3 Male Body Types: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph

• Most men are a blend of the three common body types (aka somatotypes): ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Understanding your somatotype helps you tailor your workouts and nutrition for better, more sustainable progress. Training style, nutrition, recovery, and consistency matter far more than genetics alone when it comes to men’s body types.
  
  There are a lot of factors at play here, but one significant component is male body types, or somatotypes. Understanding yours can function like getting the owner’s manual for understanding and optimizing your unique physique. The knowledge can help you tweak your lifestyle choices and help you start to see the results you want.

What are Somatotypes?

Before we break down male body types, a history lesson: Psychologist William H. Sheldon of somatotypes in the 1940s. He initially tried to link body types to temperament, but this idea relied on photographs and research has largely discredited it.

Still, his physical classifications can function as a basic framework for fitness and nutrition. Namely, we’re all a blend with one primary characteristic that usually stands out.

Sheldon proposed three somatotypes: the ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph.

Each refers to distinct physical compositions, metabolic rates, and tendencies to gain fat or muscle that can help you work with the natural patterns of your own body.

Sheldon described each somatotype as follows:

• Endomorph: a rounded and soft structure
• Mesomorph: a structure with developed muscle and a robust skeleton
• Ectomorph: a structure with a fragile and delicate build