Week 19/52: Body type and macronutrients

Diets these days can get really confusing. One minute we read that carbs are bad and the next we read that we need carbs to build muscle. While there are several components to good nutrition habits that are pretty universal, there are some things that vary from individual to individual. This is really when you start to get down into the nitty gritty of macronutrient breakdown, timing and goals.

I’m going to keep this simple today because as I just stated that each person is individual. But if you can steer yourself in a better direction, you’ll get better results.

What body type are you?

Body type doesn’t dictate everything about your nutrition plan. But if you understand where you fall, you might get yourself off to a better start.

Ectomorph – These are the people that can “eat whatever they want and not gain a pound.” I know you know someone like this, right? These folks are naturally thin and have a naturally higher metabolism. My brother was like this – he could demolish a box of cereal, 10 granola bars and bagels on the daily and his body fat levels never changed. These people tend to prefer endurance sports and usually want to gain muscle.

Precision Nutrition states this about ectos:
Thyroid dominant
Fast metabolic rate
High sympathetic nervous system
Higher carbohydrate tolerance

Mesomorphic – These are the medium-build people. They are neither thin nor thick, but have what we might call a muscular, athletic build. This is where I fall. Mesomorphs prefer weight training and relative strength exercises and typically want to build mass but maintain a lower body fat percentage. We also like to focus on athletic performance.

Precision Nutrition states this about mesos:
Testosterone and growth hormone dominant
Moderate to high sympathetic nervous system activity
Moderate carb tolerance

Endomorphic – These are naturally broad and thick folks. Notice it doesn’t say “fat or overweight”. By build, it means natural body and bone structure. Endomorphs love absolute strength exercises. (As we say, weight moves weight, so powerlifting, strong man, etc work well for these people.)  Most endos are usually working towards losing body fat in the midsection.

Precision Nutrition states this about endos:
Insulin dominant
Slow metabolism
Low carb tolerance

Where do you fall? What can you take away from the classifications above? Do the classifications fit how you tend to eat?

Tune in on Wednesday at 7pm central to my nutrition workshop. If all goes well, I’ll be putting it up on google hangout for all to see. We will be talking about diet myths and the 3.5 important things for fat loss and body transformation.