There are three basic body types namely the Ectomorph, the Mesomorph, and the Endomorph. In this article, you get to identify which of these body types you fall under and accordingly what kind of workout and what kind of diet is best suited to you. So that you get the best possible results. So without any further delay, let’s get started.
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How to Eat and Train for Your Body Type
The first body type that we are going to talk about today is the ectomorph. Now, ectomorphs are the typical hard gainers. They tend of narrow shoulders, small frames, and overall a skinny look. Ectomorphs find it really difficult to gain weight or put on muscle mass. They naturally have a very low body fat percentage. For an ectomorph, the key to training is to burn as few calories but stimulate as much muscle as possible. So, the best way to do that is to focus on compound exercises. Now basically, there are two types of exercises. There are compound exercises that involve more than two muscle groups. For example, Bench press, deadlifts, pull-ups, squats, etc. On the other hand, there are isolation exercises that involve only one muscle group. For example, bicep curls or leg extension. So the focus should be more on compound exercises and less on isolation exercises. An ectomorph should workout less frequently. Like not more than 3 to 4 times a week in order to allow optimal recovery for growth.
Know Your Body Type and Eat accordingly with Proper Exercise
Moreover, the workout session should not be more than 45 minutes to 60 minutes. Because it is important for an ectomorph to preserve calories, it is advisable to have longer rest periods in between the sets. Like 2 to 3 minutes. Cardio training should be key to a minimum. Like not more than once a week. Also, the cardio session should be intense but short. Something like sprinting. Coming to the nutritional side of things, an ectomorph should stay on a calorie surplus of about 300 to 400 calories. For example, your maintenance calories come out to be 2000. So you should take about 2300 calories on a daily basis. Now, please do not depend a lot on junk food. It will only make you gain fat. Because you want to stay in a calorie surplus, it is always advisable to eat frequently. So you should eat every 2 to 3 hours. Keep your meals high in complex carbohydrates, well balanced with protein and healthy fats. Calorie dense foods like nuts, eggs, paneer, fish, the chicken will help you reach your target easily. For an ectomorph, if I have to give a rough estimate, 50 percent of the calories should come from carbohydrates, 20 percent from protein, and 30 percent from healthy fats.
Coming to the next body type which is mesomorph. Mesomorph is probably the best body type to be a part of. They naturally have a symmetrical build, wide shoulders, narrow waist. A mesomorph finds it quite easy to put on muscle. Also, they tend to lose body fat quite effectively. Mesomorphs are generally quite muscular and bodybuilding comes naturally to them. A mesomorph can workout for 5 to 6 times a week, each session is one hour. They can also throw in a few sessions of cardio like 2 to 3 times a week. As far as diet is concerned, if only they eat clean food, they will stay very much in shape. They can stay on a minor calorie surplus or deficit depending upon if they are looking to gain muscle or lose body fat. If I have to give a rough estimate of calories for a mesomorph, 45 percent of the calories should come from carbohydrates, 30 percent of the calories should come from protein and about 25 percent of the calories should come from healthy fats.
The next body type is the endomorph. Endomorph is the complete opposite of the ectomorph. They have a soft round build. They tend to put on fat very easily because of which they generally struggle to lose weight. Ideally, an endomorph should focus on burning more calories while working out. So a combination of weight training and cardio training is best for them. You can have 45 minutes of weight training with shorter rest periods in between the sets. Followed by 15 minutes of rigorous cardio. An endomorph should workout quite frequently like 5 to 6 times a week. But here, the deciding factor would be diet. For an endomorph, it is very important to stay on a calorie deficit of about 300 to 400 calories. For example, your daily carbohydrate intake is 2000. So you should take around 1700 calories on a daily basis. Now, because your body has a tendency to put on fat very easily, you can not afford to have too much sugar or junk food in your diet. So make sure you have a diet that is low in carbohydrates, high in protein, well balanced with healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Make sure you include, raw vegetable salads in your diet. A rough estimation of calories for an endomorph would be 40 percent of the calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent of the calories from protein, and 30 percent from healthy fats. So these were the 3 basic body types. Now, just because we have talked about three body types, it doesn’t mean that you have to fit completely into one of these. You can easily be a combination of ectomorph and mesomorph or endomorph and mesomorph. But essentially the idea was to help you understand what your body type is. Because when we know what our body type is we can accordingly workout and eat to get the best possible results.