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IronJulius
12-31-2013, 02:46 AM
ARE YOU AN ECTOMORPH, MESOMORPH OR ENDOMORPH? FIND OUT NOW!
Posted on June 23, 2012 by Marc Lobliner
By: Harry Vlahos, WNBF Pro and World Champion

the-3-body-types Over time we have developed three categories in order to try to analyze and understand someone’s body type. The three body types are Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph and I’ll try to give you the main characteristics of each group and how it may help you understand your body type and how to apply this knowledge to your training and diet.

First, let’s look at the Ectomorph. The main characteristics of an Ectomorph are that he lacks bodyfat and muscle tissue. He is thin, has little muscle mass, has trouble putting on weight and in order to gain some muscle mass it takes a long time. He can usually eat everything in sight and still stay thin. If you are an Ectomorph your main focus should be on increasing your weight. You may benefit from heavy weight lifting so to elicit muscle growth. To recover and grow from these sets and to preserve your energy and calorie expenditure, longer rest periods should be taken and your pace should match that as well. Your training frequency needs to be less frequent, about 3 times a week, and your cardiovascular training should be minimal if any at all. This will allow all of your calories eaten to be used toward normal bodily functions and increasing muscle mass and growth. Afterall, your body fat will most likely be low if you fall in this category. Ectomorphs can get away with eating more calories than the other categories and so they must ensure that they eat well above maintenance calories daily in order to make some progress with their physiques. Eating regularly every 2-2 ½ hours is ideal and they should eat meals that contain Protein, Carbs and healthy Fats. One should always focus on healthy natural whole foods. However since the metabolism of someone who is an Ectomorph is considered to be fast, they can get away with eating “junk food” more often than the rest. Eating a little “dirty” might also serve them as a way to keep calories high. If they happen to increase body fat, they can drop that very easily once they decrease there calories.

Let’s move on to the Endomorph: A person would be classified as an Endomorph if his body is considered to be more of a round shape and soft, due to an increase in adipose tissue. He has trouble losing weight and generally can increase his muscle mass fairly easily. An Endomorph’s main problem is losing the unwanted of excess body fat and keeping it off. Cardio is almost necessary for this body type to burn and keep off any unwanted body fat but also to keep his metabolism running as high as possible. 30 to 45 minutes of LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) cardio a few times a week or 3 to 4 HIIT sessions a week is the protocol for this body type. Weight training is a must to increase muscle mass and improve the overall muscle to fat ratio and to further enhance one’s metabolism. The style of training that an Endomorph will benefit most from in my opinion is one that allows them to lift at a moderate to fast pace with little rest between sets. This will help keep heart rate higher, burn more calories during their workout and allow for more fat burning to take place. An Endomorph will need to keep calories well below maintenance usually to drop those unwanted pounds and should focus on protein, green vegetables and some healthy fats as their main dietary structure, with minimal carbs. These carbs should be added to the diet mainly post workout when the body’s main priority is to replenish muscle glycogen and minimize the chance of being stored as fat. Staying active throughout the day is advised to keep the body burning excess body fat. Activities such as walking when possible, bike riding, and playing sports or with kids, etc. are a great way to achieve this. When it comes to junk food, sugars, and processed foods an Endomorph needs to be careful not to overdo it and sabotage all his hard efforts in and out of the gym. If weight loss is at a pace of about 1-2 pounds a week, a free meal can be factored in his diet ones every week to 10 days, but should not go overboard.

doubleshotMesomorph: This body type lives in the middle of the other two body types. He is seen as athletic, has a fit body and carries a decent amount of muscle on his frame. He generally gains and loses weight fairly easily and can add muscle at a good pace. This however comes from a well balanced diet and training. Coincidently, most great bodybuilders are considered to be of this body type. As a Mesomorph, you can train more frequently than an Ectomorph if gaining strength and muscle mass is your goal or more like an Endomorph if losing weight is your prime goal. By implementing the above guidelines outlined for an Endomorph or Ectomorph, a Mesomorph can alter his appearance at an easier manner than the other two types. Most Mesomorph’s opt for a bulking phase and then once happy with their gains, move on to a cutting phase to get rid of the unwanted body fat and reveal what they have developed. To maintain their physique, a Mesomorph should focus on healthy eating habits, focused around a diet that includes protein, green veggies, healthy fats and the use of carbs around training and early in the day or to the point of where they might be increasing body fat. The manipulation of carbs is the key in order to keep lean and looking good. This is not to say that they should neglect their training. Cardio should be part of their training protocol a few times a week as well as weight training to keep the muscle mass present and continue to make gains.

I’d like to take this opportunity to mention a fairly new theory about body types. This relatively new theory comes from people that do not believe so much in body types but however consider the fact that not everyone is the same. Furthermore, in the real world, most people will have characteristics of more than one body type, i.e. gain size like a Mesomorph, but lose weight like an Endomorph. They identify the different needs of some people when it comes to their training and diet and prefer to put them on a scale as oppose to a categories. Think of a scale where on the left you have an anabolic metabolism and a value of 5. On the right we have a catabolic metabolism with a value of 5 again and in the middle we have 0. One would be falling to the left of this scale if let’s say they are consistently growing (being muscle or fat), have trouble losing weight so they need to lower their carbs to around 30% or less of their calories but also can function better with lower carbs. They usually respond well to a higher volume of training and need cardio to stay lean. One will be placed on the right if they have trouble adding and maintaining lean body mass. They can have a greater intake of carbs even up to 50% or more of their calories intake and usually have better results with lower training volume. You might fall anywhere on this scale according to how your body responds and reacts to diet and training. In the case where you share characteristics of both metabolisms, you might be closer to 0 or just to the left or right of that.

Whichever way you look at it, knowing your body and following the above guidelines, one can make their wanted gains regardless of body type and not use the excuse of genetic limitations. You can make better progress once you understand your body type and make all the necessary adjustments to your diet and training to achieve your goals, either being losing body fat or gaining lean muscle. Yes, depending on body type or if you chose to adopt the new theory of Anabolic/Catabolic metabolism and goal, one might find themselves working harder than others to reach their objective but it is attainable.

Consistency, commitment, determination and perseverance are the key for all body types to make their desired changes and accomplish their physical goals.

Till next time eat right, train hard, and expect results!

Presser
01-01-2014, 03:34 PM
good stuff bro!

Mrbigz
01-01-2014, 11:32 PM
This article hits it good, poeple need to really look at them selves and even have a second or third opinion on their body. It helps knowing, for training styles nutrition, cardio. And also visual aspect of shaping the body.

I myself have charectoristics of all three body types believe it or not.

CH3NO2
01-01-2014, 11:36 PM
I am a classic Mesomorph.

IronJulius
01-01-2014, 11:54 PM
Yea i posted the article for a new guy that had questions

Im a mix between endo and meso but cant bring myself to decipline my diet

goodness
01-02-2014, 01:09 AM
Totally agree with this. Im very carb sensitive. If I eat any amount of carbs I put on water and fat like crazy. Not to mention my triglycerides shoot through the roof when eating carbs. Never been leaner than when doing a keto diet. Holidays have wrecked me with the carb intake. Bout time for a keto diet I believe.

Mrbigz
01-02-2014, 04:42 AM
Totally agree with this. Im very carb sensitive. If I eat any amount of carbs I put on water and fat like crazy. Not to mention my triglycerides shoot through the roof when eating carbs. Never been leaner than when doing a keto diet. Holidays have wrecked me with the carb intake. Bout time for a keto diet I believe.

keto is king For dieting. IMO kicks ass for endos