A great post from South Bay CrossFit. Thanks Guys.

Understanding Individual Differences – Body Type

Every one of us is unique in regards to our genetics, training age, age, mobility, past injuries, strength, goals, habits, preferences, etc. and thus, to achieve the best results, each athlete needs their own individualized training program and diet. Therefore, I want to address some of these individual differences so that you guys can have a better understanding of how to tweak our strength and conditioning program to achieve the best results based on your individual differences.

Genetic Differences in Body Type
Without delving into the details, your body has a genetic bone structure and hormone profile that naturally predetermines your general body shape. There are 3 drastically different body types that are determined by genetics: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph (and any combination of the three. Instead of explaining each of them, the graphic below should help explain it.

Now before you say that you can never gain muscle mass because you are an ectomorph or can never get lean because you are an endomorph while cursing all the mesomorphs out there, here is the same breakdown when muscle mass has been added…

The pictures above demonstrates three different genetic body types that have all spent some time developing their muscular potential, compared with three guys at our gym that illustrate the difference between the body types. Women fall into the same categories:

Can you get lean, fit, and feel great with any body type?? Sure, but just understand that each body type will require a slightly different approach to achieve the results you are looking for:

Ectomorph: To get stronger (

meaning less of a skinny fat look and more definition for the ladies), you must eat MORE and lift MORE!! Often “full” after 3 bites of food and never really hungry. You will struggle to gain muscle mass, but will always be able to maintain a low body fat because you rarely seem to get hungry.

Mesomorph: Best of both worlds, easy to gain muscle and stay lean. Find the right balance of nutrition and training to achieve your goals.

Endomorph: Always hungry and ready to eat. You will put on fat and muscle easily, so it is important to keep close tabs on your diet in order to see the results you are hoping for, as the muscle mass will be easy to come by, but the low body fat percentage won’t.

Also, if you are genetically an endomorph, running and nutrition will likely always be something you will have to work at, while the strength stuff will come easy. If you are an ectomorph, spend a bit more time lifting, as the cardio and body fat percentage won’t be an issue. It’s not impossible to become proficient at your genetic weaknesses, just a bit more difficult due to your genetic biases.
In addition, you are genetically pre-dispositioned to excel at certain sports based on body type; for example,Olympic level athletes have been categorized by body type and sport below:

As much as I would love to tell everyone they can look exactly the way they want to look and perform exactly the way you want to perform, there are definitely genetic factors that come into play when looking at what you can achieve. That said, the body types for the sports above refer to the Olympic Level only, so don’t start telling me it is your genetics holding you back until you are trying to break onto the world stage in your sport.
Essentially, this post is to help realize that some things are definitely a function of your genetics (bone structure, body proportions, etc) in order to help you guys get the most from your training.
*Images from “The Genetic Factors – Body Type or Somatotype”

So what body type are you??

Every one of us is unique in regards to our genetics, training age, age, mobility, past injuries, strength, goals, habits, preferences, etc. and thus, to achieve the best results, each athlete needs their own individualized training program and diet. Therefore, I want to address some of these …