Have you ever stared your mirror trying to understand the reason why your body doesn´t change even after hours of hard work at the gym? Have you ever looked at that friend who doesn´t diet, eats unhealthy food, exercise little or nothing and still has his muscles developed faster and better than yours?

This article explains the different body types and might help you understand in which physical stereotype you fit in, so you will be able to develop a training program more specific to your body.

First, what you need to do is identify your bio type. As you can see below, there are three main body types and different trainings for each of those.

There are three general body types:

                                                                                              Reproduction

- Ectomorph: emphasis on the bone structure
- Mesomorph: emphasis on the muscles
 - Endomorph: emphasis on the fat


Now let´s understand how to balance a workout so each of those types can successfully achieve a more balanced and healthy structure.

. Ectomorphs (emphasis to the bone structure) have more difficulty in gaining muscle mass. That is why weight-lifting must be a priority and, at least during the first year of training, aerobic exercises should be done with moderation so it won´t hinder muscle gain due to excessive caloric expenditure. I recommend a training program composed by 80% of weight-lifting and 20% aerobics.

. Endomorphs have more fat and, as a consequence, more difficulty to burn it. In such cases, there is the necessity of more aerobic exercises, although weight-lifting is equally important for achieving a toned body and sustain weight loss in the long term. What I recommend for those who have this body type is a workout composed by 60% of cardio (treadmill, bike, jogging, swimming etc) and 40% of weight training (bodybuilding).

. Mesomorphs are the lucky ones, with more muscles and lower percentage of fat. Still, some run the risk of having some parts of the body overdeveloped, like women who have thick yet muscular thighs. In those cases, it is important to establish a program that balances that, reducing the stimulation of muscle hypertrophy in these groups. As a base, I recommend a program with 60 to 70% of bodybuilding and 30 to 40% of cardio, with the appropriate setting for each case.

There are still the ones who have a mixture of two body types, like the endo mesomorphs, who can easily gain muscle, but also feel it is difficult to eliminate fat. They require an even more precise adjustment to balance and achieve good results. It is hard to establish a definite rule, though.

. Endo mesomorph: do not use your physical type as an excuse to failure, but as a parameter to the development of the training program. That way, you will be able to establish real goals and won´t be frustrated.