TRAINING TIPS TO MATCH YOUR BODY TYPE

So you’ve been working out for a few months, trying to burn fat or build muscle right? How are the results coming along? Are you hitting your targets, or are you so disappointed with the results you are getting that you are just about ready to throw in the towel?

Don’t be so fast to throw away your trainers and skipping rope or abandon your gym membership! If you are currently working out or plan to work out, your results or lack or results in this case may be tied to your body type. We are all genetically programmed by God to have a particular body type and each different body type has its own quirks and peculiarities, how it responds to food, weight training and cardio, it’s all coded in your DNA.

Today I am looking at the different body types we have and the best exercise tips to making the most of your genetic make-up. So don’t give up and don’t despair, just read on to find out the best training tips to tap into your genetic potential.

Thanks and do have a great weekend!

We all have different body types, some are naturally skinny, some naturally heavy. Our bone thickness and structure also vary too as do traits like muscle length and metabolic rate. When it comes to improving your physic, the better you understand your genetic traits the better your chances of building the body you are after. Scientists in the 1940’s developed a system that divided humans into 3 basic body types and that system is still very relevant today. You might not fit neatly into a particular group, but most of us have a dominant trait that can be easily identified as one of the three groups. They are as follows:

1.       THE SKINNY ECTOMORPH:

You know and despise them; those skinny people who seem to be able to eat anything they desire and never gain weight, those are your ectomorphs. They are usually naturally lean, which is a great advantage, the disadvantage of this body side is that they also have a hard time gaining muscle, in short the skinny ectomorph cannot gain fat or muscle easily. There is an erroneous belief that all ectomorphs are tall and skinny, while many tall people are ectomorphs, height alone is not the determining factor. The body type is based on factors such as, skeletal proportions, bone density and metabolism. For example, ectomorphs tend to have narrow shoulders and hips, light bones and fast metabolisms. Their wrists, knees and ankles are typically smaller than average. If you fit the description above, congratulations, you are an ectomorph!

2.       THE SQUARE ENDOMORPH:

Endomorphs have heavy bone structure and a square torso with wide waists and hips, their joints are often thicker and their metabolisms slower, yours truly is very familiar with the endomorph body structure as it is my most dominant body trait! The good thing about being an endomorph is that you have no problem adding muscle mass, the bad thing about being an endomorph is that you have no problem gaining fat mass either! Losing fat should be your main goal with this body type, if you have this body type and you want to get lean, you must be very careful about what you eat and do lots of cardio.

3.       THE PERFECT MESOMORPH:

Two things about this body type; one congratulations for winning the genetic lottery and two, I hate you for it! to have this body type is indeed a blessing and some of the greatest bodybuilders in history have been mesomorphs. This body type known for its wide straight shoulders, and narrow hips giving them a beautiful V shape. Their joints are large enough to support big muscle mass and yet small enough to be pleasing to the eye. The mesomorphs metabolism is also ideal, the average mesomorph converts all his food to muscle not fat.

HOW TO TRAIN FOR YOUR BODY TYPE:

Nobody is usually 100% one body type, you might be an ectomorph with some mesomorph qualities or an endomorph with some mesomorph tendencies i.e. you are skinny but gain muscle easily or you are muscular and get fat if you don’t watch your diet closely, whatever you are, you have to tailor your training to get the most out of your body type. Below is a loose guide to help you get the best out of your body type:

1.       ECTOMORPH TRAINING:

Ectomorphs have a high metabolism, meaning they burn through calories at a rapid rate, if you are an ectomorph, be careful not to exercise or train excessively and give your body enough time to rest and recover. Training for 2 hours a day, six days a week is not for you, 4 days a week is ideal for you. Your workouts should be sharp and to the point, never more than one hour and with basic weight lifting and very limited cardio just to build endurance, in fact your cardio should be medium intensity and not more than 20 minutes per session so as not to waste the little muscle you have, conserve your energy.

2.       ENDOMORPH TRAINING:

We endomorphs have slower metabolisms so are training and exercise needs are quite different from the ectomorphs. The endomorph requires greater training volume and frequency that is; heavier weights, more reps and sets, and more training days. To cap it all, if you are an endomorph, you need to do more cardio and do it more frequently!

Endomorphs benefit from doing a wide variety of exercises, also if you want to keep the fat off, reduce your rest days , you should aim for training 5 days a week and doing moderately intense cardio at least 3 times a week to keep the fat off.

3.       MESOMORPH TRAINING:

Like we said earlier, if you belong to this group of genetic lottery winners, staying fit and muscular is not really a problem. If you train hard and consistently, you will see fantastic results in your physique! You are blessed with the ability to train longer and harder than the two other body types. As a mesomorph or near mesomorph, you can afford to train longer than the others, a 2 hour session is within your reach. Train like a bodybuilder and take it easy with cardio.