Body type Training

DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR BODY TYPE? It may affect your training style... There 3 main body types – more specifically known as ‘somatotypes’ – these are ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. These are also commonly know as ‘thin’, ‘athletic’ and ‘fat’! William Sheldon, the originator of the body type classification theory, believed that each body type had its own distinct physiological and psychological traits. Many of the top endurance athletes are ectomorphs and their slim build means they will find it hard to put on muscle, even if they wanted to. If you have a similar build you too will find it difficult. In order to stand a decent chance of gaining muscle, you should reduce your endurance activity significantly. It may be a good idea, if you have been a regular endurance athlete for 6 months or more, to reduce the cycle/run/swim time to a minimum and go through a 2 month muscle building phase. If you have an athletic body type then the chances are you will be able to maintain your muscle mass pretty well, even when endurance training. ‘Mesomorphs’ bodies will respond quickly to virtually all types of training and will be less affected by the interference effect. Endomorphs will be carrying a lot of muscle and potentially fat and will be more able to maintain size when endurance training. To put it simply, they have more to lose! However, running will place more strain on their joints and this could lead to injury. Mileage should be built up gradually. Once the weight is off, endomorphs have potentially the best opportunity to look big and strong as they run.