Bodybuilders, like all human beings, begin their journey through life with certain gifts and deficits. Some men walk into the gym as 25-year old bean poles, finally ready to overcome the curse of skinniness they’ve worn their entire lives. Others pick up weights in high school on a whim and end up looking like mini-Arnold’s within six months of training. Still others seem to always have that spare tire on their waist no matter what. It’s all in the genetics, right? Let’s look at a few body types and determine what advantages and disadvantages you’ll have once you enter the gym, and how to make the best of your unique situation.
Tall and skinny
If you are starting as an ectomorph, then you probably know the agony of being super-skinny no matter what you do. You’ve tried eating everything under the sun, and the only thing you gained is a stomach ache. Your training needs to focus on training with very heavy weights. Devote four days per week to very aggressive training – and seven days per week to very aggressive food consumption! Eat a great deal of lean and clean food, and stick with the heavy, compound movements in the gym. It will take years to fill out your frame, but your long and lean frame will look terrific once you have the muscle. Ectomorphs do very well in bodybuilding competitions – but only after they add 40 or more pounds of muscle to their narrow frames.
Short and fat
If you have fought the battle of the bulge your entire life, then you are likely an endomorph. This means it’s very easy for you to add body fat to your frame. Muscle is somewhat easy to gain, but it’s very hard to tell because you always seem to be adding an equal amount of fat to your frame at the same time. Keep your weights in the moderate range and train using a lot of sets. You’ll need to watch your calories very closely, and avoid simple carbohydrates. Once you muscle up then diet down, you’ll be able to hold your own without much worry in a bodybuilding competition. You might even outmuscle everyone. Whether or not you can attain winning level of conditioning is the biggest question!
Big and lean
If you are blessed enough to start your weightlifting journey as a mesomorph, then you should consider starting by thanking your lucky stars. You already possess a decent foundation of muscle mass, and it’s going to be easy for you to build upon this further. You will respond well to weight training, as your frame was designed for it. Use a nice mix of heavy and moderate weights to ensure you blast both the slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, as you have a pretty balanced blend of them. Mesomorphs don’t have to concern themselves too much with diet. They’re going to make decent gains no matter what they’re eating. Mesomorphs do very well in bodybuilding competitions, and most of the champions seen on today’s stages have a mesomorphic physique.
