Mesomorphic body type refers to body types with a naturally high muscle to fat ratio. People with this body type typically respond well to strength training and have an easier time building and maintaining muscle than other people. They also gain and lose weight easily.
Everyone has their own body type. However, one theory is that there are three main body types, and most people fit into one or a combination of these categories.
There are wide differences between body types, and this largely has to do with how easily a person gains weight or builds muscle, as well as their natural body shape.
Mesomorphic body type - definition
The mesomorphic body type typically includes an average build with good muscle development and relatively low body fat. He can be described as having an athletic build.
William Sheldon first coined the term mesomorph in the 1940s as one of three body types, or somatotypes. Somatotypes are general categories that many people believe describe their body type.
People with a mesomorphic body type, or mesomorphs, tend to be athletic and strong due to their high muscle-to-fat ratio and have muscular chests, shoulders and limbs. Their fat distribution throughout the body is usually relatively even.
People with a mesomorphic body type easily build muscle mass, are able to lose weight quickly, but also gain weight easily. Therefore, mesomorphs may need to watch their calorie intake or stay active to avoid weight gain. A combination of strength training and cardio usually works best for mesomorphs.
People with a mesomorphic body type are suitable for sports and have correct posture. For example, many studies show that athletes in basketball, boxing, martial arts, strength training, swimming, track and field, and volleyball tend to have mesomorphic characteristics.
Mesomorphic body type
This includes the ideal athletic body for bodybuilding. Such people by nature:
- slim and muscular;
- have broad shoulders;
- good metabolism;
- strong by nature;
- build muscle without much effort, but can also gain excess fat if you don’t stick to proper nutrition.
This type of figure includes such famous personalities as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phil Heath, Sylvester Stallone.
Different body types
Sheldon also introduced ectomorphs and endomorphs as other possible body types.
Ectomorphs have little muscle and fat. They usually have a lean body shape with long limbs. People with this body type tend to gain weight or build muscle.
Endomorphs have a high body fat content with a curvy figure. They may gain weight and muscle quickly, but struggle to lose it again.
In reality, many people may have a combination of different body types. For example, ectoendomorphs retain more fat in their lower body and have a leaner upper body. This weight distribution creates a pear-shaped figure.
Endoectomorphs have more fat on the upper body with a leaner lower body. Other people may feel like they have traits of all three body types.
How to identify a mesomorph
There are a number of defining characteristics for a mesomorph. First of all, you should pay attention to the human skeleton and muscular frame - they are quite powerful and athletic in shape. The bones are large, strong, the shoulders are wider than the hips (a mesomorph woman is also distinguished by a predominant shoulder girdle). The thighs and gluteal muscles of this type are clearly expressed and have attractive shapes due to developed muscles, which makes this type the most attractive among all other possible ones.
The characteristic type of female figure is called an hourglass, and the male with a triangle figure, which is an ideal combination of parametric data and is comparable to all famous athletes.
Typically, these people are slim, have well-developed muscles and beautiful, graceful posture. The distribution of fat accumulation throughout the body is even, therefore, even in the situation of having a few extra tens of kilograms, mesomorphs look organic and beautiful - compliance with proportions is crucial in the overall perception of the figure, and not its dimensions.
The properties of slimness, muscularity and strength are inherent in mesomorphs by nature, and in order to turn into a shapeless mass swollen with fat, they will have to make considerable efforts. The result of any workout is visible so quickly that their body becomes toned after an hour in the gym, and extra pounds disappear after a day of rice.
A physically developed body lays the winning program on a psychological level, so these people are often distinguished by demonstrative behavior that attracts a lot of attention. They are not afraid of competition, and sometimes they deliberately arrange it, understanding their own advantageous positions. These people are leaders, managers and innovators, they always strive for activity - a high level of energy does not allow them to plunge into inaction at the mental level. They are the ones who come up with new projects, drag their friends on a dangerous journey, or jump from rooftop to rooftop, justifying their behavior with boredom.
Perseverance and courage can at some moments find expression in tyranny, since the love of control and leadership, as well as the inability to give in and admit one’s opinion is wrong, are also leading qualities.
Diet for mesomorph
A diet for a mesomorph will depend on their health or fitness goals. Mesomorphs gain weight easily, so they need to eat a healthy and balanced diet or stay active to avoid excess body fat.
The calorie needs of people with a mesomorphic body type are slightly higher than those of people with other body types. They usually respond better to high-protein diets. Those who have gained weight may want to reduce their portions and calorie intake. However, people who want to gain muscle mass should increase their calorie intake by eating a healthy diet.
A healthy diet should include a variety of foods. People with a mesomorph body type should divide their meals into three parts: one-third protein, one-third vegetables (or fruits) and one-third whole grain carbohydrates (or healthy fats).
Who is it
Mesomorphs are considered lucky, gifted by nature with a body that is receptive to training, and also easily maintains good shape in the absence of it.
A mesomorph man can achieve the physical shape of a professional athlete after only the lightest training, due to his initial athletic physique. These people may not think about their own nutrition and training regimen, since they can quite easily both gain the necessary muscle mass and lose excess fat. This tendency makes mesomorphs an object of envy, but the problem lies precisely in the impermanence of the physical body. It is often difficult for mesomorphs to maintain optimal proportions and find the necessary program and regime in which they will not collect clothes of the entire size range at home.
This type is characterized by a high rate of muscle recovery, and accordingly they can more easily withstand intense loads, as well as increase the number of weekly workouts. Bone thickness tends to standard values, which significantly reduces traumatic risks during intense sports activities.
The metabolism of a mesomorph cannot be determined once, since it largely depends on the food consumed and the characteristics of physical activity. To understand the peculiarities of their somatic changes and find out how best to build a program of exercise or correction of their own body, a mesomorph will have to take into account many factors. Fine-tuning metabolic processes can take place through long-term experiments, while once proven tactics can go astray after a sleepless night or hormonal changes.
Hormonal surges, instability of weight and ability to bear load are the main negative features for this almost ideal type. These are people who quickly achieve results in the gym, but also quickly lose them. For example, one missed workout can set them back a week or two in their physical condition.
Workouts for mesomorphs
To achieve a lean and muscular physique, you need to include both cardiovascular and strength training. A person with a mesomorphic body type who wants to lose weight should prioritize cardio exercises.
For optimal results, they are recommended: High-intensity interval training, which involves alternating intense exercise with lighter activity. People with low fitness levels can start with less intense forms of cardio such as walking.
Mesomorphs looking to gain muscle mass may favor resistance exercises such as strength training. As a rule, mesomorphs respond well to strength training and quickly gain muscle mass.
Depending on a person's goals, strength training should include exercises targeting different muscle groups. To achieve optimal results and increase muscle mass, you should perform low to moderate repetitions of the exercises with moderate to heavy weights.
It is also important to regularly change your training regimen and ensure normal rest and recovery.
How to find out your body type
Determining your body type is very simple. Measure your wrist and estimate the width of your shoulders and hips. Think about how easy it was for you to gain weight. If not, then you are an ectomorphic type.
Here's another educational video that will help you determine your body type correctly:
Main body types - how to determine your body type correctly?
Everyone's body shapes and sizes are different.
But, in general, they can be divided into 3 main body types , according to which you should choose a specific weight loss program.
The main thing is not to concentrate on destroying every extra centimeter, but to strictly follow the rules, gradually returning harmony and beauty to your body.
Moreover, for some girls (of a certain body type, for example, with a “skinny fat” figure) severe weight loss is contraindicated.
The myth about body types
Definition problem
In fact, ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph are just exotic names for the ones we are used to: skinny, medium, fat, which has no scientific basis.
Don't believe me? Let's look at the definitions: Classification:
Ectomorph - usually tall, thin, minimal muscles, flat chest, etc.
Mesomorph is a more athletic type, broad shoulders and chest, muscular arms and legs, the amount of subcutaneous fat is small.
Endomorph - characterized by spherical shapes, usually a round head, large belly, wide chest and torso, short stature, with a lot of fat on the shoulders and hips, but thin wrists and ankles.
It’s shaping up interestingly, isn’t it? Who needed to pervert this?
The authorship of this classification belongs to William Sheldon, who studied the human body, trying to find any patterns. But he didn't study biology or anatomy, not at all, he was a psychologist. And therefore, his classification of people into three main categories - ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph, is nothing more than simply dividing people by appearance. Which, to be frank, doesn't make any special sense at all. But it creates a lot of problems for especially impressionable people or beginners, which we’ll talk about now.
In addition to the fact that the Internet is littered with references to this typology, it is also littered with special training programs for ectomorphs and mesomorphs, special nutrition plans for hardgainers (slang name for ectomorphs among bodybuilding fans) and other nonsense. One can only guess how many people think that they are ectomorphic hard gainers and it is unrealistically difficult for them to gain weight, when in fact they don’t eat enough and don’t even count calories, or how many people think that they are endomorphs and prone to obesity, although they have no idea, How many bad carbohydrates do they consume every day and what is going on with their diet? Meanwhile, everything is extremely simple, so much so that we have already discussed this issue earlier, in an information post about calorie balance. And it doesn’t matter at all whether you’re thin, or average, or fat - the principles of nutrition and training (precisely principles, not specific approaches and programs and diets) are the same for everyone. It's like physics. Gravity affects everyone, it just affects fat people more than thin people (in proportion to the difference in weight), but it affects everyone always!
Thus, dividing people into: thin (ectomorph), average (mesomorph) and fat (endomorph) does not provide any useful information when it comes to changing your appearance. But there are also a certain number of objective factors that influence how you look and how difficult it will be for you to change your appearance.
The first that comes to mind is the length of the muscles, the length of the tendons and their attachment points. Some people have long muscles and short tendons, while others have the opposite. And first it will be much easier to train the muscles, and they will look better aesthetically.
The second one that comes to mind is the general length of the arms, legs, torso, etc. All training is physics; the shorter the lever, the, other things being equal, the greater the load on it can be given. But progress in the amount of load is one of the options for creating a stressful situation for the body, to which it will be forced to adapt.
The third one that comes to mind is height and weight. Again, 80kg at 180cm and 80kg at 170cm will look very different. But this will in no way make a person an ectomorph, because this categorization is a consequence, not a cause. And, by the way, you can safely send away the next person who tells you that genetics does not play a role. She plays a role, and what another.
Above, I estimated only three parameters that really distinguish people, but there are actually more such parameters. And it is precisely based on such parameters that you need to build your training, and not at all from an incomprehensible classification invented by a psychologist and replicated by followers of the cults of bodybuilding and fitness.
A little humor at last
Good actor "Christian Bale" brazenly mocks the concept of body types:
Author of the article: Anton Kuchumov
Nutrition rules:
- We consume only high-quality fats, and do not forget about complex carbohydrates.
- We eat 4-5 times a day.
- On days without training, we give the extra morning snack to the enemy.
- Be sure to eat before bed. For example, a glass of kefir and fruit.
- The diet should consist of high-calorie food (about 2500 Kcal/day), which should not slip past or be deposited in the buttocks, but be transferred into muscle mass.
- Nutrition plan: 20% fat + 25% protein + 50% carbohydrates.
- We focus on sports nutrition.
- We use products to increase appetite (garlic, nuts, aromatic spices, etc.).
- From cereals we choose buckwheat and rice, oatmeal; Don’t forget about legumes (a source of protein) – peas, beans, etc.
- To gain weight, we use multivitamins and protein shakes, enzymes, and creatine.
- For better absorption of nutrients from food, drink 2 liters of water per day.
- Half an hour before training, we eat a product that is rich in carbohydrates. For example, a handful of nuts, a couple of spoons of honey or a cup of muesli with milk.
