Hot Body Training

I thought I follow up my intro post with my philosophy on how you should be training to get the sexy, powerful body you desire. The problem I see with most web health and fitness gurus is that they’re all selling a cast-in-stone system, regardless of their audience. The main message that I want to drive home in this post is individualisation of training methodologies based on what your body needs to achieve your end result. Phew! So what does that mean?

Should these 2 women be training the same way if they want to look like the lovely Jessica?

Somatotypes

What’s that, I hear you say? Well, the 3 classical somatotypes were defined by Dr William H. Sheldon in the 1930’s and are basically what he saw as the 3 basic body shapes.

• Ectomorphs: This is the thin body type. These people tend to have a small frame with long lean muscles. They generally have a fast metabolism and can be a little more lax about their diet to get a low body fat percentage. On the flip side, these people can have a hard time putting on muscle and are refered to in bodybuilding circles as ‘Hardgainers’.
• Mesomorphs: This body type is more muscular and athletic and tends to have a medium sized frame.
• Endomorphs: These people tend to have a larger frame with a more round figure. These are the people who really need to watch their diet, especially the carbs, and may struggle a bit to lose body fat but shouldn’t have a hard time gaining muscle.

So your first step is in determining which one you are. Most people will fall in between these categories somewhere. If you are carrying a lot of weight, don’t immediately assume that you’re an Endomorph, the other body types can pick up weight too with poor diet and no exercise. Some giveaways are your bone structure. Check your wrists and hands. Do you have narrow wrist bones with slender fingers? Chances are you might be an Ectomorph. Thick wrists and giant sausage fingers? Safe to say you’re on the Endomorph side of the scale.

None of these types is good or bad, but can make your goal a little more difficult. For an Endomorph lady trying to lose body fat or an Ectomorph man trying to gain muscle, your journey might be a little more difficult, but you will get there in the end with a little perseverance.