Since COVID has hit – ‘workplace health and wellness’ are the new buzz words, There has been a big increase in health and wellness programs both online and in gyms and lots of discussion about stress reduction.
We are all different and our bodies respond differently to stress, diet exercise and our environments. What might work for your best friend may not work for you. That may be because you both have different body types and need to do things differently from each other.
There are three main body types, Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph. While most of us are not 100% a specific body type, we tend to be a combination of two body types. This can be broken down into 3 further groups. Ecto-Meso, Meso-Endo and Endo-Ecto.
Your body shape and bone structure is determined by your genetics and whether during embryological development your body put more energy into developing the layers of the ectoderm, endoderm or mesoderm.
Our ectomorphs will have the following characteristics:
- More active brain and nervous system and be more sensitive in your skin
- Naturally be a leaner/thinner physique and often no matter what you eat you won’t put on much weight
- Putting on muscle mass can be really hard.
- Great at analysing, planning and using your most powerful asset – your brain! (in fact, you may feel you “over-think” everything!).
- Find it hard to relax your brain and learning strategies to help yourself get enough mental rest and down-time (especially in the evenings), will help you to be at your best health-wise and also help you with sleeping better.
- Naturally have a shorter digestive tract – do better with warm, slow-cooked, “pre-digested” foods.
- Feel the cold more than others and keeping warm is important for your health.
- Prone to tension and stiffness through the back and neck, so it will be extra important for you to do some regular mobility and strength work to protect these areas.
Our mesomorphs will have the following characteristics:
- Shorter, have more defined muscle and a naturally athletic build
- Suit high intensity exercise for short periods of time (cross-fit, HITT training and most sports that are very anaerobic in nature, are all great for them).
- Physiology is geared towards movement…movement is key! (think of those kids who can’t still and need to be moving or fiddling to learn).
- Need a bit more protein than others (and do better with animal proteins), are naturally more of an early bird, and because of their dominant hormones and neurotransmitters they thrive on change, variety, challenge, competition, adventure and excitement (they even enjoy an element of risk).
- Have a more fiery temperament, they have a need to express their thoughts and to feel heard and they tend to speak their mind, so don’t get on the wrong side of them!
- Natural innovators, think laterally and outside of the box and they’re great at getting stuck in and achieving and getting stuff done.
Our endomorphs will have the following characteristics:
- Bigger bone structure, the potential to be stronger and more easily put on mass (muscle and fat tissue)
- May have more of a struggle to “lose weight”
- Will be the most resilient to stress
- Have a longer digestive tract and will be more suited to fasting and vegetarian foods
- More of a night owl and need a slower start to your morning and have dominant hormones and neurotransmitters that make them more nurturing, caring and family-oriented.
The fitness and health industry is saturated with information. Wading through this is often overwhelming and confusing. Sometimes we lean towards interventions (paleo eating or high protein diets, HITT training, early morning bootcamps, etc) that really don’t suit all types of people – in fact, these things will stress some bodies and make these people struggle more with weight-issues, lethargy and health.
One size doesn’t fit all. Learning what’s right for you and your genetics is key to cutting away the confusion out there and finding out the key things you can do to improve your health!
We personalise our savings and investment plans – now it’s time to do the same with our health and fitness plans. We need to work with our genes to reduce stress and maximise our health and productivity.
www.peakfitnessandhealth.co.nz
