Fascinating read on this thread.
IMHO, the issue with somatotyping is that almost nobody is a pure enough anything-morph to use that data for anything much more than a thumbnail guide... with the possible exception of trying to ascertain one's metabolic rate. Those few pure ecto's and endo's aside, that is...
Some thoughts I had reading this:
Just about "any-morph" is going to lag in muscle development if they split their recovery capacity across lifting and a bunch of cardio.
The injuries and joint pain accumulate over time, too. Just because you CAN tolerate high impact exercise, doesn't mean it is a
good long term solution to fitness. A particular double whammy that can result from following endomorph advice is that all the
prescribed calorie restriction and cardio is also a great way to mess up your recovery ability and make you even more injury prone.
What's the "ideal weight", exactly, anyway? I'm not sure it exists.
Two people my height could be the same weight and worlds apart in body fat and lean mass.
Two people my height could be pounds apart yet have the same body fat percentage.
The better question is perhaps what your best body would be in terms of muscle mass, and
at that point, what reasonable body fat do you feel comfortable carrying? That part comes down to health,
difficulty of managing nutrition, and aesthetics. Only at the end does body type come into it, in the sense
that one person might easily maintain 14% body fat, while another can't get below 20 or 25% without a superhuman
ongoing effort. In that case, it's a personal decision what you are willing to do.
The interesting thing is that the end result isn't only about body fat. If you build enough muscle, the body fat isn't such a big deal,
as long as the level isn't so high it becomes unhealthy... so even an endomorph can look fairly lean, and be at a healthy body
fat level, if only that endomorph trains to a decent level of muscle to accompany the fat the genetic lottery has dealt him or her.
To attempt to go lower will probably cost muscle mass - note the picture below - the 15% girl or 10% guy on the right might
think they need to "diet down to finally see that six pack" when in fact they need to put the calorie restriction and cardio on
hold and gain muscle instead.
Does that mean the skinny-fat person is genetically cursed, or just that they are chasing the wrong goal?
If the "morph" I supposedly am says I can't get below 15% body fat without being overobsessed,
I'd rather be the 15% on the left, any day.....
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food for thought,
Dorus
