Your body is not the same as another. It is unique in more ways than one. It hence becomes essential to know what type your body is. This knowledge can help you to develop an apt plan for diet as well as physical exercises. Knowledge about your body-type helps understand it better. Your body will find it relatively easy to “listen” and react to diets and workouts done in accordance to its underlying type. Above all, knowing your body-type can help you set more pragmatic goals when it comes to bodyweight or other vital parameters. Always remember that it is highly recommended to know your body-type prior to commencing a diet-plan and an exercise-regimen.
The male body is categorized into 3 basic types – namely ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. Ectomorph is a generally a skinny person. If you are an ectomorph, your arms and legs are thinner and longer. Your muscles are leaner. Your shoulders are small, chest is flatter than the other body-types and you may find it difficult to gain bodyweight. Your ability to break down foods (metabolism) is quite fast. Hence, you will need a fairly large amounts of foods (in the form of calories) to gain weight. Your trainer or doctor will recommend supplements. Your exercise or workout sessions need to be shorter than the other body-types; however, you will need intensive workouts for your bigger muscles.
On the other hand, if you have a body built like an athlete’s with a larger structure of bones, you are a mesomorph. Your muscles are fairly large, and you have the best among all other body-types to build muscles as well as body-building. It becomes easier (than the rest of the body-types) for you to shed or gain bodyweight. Your body is shaped in a rectangular form, which again lends well for body-building. As mesomorphs can add flab (read: fats) with ease, you may need to stay watchful of the calories you eat. It is advised to pursue an exercise plan based on cardio workouts as well as weights.
An endomorph
Endomorph type of body is soft as well as solid. People of this body-type tend to get fat with ease. Your structure is relatively short and your limbs are thick. Muscles in the upper parts of your legs are stronger than the rest. Owing to strong leg-muscles, you may tend to do workouts such as squats or those involving your legs. More importantly, your metabolism is quite slow.
It is generally easy for you to put-on weight. This is because of the excessive fatty contents in your body – i.e., muscles being its main component. It however does not indicate that you cannot be a healthy person. You can actually use the excessive bulk of muscles to the best possible level. But, it is going to take a lot of hard work to keep building your muscles. You are advised to train with weights as well as with cardio workouts. These exercises will ensure that you do not add needless fats to your body. Your trainer is unlikely to recommend intake of supplements; however, you are expected to eat foods rich in proteins.
The most apt form of workout or exercises is moderate levels of weights. You may also be advised to have a fast-paced mode of training or exercising. At the end of the day, you may need to set your heart to pump. Such regular pumping is sure to yield healthy results, marked by burning of needless calories.
Workout plan for an endomorph
You may naturally have a lot more fats stored up than others, and you are hence more likely to get tired than others. Owing to these, you will need to take a lot of foods to keep going. It gets difficult to make you shed bodyweight. If you are working hard at the gym without focus, the weight goals will tend to elude you for a longer time. The smart thing for an endomorph to do is to mix weights as well as cardio workouts. You are also advised to do conditioning in regular intervals. This may involve jumps, pushes, sprints, etc. to make your body shed needless fats.
The good news is – your muscular mass will help you a lot to persist and endure very long session of workouts. You may need to use this to your own advantage. It is nature’s own way of endowing you with endurance-strengths to shed weight and to lead a healthy life. In other words, your body’s bulky mass is actually the fuel provided to you within so as to burn extra calories. The math is simple for this body-type – the more you burn calories, the better it is for your overall wellbeing.
A qualified trainer will tell you that your body-type is naturally inclined to use the force of its own weight as well as latent muscular powers residing within you. It is hence a good practice to keep pushing your boundaries. Your trainer may suggest you to pursue a martial arts form – which can work wonders for an endomorph. The good thing about martial arts is, it can give a lot of variety and shake away the monotony associated with cardio or weights-based training.
The simple fitness mantra for endomorphs is – keep moving! A sedentary lifestyle may bring irreparable damages to your body. So, be on the move whenever you can; go for long walks (either on a solitary mode or with friends), ride your bike for long, etc. As long as you are moving, your body will find needful room to burn fats. As mentioned, continuous burning of your bodily fats is a basic prerequisite for endomorph’s health.
Diet plan for an endomorph
In spite of all your workouts and exercise sessions, if you still find it difficult to shed weight, you will need to focus on what you are eating. Due to your body’s natural ability to get tired faster, you tend to have a craving for foods, most of the times. It is precisely why you will need to watch what you are consuming.
The basic premise of endomorph’s diet plan is to avoid refined carbs as much as possible. This is because of your high level of sensitivity to insulin. This means, foods with high glycemic value (such as white rice, bread, etc.) will get converted into sugars way too sooner than you can actually imagine. Once converted into sugars, they will soon get accumulated as fats. So, you are advised to opt for fiber-rich foods or natural products. You can easily get more fiber from vegetables, whole grains like oats as well as brown-rice. You can start relishing your diet if you choose from an interesting mix of proteins, vegetables, fruits, etc.
An optimal diet plan for endomorphs will include a protein in virtually each meal. This is because of proteins’ ability to stay for a long time and can yield energies longer. You can choose protein-rich foods from a wide range of options including seeds, beans, eggs, fish, meats (of the lean kind), etc.
As your body naturally has a lot of fats, it is widely believed by endomorphs that intake of fats is bad for them. But, fats can make you full for long. So, as long as you have healthier options to source fats, you are only going to get healthier. Such healthier forms of fats can be sourced from coconut oils, avocado (as well as from its oils), olive oil, seeds and nuts.
Similarly, endomorphs may have a biased, negative view about carbs; so, it is a natural for endomorphs to develop a dislike for carbs. This is also incorrect. You can source healthy carbs from natural sources such as veggies; these natural wonders contain less or no starch as well as stay high on fiber content. You can enjoy liberal and copious servings of cauliflower, kale, spinach, broccoli, etc.
There are a few foods endomorphs are advised to stay away from. These are carbs rich foods such as white-bread, white-rice, a few types of cereals, carbonated drinks such as soda, processed food products (especially, those made with artificial sweeteners and sugars), etc. Another important thing to remember for all endomorphs is – it takes both a diet plan coupled with a disciplined workout plan to reach your weight goals.
You may also need to know that there are no rigid types of bodies. It is hence very common for men to have two types of bodies. The combination shows up generally as (1) being a mesomorph with endomorph characteristics or (2) an ectomorph with bodily traits of a mesomorph. It is also likely that some of the types may behave like the other – for instance, an ectomorph (a skinny person) may be able to build bulky muscles through regular training and exercises.
It may often be confusing to people with dual body-types to understand what really works well for them. If you think you are a mesomorph – but with traces of ectomorph characteristics, you may need to focus only on areas needing workouts. For example, if you have thin and long legs while rest of your body is that of a mesomorph’s, you may need to add bulk to your legs. It is the same dilemma an endomorph with a few features of mesomorph is also likely to have. So, if you have a slimmed glute as well as moderately thin legs, it is likely to mistake your build as that of a mesomorph. It is always recommended to consult a qualified trainer before starting your workout regimen as well as a diet plan.