Body Type: What Does It Mean?

There are three main body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. In a process clinically known as somatotyping, healthcare providers determine your body type by assessing body fat levels, bone and muscle structure, height, and slenderness.

An ectomorph body shape is tall and slender, with little body fat. A mesomorph body has a medium, muscular frame. Endomorph bodies have more body fat than muscle mass and are wider and more compact. However, most people have a combination body type, blending characteristics of each.

Psychologist Dr. William Herbert Sheldon first classified the three primary body types in the 1940s. He believed these types influenced your personality type, linking each to stages of embryonic development. While his views weren’t supported in research, body type can influence metabolism, affect your ability to gain and lose weight, and raise certain health risks.   

Knowing your body type can be important since it can influence aspects of health. Most people don’t fit into just one of the three categories and instead display characteristics of multiple types. Each type has specific characteristics and can affect metabolism and the ability to lose or gain weight and muscle.

Ectomorph

An ectomorph body shape is linear and often long, with long contours in relation to width. This means narrower shoulders and waist, thin, long limbs, and less muscle mass relative to the length of the bone.

Ectomorph bodies have little body fat and are often tall. Gaining muscle and fat is more difficult for people with this body type.  

Mesomorph

A mesomorphic body is medium in build and frame and is often labeled as “athletic.” People with this body type tend to develop muscle more easily and have more muscle than fat content.  Additional features may include:

• A square or rectangular body shape and larger chest
• V-shape shoulders and abdomen in males at birth; an hourglass figure in females at birth
• Strong, muscular limbs and chest
• Narrow waist in relation to height
• Square-shaped head

Endomorph

Endomorphic bodies have more body fat than muscle mass, with an abdomen that dominates. They have a wider, more compact frame and a larger waist and abdomen. Additional signs include rounded shoulders and features, a shorter neck, and a broad face.

This body type is associated with easier weight gain, and people with endomorphic bodies may be at a higher risk of developing obesity.

Hybrid Body Types

It’s rare for people to be purely one body type. Most have combined types, blending features of ectomorphs, mesomorphs, or endomorphs. These hybrid body types include:

• Ecto-mesomorph: This is when you have both ectomorphic and mesomorphic features. Common signs include a V-shaped torso, narrow waist, and strong shoulders and limbs. High-level soccer players and gymnasts often have this type.
• Meso-endomorph: People with this body type have features of mesomorphs and endomorphs, including boxy chests and thick arms and legs. Football and rugby players often fall into this type.
• Ecto-endomorph: These bodies have a higher body fat content—often around the abdomen—while remaining slim. The body may be pear-shaped, with a thinner upper body and wider lower half. This body type may be seen in someone who’s an ectomorph but has gained weight due to diet or lack of exercise.

Your body type can change as you get older. Metabolism—your body’s conversion of food to energy—slows down as you age, as do overall levels of physical activity. In addition, people lose muscle mass and height, which is known as sarcopenia, and more easily add body fat.

As a result, aging—especially during the middle decades of life—can lead to endomorphic body shapes.

However, after a certain point, males and females often start losing weight. Though this can vary considerably, males often gain weight until about age 55 and lose weight after that. Females tend to gain weight until about age 65. As a result, older adults may become more slender.

Your body type reflects factors that influence your weight, such as metabolism and activity level. As such, steps to manage weight may look different for each body type.

Managing Weight as an Ectomorph

People with ectomorph body types have a higher metabolism. This means they have a harder time gaining weight and retaining fat. With this body type, weight management goals often involve gaining muscle and adding body weight. 

Managing weight for this type often involves dietary changes. These include boosting overall caloric intake, especially if you’re physically active, and adopting a diet rich in carbohydrates, lean proteins, fiber, fresh fruit, and leafy vegetables.

Ectomorphs may also build muscle through strength training exercises, such as weightlifting or using fitness bands.

Managing Weight as a Mesomorph

For mesomorph bodies—often associated with athleticism—weight goals often include maintenance or working to build muscle. People with this type often have an easier time gaining and retaining muscle.

For this body type, exercise plans should be sustainable and tailored to your fitness goals. Dietary changes may include adjusting calories, increasing intake to build muscle, or reducing it to maintain weight. Healthcare providers may recommend a “mesomorph diet” rich in fresh and unprocessed foods, lean proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates.

Managing Weight as an Endomorph

Endomorphs have a slower metabolism, so it’s easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. That makes it more difficult to achieve or maintain weight goals. Managing weight for an endomorph means focusing on physical activity and adjusting diet.

Dietary strategies for this body type often include adopting a diet rich in lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, fresh vegetables and fruit, and unprocessed foods.

Fitness plans balance strengthening exercises, such as exercises with resistance bands, and aerobic workouts, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), walking, and running.

Body type is also related to muscle content and bone structure, so it can significantly affect athletic performance. For instance, elite long-distance runners tend to be ectomorphic, soccer players and gymnasts tend to be mesomorphs or ecto-mesomorphs, and football players are often endomorphs.

This doesn’t mean only certain body types can play certain sports. However, your body type can play a factor in which sports and exercises you excel at. Certain exercises may also be more beneficial for your body type, depending on how you gain muscle and your metabolism.

Here’s a breakdown:

• Exercises for ectomorphs: Since ectomorphs have lean muscle mass and little fat, their tall, thin frame can excel in activities like cycling, swimming, or running.
• Exercises for mesomorphs: Mesomorphs excel in a range of sports and exercises, particularly those that require strength. This can include figure skating, gymnastics, soccer, football, rowing, and swimming.  
• Exercises for endomorphs: The larger frame, bones, and weight of the endomorphic body make people with this type well-suited for exercises like weightlifting and sports like football, rugby, boxing, or wrestling, among others.

The factors that determine your body type, such as the amount of body fat and muscle mass you have, can also affect your overall health. For this reason, researchers have associated the body types with different health conditions, including:

• Obesity: Obesity—excess body fat (a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above)—is more common among endomorphs. It can raise the risk of related conditions, like type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis (tissue around joints breaking down over time).
• Heart issues: Having excess body fat and a round waist—associated with endomorph body types—raises the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, and other cardiac conditions.
• Mental health conditions: Thinner, ectomorphic bodies of European descent might be at a higher risk of schizophrenia, a mental health condition that causes hallucinations. Endomorphs, with typically higher BMI, have higher rates of major depressive disorder (MDD).
• Irregular periods: Studies suggest both endomorphs and ectomorphs are more likely to have irregular periods, as low or excess body fat can affect hormones regulating menstruation. People with very low or high body fat can also experience fertility problems.
• Prostate cancer: Researchers have linked tall height and leanness—characteristics of ectomorphs—with an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer in males at birth.

There are three main body types in sports medicine and exercise science. Ectomorphs are lean and tall and don’t gain muscle or weight easily. Mesomorphs have a medium and often “athletic” build, and endomorphs have larger waists and round features.

Body type can influence how well you gain or lose weight and which exercises and sports you might excel at. Certain body types may be associated with health conditions, such as obesity, prostate cancer, and irregular periods.