Yoohoo, Help! Body Type Gurus!

TarHeelMom

TarHeelMom

Cathlete
Okay now, y'all don't laugh, but I don't know what body type I am. So I can never figure out how to apply all the good advice here that is body type-based. Help me out here, oh educated ones. I've been around the forums FOREVER so I do know the impact of genetics, but I sure would love to know what might TEND to work for my body type. I am feeling quite motivated to kick it up a notch and see what I can accomplish.

Here's what I can tell ya. I am a little over 5'4" and have extremely long arms and legs -- people often think I'm taller than I am. I am short-waisted and short-torsoed and until perimenopause had no boobs at all. (And all of a sudden I'm a really full A to small B cup -- yippee!) The leaner I get the less I have any waist at all, and my hips get narrow and my tush just disappears. Basically a boyish rectangular body shape. When I gain weight it is ALL, and I do mean ALL, in my torso -- tummy, top of the hips, love handles, upper back (you know that awful bra line fat, anybody?). My arms and legs will gain just slightly at the very top, but basically stay lean. I think if I were really heavy I'd look like just like an apple on four sticks. Or like Mr. Potato Head.;-)

I do NOT add muscle mass or definition easily, especially in my legs. It takes a whole lot of heavy lifting for me to see anything sculpted, even in my arms and shoulders which stay pretty trim. It is also pretty tough for me to move up in weight. I will have to stay with a barbell or dumbbell weight for quite a while (especially biceps for some reason) before I can add weight with good form. So all in all, I have to work hard to produce added strength or added mass. I've learned, for example, that one body part per day -- meaning once per week per part -- doesn't do anything for my body except maintain what I've got. And Lord forbid I should get sick or busy and take a couple of weeks off. You wouldn't believe how much strength and definition I can lose that fast.

For two years I've been battling the same flippin' 10 to 12 pounds. The weight came on quite suddenly over the course of about two months of profound job stress and the beginnings of menopause. It's all in my torso as I described. The sudden weight gain leveled off at 12 pounds and I've fought it ever since. Down 5, up 2, down 3, up 4, etc. Until just recently I thought I was never going to lose the weight, but I am happy to report that it is finally starting to show signs of giving up the fight -- maybe that means this hormonal junk is tailing off at last. I'm starting to lose weight slowly but steadily. (I do mean slow -- a BIG week for me is 1.5 pounds.) Now, I've lost some of this weight before as I said, but for some reason this time my body feels different, like it's surrendering. A very definite although I-can't-explain-it feeling. So I'm, shall we say, cautiously optimistic.

Right now I'm experimenting with a 3-week rotation doing less cardio (just 3 a week)and Slow & Heavy )just once each tape). I would like to continue this slow and steady weight loss for about 8 to 10 more pounds (I'm not tied to a number, just want to drop some of this torso fat) and I would like to try to add some definition all over. It's fun to imagine what my abs might look like under there, ya know?? :)

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions for what might work best for someone with whatever the heck my genetics are.

Thanks folks -- y'all are the best resource I know!!!


http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif Kathy S.
 
Me too! You described me with the exception that I'm 5'7. But I have very long arms and legs. Very short waisted, and have a disappearing waist! Everything else you mentioned is happening to me as well. And it also is 10 to 12lbs that I need to lose. The only difference with me is that my upper body can be very sculpted, (I have very broad shoulders) easily, but my lower body, although lean, is very hard to sculpt. Even when I run several times a week, and do weights. I've tried every kind of rotation, but am thinking I haven't done the right one long enough. Muscle endurance with cardio seems to make the biggest difference, but then my body seems to adapt after the initial shock. I, too, would be interested in any success stories. Sorry Kathy that all I can do is commiserate!

Jackie

My diet is not bad. I tend to eat more protein than carbs and maybe a little more sugar than I should. (But not all the time.)
 
Hi Jackie!

Nice to hear from you -- misery does love company! You sound exactly like me, just taller. I have broad shoulders and a broad back, too, and the first part of me that shows any definition is my shoulders. (It is difficult to achieve that look, though.)

Let's hope one of the educated crowd steps up with some ideas for us!

http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif Kathy S.
 
RE: Hi Jackie!

I'll share my personal experience with you.
I'm carry my weight exactly as you described. I recently cut back cardio to 3 times a week(60 min each); increased my protein intake significantly(btw-I do total body weight lifting twice a week trying to build muscle mass); and began eating more veggies and cutting out sugar. Cutting sugar also meant replacing some fruits with veggies.
I couldn't believe the results! I looked in the mirror one day and I was buff! I saw the muscles I had been working so hard for. I think what did it for me was a combination of shaking up my workout regime, increasing protein and decreasing sugar. Unfortunately I'm afraid of what will happen after my body gets used to this style.
 
Hi kathy. I too have that same body type, but am 5/6. I am almost certain that my girls are going to have it also. I wouldn't consider myself to be an apple shape, but I am definatly not a pear shape either. More of a boyish figure. I always say that I have a boy butt, my husband says no, but I think I do. I don't think I will ever get a 6 pack stomach. I dream of being a 34 B bra. I am a 36 B, but I hate having "man shoulders and a man back". It's funny though, the parts that I hate, my friends would love to have. They can't believe that my waist is a big as it is. My broad shoulders seem to narrow it down. I have noticed that when I started running, some came off. I know my problem is the eating thing. If I would cut back the junk...I am slowly doing so...I would see better results.

Kim
 
Hi Kathy,

Extremely long arms and legs, short waisted, short torso, don't add mass easily and lose it quickly - sounds like classic ectomorph to me. Although most people think of ectos as thin, some *do* struggle with weight in the places you've mentioned. Have you read "The False Fat Diet" by Elson Haas? You might find it interesting.

Maribeth, one of our resident experts, gave this advice for hardgainers: work each body part twice per week - once heavy/strength and once lighter/endurance. For example, I'll use the Slow and Heavy series for my strength and CTX UB and LL for endurance. I've had good results from this.

Angela
 
Thanks Angela!

Ectomorph, huh? Sounds like me in spades, if what you described is ecto. How terrific to figure this out -- I know it's not an exact science but I have read the body type posts here so often thinking "Would that be me? Would this advice maybe work for me?"

I haven't read the Haas book but will sure check it out, and I'll look back at the other ecto posts and try Maribeth's advice too. (Where's she been lately, I wonder??)

Thank you SO much!!!!!

http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif Kathy S.
 
RE: Thanks Angela!

As I started reading your describtion, I thought oh she's a ecto, but then you went on about where and how you gain. Well, then that through it off for me. The places you gain are the same places I gain(I even have the same shoulder thing going), so too me that's an apple shape. Apple shapes tend to be endomorphs.

Many people are a combibation of different bodytypes(somatypes). I am a meso-endomorph(I build muscle fairly easy, but the muscles are nicely padded by fat). I get big looking before the fat has had a chance to come off, especially my shoulder area.

You sound like you could be a ecto with endomorphic tendancies(ecto-endo).

Just my thought.
 
It's kind of funny how we (and in this case I mean me) want what other people have.

I am almost the complete opposite. I have a VERY long torso with short legs (I'd say I'm equal parts legs and torso) and when I gain weight tend to gain it below the belt first. The thighs in particular are the last place that I seem to lose weight. Even at my current weight which I consider ideal for my height, 5'7" and 133, I still have the added 'curve' from hips to thighs. Wasn't there a weight loss/exercise program where you typed your body and then ate/exercised according to your type? Was it Michael Thurmond and the 6 week body makeover? Anyway, I'd love info. on how to work with my body type. BTW, I am also very hourglass figure and buying jeans is a pain in the #$&@!x( The waist is usually huge to in order to fit my hips/thighs and the pant legs are almost always too long and I need to either roll or alter.

Anybody else match this description?
Sabine
 
Kathy,

If you want to find out what body type you have, you can take a test online to find out. Go to www.bodybuilding.com and it will instruct you in what to do. The test is real easy, it's about 10 to 12 questions. Hope I have help you.

Meverllyn

;-) In HIS Awesome Grip
 
Hi Meverllyn,
I'm also curious to find out what my body type is but that Web site you gave is about the worst deisgned I have ever seen! Can you tell me how to find this test?
Thanks!
ATB,
- Lisa :)
Edited to say: of the articles I've read so far, I've had to click "view source" because the content doesn't show up in Safari, which is the main browser for Macs now-a-days. If the site owner of bodybuilding.com ever pops onto this board, please fix your site! It looks like there are lots of great articles buried in there somewhere... :)
 
Thank you! It actually works in Safari too! YAY :)
Well, I've finally discovered what my body type is: meso-ecto or is it ecto-meso? The test declared I was a mesomorph but when I read the rest of it, it was pretty clear that I was about a 50/50 mix between an ectomorph and a mesomorph.
I don't know how useful it is to know this stuff, but it is nice to know what type I am at last :)
ATB,
- Lisa :)
 
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