Body Type
There are three extremes of body types.
Endomorph
 |
Endomorph (711)
|
An endomorphic individual
typically has short arms and legs and a large amount of mass on their
frame. Their mass hampers their ability to compete in sports
requiring high levels of agility or speed and perform sustained weight bearing aerobic activities such as running. Sports of pure strength, like power
lifting, are perfect for an endomorph. They can gain weight easily and lose condition quickly if training stops.
Sports Benefits
- Size benefits sports such as rugby where bulk is useful, provided it can be moved powerfully
- Tend to have large lung capacity which can make them suited to sports such as rowing
- They can increase muscle mass much more easily than ectomorphs
Mesomorph
 |
Mesomorph (171)
|
A mesomorphic individual excels
in strength, agility, and speed. Their medium structure and
height,
along with their tendency to gain muscle and strength easily
makes them a
strong candidate for a top athlete in any sport. They can
sustain low body fat levels and find it easy to lose and gain weight.
Sports Benefits
- Respond well to cardiovascular and resistance training
- Can sustain low body fat levels
- All muscle groups can be used to derive positive training adoption
- Dependent on the sports' needs they can easily gain or lose weight
Ectomorph
 |
Ectomorph (117)
|
A predominantly ectomorphic individual is long,
slender and thin, and therefore power and strength sports are perhaps
not suitable as their slight build leaves them susceptible to
injuries. While they can easily get lean and hard, their lack of musculature
severely limits their chances in sports requiring mass. Ectomorphs
dominate endurance sports and gymnastics. They can archive low levels of body fat which can be detrimental to health and for females in endurance sports it can result in a cessation of periods and iron deficiency.
Sports Benefits
- Light frame makes them suited for aerobic activity like gymnastics
- Smaller body surface area also enhances their suitability for endurance activity
- Their body is better at thermo regulation, important in endurance based sports
Somatotype
Sheldon evaluated the degree a body type was present on a 1 to 7 scale where 1 is the minimum and 7 is the maximum.
All athletes are made up of the three extreme body types so we are
all part endomorph, part mesomorph and part ectomorph. Using a score of one to
seven, we can grade our bodies on each of the extreme body types. e.g. two,
six, three means: two (low endomorphy); six (high mesomorphy); three (low
ectomorphy). In this way, we can compare our body type with that of other
athletes. This method of body typing is known as somatotyping - height is not
taken into consideration.
The "perfect" bodybuilder would perhaps be a
173, while 475 might
be better suited for football, and 147 a basketball player.
Having scores in multiple body types, for instance the football player's
475, does not mean he has all of the traits of each body type
mixed together.
It may mean he has the heavy thick build of the Endomorph
combined with
superior musculature and strength of the Mesomorph, with the
above average
height of the Ectomorph.
Greek researchers Bayios et al. (2006)[1]
evaluated 518 elite Greek basketball, volleyball and handball players.
Their results indicated the following somatotypes (endomorph, mesomorph
& ectomorph) for each sport:
| Sport | Endomorph | Mesomorph | Ectomorph |
| Volleyball players | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| Basketball players | 3.7 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| Handball players | 4.2 | 4.7 | 1.8 |
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