You could be wasting your time if your exercise and nutrition is optimized to your body type! Eat and train according to your body's needs, and you will succeed.
As I'm sure you're aware, everybody's body looks different, grows different, smells different, moves different, and so on. Why train like a genetically gifted bodybuilder when you're a natural endurance runner? It simply won't work. Read through this quick overview of each main body type to determine what your fitness needs are.
Ectomorph - The 'Hard Gainer'
Ectomorphs usually have a very low level of body fat with little training, with a small build and small muscles. Putting on muscle will take a significant amount of hard work and dedication.
Training with an Ectomorphic body type: You want to gain muscle? Lift heavy weights. Take supplement stacks. You need to build a strong core and foundation upon which to put on muscle, so you should be performing compound exercises with 4-8 reps and lots of weight to facilitate strength gains. If you're doing more isolated exercises, such as dumbbell bench presses or tricep extensions, bump up the reps to 8-10. Maximum intensity and exertion is needed during sets, so rest periods should be about 2 minutes long to allow for muscle recovery.
Nutrition and Diet: If you're an ectomorph, your metabolism is ridiculously fast. If you are hungry, you should eat. If you're bored, you should eat. If you're full, you should eat. Drink lots of milk, eat lots of protein, and take a look into getting some nitric oxide based supplements. Foods highest in healthy fats will give you the biggest bang for your buck, because Omega 3's and plenty of calories will help put on bulk.
Mesomorph - The 'Natural Body Builder'
The 'genetically gifted' muscle builders, a mesomorph is inclined towards gaining muscle mass quite easily. While they may not gain extremely easily, they are certainly not hard gainers and will have significantly less difficulty than an ectomorph. They usually walk around straight, are very athletic looking and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. If they eat and train properly, they can lose weight faster than an endomorph and build muscle faster than an ectomorph.
Training with a Mesomorphic body type: Different exercises in every training session should be used with heavy weight. The intermediate to end goal would be to perform powerlifting and Olympic lifting on a regular basis to further increase size and strength. Full body training is recommended because mesomorphs recover rather quickly from traditional "Biceps Monday, Back Tuesday" style workout programs. Cardio should not be done more than 2 sessions per week, with High Intensity Interval Training used to ensure fat is kept at bay without deteriorating muscle mass.
Nutrition and Diet: A semi-strict diet of 30/30/40 protein/fat/carbs will provide the ideal level of nutrition and diverse calories needed to support muscle growth and a lean, athletic physique.
Endomorph - Tough Gettin' Lean
"Lookin' a little on the heavy side, chubby!" You won't want to say this to an endomorph, because he is likely much stronger than you and will either crush you or sit on you. Endomorphs have the largest body type in that they naturally have large amounts of muscle, but can easily gain and hold fat as well. Because of this, they may have a soft appearance and still be warming up with your one-rep-max. The advantage here is that the most can be made of this body type with dedicated training and nutrition. All those massive bodybuilders you see bristling with huge bulging muscles? While that may not be your goal, rest assured he is likely an Endomorph.
Training with an Endomorphic body type: 3 to 4 days of cardio per week at a minimum is recommended, all at least 40 to 50 minutes in length. This will give the greatest benefit to an Endomorphs fat loss. You should also be picking 6 to 8 days a month TOTAL that are completely dedicated to weight training with high repetitions for every set. Stick to complex lifts that use more than one major muscle group to help speed the metabolism and give you the most work in the least amount of time.
Nutrition and Diet: Lots of protein, lots of carbs, and as little fat (especially saturated trans fat) as possible. Eat 7 to 8 small meals (SMALL! 300 to 400 calories!) to help keep the body in a constant state of digestion. This will also speed up your metabolism and keep your body burning calories throughout the day.
