Short post this week, because I’ve been traveling and didn’t get far enough ahead on these posts before I left.
The single biggest factor that makes fitness advice a clusterfuck is the fact that different people react differently to the same exact plan.
On a macro (big picture, not macronutrient) level, there are three body types that affect your reaction to fitness plans.
Ectomorph – Ectomorphs are lean and have difficulty building muscle. The word that comes to mind is “scrawny”.
Endomorph – Endomorphs store fat easily and lose it slowly. They’re the big hosses with barrel chests.
Mesomorph – Mesomorphs build muscle easily and have a naturally high metabolism. These are the folks who can get “ripped” easily.
In summarizing a bunch of research that I read, the consensus is that you’re not locked into one category or another. You can be a blend of more than one category, and you can move between categories depending on age, fitness level, and other factors.
For example, when I’m regularly working out 4 or 5 days per week, I keep some of my endomorph tendency to retain fat, but I build muscle easily and do not store additional fat. When I stop working out, I quickly lose my muscle mass and store fat if I even look at food.
What does this have to do with personalizing your plan? It gives you more information about what to do and not do during your fitness plan. Using myself as an example, I’m sensitive to carbs, so my diet plan involves reducing my consumption of sugars and grains. When I keep my total carbs below 75g per day, I tend to lose 1-2lbs per week. Similarly, I know that when I plateau while doing my cardio on an elliptical, a stair stepper will usually break that plateau.
Since it’s a quick week, no recipe or exercise. See y’all next week!
