Ectomorph, Mesomorph, or Endomorph – Body Somatotypes Is It Real?

Know What’s Your Body Somatotypes & How It Makes the Difference

If you’ve ever gone to a beach, swimming pool, or even gym locker rooms, one thing is for sure you might have noticed that we humans are born with different types of physical characteristics. Some are shorter or taller, darker or lighter, narrower or broader shoulders, shorter or longer legs—high or low level of endurance, less muscular or more muscular, and so on.

But, have you ever given a thought about how come physical characteristics are different, why some gain muscles quickly, especially beginner muscle mass within a few months of training? On the other hand, some struggles to gain weight or lose weight, no matter what they do, no change to their body.

Today, in this post, I would like to talk about the method of categorizing these differences we see in the body, what’s one of the things that does make a difference in physical characteristics.

It’s body SOMATOTYPES – something every human being is born with, which cannot be changed no matter what you do, due to which some look muscular without putting in much effort, some look skinny and struggle to gain weight or some struggle to lose weight. To put simply, today we’ll talk about your body type – yes, it’s REAL, though it plays a small part.

Here, we’ll discuss:

• Different body types – somatotypes.
• Methods used for defining somatotypes.
• Diets based on somatotypes.
• Training based on somatotypes.

Different Body Types – Somatotypes

The most popular method for categorizing these different body types that are recognized through three fundamental and other physical characteristics is known as somatotypes.

• The Ectomorph – General characteristics of the ectomorph are: upper body parts are short, arms and legs are long, feet and hands are long and narrow, and very little storage of fat. Besides that, narrowness in the shoulders and chest, along with long, thin muscles.
• The Mesomorph – Usually, a mesomorph person has a broad chest, solid muscle structure, long torso, and excessive strength.
• The Endomorph – They have a round face, short neck, massive fat storage, wide hips, and soft musculature.

Without a doubt, no one is entirely one type but a combination and attributes of these three types. And, the majority of body types fall under these:

• True Ectomorph.
• Ecto – Meso.
• Meso – Ecto.
• True Mesomorph.
• Meso – Endo.
• Endo – Meso.
• True Endomorph.

Physical Characteristics of Each Body Type

Let’s see each of them in detail to gain a better understanding of Somatotypes.

True Ectomorph

Some of the characteristics that truly define ectomorph are:

• They’re hard gainers. It’s challenging to put on and hold weight – you’ll find them troubling gaining weight both fat as well as lean mass. It’s the model body type of today’s western society. Long lean and thin. The kind of body that the majority of women like to possess and the second least that a man would like to have.
• Usually, they’re taller people, where their heights in males can go traditionally 6+ feet and for females approximately 5’5+ feet.
• They’re highly resistant to body fat gain, mostly with mild cardio and even immune towards leas mass gain.
• Usually, they’re seen very lean and thin without following or worried about any extreme diet or workout plan.
• If they gain lean mass, they will lose it once their training gets halted or they don’t stay consistent with it. Similarly, the acquired body fat will also be lost easily.
• On the positive side, they’re excellent endurance athletes due to their light frame and less fast-twitch fiber.
• These are the ones who are hated by most of the Endomorphs due to their lean body types.

Ecto – Meso

Characteristics that define this category are:

• Usually, female and male fitness type of body falls under this category due to their long, lean limbs and naturally low body fat.
• More individuals are of this category compared to those true ectomorphs. Though, they’ll generally look like ectomorphs unless they’re trained. People who are in this category tend to resist body fat and lean mass gain because of their increased or underdeveloped digestive tracts.
• The body structure of ecto – meso is quite similar to ectomorphs like naturally lean, heights usually more than 5’5 feet, slightly longer limbs, but they’re inherently not lanky looking like true ectomorphs are.
• Individuals with this body type are outstanding endurance sport athletes – soccer players, long sprinters, rock climbers.
• They can usually gain a fair amount of lean body mass but can get halted quickly through plateaus.
• If their training gets halted, they may lose some amount of lean mass – not all though.
• Metabolism increases quickly, along with lean body mass and increased physical activity. So, their diet must be monitored regularly. Post-workout nutrition is crucial for them.
• While bulking Ecto-meso should keep cardio minimal.
• During cutting, cardio can be integrated along with interval training for maintaining lean mass.
• All of them hate them except true Mesomorph. These ecto-meso’s are usually a pretty boy and athletic girls of society. They’re naturally lean and noticeably muscular. They’re envied due to the ability to stay ripped and lean throughout the year without following any rigid diet.
• Though, their downside is strength, where this pure size ecto-meso’s can be seen running circles around those big guys.

Meso – Ecto

Some of the characteristics of them are like:

• If these individuals are not trained, they tend to look like thicker instead of lean ectomorphs. However, once they start training, their body types change rapidly, the larger frame gets quickly visible. Their strength and lean mass gains will surpass the plateau, which is commonly seen among ecto-meso individuals.
• Not naturally lean similar to ectomorphs.
• For building muscle mass, they have better genetics compared to ecto-meso people.
• Generally, their height is around 5 Ft. 7 inches to 6 Ft.
• Their face is squarer compared to those ecto-meso’s.
• Their bone structure is larger, has broad shoulders, and their body is naturally more adapted towards fast-twitch fiber development.
• For these body types, a static diet will raise more weight gain as their metabolism doesn’t spike radically with weight gain compared to ecto-meso guys.
• This body type usually dominates in interval sports such as medium-range sprinting or basketball events along with resistance towards losing lean mass once they gain – they appear very slim due to interval training.
• Fluctuations in body fat are noticeable in different seasonal activities. Other than that, they don’t have any problem with getting into single-digit body fat levels. Still, they must follow a moderate diet along with physical activity continuously for maintaining it.
• Their strength to weight ratios is pretty exceptional.
• They resist both losing strength as well as lean mass, which gives an edge.
• Most of Ecto-Meso and ectomorphs are the ones who are quite unsatisfied with being lean while wishing to get stronger or bigger one day. So, it’s obvious these guys might get annoyed by meso – ectos, because they see progress faster in terms of appearance as well as lifts without force-feeding 24×7. Because even if they train like meso-ecto along with diet and cardio, they won’t be able to level up against meso-ecto as they progress fast.

True Mesomorph

Physical characteristics of Mesomorph are:

• They’re the rare breed. You won’t find them often.
• Quite lean similar to meso-ecto, though they’ve exceptional muscle-building genetics.
• Their bone structure is from medium to large along with loaded fast-twitch fibers. They’re the one who gains muscle very quickly.
• These are the people you see going to the gym and soon blasting like a bomb within a short period.
• Usually, they dominate sports that involve intensity like football linebackers.
• Their face is the square, muscular neck, vast shoulders, and narrow waist.
• They can gain muscles very quickly compared to the rest while gaining moderate fat.
• No trouble in preserving lean mass as well as losing fat.
• Natural V taper, muscular thick neck, narrow waist, and broad shoulders – perfect for bodybuilding.
• These are the guys who can get away by eating whatever they want and still gain. No doubt, eating clean and enough helps to minimize body fat gains while maximizing strength and muscle gains.
• Cardio is preferable with weight training for anyone, including Mesomorph, but interval training will often add substantial mass to these types of individuals.
• While cutting these individuals can do extreme diets as their body doesn’t lose muscle mass quickly.
• These are the people who are envied by almost everyone as they can go out and eat three burgers without worrying about anything and gain mass. For instance, Endomorphs envy them as Mesomorph won’t have to worry about gaining any fat.

Meso-Endo

Physical characteristics are:

• Possibly they’re naturally the most vital body type among all. Mesendomorph individuals can range from the short and stocky to tall and big.
• Usually, these individuals hold a higher amount of body fat naturally, though they may not look like when clothed.
• Even the untrained individuals have broad shoulders while also hold more body fat – it’s evenly spread throughout the body instead of only gut area.
• They’ve excellent muscle building genetics.
• They can gain as well as lose a fair amount of fat quickly.
• These mesendomorph are usually seen in the sports like Olympic lifting, powerlifting as well as strong men.
• They’ve square, rounded face though they still have predominated jaw.
• Their natural metabolism is relatively slow, and it’s not affected through lean mass gain.
• Their hips are narrower compared to those true endomorphs – visible differences among the two.
• They’ve got a thick bone structure.
• To get lean, they must follow a rigid diet, and even an extreme diet is needed if they wish to stay ultra-lean, though their body handles extra fat well.
• Cardio must be implemented with bulking as well as cutting.
• Maybe they’re the only rival to the Mesomorph when it comes to strength as well as size gain. Their bodyweight helps stabilize major lifting movements.
• You can say if they work with dedication, they can become temporary Mesomorphs.

Endo-Meso

Below are the physical characteristics of these individuals:

• They hold more body fat compared to those Mesendomorph, especially around the belly area.
• They have a round face and wide hips.
• They look quite bulky and out of shape even when they’re clothed.
• Ability to gain lean mass as well as fat quickly.
• Resistance towards losing both lean masses as well as body fat.
• They’re incredibly lipostatic.
• These individuals are a rounder version of those Mesendomorph.
• Usually, powerlifters are one of this, but usually not naturally strong like the Mesendomorph when it comes to explosive strength. However, they rival in powerlifting movements like deadlift and squats.
• They’re short and even have shorter limbs that work in their favor mechanically for power lifts.
• Usually, they don’t have any real trouble for gaining mass. Though, for getting lean, they must do cardio along with a strict diet. For these individuals staying lean is the real challenge. However, strength does come naturally.
• They excel in both the lifts deadlifts as well as squats.
• They are mostly envied by Ecto-meso’s due to endo-meso’s boastful attitude of piling up plates during deadlifts for their ultra-heavy low rep sets.
• These endo-meso’s are even insulted sometimes like though you’re strong, but you’re still fat. On the other hand, this Endo-Meso’s also have a hate on Ecto-meso and insult something similar to though you’re ripped, I can break you over my back – for their arrogant behavior as they likely admire themselves looking in the mirror.

True Endomorph

General physical characteristics are:

• They’re quite a genetic shaft body type.
• Endomorph instills both fat bodies along with skinny-fat.
• When it comes to muscle building, their genetics aren’t good enough.
• They retain and gain body fat, similar to Mesomorph, who acquires and has lean mass efficiently.
• These are the guys who can gain water weight by merely eating one snicker bar.
• They’ve round face, narrow shoulder, and wide hips.
• Their metabolism is slow.
• To see results, they must have a perfect diet for both bulking as well as cutting. For them, another obstacle is that cardio burns mass along with their body fat, so they shouldn’t overdo it.
• Their weight training must be similar to those ectomorphs.
• Usually, when they try to bulk, they also gain fat during that time range, so an immediate cutting session is also needed, which makes progress very slow compared to other body types.

Closing Thoughts

None of the body types are entirely the same. It’s a combination of one another. This body type does make a difference, but consistency towards diet and training is the key. If you don’t train enough and don’t eat properly, you won’t get possible outcomes. Sooner or later, even the worst type of body can achieve results. If you’ve any concerns or thoughts, then leave a comment below and let us know what you think!