ECTOMORPH
What Ectomorphs Might Be Doing Wrong
First, ditch the treadmill. “Ectomorphs often gravitate to long, slow distance work, but it’s the worst thing they can do,” says trainer Will Purdue.
And it may be tempting to pack your routine with classic bodybuilder moves such as the biceps curl, but that’s another mistake, says Purdue. “I often see ectomorphs focusing on isolation moves, whereas big, compound movements such as the squat will involve more muscles and give you the hormonal boost that helps build muscle. I still use isolation moves, but they’re supplementary to the main workout moves – 80% of moves should be working big muscle groups.”
What Ectomorphs Should Be Doing
Three days of strength training should be coupled with two days of low-intensity cardio. Effective abs exercises include the captain’s chair, the bicycle crunch and abs crunches while sat on an exercise ball.
“Compound movements, sets in the eight-to-12 rep range and quite a lot of volume are what you’re looking for,” says Purdue. “So a system such as German Volume Training is ideal.” Popularised by muscle expert prescribes ten sets of ten reps in key moves such as the bench press or barbell squat.
And there’s no need to live in the gym to put on muscle – quite the contrary, in fact. “If you’re working out four, five days a week you’ll be speeding up your metabolism too much,” says trainer Hughes. “I tend to limit my ectomorphs to three workouts a week, keeping the actual training time after a warm-up to 45 minutes or less.”
ENDOMORPH
What Endomorphs Might Be Doing Wrong
First, the good bit: there’s no point in spending hours plodding away on a treadmill. “The first thing I tell people trying to lose weight is to ditch the long, slow, steady-state cardiovascular work,” says Purdue. “Then I get them doing more interval-based conditioning to strip away fat. Sprints and box jumps are great, but if you’re heavy to the point of being worried about your joints, then moves like the sled push are slower but just as intense.”
And if you’re doing hundreds of crunches to try and shift your gut, ditch them now. “Spot-reducing fat just doesn’t work,” says Hughes. “You need to lose it from everywhere to see results around your waistline.”
What Endomorphs Should Be Doing
While much of the endomorph’s focus should be on shedding fat through aerobic exercise, we’re of the opinion that weight training is best because it carries on burning calories long after your final set. What’s more, the calories you ingest during the recovery period will help your muscles grow rather than fuelling your gut. Therefore, we recommend doing four days a week of hypertrophy training (heavy weight, low reps) alongside your cardio.
“Combine hypertrophy work – basically, muscle-building – with conditioning to strip away unwanted body fat,” says Purdue. “A four-day split might go something like: Monday, upper-body hypertrophy; Tuesday, lower-body conditioning such as sprints or sleds; Thursday lower-body hypertrophy; and a Friday ‘repetition’ day on the upper body, when you’ll do lots of reps at relatively low weights.”
