Body Type
Not all bodies are created equal. No matter how much you train or how strict your diet is, you cannot escape genes. It is Important to understand how your body works and how it reacts to food/exercise in order to create and then obtain your goals.
There are three body types: the endomorph, prone to a little extra fat; the mesomorph; the muscular type, and the ectomorph; lacking much fat and muscle. The endomorph will always look bigger than they really are, even when lean. The ectomorph will always look thinner than they really are. Mesomorphs will usually look proportioned whether the increase or decrease a bit in mass. Now of course, that does not mean that you will fit perfectly into any of the three categories. You are more than likely a mixture of one or two, but definitely lean more toward one.
General Characteristics
Ectomorph
- Narrow hips and clavicle
- Small joints
- Thin build
- Long limbs
- String muscle bellies
Mesomorph
- Wide clavicles
- Narrow waist
- Thinner joints
- Long and round muscle bellies
Endomorph
- Blocky
- Thick rib cage
- Shorter limbs
- Hips as wide or wider than clavicle
- Wider joints
Once you believe you have figured out which group you identify with, its time to figure out how to maximise your time in the gym and the kitchen in order to get maximum results.
If you are an ectomorph, your metabolism is so fast that your body does not have the chance to store extra calories and convert them to fat and/or protein to muscle. Getting lean is not your problem, if you train currently you are probably ripped! So, how do you add size? You add calories and lots of them. How many all depends on how much bigger you'd like to get but, you want quality calories. Up your protein intake to 120-150% of your body weight. The same goes for carbohydrates, although one could argue that this number can be even higher. As far as fat, your body does not react to it like others, adding healthy fat to your diet will help you add in calories and feel fuller. Besides, they are the tastiest of the group.
If you are an endomorph, you have a much slower metabolism and your body is prone to holding on to any extra calories. When this is the case, slimming down or losing weight/fat is the biggest struggle. My suggestion is to focus on your diet more than anything. You still need a good amount of protein to maintain any muscle you have and build new muscle through training, I believe 100-110% of your weight is a good starting point. Carbohydrates are not your friend so, keep this a bit lower (90-95%) and keep them complex (whole grains). Overall you should look to be in a caloric deficit daily, that means taking in less energy than you use every day. A healthy starting point is to 200-300 calories. As far as training goes, I suggest a hypertrophic lifting plan and plenty of cardio. That means keep your rep ranges between 6-12 and rest 60 seconds at most.
Lastly, the mesomorph, the most desired of the three. This is obviously the ideal body type because you can gain muscle and not put on too much fat as long as you keep your diet in check. With this body type, its all about personal goals. If you wish to be lean, you can be. If you want to get really big, you can do that as well. Adjust your calories accordingly and change your routine to match your desired physique.
As always, if you have any questions....ASK! I'm here to help