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What are the different body types?
There are three basic human body types: the ectomorph, the mesomorph, and the endomorph.
The ectomorph is your typical skinny guy. Ectomorph’s tend to be thin and struggle to gain weight. Ectomorph’s usually have long limbs and narrow shoulders.
The mesomorph is your natural athlete. Mesomorphs have a large bone structure, large muscles and find it quite easy to gain or lose weight.
The endomorph is your typical fat guy. Endomorphs have a thick build and gain fat very easily. Endomorph’s usually have short limbs and naturally very strong.
| Ectomorph | Mesomorph | Endomorph |
| Skinny and lanky appearance. Lightly muscled | Naturally lean and muscular | Smooth and round appearance. Thickly muscled, especially in the legs |
| Small joints/ thin bone structure | Aesthetic bone structure | Large joints/ thick bone structure |
| Small shoulders and narrow hips | Square shoulders and small waist | Broad shoulders, high waist and large hips |
| Fast metabolism | Efficient metabolism | Slow metabolism |
| Difficulty gaining weight | Can easily gain or lose weight | Difficulty losing weight |
| Low body fat (without exercising or following low calorie diets) | Naturally thin | High levels of body fat (may be overweight) |
Ectomorph
Ectomorphs are often known as "hard gainers." An ectomorph is naturally thin and struggles to gain weight. Even if an ectomorph manages to put on weight, they often still look lanky due to their long limbs.
Ectomorph body type
Being an ectomorph doesn't mean you're doomed to be weak though. You can still get remarkably strong and muscular; you just need to approach eating like it’s a full time job.
Ectomorphs may start off as the underdog but they usually develop extremely aesthetic and beautiful physiques due to their small bone structure.
Mesomorph
Mesomorphs are your natural born athletes. Mesomorphs tend to have wide shoulders, a narrow waist, and round muscle bellies. Mesomorphs no have problem gaining or losing weight.
Mesomorph body types
In short, mesomorphs have a natural tendency to be fit and muscular. However, this does not mean that they can train like girls and eat whatever they want. Although mesomorphs generally have an easier time building muscle and loosing body fat, they still need to put in the work just like everyone else. They will just see quicker results and have a genetically superior starting point.
Endormoprh
The endomorph is your typical fat guy. Endomorphs gain weight very easily and tend to keep it on. Endomorphs have a think build, with a wide ribcage, wide hips, and short limbs. They usually have more muscle than either of the other body types, but often struggle to gain muscle without significant amounts of accompanying body fat.
Endomorph body type
This definitely doesn't mean that an endomorph is doomed to be fat. The endomorph can be every bit as lean and fit as the other two groups, they just need to be meticulous with their nutrition and cardio.
Calories vs. BodyType
How your body type effects calorie and macronutrient intake?
Each body type will have different goals based on their genetically predisposed body composition. Ectomorphs are generally trying to gain weight whereas ectomorphs are generally trying to lose weight. Cardio, training style, and cardio frequency should very greatly from body type to body type.
| Body Type | Weight Training | Cardio | Carb Intake | Protein Intake | Fat Intake |
| Ectomorph | 3-4 days per week | 1-2 days per week | 2-3g / pound bodyweight | 1g / pound bodyweight | 0.5-0.75 g /pound bodyweight |
| Mesomorph | 4-5 days per week | 3-5 days per week | 1-2 g / pound bodyweight | 1g / pound bodyweight | 0.75 – 1 g / pound bodyweight |
| Endomorph | 5-6 days per week | 5-7 days per week | 0-1 g / pound bodyweight | 1g / pound bodyweight | 1 – 1.25 g / pound bodyweight |
Calories and Ectomorphs
Calorie and macronutrient intake for ectomorphs....
Ectomorphs thrive best on high carbohydrate diets and low training volumes. Ectomorphs have an extremely fast metabolism and burn through carbs like there’s no tomorrow. Most ectomorphs will need to set their daily carb intake at 2-3 grams per pound of body weight in order to gain weight.
Ectomorphs over train very easily and do best on high intensity, low volume training splits. I recommend ectomorphs follow a upper/lower or push/pull/legs training split.
Ectomorphs don’t have to eliminate cardio completely from their training program but it should stay minimal and be high intensity low duration cardio.
Calories and Mesomorphs
Calorie and macronutrient intake for mesomorphs....
Mesomorphs function best on a balanced diet and training program. A mesomorph doesn’t need to fear carbs, but shouldn’t eat them in excess either.
Mesomorphs respond very well to weight training so lower volume high frequency training splits work best. I recommend mesomorphs split up their body parts into a four or five day split such as back/biceps, chest/triceps, shoulders/calves, legs/abs.
Calories and Endomorphs
Calorie and macronutrient intake for endomorphs....
Endomorphs need to watch their carbohydrate and calorie intake. Most endomorphs will start to put on weight if they increase their carb intake past 1g per pound of body weight. Endomorphs do best on low carb, high protein and moderate fat diets.
Endomorphs have very resilient body’s that do not over train easily. In fact, most endomorphs will actually have to over train their legs with lots of cardio in order to get them to shrink. I recommend endomorphs do cardio 5-7 days per week and weight train 5-6 days per week.
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