THREE BODY TYPES

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Ectomorph	Mesomorph	Endomorph
Skinny	Naturally lean	Smooth, round body
Lightly muscled	Naturally muscular	Gains muscle easily, but tends to be underdeveloped
Small joints/ boned	Medium size joints/ bones	Medium/ large joints/ bones
Low body fat (without exercising or following low calorie diets)	Naturally strong	High levels of body fat (may be overweight)
Small shoulders, chest and buttocks	Broad/ square shoulders	Small shoulders, high waist and large hips creating a pear-shaped physique
Long arms and legs	Body fat evenly distributed	Difficult to keep lost body fat off
Linear/ ruler appearance	Defined hourglass figure	Have to work very hard to lose weight
Difficulty gaining weight	Losing fat is easy	Slow metabolic rate
Fast & efficient metabolism	Efficient metabolism	Attacks of tiredness/ fatigue
Hyperactive	Gaining muscle easy	Lose weight slowly
Difficulty gaining muscle	Responds quickly to exercise

Most people have combinations of the three body types. For example, some have an upper body that is ectomorphic and a lower body that is endomorphic, resulting in a slim upper body and a more fat-prone lower body, creating a pear shape. Sometimes the variation is not as clear-cut as having one body type for the upper body and another for the lower. Height has little to do with body type, despite the fact that people tend to think of skinny people (ectomorphs) as tall and heavy-set people (endomorphs) as short.

Determine Body Type

Perhaps it was immediately obvious which body group you fell into. But, if it wasn't think about how you react to food and exercise.

1. Metabolism
   Do you gain weight quickly if you eat the wrong foods or after going on a lazy holiday? If you lose this weight rapidly after a change in diet or some exercise, you are probably a mesomorph. If you struggle to lose these extra pounds, then you exhibit endomorphic features. If you don't put on any weight, you most likely are an ectomorph.

2. Eating Habits
   Compare your eating habits with your appearance. If you consume a large amount of calories and are still thin, you are probably an ectomorph. If you eat a small number of calories and still appear thin and healthy you are probably a mesomorph. If you consume few calories and still appears heavy you are probably an endomorph.

3. Size of joints/ bones
   To determine whether you are small, medium or larger boned/ jointed, encircle your wrist with your thumb and middle finger. If your middle finger overlaps your thumb, then you are small boned/ jointed (ectomorph). If your middle finger and thumb just touch, you have medium sized bones/ joints (mesomorph). If your finger and thumb do not touch then you are larger boned/ jointed (endomorph).

4. Think Back!
   To help determine your body type, think back to your adolescence, a time before age (metabolism slows as you get older, making you more prone to weight gain) and lifestyle transformed your body into what it is today.

5. Use the Body Type Calculator
   The Body Type Calculator will help you determine you body type.

Everyone has the potential to develop a great shape – regardless of his or her dominant body type. Losing inches, especially off your problem areas, can be accomplished through proper exercise and eating habits. If you are a large-framed person, though you will never be willowy, you can be slender and fit, wear a size 8 with room to spare and look super sexy in a bikini. However, it is futile for a person with strong mesomorph or endomorph characteristics to aim to be willowy like an ectomorph, this will only lead to disappointment and ill health. Even if this target thinness were reached, it probably would not look good, could be difficult in the extreme to maintain and would continue to have adverse effects on the body.

Do the right cardiovascular exercise for your body type to improve your body and get the results you want. Also, ectomorph workouts, mesomorph and endomorphs need to train differently when it comes to resistance training.

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