Taken together, they represent three generalized body types, or somatotypes. A relative of mine told me that no matter what I did, it would probably be hard for me to do because I am, in his words, a “hard gainer.” In other words, I’m an ectomorph: lanky and lean, with a high metabolism, little body fat, and not a lot of muscle.Įctomorph is a common term at the gym, along with mesomorph and endomorph. 
and sedentary, but I have muscle where fat was before and feel so much better mentally and physically. Heck, I don’t eat all that clean all the time anymore, my calories are way higher than I was when I was a chubby 220 lb.
In other words, these genomes affect how healthy and fit our muscles - and bodies - become, and exercise activates them.ĭoes that suggest you aren’t limited to the genes you were born with? Can you be a fatty growing up and not be destined to a fat adulthood?Ībsolutely, you can change your genetics through smart nutrition and hard work in and out of the weight room. Using sophisticated genomic analysis, the researchers determined that more than 5,000 sites on the genome of muscle cells from the exercised leg featured new methylation patterns known to play a role in energy metabolism, insulin response and inflammation within muscles.
#ECTO ENDO MESO PHYSIC SERIES#
Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm recruited 23 young and healthy men and women, brought them to the lab for a series of physical performance and medical tests, including a muscle biopsy, and then asked them to exercise one leg and not the other, essentially becoming their own case study. They were just adopted by the fitness community later on and evolved to what they are today, but by no means does Sheldon’s work hold a ton of weight and/or evidence when it comes to muscle accumulation or fat loss. But Sheldon actually based his work on what he believed to be psychological attributes tied to each, not physical ones. Those are the terms you’re probably most familiar with: Ecto (skinny), meso (muscular and lean), endo (fat). I’m sure you’ve heard of somatotypes (even if the word isn’t familiar), and you may even base your diet and exercise patterns on what somatotype you believe you are, but I’m here to tell you not to let that limit your physique goals!Īn article by Alexander Cortes on suggests there’s actually no solid evidence behind somatotypes.Ĭortes says a psychologist and doctor by the name of William Herbert Sheldon developed his somatotyping system in the 1930s, and this is where the terms ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph first entered the public conscious.
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