Male body types - how to distinguish ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph

In all strength sports, body types and good genetics play an important role. Often they become the determining and, in fact, the main factor influencing whether a person becomes a champion, or whether a sports career can be forgotten. That is why experts recommend that every man know what body type he is.

Now there are two types of constitution of the human body: according to Sheldon and Chernorutsky. To accurately determine which category a person falls into, it is worth considering both options.

Why do you need to know your individual body type?

Knowledge is also useful for those guys who decide to go in for sports. After all, the same training programs will not suit people with different body shapes. That is why the personal trainer of a newly minted athlete should also be aware of the type of figure of a man in order to competently develop a program of effective physical exercise training.

You also need to understand the characteristics of your own figure in order to know how to eat properly and lose weight or gain weight. After all, today there are a huge number of diets based on the structural features of the body. As a result, you will understand why different athletes gain weight in different ways, and each lose weight in their own way.

Sloping shoulders - an impression of fragility

So, more details. It is actually impossible to say which shoulders are beautiful. Everyone has their own ideas about beauty. Some people like wide and straight shoulders, while others like narrow and sloping shoulders. In a word, as they say, “taste and color.” But the most important thing is overall harmony.

Narrow sloping shoulders today still do not correspond to the ideal woman. The image of an energetic, active, athletic person is in fashion. Well, thanks to the sloping shoulders, one gets the impression that their owner is not only a fragile woman, but even weak-willed. In addition, this feature violates the proportions of the figure and therefore requires correction. So what to do?

The main body structure options for guys

Each person is individual by nature. Any person from birth has one variant of body structure as the dominant one. For accessibility of study, all types of male physique, as well as female variations of the figure, are divided into the following three types according to the circumference of the wrist of the working hand:

ectomorphic (asthenic) - less than 18 cm;
mesomorphic (normosthenic) - 18-20 cm;
endomorphic (hypersthenic) - over 20 cm.

To figure out which option to classify yourself in, let’s look at the main features of each type.

Be careful with shawls

If you simply throw a shawl or pashmina over your shoulders, consider yourself to have scored an own goal against your own beauty. Yes, it’s warmer and this detail will add a romantic touch to the image. But why visually reduce already narrow shoulders? If you really like pashminas, learn how to tie them loosely around your neck. If you master a method that will create an additional horizontal line at the shoulder line, any look with such an accessory will automatically become stylish and harmonious.

Asthenic version of the male body

An ectomorph is usually a skinny guy. Guys of this type have narrow wrists and ankles, minimal muscle tissue and virtually no fat. The main problem for such guys is gaining large muscle mass. In the body of an ectomorph, the calories eaten are burned instantly due to accelerated metabolism, and the absorption of proteins occurs very slowly. In order to gain even a little weight, such athletes have to eat heavily, sometimes in excessive amounts.

It is in this case that it will not be superfluous to use sports supplements: omega 3,6,9 acids, creatine, protein shakes. Be sure to also eat at night to avoid muscle destruction. It is better to set your training time within an hour (including warm-up). Eliminate cardio so as not to waste precious calories that will be needed to restore the body after weight training.

Basic moments:

There are no problems with excess weight.
The wrist circumference of this type of people is 15-17.5 cm.
Long arms and legs, sometimes it looks like lankyness.
The body has a low percentage of fat and little muscle.
Drying muscles is much easier.
There are narrow zones throughout the figure: hips, shoulders and waist.
Food is not good for future use (no matter how much an asthenic person eats, his weight still does not grow).
Due to the elongated chest, the heart and lungs are also elongated.

Your favorite side dish may be brown or white rice. No need to overindulge in sweets. Protein is recommended per day (2-3 grams per 1 kilogram of weight).

Examples of ectomorphs among bodybuilding stars: Dexter Jackson, Frank Zane, etc.

Trench coat with shoulder straps - a must have

A trench coat with shoulder straps will add volume to your shoulders, so feel free to include it in your wardrobe. In general, take into account shoulder straps, because they can be used to decorate not only coats.

By the way, our online store offers an interesting trench coat that will help you create a stylish autumn look. This model is available in 2 colors: blue and white. Click on the photo to check if your size is in stock. Hurry because this trench coat is currently on sale for a crazy 78% discount.

Normosthenic variant of the structure

The mesomorph has a fairly large skeleton and a natural athletic build. It is the normosthenic body type that is most suitable for bodybuilding; it is much easier for guys to gain muscle mass than ectomorphs, and fat burning occurs many times faster than for large endomorphs.

The muscles of this type of guy immediately respond to physical activity with accelerated growth, especially for beginners. As soon as such a man gives up and stops watching his diet, he begins to gain fat everywhere. You can easily get rid of it only by using cardio training and organizing a proper diet.

Features of a mesomorph:

Approximate wrist circumference 17.5-20 cm.
Proportion of body parts and convex chest.
The waist, hips and shoulders are of medium width (not very wide, but not narrow either).
Excellent metabolism.

Nutrition for this group of men is easier than for everyone else, since with an initially normal physique, a special diet is not required, you just need to consume healthy, natural food.

A huge number of bodybuilders are mesomorphs: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, Phil Heath.

Expand visually

Sloping shoulders are actually not a big problem. They can be expanded visually with the help of the correct cut, texture and color of the material, and special details of the clothing design. Designers recommend using wide collars, set-in sleeves, yokes, horizontal necklines, and shoulder pads.

Horizontal lines create the illusion of width. Therefore, stripes in the shoulder area on the material can also visually expand them. Today, many designers use a fashionable technique called “color blocks” - colored, horizontally oriented stripes.

Hypersthenic version of the male figure

The endomorph is crumbly, its body is wide, round and soft. The hypersthenic body type involves short stature and short, thick legs and arms. The main feature of this group of representatives of the stronger sex is their fairly strong legs. This is why stocky athletes achieve good results by training primarily the lower torso (deadlifts, squats, etc.). Due to the fact that the metabolism is weak, weight can very easily increase, but the extra pounds are reluctant to go away. The main advantage of this type is an easy gain of muscle mass, but with it comes fat if weight gain occurs due to poor nutrition. Distinctive features of endomorphs:

Wrist circumference is more than 20 cm.
Stocky figure: wide hips, shoulders, waist, short legs.
Short neck, fat deposits between the shoulder blades, on the stomach.
A variety of sports supplements are not necessary; only the amount of protein in the diet should be sufficient.
When training, do not forget about cardio training (or circuit training for fat burning) and watch what you eat.

Particular attention should be paid to nutrition. Many athletes make the mistake of completely giving up food and resorting to starvation diets. Fasting can “eat” both fat and muscle mass, and the lost weight soon returns, bringing with it more and more layers of fat.

An example of endomorphs among bodybuilding stars was Jay Cutler.

Basic exercises

We bring to your attention several of the most effective basic shoulder exercises so that you can choose the most suitable ones for yourself. It is better to do the first few workouts with an instructor so that he can control you, explain and show you the technique.

Also, do not forget about isolation exercises - most movements for the middle and posterior bundles are exactly like this, but this does not mean that they are ineffective. You just need to competently combine base and isolation depending on your goals, length of service and training experience.

Barbell chest press standing and sitting

The standing chest press is also called the military press. This is the most effective exercise for developing the pushing function of the deltoid muscle.

And that's why:

Free weight exercises work a lot of stabilizer muscles.
Large range of motion: you can touch the barbell to your chest, you can lower it to your chin if you feel uncomfortable doing it too low.
The exercise can be done by any person, not just weightlifters. It is enough to choose a comfortable weight.

Advice! The grip on the bar for this exercise should not be too wide or too narrow. Optimal option: slightly wider than shoulder width. The forearms in the starting position should be perpendicular to the floor. When lifting the barbell, do not follow it with your eyes. Don't extend your elbows all the way - this is true for all shoulder presses.

The exercise can also be done while sitting:

Many people think that this will reduce the load on the spine, but in fact the opposite is true - the load on the intervertebral discs in this movement will be greater in a sitting position. And if for small weights there is not much difference, and you can start doing the exercise while sitting, and then switch to the standing version, which is more difficult in terms of technique, then with large weights you should definitely work only in a standing position.

Another option is to sit in Smith. Here the movement will be strictly specified by the design of the simulator, which “turns off” some of the stabilizer muscles and makes the bench press itself a little easier. That's why the weights here will be a little higher. However, a given vector of movement can also be a problem - the risk of injury to the shoulder joints increases, since here you will not be able to move the projectile in the plane of the floor, only perpendicular to it.

Bench press standing and sitting

In this exercise you will take less weight than in the previous version, although the amplitude here is obviously shorter. But the shoulder joints have less freedom, which increases the risk of injury. In addition, you need to lower the projectile behind your head more slowly and under control - you can accidentally hit the back of your head.

Lift the barbell straight up from behind your head, in the same plane as your forearms. Leaning forward may cause you to fall and drop the projectile on your neck. And if you lean back, you can injure your shoulder joints. It is better to do this exercise in front of a mirror or with an instructor.

A similar exercise can be performed while sitting (including in Smith), but for this, as in the previous exercise, you need to have a pumped lower back and a healthy spine. It is also more difficult to throw the projectile in a sitting position. While standing, you can step back and forward to adjust your balance.

Many people believe that the exercise is aimed at developing the middle deltoids. They really work, but the front ones still take on more load. This is why all pressing exercises should be based on the front deltoids.

Attention! We do not recommend this exercise to anyone. Leave it to those who play sports professionally. The risk of injury to the shoulder joints is too high. This exercise can easily be replaced with a chest press or dumbbell press without loss of effectiveness.

Seated dumbbell press

Along with the military press, this is the best basic exercise for building massive deltoids. Many professional athletes even prefer it to the standing barbell press.

It is best to perform the exercise on a bench with the back set at an angle of 90 degrees or close to it. There is no need to touch the dumbbells at the top point; also, do not straighten your elbows completely. At the bottom, lower the shells to the maximum comfortable depth.

Arnold press

This is a variation of the previous exercise, which allows you to actively use, in addition to the front deltoid, the middle deltoid. It was named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose deltoids, by the way, were not very developed. But the actor-athlete still remains a standard for many athletes, and such a modification of the bench press is really very good for diversifying the training process.

The difference here is that in the starting position, the hands with dumbbells are in front of the head, and not at the side. The grip is reverse, that is, the palms are facing back. In the process of lifting the projectiles upward, the hands rotate 180 degrees. At the top point everything is similar to a simple dumbbell press. When lowering, a reverse reversal occurs.

The main feature of the Arnold press is that the shoulders are constantly under tension . That is, there are no points at which they rest.

Shoulder press in the machine

The movement also resembles a seated dumbbell press, but here the trajectory is strictly limited by the machine itself. Although this exercise is a basic one, it should not be done first, except in situations where it is used as a warm-up before a heavy military press. In general, it will be best to “finish off” the shoulders in the simulator after bench presses with free weights - this is the most effective scheme.

Standing barbell row to the chin

The barbell chin row engages the front or middle deltoid. If you use a close grip, you will hit the front bun and trapezius. To work out the middle bun, you need to take the bar with a wide grip and perform the movement using your elbows. There is no need to pull the barbell with your entire muscle mass; it is better to take a lighter weight, but work only with your elbows with your shoulders down. There is no need for cheating in this exercise.

If you don’t have a barbell, the exercise can be effectively performed with dumbbells:

Principles for determining the structure of the body

It is not correct to assume that male body types are limited to only three types. There are also intermediate, mixed options. In their pure form, endomorphs, ectomorphs and mesomorphs are extremely rare; more often you can find people with characteristic features of the two groups. In order to understand how to determine your body type, you need to know a few rules.

Measure the circumference of the wrist of your working hand.
Estimate the approximate width of your waist, shoulders and hips.
Remember how quickly you gained and lost weight at the young age of 16-20 years old. With a good metabolism, no matter how much you eat, there is practically no excess fat, but with a slow metabolism, excess weight is already present at such a young age.

Based on the obtained indicators, determine membership in the group based on the structural features of the body.

Undoubtedly, from a genetic point of view, the ideal option for strength training is the normosthenic option. But for other men this is not a death sentence, and you shouldn’t give up. An asthenic body type requires increased nutrition and strength training to achieve the most attractive figure, while strong endomorphs need to monitor their diet and increase the emphasis on fat-burning exercises. 3 types of body structure - the initial basis for further work on yourself.

Warm-up

Basic shoulder exercises are performed twice a week with mandatory preliminary warm-up:

Performing tilts and circular movements with the head.
Front and back shoulder rotations.
Alternately raising and lowering your arms from the sides.
Swing your arms horizontally.
Movements in a circle forward and backward with both upper limbs, and then in turn, one at a time.

What items will be in your wardrobe?

Taking into account the stated rules, we were able to compile a list of recommended items that can be successfully used in the wardrobe of girls with an inverted triangle figure:

Blouses. A blouse with a peplum, which has become incredibly popular over the past year, will be a godsend for such a figure. A neatly executed top and volume in the hip area are just what you need. A chiffon blouse with the buttons undone at the top will also work. It will successfully combine the rules of soft fabrics and a good neckline

A cowl collar is also suitable, as it creates volume on the neck and chest, drawing attention away from the shoulders;

Dresses for wide shoulders and narrow hips

Cardigans. The trend of the season is cardigans with asymmetrical hems. This model suits many people, but it is especially relevant for narrow hips. Uneven edges create volume on the hips, which is so lacking for those with small buttocks. You can use not only knitted ones, but voluminous knitted ones, which will create large folds due to the thick fabric

Just be careful with the shoulder area - it should be smooth and even, for example, with a stand-up collar, which will elongate the figure due to the vertical line;

Clothes for wide shoulders and narrow hips

The jacket can be single-breasted with a neat neckline to make broad shoulders appear narrower. You should not choose jackets with one-piece and sewn-in sleeves with a high armhole;

T-shirts and blouses should be chosen with raglan sleeves. This is a sleeve model that is one piece with the shoulder, due to the absence of a seam, and does not accentuate attention, but draws it out. A kimono sleeve or the so-called bat sleeve works well;

Trousers. Pants and shorts should be loose-fitting, possibly with pleats from the waist down. Tapered trousers or chinos look ideal, loose at the hips and tapered at the bottom. Any trousers decorated with pleats, patch pockets and other decorative elements in the hip area will be a win-win option. You will have to give up tight trousers and fashionable skinnies; they will attract unnecessary attention due to disproportion;

Skirts should be trapezoidal, or fluffy and flowing. Pleated skirts, floor-length skirts made of thick printed fabrics, feminine voluminous skirts, not tight, but loose-fitting if possible, are also suitable.