INTRODUCTION Genetics is the primary factor that affects bodybuilders. Some people are born with a gift where others are born with a huge disadvantage. As far as genetics are concerned, everyone falls under one in three categories. Some are born as mesomorphs, and they possess a huge advantage over the other two body types. Mesomorphs are naturally born strong and lean. Endomorphs are born fat and round, and ectomorphs are born small and fragile. As you can see, unless you are a mesomorph, time and dedication is required in order to make up for the lack of good genetics. However, just because you are born without the bodybuilder's gift, it does not mean you are toast. All you need to do is alter your workout split, have proper nutrition and you too can also experience the same results as the mesomorphs experience. But the most important thing is to not let anything unmotivate you before you even get started. DESIGNING A WORKOUT HOW CAN YOU DESIGN A WORKOUT ACCORDING TO YOUR BODY TYPE? BE SPECIFIC. Unfortunately, all people are not created equal, as far as body type is concerned at least. Some of us may be fat, some of us may be skinny and some of us are born with a genetic advantage over others. In the bodybuilding world, we have names for these individual body types. Usually, nobody is a full ectomorph or a full mesomorph, but a mixture of the two. In this article, you will learn the best workouts and additional information about these different body types. First of all, you need to know which body type you have? ECTOMORPH: Hard Gainer Naturally Skinny Small Bones Small Frame Long fingers Long Legs Delicate Build Narrow Hips and Pelvis Less Fat Flat Chest Small Neck Small Calves Thin Hair Tom Hanks or Courtney Cox ENDOMORPH: Gain Weight Easily Round Shape Soft Body Hourglass Figure High Fat Storage Difficulty Losing weight Weight usually settles in midsection for men Weight usually settles on thigh and buttocks for females Lower body typically bigger than upper Short Arms and Limbs Short Leg Robin Williams or Oprah Winfrey MESOMORPH: Hard Body Gains muscle easily Difficulty gaining fat Wide Frame Athletic Lean Muscular Rectangular Shape Thick Bones Well Defined Chest and Shoulders Defined lower body Full of energy Sylvester Stallone or Demi Moore As I said before, most people are of mixed body type. For instance, if you gain fat easily but you gain muscle easily as well, you are probably endo-meso. If you have a hard time gaining much fat but you have a pretty easy time gaining muscle, you are probably an ecto-meso. The first step toward creating an effective workout regimen according to your body type would be to first know what body type you are. WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR ECTOMORPHS: Monday: Chest / Tricep Tuesday: Back / Biceps Wednesday: Cardio Thursday: Rest Friday: Shoulder / Traps Saturday: Thigh / Calves / Abs Sunday: Cardio Since ectomorphs generally have a high metabolism, they don't need to worry too much about cardio on the bulking phase because they probably won't put on much weight. Ectomorphs should focus more on building additional muscle mass by maximum hypotrophy. Therefore there routine are as follows CHEST / TRICEPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on bench followed by 3 sets of 12, 8, 8 flat bench press 3 Sets of 12, 10, 8 dumbbell chest flyes 2 Sets of 12, 8, 8 incline dumbbell press 2 Sets of 10, 8 Weighted Dips 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Skull crusher 2 Sets of 10, 8 Overhead Tricep Extension BACK / BICEP DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on pull ups followed by 3 sets of 12, 8, 7 lat pull-down 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 low row 2 Sets of 12, 8 high row 2 Sets of 10, 6 Barbell pullovers 3 Sets of 12, 8, 6 Deadlifts 2 Sets of 10 each hand, 8 each hand Alternating Dumbbell Curls SHOULDER / TRAPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on Dumbbell Military Presses followed by 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Barbell Military Presses 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Dumbbell lateral raises 2 Sets of 12 ,8 Dumbbell front raises 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Posterior flyes (Machine or dumbbells) 2 Sets of 10, 8 Dumbbell Arnold Presses 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Heavy dumbbell Shrugs 2 Sets of 12, 8 Heavy Behind the back barbell shrugs THIGH / CALVES / ABS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm up on Full Squats followed by 3 Sets of 12, 10, 8 Barbell full squats 3 Sets of 12, 12, 8 Hamstring Curls 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Heavy Calf raises 2 Sets of 8, 8 Heavy Squats on the leg press machine 2 Sets of 12, 8 leg extensions 2 Sets of 50, 50 crunches or as much as you can do 2 Sets of hanging leg raises (As much as you can do) Since we are not really focusing on intensity, use a 45-second to 1-minute rest period. This will ensure that your muscles have sufficient time to recover so you can do heavy weight next set. Usually, a workout session should take no more than 1 hour, anything more than that means that you are not trying hard enough. For Cardio Days, run the treadmill or any other cardio machine for about 30-40 minutes on medium intensity. Be sure to stay hydrated and drinks lots of fluids throughout the day. WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR ENDOMORPHS: Monday: Chest / Tricep Tuesday: Back / Biceps/ Cardio Wednesday: Cardio/ Abs Thursday: Rest Friday: Shoulder / Traps / Cardio Saturday: Thigh / Calves / Abs Sunday: Cardio Since Endomorphs are already pretty big and strong, they don't need to focus on maximum hypotrophy. Instead, try achieving hypotrophy/endurance/strength during the workout sessions. Endomorphs should also try to focus more on cardio while bulking and especially cutting because they will put on weight easily during the bulking phase. CHEST / TRICEPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on bench followed by 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 flat bench press 3 Sets of 15, 12, 10 dumbbell chest flyes 3 Sets of 12, 12, 8 incline dumbbell press 2 Sets of 12, 10 Weighted / Assisted Dips 3 Sets of 14, 12, 10 Skull crusher 2 Sets of 12, 8 Overhead Tricep Extension BACK / BICEP DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on pull ups followed by 3 sets of 15, 12, 8 lat pull-down 3 Sets of 14, 12, 10 low row 2 Sets of 12, 10 high row 2 Sets of 12, 8 Barbell pullovers 3 Sets of 12, 8, 6 Deadlifts 2 Sets of 12 each hand, 8-10 each hand Alternating Dumbbell Curls SHOULDER / TRAPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on Dumbbell Military Presses followed by 3 Sets of 12, 12, 8 Barbell Military Presses 3 Sets of 14, 12, 10 Dumbbell lateral raises 2 Sets of 12 ,10 Dumbbell front raises 3 Sets of 15, 12, 8 Posterior flyes (Machine or dumbbells) 2 Sets of 12, 10 Dumbbell Arnold Presses 3 Sets of 12, 10, 10 Heavy dumbbell Shrugs 2 Sets of 12, 10 Heavy Behind the back barbell shrugs THIGH / CALVES / ABS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm up on Full Squats followed by 3 Sets of 14, 12, 10 Barbell full squats 3 Sets of 14, 12, 8 Hamstring Curls 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Heavy Calf raises 2 Sets of 8, 8 Heavy Squats on the leg press machine 2 Sets of 12, 8 leg extensions 2 Sets of 50, 50 crunches or as much as you can do 2 Sets of hanging leg raises (As much as you can do) Intensity becomes more of an issue for endomorphs because they want to have maximum fat burn during their workout sessions. Keep rest periods between 30-45 seconds to maintain a high rate level. Be sure to know your body's limit as you do not want to hurt yourself. Stop if you have to but always keep an intense mindset. For cardio days, try to run the treadmill for 45 minutes to one hour at medium intensity. You can also try to run 30-45 minutes at medium-high intensity if you want as well. Maintain proper hydration and always remember to be safe. If you can't run for that long, gradually ease you way into it by first starting slow and then progressing. Start off with only 10 minutes for the first few cardio sessions and then go up to 15 minutes. Note: Cardio is nonstop WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR MESOMORPHS: Monday: Chest / Tricep Tuesday: Back / Biceps Wednesday: Cardio Thursday: Rest Friday: Shoulder / Traps Saturday: Thigh / Calves / Abs Sunday: Cardio CHEST / TRICEPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on bench followed by 3 sets of 12, 8, 8 flat bench press 3 Sets of 12, 10, 8 dumbbell chest flyes 2 Sets of 12, 8, 8 incline dumbbell press 2 Sets of 10, 8 Weighted Dips 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Skull crusher 2 Sets of 10, 8 Overhead Tricep Extension BACK / BICEP DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on pull ups followed by 3 sets of 12, 8, 7 lat pull-down 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 low row 2 Sets of 12, 8 high row 2 Sets of 10, 6 Barbell pullovers 3 Sets of 12, 8, 6 Deadlifts 2 Sets of 10 each hand, 8 each hand Alternating Dumbbell Curls SHOULDER / TRAPS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm Up on Dumbbell Military Presses followed by 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Barbell Military Presses 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Dumbbell lateral raises 2 Sets of 12 ,8 Dumbbell front raises 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Posterior flyes (Machine or dumbbells) 2 Sets of 10, 8 Dumbbell Arnold Presses 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Heavy dumbbell Shrugs 2 Sets of 12, 8 Heavy Behind the back barbell shrugs THIGH / CALVES / ABS DAYS: 1 Set of Warm up on Full Squats followed by 3 Sets of 12, 10, 8 Barbell full squats 3 Sets of 12, 12, 8 Hamstring Curls 3 Sets of 12, 8, 8 Heavy Calf raises 2 Sets of 8, 8 Heavy Squats on the leg press machine 2 Sets of 12, 8 leg extensions 2 Sets of 50, 50 crunches or as much as you can do 2 Sets of hanging leg raises (As much as you can do) Mesomorphs pretty much have it all. They can't gain fat and easily gain muscle. With proper nutrition and exercise, they all could be participants in the Mr. Universe contest. Be sure to focus on strict form and really squeeze the muscle you are targeting for dramatic results. Execute each repetition slowly so you can feel the burn. Cardio should be done at 30-40 minutes sessions at medium-high intensity. Stay hydrated and be safe: THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FORM I cannot stress the importance of proper form. My friend can bench 285 for reps and he has virtually no chest. Meanwhile, another friend of mine can only bench 155 and he has a huge chest. They both weigh almost the same as well. The reason for this is because the guy benching 155 uses strict form, squeezing the chest on each and every repetition. The guy benching 285 for reps bounces the weight from his chest and explodes, using his triceps, shoulders and even lats. Poor form can also hurt your body physically, sending you to the hospital. WIDEST RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS WHICH BODY TYPES HAVE THE WIDEST RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS? Mesomorphs would have the best the body type with the widest range of effective workouts. It's simply the fact that they have so much slack. They are able to gain lean muscle mass upon any types of training. In addition, they are also able to lose unwanted fat just as easily. Although endomorphs can gain weight easily, however, the weight they are putting on is not lean. On the other hand, ectomorphs can stay lean, but the downfall is that they cannot gain muscle mass very easily. If you think about it, mesomorphs pretty much get the best of both worlds, thus being the body types with the widest range of effective workouts. There are no strict specific routines that mesomorphs are required to do, as a matter of fact they can do any type of workout and still be effective. They aren't required like how endomorphs and ectomorphs are in order to have an effective workout. Ectomorphs would most likely have to do compound exercises in order to gain more muscle mass. Endomorphs would have to stick to isolation exercises in order to tone up their body. Mesomorphs are not forced to do either one, they can simply do anything they want and have no consequences. Sure, they can try to stick to a specific type of workout to better improve and be more effective, but that is really do extra work. Pretty much any type of workout for mesomorphs would be considered effective. LIMITED RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS WHICH BODY TYPES HAVE THE MOST LIMITED RANGE OF EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS? Both endomorphs and ectomorphs have a really limited range of effective workouts. ENDOMORPHS: The problem with endomorphs is that they need to work twice as hard as mesomorphs. Endomorphs are required to stick to isolation exercises because not only do they need to focus on gaining muscle mass, they also need to focus on losing their fat mass. If they are going to stick to compound exercises, then it is almost impossible to have an effective workout. They can't focus on their whole body in general at once; they need to focus on specific part on their body. Tone the arms first then tone the chest and the legs, etc. The part that needs to be stressed the most is losing the fat. So in that case, they need to concentrate on high repetitions. The goal here is to burn calories and high repetition and quick training is the way to go. Obviously gaining fat can be instant if you eat unhealthy. Cardio exercises should always be on top of the list of priorities. Their workouts are just limited down to the ones that emphasize fat loss. ECTOMORPHS: Ectomorphs also have a really limited range of effective workouts. Simple curling exercises or tricep extensions cannot do you any good. They are too insignificant to make any changes to your body. Your body already refuses to gain muscle, so in order to save time and energy and be effective, one most always stick to compound exercises all the time. That way all parts of your body are being worked at once and will give you the greatest overall gains. Ectomorphs are limited to power exercises such as bench presses for the chest, squats for the legs and lat pull-downs for the back. Isolation exercises such as bicep curls, hamstring curls and shrugs should be at the bottom of priorities as they take too much time and work and do not end up to be as effective to ectomorphs as they are to both endomorphs and mesomorphs. In order to achieve maximum benefits, ectomorphs are also required to work with heavier weights, otherwise, you would be in your 50s and still not gaining any noticeable muscle mass. To make up for the heavier weights, a longer rest period is required otherwise you will tire yourself out. You should also use low repetitions. The point here is to work yourself very hard because time as well as genetics is both against you. Let's also not forget the fact that you need to consume large amounts of food in order for anything to be effective to begin with. It's not as simple as just sitting down and eating a lot, you need to also learn to eat the right kinds of food as well as eating in the right time intervals. Otherwise you can work out all you want but if you don't eat enough and have proper nutrition, it will be impossible for any types of benefits. You can't even get started to begin with. Last but not least, you also need to make sure that you refrain from any type of workout which requires you to burn your calorie intake; such exercises would include aerobic exercises or other weight lifting exercises which require high quick repetitions. So in conclusions, both endomorphs and ectomorphs need to work two or three times as hard. Endomorphs really need to focus on specific muscle groups in their body and are thus limited to isolation exercises and ectomorphs really need to use the workouts that can give them the greatest overall gains and are thus limited to compound exercises. Endomorphs need to lose calories whereas ectomorphs are looking to gain calories. Both endomorphs and ectomorphs are equally as limited as far as choosing their workouts are concerned. You can think of it like if they are missing the other piece of the puzzle and are required to work really hard to achieving the other piece of the puzzle. BONUS QUESTION WHICH BODY TYPES ARE YOU? DO YOU DESIGN A WORKOUT ACCORDINGLY TO YOUR BODY TYPE? Unfortunately, I am a pure ectomorph. Not only that, but I am a creatine non responder as well but that's another story. I weighed 110 pounds in the summer of my senior year in high school before I started weightlifting. I eat 8-10 small-medium sized meals a day totaling up 4,000 calories. I consume approximately 2 grams of protein per bodyweight and I drink lots of water. It has only been recently I began to take creatine and Nitric Oxide to further my bodybuilding gains. I have only gained about 30 pounds of muscle in almost two years. To me and many others, that is not that good. My body does not respond very well to weightlifting so I devised a new routine: Monday: Chest / Triceps Tuesday: Back / Biceps Wednesday: Thigh / Calves / Abs Thursday: Shoulder / Traps Friday: Cardio Saturday: Rest Sunday: Cardio On chest days, I typically stick with the core exercises such as the barbell bench press, incline and flat. I do chest flyes and weighted chest dips. For my bench press, I typically do 3 sets of 12, 12 and 10. When I bench, I make sure to use extremely strict form. I am always sure to squeeze the chest when I finish each and every repetition. I go super slowly on my repetitions so my muscles are exposed to the weight longer. I usually use much lower weight to do this such as the 45's. I am not in the gym to show off, just to lift hard and improve my body. On back days, I stick with the Deadlift, pull downs, low and high rows and some pull ups as a finisher. I make sure to use my lats for the pull-downs and rows instead of the bicep. To do this, I lower the weight and use better form. Instead of griping the handle for the rows, I hook them instead. By doing so, the biceps catch a little break and the lats are recruited. When doing the deadlift, I spread my lats when lifting the weight up. This helps pull my lats out giving me the illusion of a bigger wider back. Basically, I sacrifice lots of weight for better form and I think it's paying off. On leg day, I make sure to go down and up slowly when doing squats. I lift the weight up in a slow and controlled manner. Not only is it safer than rapid repetition, but the correct muscles are being stimulated. I could feel my quadriceps working when I squat. Again, I lower the weights so I just squat with the 45's on the bar. I typically superset my full squats with some calve raises. I have seen good results thus far. On shoulder day, I do super slow repetitions on dumbbell military press. My shoulders usually give up in about 8 reps when I use 50 percent of my one rep max. I also like to a modified version of the barbell front raise. I grip the bar at shoulders width apart and explode using my legs and shoulders to raise the barbell over to my head. I then put the weight back down and repeat the motion again. I really feel this exercise on my traps and shoulder. It's a good power move as well as an excellent bodybuilding move. The supplements that I am currently on: Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein CytoSport Muscle Milk Universal Storm Universal Shock Therapy ... and milk CONCLUSION The most important thing to remember is regardless of what your body type is, do not lose hope. Just accept what you are and work with it. Nothing is impossible. Yes, it is a proven fact that some body types are at a disadvantage compared to others but dedication, commitment and proper training and well as nutrition can make up for those disadvantage. The last thing you should be telling yourself would be "There's no point of working out, I have tried before and cannot gain any muscle mass." You need to think positive. So you are not born with a gift; that should by no means prevent you from achieving any goals you have. Remember, gains don't just appear overnight, it takes time and commitment whether you have good genes or not, but by no means should you start off unmotivating yourself by constantly telling yourself that you are not meant for bodybuilding. This article was written by Blink41 on Bodybuilding.com. Source
