Ectomorph-Mesomorph-Endomorph

[OutForBlood]

There are 3 types of body-types before one goes about determining what type of macros they should consume I feel it is important to find out what body-type you are.

Mesomorph

Mesomorph’s tend to be in the middle of the road as far as muscle mass and bodyfat. They generally have a naturally fit body, but to maintain it or improve it they need to exercise and diet correctly. Most successful bodybuilders have this body type.

Weight training can be done more often and for longer sessions then would be good for an ectomorph, but mesomorph’s still need to be careful not to overdo it. Depending on the individuals fitness goal, a mesomorph could focus on the guidelines suggested for an ectomorph and gear their training towards gaining muscular bulk. Or they could focus more alone the guidelines outlined for the endomorph and gear their training towards fat loss and getting ripped.

A lot of mesomorph’s like to cycle their training by bulking up and gaining muscle mass during the fall and winter months. And then switch to training for fat loss during the spring and summer months, in order to have a lean fit looking physique for the summer.

Eventually ectomorph’s and endomorph’s can take on a similar training cycle pattern as their physiques get more developed and they begin to take on some of the characteristics of the mesomorph. But they will still have a tendency to need more work on their trouble areas (i.e. gaining size for ectomorphs and losing fat for endomorph’s).

When a mesomorph is happy with their muscle size and leanness they can simply train to maintain it by sticking to a good healthy diet and performing moderate cardiovascular exercise several times per week to keep the bodyfat in check.


Endomorph

An Endomorph's biggest problem is losing bodyfat and keeping it off.

Weight training will help endomorph’s develop a better muscle to fat ratio in their body and therefore speed up their metabolism. Ideally endomorph’s should train at a fast training pace (very little rest between sets and exercises) to help burn up more calories during their workouts.

A minimum of 30 minutes of daily cardio, preferably done first thing in the morning before eating, will help burn up stored bodyfat and help increase the metabolism. Moderate intensity activities like brisk walking, bike riding, and cardio machines at the gym are ideal.

Endomorph’s need to eat less then maintenance calories in order to burn up stored bodyfat for energy. 5-6 small meals spaced out every few hours during the day. These meals should be based around lean protein and green veggies. The only time starchy carbohydrates should be consumed is immediately after exercise. At these times the body is primarily concerned with replacing muscle glycogen and the carbohydrates will be unlikely to get stored as bodyfat after exercise. Obviously, sweets, junk foods, and heavily processed foods should be eliminated from your diet, except for an occasional treat once or twice per week.


Ectomorph

Ectomorphs need to focus their efforts of gaining muscular bodyweight.

Heavy weight training will help ectomorph’s stimulate muscle growth. Slower paced workouts with longer rest periods (i.e. at least 2 minutes between sets) will allow heavier weights to be lifted and thus help stimulate more muscle growth. Ectomorph’s also need to train less frequently in order to give their body plenty of time for growth and recovery. 3 weight training workouts per week would be ideal.

Cardio and other aerobic activities should be kept to a minimum until you are happy with your current bodyweight. This will conserve calories and allow them to be utilized for muscle growth.

Ectomorph’s need to make sure that they consume more calories then they burn off in order to have a caloric surplus from which to grow from. Ideally they should not go any longer then 2 hours without eating something. Each meal should contain protein and starchy carbohydrates. While the diet should be focused around natural unprocessed foods, some higher fat foods like peanut butter, red meat, whole eggs, and full fat dairy products can be added to the diet to help increase the caloric intake.

Ectomorph’s have really fast metabolisms so the risk of gaining bodyfat is low. And even if they do gain some bodyfat during the mass building phase, they will easily be able to get rid of it once they return to a lower calorie diet.

[FlyGuy]

sux but i think im an Endomorph ! Or at least it feels like it. What are ur thoughts to the notion that if you do cardio on an empty stomach, you will burn muscle for energy?

[OutForBlood]

sux but i think im an Endomorph ! Or at least it feels like it. What are ur thoughts to the notion that if you do cardio on an empty stomach, you will burn muscle for energy?

I myself am not a big believer of doing cardio in a fasted state. Think about it, you just went to sleep for 6-8 hours, by the time your cardio is over your looking at 8-10 hours without anytype of protein. If you do decide to do this I would say sip on some BCAA's.

Hope this helps

[Wahoo]

Ecto in the house!!! Lol kinda sucks! I try to stick to 8-10 reps for my workouts but i feel my body gets used to a routine easily and I should switch it up every 4-6wks. On days I am sore or workout I try to eat every 2 hours, had a half a steak earlier yummy time for the other half soon!

[OutForBlood]

Ecto in the house!!! Lol kinda sucks! I try to stick to 8-10 reps for my workouts but i feel my body gets used to a routine easily and I should switch it up every 4-6wks. On days I am sore or workout I try to eat every 2 hours, had a half a steak earlier yummy time for the other half soon!

I would say we need to go Hyper and Power this type of training just wont hack it anymore.