Despite being considered a potentially limiting approach, bodies are still classified into three biotypes: Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph. These definitions became known as biotypes or somatotypes.
Depending on the characteristics of the body, metabolism and fat accumulation, specialists can define which biotype the patient is most suited to and, with that, define the best diet strategy and training routine.
- Ectomorph: people with a thinner body, narrow shoulders and hips, long arms and legs, less muscle mass, difficulty gaining weight and muscle mass.
- Mesomorph: people with good muscle development, low body fat percentage, broad shoulders, more athletic build and little abdominal fat. These people have a fast metabolism, respond well to training, can maintain muscle mass gain and lose weight.
- Endomorph: they have a rounder body, wide waist, large bones, higher body fat, shorter arms and legs, as well as a tendency towards a slower metabolism and weight gain, and difficulty
Ectomorph and the fight against the scales
As described above, people with an ectomorph body type have difficulty gaining fat and muscle mass. This occurs mainly due to their physical characteristics and accelerated metabolism.
This accelerated metabolism means that the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) , that is, the minimum amount of calories that an individual needs to maintain vital functions at rest, is extremely high.
Therefore, to gain weight, an ectomorph needs to consume many more calories than a normal person. And if going without food is already a difficult task, eating more than your body can handle is a real suffering.
To gain about 1 kilo of fat, you need to have a caloric surplus of 7,000 calories. If we divide these 7,000 calories over a period of one week, you would need to eat 1,000 more calories than your body can burn per day.
Over a period of one month (30 days), the person would need to eat around 230 more calories every day.
If you want to understand how BMR works and how to calculate yours, follow this article where we explain it step by step:
However, ectomorphs tend to burn more calories than other body types and the more active they are, the higher their basal metabolic rate will be.
What to do?
The good news is that people with this body type achieve much more aesthetic results when they focus their training on muscle hypertrophy.
This happens because, as they have to eat a large amount of calories, they end up consuming a high amount of proteins and carbohydrates, helping to gain lean mass.
On the other hand, the metabolism ends up using a lot of calories in the process, making fat gain minimal.
Even in the process of bulking, that is, gaining weight through a caloric surplus, these individuals manage to maintain a low percentage of body fat, making the aesthetic results much more expressive.
Ectomorph can do cardio
Aerobic exercises are activities that increase heart rate, breathing, and blood flow. These include exercises such as walking, running, swimming, crossfit, etc.
Running, for example, can burn 600 to 1,000 calories per hour, depending on the intensity and the person's weight. Cycling on an exercise bike can burn 500 to 800 calories per hour.
However, for people looking to gain weight, this amount of calories burned is enough to affect the results on the scale.
An interesting strategy is to perform high-intensity cardiovascular exercises for short periods of time (10 to 15 minutes).
This way, the person obtains the main advantages of cardio, such as increased blood flow, lung capacity and muscle recovery, but without increasing calorie expenditure too much.
Caloric foods
Another golden tip is to give preference to foods with a high amount of calories , such as pasta, eggs, peanuts, beans, bread, cheese, noodles, granola and others.
This way, you will be able to achieve a caloric surplus in a much less painful way.
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