Posted on March 19, 2018 by Kate Halsall

 

Ever had one of those weeks? You know, where you start to self-sabotage, go back to old habits, let life get in the way, can’t explain why and get in a general funk? Well that was me this week, and I had to find a way to snap out of it before it undid all my progress. I needed something to focus on with regards to my training and food. Simply saying I’m doing Do It In 12 wasn’t working. So I started looking into training for you body type – I have wanted to do this for a while and never find the time (sometimes snow is a good thing!). I identified that I am predominantly an Endomorph with some Mesomorph attributes. So I decided on a new experiment – I’m going to train for my body type. What could possibly go wrong?!

The Endomorph Revealed

The coachmag.co.uk website summed it up really simply: “endomorphs struggle to shift their gut, and mesomorphs pack on muscle with ease”. If you remember my results from week 3, I had lost 2.5% body fat but only 1kg of weight and I had gained 2kg of muscle…this is me! But focus Kate, pick one body type for now!

Apparently endomorphs traditionally find it hard to shift weight and have a higher level of body fat (not that that should be used as an excuse!); have prominent thighs and a slower metabolism. Wow. It’s not all bad though – apparently we have good flexibility, good posture and strong bones!

Diet for Endomorphs

The number of websites I have read all suggest that high carbohydrate foods such as bread and rice are more likely to be stored as fat than be used for energy – kill me now! Essentially my carbs need to come from vegetables and quinoa. One website suggest the macros to be 30% carbs, 35% protein and 35% fat. Ok, no more carb cycling – my carbs will now only come from veg and pulses.

Exercise for Endomorphs

This is where literature contradicts itself. Everything agrees that I should only have one day rest as endomorphs recover quicker; that I should have minimum rest times during my workouts and that I need to do HIIT and weight training. All websites also agree that endomorphs should focus on weight training which ensures maximum muscle recruitment – so big compound lifts like squats and deadlifts and that circuit type training should also be included.

But it’s rep ranges and sets where there appears to be some debate. Some say 8-15 reps with 8 sets per body part and others say 3 sets with anywhere between 8-15 reps! However, all the sites agree that 6 days a week are workout days; 3-4 weights sessions with the others being HIIT and conditioning. So I’ve written a new training plan….stay tuned!

In the next week or so I’ll also be looking at training for Ectomorph and Mesomorph body types too.