods. It all depends on you and your body.
These are your run-of-the-mill “skinny guys.” Ectomorphs have small frames, small shoulders, flat chests, and very lean frames. They are your classic “hardgainer” and find it difficult to put on mass.
Mesomorph
These are your naturally “athletic” looking dudes. Mesomorphs have broad shoulders, lots of muscle mass, and are relatively lean and gain muscle easily.
Endomorph
Endomorphs are generally short and round. The have a slow metabolism and generally find it hard to shed fat. They gain weight easily, unfortunately, this comes in the form of fat more often than not.
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Ectomorph
Ectomorphs need big, compound movements as their bread and butter, and high-rep work is best. Because of the higher percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibers, the ectomorph can do more reps at relative intensities than other body types and take longer rest periods between sets (3-5 minutes).
Because they recover faster, ectomorphs need to work out more than the other body types and can even get away with 3-4 full-body workouts a week.
Ectomorphs should also avoid cardio and pay VERY close attention to their diet. Eat, eat, eat… then eat some more!
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Mesomorph
Mesomorphs are typically considered the “ideal” body structure for bodybuilding, but even if you’re not born with this build, you can certainly hone it in the gym. Depending on your goals, lots of different training methods will help you see results.
Compound movements should be the base of your training, but isolation movements will help to bring up any lagging body parts. Utilize different training methodologies: high-intensity, low-intensity, high-volume, low-volume, explosive reps, tempo sets, short rest intervals, long rest intervals.
Working out three to four days a week should suffice. Break up your workouts to focus on certain body parts each day. For example: Bench, chest, and shoulders on Monday; quads, hamstrings, and glutes on Tuesday, etc. Mix in some cardio (or circuit training) to keep off any fat. Mesomorphs gain muscle quickly but also have a propensity to gain fat.
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Endomorph
Compound movements are the base for an endomorph’s program, and circuit training is ideal. Pick three to five exercises and go through each one with no rest between exercises. Rest two minutes between circuits.
HIIT is very important to aid in fat loss, and diet is crucial to the endomorph—minimize the carbs, and choose fats wisely.
No matter what body type you have now, with a little planning and a whole lot of hard work, you can create the body you want.
