William Sheldon, an American psychologist, based on older empirical data, identified three different body types. A body type is the set of physical characteristics that define an individual through genetics.
Science has challenged this classification by demonstrating that a human's genes can evolve throughout their lifetime. Moreover, each physical and physiological factor is independent; it is not really possible to classify or categorize individuals.
However, your body type can help you better understand your body and adapt your diet and exercise accordingly.
What is the physique of an ectomorph?
Definition of an ectomorph:
Ectomorphs are tall, thin people with underdeveloped muscles. Their arms and legs are long, and their torsos are rather short. They have little muscle mass and have difficulty gaining weight. They have a low body fat percentage, even without dieting. They have thin bones, thin ankles and wrists, and narrow pelvis and shoulders.
If you are an ectomorph and want to gain weight and muscle mass, this article will explain everything you need to know.
What are the other body types?
Definition of a mesomorph:
A mesomorph has a naturally athletic build with existing muscle mass. They gain muscle mass relatively easily. A mesomorph has a longer and wider upper body than an ectomorph, but their waist remains slim.
Definition of an endomorph:
An endomorph has narrow shoulders and fairly short limbs. Endomorphs gain weight easily and must monitor their diet to avoid excessive weight gain, even when they eat sensibly. Their body quickly assimilates all meals. Their body struggles to eliminate excess fat. This promotes the rapid buildup of adipose tissue.
What are the benefits of being an ectomorph?
Ectomorphs have a fast metabolism, so they don't store fat and can easily lose weight without much effort. Their muscle fibers are slow-twitch, making them suitable for long-term physical training.
What are the disadvantages of the ectomorph type?
Their muscle recovery is slower, which can easily lead to muscle fatigue. They also have more fragile bones and joints, which can lead to injuries. Ectomorphs must be careful about overtraining.
What physical training is suitable for ectomorphs?
Since ectomorphs have a metabolism that naturally burns a lot of calories per day, they will have difficulty gaining weight. A mass gain is generally the goal.
To do this, weight training with heavy weights shocks the body, stimulates the muscles and promotes muscle mass gain.
Ectomorphs should therefore perform strength training exercises targeting each muscle group, with between 6 and 10 repetitions per set of exercises and heavy weights that should be increased over the sessions. For example, bench press, rowing, squats, deadlifts, etc. If you want to have a suitable strength training program, ask a personal trainer at the weight room for advice.
However, ectomorphs have more fragile joints and a more fragile bone system than other body types, so the number of weight training sessions per week will be lower but very intense. Too much training will prevent the body from fully recovering.
Ectomorphs have a slower muscle recovery, so the recovery time between each set of bodybuilding exercises must be long enough (from 2 minutes) depending on the number of repetitions performed. Similarly, the time between two sessions must be long enough to allow the muscle to repair itself.
Having a fast metabolism and losing weight quickly, endurance training is not recommended for ectomorphs unless they want to cut and lose weight and fat. Weight training is the most suitable sport for gaining mass.
What diet is suitable for ectomorphs?
Increase your calorie intake
The ectomorph must increase his daily intake and the amount of calories ingested (to be distributed over 4 to 6 meals) in order to satisfy the nutritional needs of his muscles and promote mass gain. He can eat what he wants without gaining fat but he must have a healthy diet and eat a balanced diet with proteins, lipids and carbohydrates.
Even if the ectomorph does not see the results of his diet visually, his body will make it felt through fatigue, pain, loss of strength, slowed down mass gain... Thus, diet plays a key role for ectomorphs, it must be of good quality. In addition, a sedentary ectomorph can gain weight and gain fat in the belly area only.
Also, it is important for the ectomorph to consume enough protein per day.
The importance of protein
For a sedentary ectomorph, you need about 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight/day, or about 20% of daily calories.
If you are bodybuilding and want to gain muscle, increase your intake without exceeding 3 grams of protein per kg of body weight/day, or approximately 25% of calories/day.
Protein is essential for building muscle. Protein nourishes and repairs muscles after a weight training session. Protein and amino acids are what make your muscles grow. There are many foods rich in good-quality protein ; consult a nutritionist for more information.
Protein intake should be spread out throughout the day. If protein from food is not enough to meet your protein intake, you can take protein supplements.
Our healthy, protein-rich Protein Shot snacks are ideal for supplementing your protein intake and accompanying your workouts to help you build muscle.
PROTEIN SNACKSChoosing the right fats and carbohydrates
Healthy fats (fish, olive oil) help the body produce testosterone. Testosterone is a hormone that facilitates muscle growth. The human body secretes testosterone during exercise, so consuming enough fat will allow you to maximize the testosterone spikes produced during your weight training sessions.
The diet of a person with an ectomorph body type should be rich in carbohydrates . Their meals should be composed of 50 to 60% carbohydrates, 25% fats and 25% protein. Therefore, favor foods rich in carbohydrates such as whole grain cereals: rice, pasta, potatoes, legumes, etc.
Take dietary supplements
If you have an ectomorph body type and are looking to gain weight, but don't have time to eat properly, dietary supplements will be your allies.
Dietary supplements alone won't help you gain muscle. Therefore, you need to follow strength training sessions tailored to your ectomorphic or other body type.
Protein supplements for ectomorph body types are specially designed to be easily absorbed and assimilated by the body.
Dietary supplements are an easy way to increase your calorie intake and therefore promote weight gain.
Our protein meal bars contain 23g of protein for 400 kcal per bar.
With good fats and carbohydrates to provide you with the nutrients you need for weight gain.
If you want to have a nutrition program adapted to your ectomorph body type, seek advice from a health and nutrition professional.
In summary
Body types and their characteristics should be taken with caution because each individual is different and cannot be categorized. However, if you are thin, have a fine bone structure, little fat, and have low muscle mass, then you are probably an ectomorph. If your goals are to gain mass and develop muscles, you will need to increase your calorie intake through a protein-rich diet and prioritize short but intense strength-based physical training. Weight training is suitable for gaining mass and gaining volume.
We recommend that you seek advice from a health and sports professional to help you achieve your goals according to your body type.
