Your body type and the perfect way to eat and train

As humans we are all so differently and unique, yet we’re all so the same. This makes it able to categorize people on different body types, based on how the body is built up. Ready to find out what your body type is and how to eat and train in order to make this work best in your favor?

Know that everyone is beautiful in their own way and being healthy is always more important than how you look. Nevertheless, we all like to look our bests and getting Victoria’s Secret angels bodies. According to your body type this can be fairly easy or just amazingly hard. A way to classify human body types is with somatotypes. This divides people into three categories: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. It determines how you look on the outside, based on how your body responds to different situations, like food and sports.

Let me tell you how to eat and train best for your body type!

Ectomorph
An ectomorph is thin, relatively tall, has small joints and lean muscle. They have a low body fat percentage and find it hard to build up muscle and gain fat, due to a fast metabolism.

Food: Carbs are your way to go if you want to gain weight as an ectomorph! Especially post workout carbs can help. By having multiple meals divided over the day, it can be easier to get in enough calories for an ectomorph.

Training: Doing most strength training with limited cardio is best to gain some more mass. Use heavy weights and do compound movements, like squats and deadlifts, with not too many repetitions (6-8). You will need to take some longer breaks in between sets, to recover from the heavy weights.

Mesomorph
A mesomorph has a medium sized bone structure, is muscular and athletic build. They are usually strong and gain muscle easily. Fat not as much, but more than ectomorphs.

Food: The diet should contain a good balance of carbs, protein and fats. It’s best to have most carbs in the morning, as fuel to keep going throughout the day, without gaining too much fat. When you’re going in a cutting phase, calories shouldn’t be restricted too much to maintain the muscle mass.

Training: For training it is good to use moderate to heavy weights, with about 8-12 repetitions per set. The rest between sets shouldn’t be too long. Cardio can be done, but best in form of HIIT. As a mesomorph you benefit the most from your workout schedule when you change it every few weeks.

Endomorph
An endomorph has a larger bone structure with wider hips (curvy) and is relatively short. The body fat percentage is higher than regular and an endomorph gains fat easily. They are usually strong.

Food: A calorie restriction for a certain period of time can be desirable to lower the body fat percentage. Consuming lots of veggies and water helps to feel full. The diet should be high in protein and good fats. Most carbs are best taken post workout.

Training: Cardio and weight training is equally important for endomorphs. Higher reps (12-15) with isolation exercises (bicep curls, leg extensions) and less with compound moves (about 6-8). Rest between sets should be short. Use moderate weights and add cardio to your workouts.

Now you can determine your own body type. You most likely won’t fit exactly into one type, but you can find which fits you most. We exist of a certain combination of qualities from these types, as an extreme definition of one type isn’t common. You might want to adapt your food intake and training based on this to get more desired effects. It can be very helpful to calculate the number of calories you’re consuming and burning, to adjust your lifestyle more easily. It’s all about finding your strengths and learning to know what works for you.

This is one of the reasons why some find it easier to get a fit body than others. Though this doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your dream body, it’s just important to know what training and diet is best for you. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to others, because we’re all build up in our own way! Be inspired by others, but don’t thrive to be someone else and always find out what works for YOU!

With love,
Carolina.