Ectomorph, Endomorph, and Mesomorph?

RedneckMomma77

Are these body types for men, in general or for men and women? And if they are for women, how do you find the best eating plan/exercise plan for your body type, and body shape?

For example, I am a ruler body shape, and a combination of endomorph & mesomorph. And I'm starting to wish that I did not know this information because it has just thrown a monkey wrench into everything. I understand that you should plan your eating and exercise around your body type and shape, but I have no idea of where to start. When I move constantly, my metabolism will speed up to the point that I have to eat every few hours, but several years at a desk job (and continuing eating like I was moving) landed me in the state that I'm in know. I'm considering a high protein/low carb eating plan, along with cardio (cycling, to build my knees up) along with weight lifting. But I'm not sure which weight lifting moves to do. I am extremely flexible, especially for my fitness level(almost none existent for me) and age (36). Most of the weights that I've handled over the past several years have been 40 & 50 lb bags of feed, 600 - 800 lb rolls of hay, and wheel barrows full of crap (literally). To me, muscle is not worth having if it's not usable muscle. Basically it needs to help be with those items I mentioned before, and make those jobs easier.

I hope someone can explain this to me in a manner that I can understand.

Thanks in advance.

teez52

I don't really believe any of that "Ectomorph, Hard-Gainer, etc." body type stuff. Maybe once you get into a more professional athlete type situation these actually become true, but for people like us, I don't really believe that they matter. For people like us (general public on sites like these), the more important thing is to understand your BMR, TDEE and calorie goal which will help you lose the weight that you want.

Remember, you do not "have to eat every couple of hours", you need to fight through the hunger pains and they will subside. Try drinking a glass of water, that will help to calm them at the beginning. Your body if conditioned to eat on a certain schedule and that's partially where the hunger pains come from, your body is expecting food. If you don't eat, eventually your body realizes it's not going to get any food and you can move on. You need to focus on your calorie intake and macros, get those right and you'll see your weight loss.

Now i'm not saying not to eat at all, because that's just as unhealthy as being overweight. What I'm saying is that you need to focus on hitting your calorie intake instead of eating whenever you are hungry as this will condition your body to expect food at different times and if you stay at your calorie goal you will lose weight, plain and simple.

As far as exercises go, check into Strong Lifts or Starting Strength for beginner routines. These will give you the ground work for building usable muscle (as you requested) as well as getting you into the lifting routine.

RedneckMomma77

Bump.

RedneckMomma77

Anybody?:flowerforyou:

ValerieMomof2

Here's my take. I believe that each person does have a body type but I don't think there is a specific plan for diet and exercise you need to follow. Knowing your an ecto, endo or mesomorph I think just helps with goal setting. For instance, I am a mesomorph and know that I will never be a lean person. I am more muscular and nothing can change that so there's no way I would set a goal for certain measurements. Just the same as someone who is an ectomorph shouldn't set goals to gain a lot of muscle. They can certainly build muscle but won't get the same look as a mesomorph.
So my advice is to set goals, eat like you need to and do workouts you enjoy

As far as what strength training to do, I also suggest looking at strong lifts as well. The exercises involve multiple muscle groups and are more beneficial for you than just doing a basic bicep curl or tricep extension

LoraF83

I don't buy into the whole body type thing.

You don't need a special diet plan or workouts for certain body types. The only thing to keep in mind with body types is that it affects the end result. Someone who is pear shaped will always be pear shaped.....they'll just end up as a smaller pear.

Just keep a calorie deficit and do exercise that you like. It's worked for tons of people on this site.

syke186

Im with Valerie on this one.

People say that there is no such thing as Ecto, endo meso, but call it (or dont call it) what you wish, the fact remains that certain bodies, behave differently than others.
Certain people can eat and eat and not gain a pound, and then there are others that even just looking at carbs, will cause them to gain weight :P (thats me! lol)

I digress. My point is to understand how your body does, or doesnt, work and see what kind of workout stimulus it reacts to best. I know that high intensity workouts (a la Crossfit), and cardio in general, made the biggest changes for me. However, I also got great results by cutting out carbs, almost entirely (except for fruit and nuts).

I know that my body can add muscle easily, if i lift heavy things. I am naturally strong, but its also very easy for me to pack on bodyfat, if i eat starchy carbs too often. (sounds almost like an endomorph doesnt it

with that said...keep trying things until you find something that works for you. Once you do, stick with it and you will see results! Good luck!