Content
- Body types
- How to determine your type?
- The advantages and disadvantages of each type
- Change body type
Depending on the genetic predisposition, each person is endowed with an individual body structure, with different muscle and fat mass, different height. This explains the fact that with the same nutrition and the same physical activity in men can be formed completely different figures with different volume of muscles.
Your body type (somatotype) is necessary to know for the development of the training process and the selection of diet.
Body types
From birth, men can be thin, normal build and prone to fullness. To date, these constitutions of the body have been divided into 3 main types.
An interesting fact is that the body morphology was tried to be classified as early as the 4th century BC. In those days, in ancient Greece, the physician and philosopher Hippocrates studied the connection between the constitution of the body and the propensity for certain diseases. In his opinion, well-fed people with small stature are more often prone to stroke, and thin and big-bodied people are more likely to have tuberculosis.
There are several options for classifications, names and definitions of physique. For example, in 1921, the German psychologist Kretschmer identified a typology of temperaments based on the characteristics of his physique, which he divided according to the following criteria:
- Asthenic (weak) – with a tall and thin body shape with not wide shoulders, with long skinny arms and legs, with an elongated face and an elongated nose;
- Picnic (dense) – type of build with medium or below average height, with a tendency to be overweight. The body is blurred, with a short neck and a rounded head. The face is broad with fine features;
- Athletic (wrestler) – a type of strong build with good muscles. Growth in this type of classification is medium or above average, the shoulders are wide and the hips are narrow.
In medicine, the following body classification is adopted to determine the correct ratios of body parts, according to which health criteria are also assessed:
- Mesomorphic or normostenic – with average criteria of anatomical features. This type is characterized by a proportionally formed body with harmoniously developed muscles and bone system.
- Brachymorphic or hypersthenic – is characterized by the prevalence of transverse parameters and is characterized by a voluminous abdomen, a round head and short stature. The lungs are wide, and the plexus of the small intestine is located in most cases horizontally;
- Dolichomorphic or asthenic – is characterized by the dominance of the longitudinal parameters, but with poorly developed muscles and thin subcutaneous fat layer. The limbs are elongated, the bones are narrow, the muscles are weak.
Determining the type of building on a scientific basis
The first scientific development made William Sheldon – Professor at Harvard University. They were allocated 3 components of the body structure, which in the “pure” manifestations are as follows:
- Endomorph – with a massive belly, and a round head, weak muscles in the arms and legs, but with excessive deposition of fat throughout the body.
- Mesomorph – in the classical version of the broad-shouldered, with a broad chest, has developed muscular arms and legs. Subcutaneous fat is present in very small quantities.
- The ectomorph is gangly and thin, with an elongated face, narrow-shouldered, with an expiratory (narrow, long and flat) chest and long limbs. There is practically no fat, and there is no tendency to acquire it, the muscles are weak and not developed.
It should be noted that in such “pure” species are extremely rare. In most cases, all three types are present to a greater or lesser degree in physique, but with a clear predominance of one of them.
How to determine your type?
One of the main criteria for the constitution of the body is the thickness of the bones, which does not change significantly with an increase or decrease in muscle or fat mass. The fastest way (but not accurate) to find out your type is to measure your wrist in the area of the bone.
| Type of | Wrist girth, cm |
| Ectomorph | 17 |
| Mesomorph | 17-20 |
| Endomorph | more than 20 |
As a rule, the length of the grip of the wrist is proportional to the length of the girth of the ankle and more than about 5 cm from it. -ten. There are also men who have the same wrist and ankle girth.
Therefore, in addition to measuring the thickness of the bones, you should pay attention to your height, length of the limbs, the tendency to be overweight or lack thereof.
The advantages and disadvantages of each type
Each type needs to make different efforts to build a beautiful athletic body.
Mesomorph. To build muscle will require the least time of all three types. Even without training, he has strong and noticeable muscles in the absence of fat. The body itself of such men is large with a thick bone and voluminous muscles.
The disadvantages include the difficulty to bring large muscles to a beautiful relief form. By the way, mesomorphs are also divided into ectomorphic and endomorphic.
One of the brightest and most successful men with this type of body is Arnold Schwarzenegger
Endomorph . To build a beautiful muscular body, this type of man first needs to get rid of excess body fat on his body. Therefore, in spite of the fact that they easily build up muscle mass, it can be overlooked behind the fat layer. Success is achieved through frequent training.A well-known representative of this type of Jay Cutler – an American bodybuilder.
Ectomorph. This type of men is most difficult to build a sports body, due to the long process of building muscles. In addition to sports, they need to pay a lot of attention to proper nutrition for gaining muscle mass. More than half of success in achieving the goal depends on correctly selected nutrition.
However, such a type of people with sufficient dedication and perseverance has all the chances to have a beautiful aesthetic figure of an athlete. Example to Frank Zane
Change body type
Somatic constitutions cannot move from one species to another throughout their lives, they are genetically laid out and cannot change until the end of life. Each somatype is characterized by its own metabolism, priority formation of muscles or fat deposits, and even psychophysical development.
At the same time, depending on nutrition, physical exertion, lifestyle, diseases and other factors, the outline of the body itself may change in the direction of increasing muscle or fat mass, or in the direction of decrease.
Any man with any body type is able to achieve the desired result in the formation of his body. And the most important factor is dedication, motivation, perseverance in classes, adherence to the regime and proper nutrition.