Know Your Body Type, Part 3

Continuing our quest to understand body types, we will now look at : The Mesomorph

The mesomorph is the person we all love to hate - we admire their flawless bodies and definition, but silently hate them for it. They usually have the following characteristics:

- Naturally muscular
- Naturally lean
- Broad shoulders
- Lose fat easily
- Gain muscle and strength easily
- Responds quickly to exercise
- Efficient and fast-burning metabolism

Mesomorphs have a great advantage, with a genetic foundation on which they can build. These people are generally talented bodybuilders and athletes. They do not have to agonize too much about what they eat and can gain muscle mass and lose weight at a fast pace. This allows mesomorphs to achieve awesome overall definition.

On the other hand, mesomorphs can gain fat as quickly as they lose it. In order to stay in great shape consistently, mesomorphs would need to put some effort into their diet. This may be harder than perceived. Since mesomorphs get results rather quickly, they tend not to be constantly motivated. Female mesomorphs should focus on cardiovascular activity and body weight exercises with moderate weight training. Male mesomorphs would need to be sure that they add weight training to their fitness regimen so that they can keep their body fat percentages down.

Conclusion

Ectomorphs, Mesomorphs, and Endomorphs can change their body composition, which can be done by specific diets and training techniques. In times of starvation (too busy to eat) or deprivation (being too ill or stressed to eat), due to hectic job scheduling or poor nutritional choices, a person who was once considered an endomorph may begin to resemble an ectomorph, while an athletic mesomorph may begin to look more like an endomorph as he or she gets older and loses muscle mass.

The bone structure of these somatotypes are fixed and will never change, however muscle and fat mass may change due to varying circumstances during life. Cultural condition, habits and illness may also mask the tendency of one somatotype than another. Also keep in mind, as mentioned previously, that an individual can fall anywhere on the somatotype scale. Individuals can have varying percentages of either ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph somatotypes.