22. Exercise for Your Body Type, Your Mood and Your Season of Life

There are three body types:

The Ectomorph who is naturally very thin, has narrow hips and shoulders, very low body fat and thin arms and legs.  This person should train with heavy weights and lots of rest between sets.  They should only train 1-2 body parts per session to avoid too much calorie expenditure and should do minimal cardio.  Mostly focus on low intensity bike rides and walks

The Mesomorph (this Is me) – This body type usually puts on muscle very easily and very balanced.  They have very strong legs, broad shoulders and a narrower waist.  They have a lower body fat percentage.   For Mesomorphs the more varied their strength training the better.  The Mesomorph only needs to lift a couple times a week doing a full body routine and cardio should be focused on HIIT or interval training for only 20-30 minutes.  This is my body type and this is what my week looks like – Monday I do a 20 minute interval run and stretch, Tuesday I do a 30-45 Min strength workout, Wednesdays I bike for 30 minutes Thursday I do Abs and stretch, Fridays I do a 60 boot camp (a mix of running and weights), Saturday is a rest day, Sunday is walks or just general movement with the kids.  Every day of the week I do walk the dog outside of my normal workout just to keep my body active all day. It helps me stay sane having a desk job.

Lastly is the Endomorph – This body type is more round and pear-shaped.  They tend to sore more body fat especially in the legs and arms. It’s a little harder for this body type to build muscle but with a focus on accepting your body and treating it right you will have a healthy body image.  For this body type total-body workouts with compound movements burns the most calories.  Body weight and moderate weigh lifting is great.  Avoid Heavy weight lifting with low reps.  For Cardio you’ll want to do a minimum of 3x/week for 30 minutes (try to aim for more than that)  Make our cardio easy on the knees and low-impact.  Swimming, biking, hiking, walking, elliptical are all good ideas.

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