Exercise is the easiest and most effective way of improving overall well-being. This is also helpful in lowering the risks for serious health problems and diseases. It helps relieve anxiety and depression, boost mood and energy, and relieve stress. Exercise is one of the most affordable and best investment that the majority of people, especially the health conscious ones consider to be most rewarding. Exercise is perceived to be an all-good thing. However, what the majority of us failed to look closely is the fact that anything only becomes effective and beneficial when it is done the right way.
Continual trips to the gym seem like everything is doing fine. You get healthy and live a very good lifestyle. You have been benefiting from exercise for some years. But upon reaching the age of forty, your weight piled up and your body structure became different, until you decided to seek the help of a personal trainer. Then you discovered that after all these years, you have been doing things the wrong way. And this is due to the fact that you have done a different set of exercise which is not appropriate for your body type.
All women come in different body types and sizes. And it is a good thing that a lot of them embrace this fact and there those who exert more effort to improve. Women have four basic body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph, meso-endomorph. Each one of them has specific characteristics and there is a specific kind of exercise that needs to be performed in every type to maximize the full benefit of fitness.
Body Type: Ectomorph
This body type has a long and angular shape that resembles a banana. People with this body type are usually small-chested with limbs that are longer than their torso and slender hips. This type is built for endurance and speed and tends towards little muscle on the trunks and limbs and low body fat.
Exercise Prescriptions
With this kind of body type, one needs to work hard to add and maintain the muscles. Results though, are easily achieved. The workout plan is strength training for 2-3 times a week for a span of 30 minutes and perform cardiovascular exercises 3-4 times a week for 20-30 minutes. A good strength training exercise should include lunges, squats, leg presses, chin ups, push ups, dips, and pull ups.
Body Type: Mesomorph
This body type is naturally athletic and have the most muscles and an average to a large bone structure. This resembles to an apple, with shoulders which are often broader than the hips and the chest is dominant over the stomach.
Exercise Prescriptions
The main objective for this body type is to enhance the hereditary gifts of having muscles while decreasing the body fat surrounding them. The workout plan ideal for an overweight mesomorph is to have cardio training 4-5 times every week for 30-60 minutes and strength training that will last for 30 minutes, for three times a week. But for those who do not require to loss weight, they can do the cardio for 30-45 minutes , 3-4 times a week. Their exercises would include leg curls, lunges, leg presses, squat, leg extensions, dead lifts, and upper and lower body crunches.
Body Type: Endomorph
This type is pear-shaped with indented waistline and soft upper body, and round, cushioned shoulders. People with this type have shorter legs and arms relative to their trunk. Their muscles are also not well-defined. They look heavy at the bottom, especially when they are overweight.
Exercise Prescriptions
Most endomorphs make a mistake of training only the lower part of their body, while neglecting the upper part. This produces a more bottom-heavy look. By doing exercises to strengthen the upper body for 3 days in a week, lasting for 30 minutes with a light to moderate resistance and high repetitions, a more symmetrical look can be achieved. People of this type need to avoid doing cardio exercises that bulk up their lower body such as step classes, treadmill walk with incline, and stair master.
Body Type: Meso-Endomorph
This combines the muscles of the curves of the endomorph and the muscles of mesomorph. The apple/pear shaped meso-endomorph has broad shoulders with large chests. They also have a solid lower body. This type of body has good muscle tone and strong bones. But they tend to have higher body fat than mesomorphs.
Exercise Prescriptions
With this kind of combined body type, a training like that of a mesomorph is needed to get lean muscle mass, while working on the symmetry concentrating on the back, biceps, and chest. Perform strength training for 3 days a week, for 30 minutes and have a low to moderate intensity cardio for 4-7 days a week. Avoid bulking up the lower body doing away from exercises like step classes, high impact aerobics, spinning, and stair/stepper climbers with resistance.
Knowing your body type would allow you to set realistic goals for you to achieve your desired body image. This would make you feel better and healthier than you have ever felt.
Laura Simon works as a guest blogger for more than 3 years now. She’s been a contributing author for xtrainingequipment as well, a fitness and sporting goods company in the US. Writing is her passion and most of her topics talk about sports, health, fitness, and technology. She herself is a health enthusiast and she wants to instill ideas to her readers the right and effective way of being fit and healthy.
