What is the best diet & exercise for your body type? (Part Two)
/Want to know how to eat and workout for the best results for your body type? In our last blog we identified the 3 distinct somatotype body types: Please read Part 1 first if you have not already done so.
Once you have worked out your body type, use the information below to help fine tune your nutrition and exercise plans to get the most success with your goals whether they consist of weight loss, increased muscle or body sculpting.
ECTOMORPHS
Nutrition
SOURCE:RODALE WELLNESS
- Stay hydrated with plenty of fresh plain water
- Eat natural unprocessed foods
- Avoid drastically cutting carbs (eat enough vegetable carbs)
- Eat adequate calories to facilitate lean muscle growth (Don't use the excuse of having a faster metabolism to eat junk food as this does nothing to grow muscle)
- Eat plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, chicken, turkey, oats, brown rice, coconut oil or ghee, nuts, seeds and nut butter.
Fitness training
- Focus on gaining strength
- Dont overtrain - dont overdo aerobic activities if your goal is to increase muscle and tone
- Ectomorphs tend to excel at cardio and avoid or do minimal weight/resistance training.
- To increase muscle mass, increase strength and sculpt an ectomorph type body use heavy weights and body weight exercises
- Train 3 times a week to allow lots of recovery days to give muscles a chance to repair and grow.
MESOMORPH
Nutrition
- Stay hydrated with plenty of fresh plain water
- Eat natural unprocessed foods
- Watch overall food consumption as Mesomorphs tend to overeat as they feel its relatively easy to loose weight
- Include lots of healthy fats such as avocados, butter, olives, oily fish etc
Fitness training
- Try sprint training (build up to this if new to running) as its great for fat loss and muscle building
- Train 3 times a week to allow lots of recovery days to give muscles a chance to repair and grow
- Target multiple muscle groups each training session
- Pilates is great for mesomorph body types
ENDOMORPHS
Nutrition
- Stay hydrated with plenty of fresh plain water
- Eat natural unprocessed foods
- Watch carbohydrate consumption (especially later in the day) (try to get your carbs from vegetables as opposed to processed carbs such as bread, crackers, biscuits etc)
- No food within 3 hours of bedtime
- Fill up on protein at each meal and include loads of vegetables/salad
- Eliminate sweets and reduce alcohol
- Snacks if eaten should be smaller than the size of your palm
- Have a high protein and fibre breakfast such as an omelette of eggs, spinach, red peppers and spring onion
Fitness training
- Your goal should focus on burning fat whilst increasing muscle to gain a lean and toned body
- Train at a high intensity with little rest between sets to burn stored body fat
- Avoid long periods of sitting, exercise for 30 minutes a day (7 times a week) with two of those sessions using heavy weights/body weight exercises and one session being a HIIT session
With the above guidance you can take your nutrition and exercise to the next level and may see results faster and better then ever before.
If you are interested in knowing more about your body type and how we can help you achieve the best results please get in contact.
