Tuning your training: should you factor in body type?

Although Sheldon’s classification system was simple and easily understood, it had major flaws – not least because very few people fit neatly into one category, but instead have traits or tendencies of one of more of these body types. Over the years therefore, there were several attempts to refine this system of classification by allowing for a number of varying levels of fatness and thinness within each body type and the distribution of body fat across the body.

A good example is the Heath–Carter classification system⁽²⁾. This uses an individual’s weight, height, upper arm circumference, maximal calf circumference, femur (thigh bone) breadth, humerus (upper arm bone) breadth, and skinfold fat measurements from four sites across the body and combines these in a series of equations to assess a subject’s traits against each of the three somatotypes, each assessed on a seven-point scale, with 0 indicating no correlation and 7 indicating a very strong correlation. In other words, it arrives at a tendency to a body type rather than an absolute classification, and places individuals on a spectrum of body types rather than pigeonholing them into one extreme (see figure 2). The Heath-Carter classification system is widely use in a number of sports, including rowing⁽³⁾, tennis⁽⁴⁾, gymnastics⁽⁵⁾, soccer⁽⁶⁾ and triathlon⁽⁷⁾.

Figure 2: The spectrum of body types

Before moving onto the training implications for different body types, it’s worth re-emphasizing that the categories are very broad, so it’s easy to oversimplify a body type and end up pigeonholing someone without adequately considering other important characteristics. As the reader, while you may have a tendency towards one of these types, you’ll almost certainly have supporting characteristics of one of the other types too. The second concerns the debate over Nature vs. nurture. Your body type is strongly inherited via genes⁽⁸⁾; while some people feel frustrated about the genetic body type dealt to them by Nature, it’s important to realize that many these genetic traits result in tendencies, not pre-determined outcomes. The way you are is and always will depend on the interaction between those genetic tendencies and your environment. In plain English, whatever your ‘body type’, the way it expresses itself will depend on what you do with your body in the real world.

Body type characteristics

As we explained above, you can think of pure ectomorphic, mesomorphic and endomorphic characteristics as extreme points on the three apexes of a triangle (figure 2). Most of us lie somewhere inside this imaginary triangle with a blend of these characteristics. We also need to dispel the notion that it’s ‘better’ to have one type of body over another. While certain body types may have a physiological advantage in certain types of sports, if you look at table 1 below, it’s clear that each body type carries both training advantages and disadvantages.

Table 1: Metabolic characteristics and training advantages/disadvantages

Sport and body type

Take a look at runners in an elite distance running race and it’s likely that many of the runners will have strong ectomorph characteristics⁽⁹⁾. But how much of that characteristic is due to the training and how much is inherent? Some researchers have speculated that training for sports brings about the kind of physical changes in body composition and shape needed for success⁽¹⁰⁾. However, others have suggested it’s the other way round – ie individuals with existing morphological traits become most successful if they enter specific sports⁽¹¹⁾. In reality, it’s very likely to be a combination of both – ie an interaction between somebody’s genes/inherited body type and behavioural/environmental factors⁽¹²⁾.

Take for example someone with strong endomorphic characteristics who engages in both rugby and distance running during school years. With a robust constitution and good levels of natural strength, this person might well excel at rugby, and experience plenty of positive feedback as a result. However, their heavier and more powerful constitution would likely work against them in distance running, leading to a less positive experience. Even though their body shape would become more suited to distance running with more running training, they may well prefer to take up rugby as a sport once the choice is optional; indeed data shows that greater muscle mass/strength, body fat levels adiposity and bone size are desirable for tackling and attacking in rugby, which puts endomorphic player with mesomorphic tendencies at a distinct advantage^(13,14).

Insight from triathletes

To gain a little more insight, an early study by US scientists on female triathletes makes for fascinating reading. In the early days of triathlon, there was much debate on what made a ‘good’ triathlete – specifically, whether triathlon success was more likely if they shared the body type of elite runners, swimmers or cyclists⁽¹⁵⁾. When compared to Olympic swimmers and runners, the triathletes tended to be somewhat shorter with a balanced body type that tended to be more mesomorphic than the other body types. Compared to Olympic runners, the triathletes were generally heavier, less lean, more mesomorphic and less ectomorphic than elite runners. Because of lack of information on cyclists, adequate comparisons were not possible. However, the really important take-home point was that while body type did help to some extent in predicting performance, it was the training parameters were more important than anthropometric measures in determining how successful the triathletes were.

Body type and training recommendations

If we all have a tendency to a body type and that body type comes with certain physiological characteristics, should a training program be adapted to reflect body type? There’s no simple answer to this question as it all depends on what you’re trying to achieve want and the body type/tendency you have. So if you’re an ectomorph training for a marathon, your body type is already ideally suited to the task. Rather than try and train to develop more mesomorphic or endomorphic characteristics, you’ll be quite happy to exploit the body type you already have. The same could also be said for an endomorph in training for power lifting or rugby, or a mesomorph in 400m running.

However, let’s suppose you have a body type that definitely leans towards one of the three categories, but that you want to train for overall fitness and to develop a well-balanced blend of stamina, strength and power. Are there any ‘body type’ training guidelines you can follow? The answer is yes, but these guidelines are more about shifting the emphasis of your training rather than forming the program itself. You still have to think about things such as your overall goals and objectives, your current fitness level and training history, whether or not you have any injuries that might affect the way you train and of course your own personal preferences when training. But once you’ve come up with a training program that ticks the right boxes, you can then apply some guidelines to help produce more balanced results for your particular body type.

It’s important to underline that these guidelines are not based on the result of specific studies on somatypes and training programs – simply because these haven’t been carried out. They are however, based on widely accepted acknowledged sports training principles, which means they have a fair degree of validity. Bear in mind though that these are very general recommendations for those seeking a good blend of endurance and strength. They are not necessarily appropriate for athletes training for a specific sport - although by understanding what’s needed to adapt a program to develop all-round fitness, you can gain an insight into how to tweak your sport-specific program!

Ectomorph training

Ectomorphs lose weight easily because of their high metabolic rates, but find it hard to gain strength, power and muscle. Ectomorphs seeking ‘balance’ should spend less time engaged in high-volume, steady-state endurance type exercise and more time doing high quality intervals and reasonably intense resistance training (to maintain strength levels). For strength building, the overall training volume however should be kept down (otherwise it will tend to raise an already active metabolism and prevent gains from being made) while the emphasis needs to be on the core compound exercises such as chest press, leg press, lat pulldowns/chins, dips and squats. High-repetition isolation work is not recommended.

Endomorph training

If you’re more endomorphic in body type, you’ll tend to have plenty of natural strength and a high tolerance to hard training. However, the flipside is that with their inherently slower metabolisms, endomorphic types typically need to perform higher training volumes and place a greater emphasis on endurance types of exercise, in order to maintain an optimum level of body fat for an overall all-round balanced performance. Resistance training shouldn’t be ignored, because it raises the body’s basal metabolic rate – exactly what endomorphs need. However, unless you’re training for a sport where high levels of strength are needed, this strength work should be of the higher volume, lower intensity type, and considered secondary to endurance training.

Mesomorph training

The mesomorphic body type lies somewhere in between the other two, which is reflected in the training recommendations. However, to make good progress and avoid becoming stale, training variety is crucial for mesomorphs. For good aerobic gains and overall balanced fitness gains, endurance workouts should be at a variety of different intensities, while a mesomorph’s resistance program should include both compound movements for building and maintaining strength and higher rep isolation work for improving muscle definition. While galling, it’s a fact that very mesomorphic types can get away with doing less and achieving more! The downside however is that because they see results so quickly (even repeating the same routine over and over again will almost certainly produce results) mesomorphs are also more prone to overtraining. To avoid falling into this trap, mesomorphs need to change their training routines frequently.

References

1.       Sheldon, W.H. (1954). Atlas of Men: A guide for somatotyping the adult male at all ages. New York: Harper

2.       Norton, Kevin; Olds, Tim (1996). Anthropometrica: A Textbook of Body Measurement for Sports and Health Courses. Australian Sports Commission; UNSW Press

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