The Fat Ectomorph
Somatyping is the process of categorizing your body type into any of the three groups: ectomorph, mesomorph, or endomorph. The theory was proposed by Dr William H. Sheldon in the 1940s.
Wikipedia defines each somatype as this:
1. People with an ectomorphic body type are naturally thin and lightly build with flat chest and poorly muscled limbs. They can usually eat as much as they want without gaining fat. Extreme ectomorphs are commonly described as "skinny" individuals.
2. People with an mesomorphic or athletic body type are husky, with a hard and muscular body. Such individuals find gaining muscle mass much easier than ectomorphs do.
3. People with an endomorphic body type easily gain weight in the form of fat or muscles but often have to work very hard to lose fat.
Some people believe the whole concept is faulty, while others base their own literature on it. It is rare to find an individual whom would fit exactly into a single type - most people are a combination of 2 or even 3 of the types. Whatever you believe, genetics do seem to play a significant when trying to lose fat.
But what about fat loss for the ectomorph?
Virtually every definition of an ectomorph talks about a skinny person. However some people propose that ectomorphs are simply those who are active (whether fidgetting a lot, or lots of exercise), but do not eat enough.
I believe it is quite possible for an ectomorph to gain fat - particular after adolescence. However the ectomorph has a predisposition to be lightly built. This means the ectomorph has difficulty building muscle. Conversely, under calorie restriction, the ectomorph burns muscle.
So How Does The Ectomorph Burn Fat?
While appropriate calorie control is important for all fat loss regimes, the ectomorph has to be particularly careful - calories too low will burn muscle (probably much easier than in other body types).
Some people appear to burn fat simply by reducing calories. For the ectomorph, it is more likely that the calorie restriction has to be carefully monitored, and cardio may be the only means to burn fat alongside muscle glycogen.
The much-coveted 6 pack abs can be much more difficult for some than others.
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I am a male of normal height, 5'11" and underweight (90 lbs), but not bonny. The skeleton is small, underdeveloped. It doesn't bother me too much though. I eat adequately as for my body, do average to light exercises, do regular medical checks, have no health problems. It was very difficult to find a girlfriend. I am not an ugly on face, but my bodytype is for specific taste only. I have approached so many skinny girls with no luck. The normal or large ones I haven't even thought of. To my surprise a tall big girl in the gym was so nice to me, she came to loose some weight. Eventually I started dating her. I am not 100% comfortable with her yet, but with a shirt skinny I wouldn't be either as she would still overweight me, and there is a sort of equal competition which I lose. So my girlfriend is way bigger than me, that makes competition just out of question, and it is actually feels better, no competition - no loosing effect. She said, it was strange for her, but then became ok after.
ReplyRegane, I know you already have a girlfriend, but next time you are looking for those girls with "specific tastes", just go somewhere that plays indie music. Throw on some white pants, a tight t-shirt, and you'll have your pick of girls that worship Johnny Borrell and think you look just like him...
ReplyI am a classic ectomorph. I actually have no traits, whatsoever, of any other body classification. I cannot gain weight, I am never hungry, and I never excercise because I know it is utterly pointless. I am accused of being anorexic by my mother, and I do feel that I am underweight for my height. I weigh around 100-106 pounds and I am 5'4". I have stopped growing, and I worry about how much I weigh.
ReplyI am 38 years old, I'm 6'7" tall and weigh about 200 pounds. I've tried everything to gain weight. I put on a little weight after I turned 30, I was 170 for a long time, but you can't really tell anyway because I'm so tall. I've always been able to eat what I want, whenever I want, even a big bowl of ice cream at 3:00am wouldn't do anything. I hate being skinny. I'm so tired of hearing people complain about being fat and needing to raise their metabolism. How the hell do you lower the damn thing?? lol. I want to be fat all around and not just my belly! I should weigh around 230-235.
Replyi am one of the world's best examples of and ectomorph. i eat anywhere from three meals and two snacks a day to seven complete but balanced meals. i am eighteen and i have never weighed over one hundred pounds. i do not have an eating disorder. it is very hard for me to gain weight. im not sure if it is because i dont work out, but i cant seem go get any fatter. i have weighed roughly the same ammount since i was fourteen. my sisters are fourteen and sixteen and they weigh about one hundred and sixty pounds. some say that im blesed to have such a good shape. others say that i am less fortunate because i have no "meat on my bones"
ReplyHello-
I am not sure if I could be considered an ectomorph or not. I have taken several quizzes and they say that I am, but here's my story. All through childhood, I have been very thin, up until high school when I was placed on an oral steroid (prednisone)and now I am not so slender anymore. In fact the medicine made me slightly overweight by medical standards (there are studies that show prednisone can make one gain up to 5 pounds a DAY.) Also when I do work out and eat even somewhat normally, I can lose weight pretty quick. I actually dropped about 15 lbs in the past two weeks eating beef eggs and vegetables and I started excercising now that my health problem is gone and I am no longer on the medicine. Another note that may be of help- I cannot lift a lot of weight if my life depended on it. I was training at the gym and had a personal trainer. I started out at lifing 15 lbs on the bicep curl machine, 2 months later NO improvement.
ReplyHi, I'm almost 19 years old male ectormoph. My weight its like a joke, but I'm not joking unfortunetly. I'm around 5'9 or 5'10 with 127.8 lbs. Which is incredible small in my opinion.
What shall I do? I wish to had 154 lbs (+26,2), or at least 143 (+15,2) :(
Replyi am 5'11 male and weighed about 120 pounds well it sucked to see myself being so lanky and skinny, however with proper diet and training and discipline i gained 65 pounds of muscle over the course of 13 months with at least 7200 cals a day and never felt better i am so glad i can share this with so many similar people around like me
ReplyHowdy, I'm a 6'5'' 22 year old male ectomorph. All through high school and college I have never weighed any more then 150 lbs despite eating a lot of crappy food and drinking a ton of beer (I had a slight beer belly going though). I recently have started doing heavy lifting in the gym and taken on a consistent high protein high calorie diet that I eat over the course of the whole day, split up into many meals so that my system is constantly saturated with calories and protein. Through these efforts I have already put on 17 pounds of muscle in two months. Most of the extremely small amount of fat that I did have has been burned off, so it would appear that all I am gaining is weight in muscle. I had tried many times previously to put on weight unsuccessfully but this time I have really been pushing in the gym beyond what I ever thought I could do and watching my diet (plenty of rest in between workouts too!) and I am seeing fairly rapid gains. I would say that any ectomorph has the potential to put on weight you just need to train REALLY hard (make sure to get some good solid base muscle first though so you dont injure yourself! If you are new to working out have someone experienced, or better yet a professional trainer, spot you and show you proper form) and keep a consistent diet and sleep pattern.
Replyhey, i'm 14, 5"plus(it matters to me k... lol) and 43kg (94.6lbs) at my tops. drops at times but never goes after 43kg. so, what am i? am i counted as an ecto?
ReplyHello,
I am a 6"2 male and 25 years of age weighing 165lb. Currently I'm doing 2x 1,5 hour thaibox trainings and 2x short small workouts(pushups, situps, no machines or weights, etc.)a week. I'm aiming to gain some mass(10-25lb) and was wondering if that is possible with the sports im currently doing, or is high resistance weightlifting the only way to effectively gain musclemass?
ReplyWhat are the best methods to recuperate from strained muscles after a trainingsession?(my thaibox classes are fairly intense)
Thanks in advance,
Ectomorphes need to consume several meals a day that include protein and complex carbs, this will reduce muscle breakdown. It's true that ectomorphes do still get fat, but if you eat a somewhat healthy diet and workout on a regular basis you will have no problem losing that body fat. resource: fitness reports
ReplyI agree. I am, and always have been (lol) an ectomorph...but im one of those ectomorph that have no definition...kindda fat looking...i refer to myself as an ecto-endomorph. But through a lot of years of eating (ALOT) and weight traiing im no 6'3" 280lbs...but unlike a pure ectomorph...i have to watch my carb consumption...cause i can produce some juicey lovehandles...i got the stretch marks to prove it lol
ReplyGreat discussion here, lots of useful info,
I'm a 21 year old ectomorph, been training for 3 years now and have recently made a serious drive toward gaining weight in the form of muscle mass. Low-rep max weight training, and no cardio, 8ish hours sleep, with a diet of
protein++
fat+
carbs+
I've been gaining some muscle mass but it's really true if you slack for even a week you burn up your muscle in a flash. I've been working hard to keep my muscle by taking weight gainer shakes twice a day, but here's the problem:-
i've now noticed that i'm developing an unsightly podge of belly fat (???) never had an ounce of fat before and now when i'm trying to build muscle, in creeps the fat. FRUSTRATING! i wouldn't mind a bit of a spread, or overall gain, but i look like a pencil everywhere else, and now i have this belly on me.
-Need to gain maximum muscle mass without burning any muscle through cardio, but need to lose unwanted fat deposit. :S
ADVICE PLEASE
ReplyIm 20 years old and i'm horribly skinny... It's always been a huge problem for me to the point where it's really difficult to find clothes that actually look good on me. The weird thing about it tis that despite my huge apetite (i can literally clean out mcdonalds) i'm still stick thin. And whats worse is that i fidn that if i skip one meal i get even lighter... its really not fair and it's actually starting to depress me when i look at all my friends with their curves and thighs and hips etc... I really dont know what to do. Someone help me!!!
ReplyThe easiest way I would say to gain weight is drink more calories...drink lots of fruit juices. If you stuff yourself with calories, your body recognizes the calories and makes you less hungry, not so with liquids. I would say I'm primarily and ectomorph with some mesomorph tendencies....I have solid but slim legs but a softer upper body....or maybe that's just part of being a girl.....
ReplyIwas an ectomorph thru my teens,but when I left home I got into some really bad diet habits ,and discovered alcohol.Now I"M 6'2' and weigh around 250lb My excersise mainly consists of walking , but weight steadily increasing. Any suggetions much appreciated.
ReplyI recently came across the information of the body mass and what term best describes your shape. For the past couple of years iv'e been an ectomorph, never really concerned about how thin i am. But now, at the age of twenty two, weighing at about 137 pounds,(height, 6'0)i'm really in the consideration for gaining more weight. I have a high metabolism and i'm always pretty much active, but then again i'm always eating like a cow but i still seem to never gain any weight. I was just wondering what do i really need to do in order for me to gain more weight and muscle mass (atleast around an extra 20 to 30 pounds. what should i eat and what shouldn't i do, so in advance,can i have diet plan, thanks.
ReplyHey all, I was in the exact same boat as all of you. I graduated HS at 6'2 130lbs, which is really really thin; underweight was an understatement. Everyone bullied me and made fun of me even though I was good at sports like basketball and cross country. At the age of 20, I was still around 130-140lbs, and I looked like I was dying, literally.
After failing several times trying to gain weight, I realized that something drastically different had to be done. I started eating everything I could see. I would eat all day, little snacks at all times. My weight training was mediocre at best when I first started. Machines, cables, etc.
YOU MUST LIFT HEAVY WITH FREE WEIGHTS TO GAIN MUSCLE MASS AS AN ECTOMORPH.
I can't stress the last statement enough!!!
I spent about a year working out on machines and probably gained around 10lbs max.
Then I met a good friend who taught me how to lift. Get in and out within an hour and workout using compound exercises. Bench, Dead lift, Squats, etc.
I cannot stress enough that you workout your legs. Squats and Dead lifts are KEY to gaining weight and strength.
Do not go to the gym everyday; ectomorphs need more time to heal their muscles before they go back to the gym. You need to understand your body.
So, what happened? Well, I'm currently 22 years old and I weigh around 205 at 6'2. I still have long, lanky limbs with small muscles but my physique has improved dramatically.
Women started noticing me more, and relatives and people I've met have complimented me all over the place. This is because I put on weight while still staying lean. You need to understand that eating the right foods is very very important; eating junk will just result in a gut. A gut, with small muscles and a tiny frame; not exactly attractive right?
I wanted to be that big, huge, muscle head guy. But, your goals change as you continue and become more realistic. Right now, I'm trying to reduce my fat % while gaining more muscle mass. I do full body workouts (Bench, Dead lift, Squat, Barbell Rows, Lat Pulldown, Barbell Shrugs, Preacher Curls, Skull Crushers, Crunches) is an example of this. I plan on getting to around 220 or 230, but staying lean and 'cut' in the process. Yes, I want that 6pack because I think it looks better than being a huge musclehead.
All you people NEED to understand is that it takes TIME. You must change your lifestyle and keep it that way in order to hit goals and maintain those goals.
Eat lots and lots of solid wholesome food and supplement them with protein shakes (I used gainers for a while). Stay dedicated and positive; you will see results eventually but you won't see them in the mirror at first, people will compliment you. It will make you feel good and want to continue.
Thanks for letting me vent this out, I've wanted to for a while.
If anyone needs any help, feel free to email me at aug_sl@hotmail.com.
I will gladly help anyone out as I know how hard it is to feel small and worthless in a big world.
Lift heavy and take care. -Andrew
ReplyInstead of burning fat ectomorphs are soo stupid that they burn muscles. Like my self, if i do too much cardio, instead of loosing my fat belly, i have a bigger belly with thin limbs!
ReplyI am an ectomorph looking for some advice. I was always skinny as a kid with very low bodyfat (I had abs naturally and didn't workout). About 1.5 years ago I started working out to get bigger. I weighed 130 lbs at 5'9. I just lifted weights, and ate non-stop. I managed to gain around 30 lbs, but I had not been keeping track of my bodyfat, and it reached 12.5%. I no longer had abs, but did not care that much because I just wanted size. I kept goin and got up to 168 lbs this past christmas. I got quite a bit bigger, but it was not pure muscle. Now I am trying to carefully lose fat so my abs will show, and I am around 158 - 160 lbs right now with 9% bodyfat. I stopped drinking alcohol, and try to watch what I eat (i.e. no junk food, lots of protein and fruits and vegetables and complex carbs). I still seem to have trouble lowering my bodyfat, and I definitely noticed while doing this, I lost a lot of my size that I had put on in other places. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep my arms and shoulders big while losing size on my stomach? I am trying to eat carefully, and I do 20 minute cardio sessions 3 times a week as well as weights 4 times a week. I am currently stacking naNO vapor and anabolic halo hoping it will help put on lean muscle.
So I would just like some help to maintain my size and muscle or even grow them (mostly my arms and shoulders) while at the same time trying to lose all the fat off my stomach. Help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Kris
Reply35-yo male of maritime Euro stock; ectomorph bodybuilder, 6'3", currently 195# but targeting 205#. Original adult weight 175# (sustained with bicycling, non-surplus diet, and no weightlifting). Fat gain OR loss is not generally noticeable. In fact my sole experience with fat is this: A fledgling beer gut had started to develop a year ago, and got back into serious lifting at that time. Been steady at the gym ever since, and gut-pad is at about half-size after the year. If it has a half-life, I estimate it should be detectably gone after 3-4 more years. Crazy because it's probably 2 pounds of fat that doesn't even jiggle. Kind of like a thick layer of crappy paint.
I just can't seem to ignite what little fat I do show during any but the longest bicycle cardio sessions, to the point that I become concerned about simultaneous catabolysis of lean mass (cooking muscle in exchange for forward progress) because of extended no-eat interval during high-dynamic exercise, and usually start bonking to hypoglycemic. Remedy has been to supplement with quick-digest protein (whey isolate) before, during and directly after workout as is practical, and have done oral BCAA dosing during the longest sessions. Sort of like sending nails and 2x4's to a burning house on one hand, but chemistry sort of works that way. Just don't forget to send the water too. All this considered, best quick energy has been from fresh high-potassium fruit or [real] juice. While such ingestion may seem counter-intuitive when trying to ignite fat, you need the energy to keep moving, and you need to keep moving to burn the fat. Your body needs to keep the burner lit and the fat merely trickles into the fuel lines along with the light fuel. It can't just flip back on and be burning the heavy diesel efficiently after you bonk out. (Don't try starving to lose fat if you're an ectomorph; it is a quick way to extinguish the flame altogether and put your body into survival mode, which is tantamount to storing fat for hibernation).
Assuming I'm lifting on a consistent routine, I only gain measurable muscle mass during an extended phase (few weeks) averaging at least 3,500 calories per day and continuous excess hydration; efficient caloric derivation is difficult with my suspected Crohn's disease however. Cardio has little impact on lean mass gain, positive if anything during such anabolic phases. Insulin seems to have the final say as to whether we will gain mass, as may be obvious and elementary. What holes insulin will plug and charge with energy (mass) is decided by whether we work out (generate hgh and store as muscle) or sit around (generate cortisol and store as fat).
Extended fat-burn strategy includes _increasing_ polyUNsat fat intake and maintaining protein raw materials at slight surplus in body (still clear urine given good hydration, but easily reaching {1 g pro/1 lb body/1 day} with HIGH-STRAIN CORE EXERCISE regimen. Squats and other "major" lifts provide extreme growth factor and hgh profiles, which simultaneously increase insulin sensitivity, muscle demand and uptake of the insulin-signal nutrients, and fat-energy derivation. Allow 1-week average recovery time, and expect best nutrient utilization within 72 hours of high-strain sessions. Ultimately ketosis is probably required for *quick* fat burn, but wasting exercise effort and running tender risk of muscle consumption or facing renal strain due to high peptide excess in body. Either will initiate cortisol release, which antagonizes hgh and tends to convert insulin sensitivity back to fat storage. Full diet and weightlifting resulting in anabolic (muscle-growth) response increases resting metabolism in the long term. Muscle growth translates directly to increased fat metabolism in the long term. It's like boring your cylinders; your engine simply gets more hungry for resources, unfortunately, the non-fat fuel demand also increases (grocery bill).
Note: Coffee/caffeine has been suggested to augment the proportion and accelerate the onset of fat-burning during cardio workouts, all other things being equal, when a nominal dose is ingested just prior to exercise. Watch the heart rate and be safe!
Verdict? Exercise and eat, A LOT, fellow ectomorphs. Big exercises and serious high-quality macronutrients. Cause your body to realize a need to repair itself (lean growth), and then supply the proper raw materials.
ReplyI am an ectomorph and it took me about 6 months to bulk up from 150 lbs to 180lbs it was hell I was eating 4000+ calories a day, getting 180g+ of protein a day and packing on carbs like crazy. I ended up taking a 4 month break from the gym where I stopped eating so much and didn't work out at all and I only lost 10 lbs and my max weights I was lifting only dropped by about 10 pounds so I didn't lose much muscle mass at all and after 2 weeks I'm almost back up to that weight again anyway.
ReplyWell I'm gonna add my 50 cents. I'm 5"9, 23 years now and gained 33lbs of weight in one year. From 139lbs to 171. Now I'm a very happy person but there is still a lot of work to be done, I'd like to reach the 200lbs limit in the upcoming years.
ReplyAs Ben said in a post before, regular eating of at least 6 meals a day, high in protein and carbs is a must. The same with the rest and sleep, at least 8 hours and if possible, resting during the day.
Hard working in the gym is of course essential. Complex excercises like bench press,french press,military press,dead lift,clean and press,back rows,pull-downs,squats are the key to success. Keep it simple, brief and intense (moderate reps,heavier weights).Don't leave out the squats, it will degrade your progress a LOT. Supplementing wisely. Take weight gainers immediately after workout then eat within one hour, take protein before bedtime. Glutamine is great (recovery aid,used also as a medicine), Creatine is also helpful for beginners. I personally don't care about other supplements, better save the money and buy some food!
Well, to enclose it - you just need to start and with discipline you will reach your goal, believe me! And you should start now!
I think I'm an ectomorph. I've always been active and able to eat whatever I want, however over the last year, do to work challenges I've had to cut down on my excercise drastically and haven't changed my eating habits to adjust, so I've put on about 20 lbs of weight I just don't want. I'm trying to gain some muscle but I've never been able to get muscular and I'm cutting down on my calories...but it seems to be taking awhile. :(
ReplyI have recently discovered I'm an ectomorph. I have a gut and small man boobs that are going away by working out. Two years ago I got into weight lifting and started to take in more protein and did more weight training and lost weight quicker and honestly did little to no cardio at all. What I want to know is what type of food intake and training should I be focusing on to lose the weight around my stomach and chest?
ReplyYou people out there trying to gain weight are going about this the wrong way.
You simply need to eat more! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; so make this your largest meal by far!!
Try to get in at least 2 more meals during the day and make sure they are spaced properly throughout the day. Fit some snacks in between... nuts and fruits work well.
If you're looking to gain muscle you'll need at least 1g or protein per body weight in you everyday.
Trust me, I'm pure ecto. I went from 135lbs to 225lbs in 4 years of eating properly and training heavy :)
Reply