Your Body Type doesn’t Determine your Success
Feb 19, 2020Do you know what your body type is, and do you think it’s holding you back from achieving your health and fitness goals?
Here are some phrases I hear far too often:
“I’m an ectomorph. I’ll never build muscle.”
“It’s not fair – she must be a mesomorph.”
“Dieting never works for me. Being an endomorph sucks.”
As humans, we like to categorize ourselves. Just like how horoscopes and personality types are popular – body types are too.
When we talk about ectomorph vs. mesomorph vs. endomorph - we’re referring to something called “somatotypes”.
But there’s a MASSIVE misconception when it comes to somatotypes - Whatever your body type is, it has nothing to do with your ability to process carbs, lose fat, or build muscle.
Somatotypes are Bullshit
We like to classify ourselves, take quizzes, and figure out what category we belong to, but at what cost?
If you’ve been here for a while, you know that at KJO Coaching, we’re all about evidence-based practices. So quizzes you find online or at the back of a magazine don’t cut it for us.
Here’s the low down on somatotypes:
Somatotypes originated with William Herbert Sheldon in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Sheldon believed that modern medicine had allowed people of poor genetics to reproduce and dilute the genetic pool, so he created the somatotype system to correct this course.
He believed that a person’s body type determines their life trajectory and is pretty much unchangeable. His focus was on psychological factors, and he believed that a person’s body type could determine their character and behavior.
Now we know there is no scientific evidence to support Sheldon’s claims. Sheldon created somatotypes purely from his observations and the fake science of eugenics (aka bullshit).
Body Type Science
I’m not here to discount genetics because genetics do play a role in your health.
There is some science involved in this theory (e.g., biological/genetic underpinning), but that doesn’t mean Sheldon’s theory is evidence-based.
My argument is that we take this science piece way too far.
Especially given that somatotypes were created by a racist psychologist to determine your “worthiness” as a human, not who can tolerate more carbs or build more muscle.
An additional “fun” fact is that the guy that created somatotypes based them on white men only — women and folks of other races weren’t included due to their “inherent inferiority.”
How we use Body Types Today
Today we often see people using these body types to determine a person’s muscle building or fat loss potential and their ability to tolerate calories and/or carbohydrates.
Essentially, we took some fake science (eugenics) and turned it into more fake science (bro science).
Of course, there is a difference from person to person in their ability to build muscle, lose fat, eat more or less, and so on. I’m not trying to dispute that.
What I am saying is that we don’t fit perfectly into these “ecto,” endo,” or “meso” body types.
In other words, somatotypes are a bullshit way for you to explain why you aren’t making progress and someone else is.
Your Mindset Determines Your Success
Although genetics do play a bit of a role in how much and how quickly you can make progress, your body type does not pre-determine your ability to get big and strong or lean and ripped or anywhere in between.
Somatotyping is not science!
Letting a body type determine your ability to succeed will do nothing but create a fixed mindset.
And we all know where a fixed mindset will get ya.
If you don’t know how to get out of a fixed mindset and push yourself toward your goals, we’ve got an incredible team of coaches who can help! (In fact, this is what we specialize in!)
Learn more HERE if you’re ready to change your mindset and change your life!
Check out my original post HERE.
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IG: @coachkaseyjo @kjocoaching
