Body Types

In issue 251 of Peak Performance magazine John Shepherd looked at Body Type training.
He explained that there are basically 3 body types (or somatotypes): Endomorph (fat), Mesomorph (athletic) and Ectomorph (thin).

He went on to explain that most people are an amalgamation of the three. William Sheldon, in the mid 20th century, said that endomorph, mesomorph and ectomorph should be rated on a scale of 1-7 for each person. Therefore a scale of 2-6-2 would indicate low endomorph and ectomorph and high mesomorph. This could possibly be 100m sprinter. Someone with a scale of 6-5-2 has high endomorph and mesomorph with low ectomorph. This person may possibly suit being a sumo wrestler!

Shepherd lists some of the body characteristics of the endomorph as: large framed; high body fat and medium to tall.
Mesomorphs he lists as: well muscled; v shaped torso; look fit and athletic.
Ectomorphs are listed as: wiry appearance; medium to tall height with small muscles.

Shepherd goes on to look at the age old question 'is an athlete born or made?'. Which dominates nature or nurture? He states that body type is dictated at birth, but body shape is affected by exercise, diet and lifestyle.

Professor Mike Rennie, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Nottingham suggests that the nature/nurture split is 55:45. He uses the example of identical twins where one became an endurance athlete and the other a power athlete.

Shepherd points out that there are situations where different body types can still excell at the same sport. He states that Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henri are both excellent strikers, but they have very different body types.

In conclusion Sheperd says that body type is a very useful starting point to determine sporting ability, but the effect of traing can be great. He also states that there has been recent work looking at 'sporting genes' which may have a much greater influence on sporting prowess.