CHAPTER
7
HYBRID BODY TYPES
QUITE OFTEN, PEOPLE DON’T FALL EXCLUSIVELY INTO ONE body type category or another. Many of us are basically mixed breeds—and may even have certain influences more prominently within the same family. A woman or man will likely have predominant traits of one body type but with significant crossover influences from another body type. The two most common hybrids are a meso-endomorph—with a curvaceous and athletic build (like model Elizabeth Hurley and actress Minnie Driver, actors Steve Howey and Henry Cavill)—and an ecto-mesomorph—with a coveted “V” shape for a man’s body (think Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) and long, lean limbs but with muscular definition for a woman’s body (like professional volleyball player/sports announcer Gabrielle Reece or Victoria’s Secret top model Candice Swanepoel).
Each hybrid has its own blend of physical attributes and responses to dietary and physical training regimens. With the right adjustments, every person with a mixed body type can maximize his or her inherent assets, as you’ll see.
CURVY AND MUSCULAR: THE MESO-ENDOMORPH
The meso-endomorph tends to have a thick midsection and a noticeably strong upper body (think: wide shoulders, thick chest, muscular arms), as well as larger buttocks and legs. If the endomorph side is more dominant, endo-mesomorphs may retain a substantial amount of water, especially when their diets are suboptimal (in this case, even when muscle is present and firm, the outer layers may be masked by a combination of fat and water). Both men and women with this body type have a striking appearance in that they look strong, maybe even somewhat boxy, with obvious muscle size and tone. These folks really excel at high-intensity sports and physical activities involving strength and power because they have a mix of high amounts of type 2 (fast-twitch) muscle fibers but also more athleticism and endurance than a pure endomorph does. Given this, it’s not surprising that research has found meso-endomorphs tend to be the primary body type of young male soccer goalkeepers, adult male tennis players, elite female handball players and water polo players (especially centers), and elite baseball players. This type also builds and retains muscle very well, excellent qualities for bodybuilding and powerlifting.
Depending on the person’s diet, muscle and fat can be easily added to his or her meso-endo physique (whether it’s wanted or not). That’s why if you’re a meso-endomorph and you want to trim fat from your body, it’s wise to time your carbohydrate consumption around your workouts. For endo-mesomorphs who want to change their body, diet is the most important variable. These folks often inherit the endomorph tendency to be somewhat insulin resistant, which means they can struggle with handling high carb loads. This body type often holds onto excess water and glycogen stores so an easy way to shed body fat and water is to “carb cycle”: one day, you might have a low carb intake with a higher intake of protein and fat; the next day, you might consume moderate amounts of carbs as well as moderate amounts of protein and fat.
Based on their weight, endo-mesomorphs may have three to six days’ worth of glycogen stores built up, which makes these folks resistant to fat-burning by nature. Because they have so much glycogen in reserve, their bodies don’t turn to stored fat as a source of fuel. So it’s important to jump-start the fat-burning process, and carb cycling is a great way to do that. Carbs can carry up to three times their weight in water, so if you’re eating and storing carbs as glycogen, you can end up with extra “weight” on you that can be easily shed with a simple macronutrient switch.
Some easy shortcuts to help you get to the right prize:
If fat loss is your main goal, stick to a pure endomorph diet (see here) and keep your carbs low (20 percent of your daily calories) consistently; if you end up feeling depleted and need a “boost” day with higher carbs because of your workouts, have a treat meal with double the portion of carbs, two to three times per week. Otherwise, stick with a meal plan that consists of 40 percent protein, 40 percent fat, and 20 percent carbs (example: a breakfast of 3 whole eggs, scrambled with 1 cup chopped veggies in 1 tablespoon coconut oil).
If your goal is to shed body fat while gaining muscle, follow the endomorph diet (20 percent carbs) on your non-strength-training days and the basic mesomorph diet (30 percent carbs, 35 percent protein, 35 percent fat; see here) on your weight-lifting days. Think of this as a simple hack to feed your muscles when they need it without making you store fat when they don’t. Here’s what two consecutive days of meals might look like with this approach:
NON-STRENGTH-TRAINING DAY:
Breakfast: 3 whole eggs, scrambled with 1 cup chopped veggies (onions, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini) in 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Snack: 12 almonds, handful of carrot sticks
Lunch: 2 cups fresh chopped kale (or spinach), ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes, ½ cup chopped cucumber, topped with 4 ounces grilled chicken breast, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar; ½ cup cooked quinoa (if you’ll be working out in the morning or early afternoon; otherwise add this to dinner)
Snack: 1 cup celery sticks with 2 tablespoons hummus
Dinner: 4 ounces grilled or broiled salmon served on 1 cup zucchini noodles sautéed in ½ tablespoon coconut oil, 1 cup roasted cauliflower
STRENGTH-TRAINING DAY:
Breakfast: 1 cup cooked oatmeal topped with ½ cup blueberries, 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, ½ tablespoon chia seeds, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon; hardboiled egg
Snack: 1 protein bar, ½ cup melon chunks
Lunch: Salad with lots of leafy greens, cut-up beets, apple slices, ½ cup chickpeas, 1 tablespoon vinaigrette, 4 ounces grilled chicken
Snack: ½ cup roasted chickpeas, 12 almonds
Dinner: 4 ounces roasted rainbow trout, ½ cup cooked quinoa, 2 cups shaved zucchini, summer squash, radish, and carrot, mixed with chopped dill, 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Consider my client Emma, 28, a fitness model with a naturally athletic but slightly boxy figure. Because she wants to get into acting, she decided to focus on making her body more slender while maintaining its strength. To make that happen, we manipulated her macronutrient intake, taking down her protein and carbs and adding a bit more fat, and changed her cardio workouts to more low intensity than her usual four-times-per-week HIIT regimen. Meanwhile, we kept her strength-training workouts to three times per week for 45 minutes at a time, so she could preserve her strength and muscle mass but help it become leaner and drop body fat in a controlled fashion. Within four months, Emma went from carrying 160 pounds on her 5’7” figure to 145 pounds, and gained a leaner but still curvy and strong appearance. Basically, she optimized her body’s natural constitution by tweaking her diet and exercise approach, to give her a different “look” than she was used to. She truly appreciated the difference.
Meanwhile, on the exercise front, it’s best to incorporate a mix of HIIT and low-intensity cardio sessions into your regimen with a greater focus on high-rep (12 to 20 reps) resistance training with moderately heavy weights; this approach will help you maximize your results and create a tight, toned physique. To address “trouble spots” (areas, really), I recommend doubling down by doing isolation exercises (such as glute kickbacks, biceps curls, triceps extensions, lateral raises, or other movements that target just one muscle that you want to define more). While endo-mesomorphs may tire and lose strength in the gym as a session goes on, they can generally handle more training than some other body types can since endo-mesos have more muscle mass and ample glycogen stores (think of this as a hidden supply of fuel for your muscles).
The optimal approach for these folks is to follow the mesomorph muscle-building exercise regimen (see here), but to increase the number of reps by about 20 percent (so instead of doing 10 Flat Bench Presses on the meso plan, you’d do 12 reps; instead of doing 20 Dumbbell Flies, you’d do 24), including burnout sets or supersets on the last exercise. This means you’ll do weight training three to four times per week; as with other plans, you’ll want to choose a weight where doing the desired number of reps feels difficult but not impossible on the first set.
Going overboard with cardio workouts can backfire for endo-mesomorphs. You may find that if you’re training hard, doing higher reps and a greater intensity (or volume) of strength training, and doing too much cardio, you end up feeling perpetually hungry. The problem is, if you burn 400 calories per day with running or cycling but you consume an extra 600 calories throughout the day as a result, the net result is that you’re adding calories, rather than burning more. That’s not what you want! The approach I find to be most successful with my endo-mesomorph clients is doing low-intensity cardio for 30 to 45 minutes three times per week to burn body fat and build or maintain heart health, combined with 15 to 20 minutes of HIIT workouts two or three times per week. At the gym, I see a lot of endo-mesomorphs who are muscly but soft, spending an hour or more every day on the exercise bike or elliptical trainer without doing any weight workouts. Trust me, this is not going to change their bodies the way many of them want it to.
If appetite stimulation and overeating are problems, I have my endo-mesomorph clients separate their cardio workout days (avoid doing them consecutively, in other words). I know: life is busy, so if you have to double up with a strength-training workout and a cardio workout on the same day, that’s fine. Just don’t “double-double”—meaning, don’t do a particularly intense strength-training workout and a super-intense cardio workout on the same day and don’t double up two days in a row. Your body needs sufficient rest and recovery to optimize your hormone levels and transform into a tighter, more toned version of itself.
LONG AND STRONG: THE ECTO-MESOMORPH PHYSIQUE
By contrast, someone with an ecto-mesomorph physique may look lean and athletic (think swimmer’s build) and excel at activities involving power and endurance. Interestingly, research has found that ecto-mesomorphs have high-level performance in elite bouldering (climbing), surfing, and triathlons. My brother-in-law, Thomas Rivers Puzey, is one of the purest ecto-mesos I have ever seen (even more so than me!). A world-class fitness model, runner, and Ironman, Thomas, 34, can run with some of the fastest people in the world, even though he was always 15 to 20 pounds heavier than his competitors. The truth is, he looks like a giant, with much more muscle than pure ectomorphs have. At one point, Thomas was purposefully losing weight and he ended up in a starved state (we called him The Machinist after the emaciated Christian Bale character in the 2004 movie), but even then, he couldn’t turn his body into a pure ectomorph because he still had muscle, a V-shaped torso, and strong bones. Instead, he’s the perfect hybrid, an endurance/muscular crossover fitness model and athlete. Lucky guy. Thomas ran the 2017 Boston Marathon in 2:18, winning 16th place overall. Conversely, he won his first triathlon and qualified for the world Kona Ironman his very first year after only months of training—that’s unheard of. While he doesn’t have incredible speed, he has the leg and upper body power that his competitors didn’t, thanks to insanely hard work and 15 years of competitive running that helped him build world-class endurance.
Ecto-mesomorphs can thrive on a simple, balanced food plan, with a diet comprised of almost exactly one-third each of protein, carbs, and fats. They can digest and process all macronutrients well and have fast metabolisms. If extra fat does creep onto their bods, there’s a good chance it will be on the midsection (as in the belly or buttocks), in which case they may want to ramp up protein intake and dial down carb consumption. Take me, for example: as a highly active ecto-mesomorph, I consume about 3,000 calories per day, and it’s pretty close to 250 grams of protein, 250 grams of carbs, and 100 grams of fat. At 6’ and 200 pounds, I have about 9 percent body fat—and this nutritional breakdown helps me maintain my body and my active lifestyle. I lift weights four days a week and get cardio workouts in two or three days per week in fun ways by playing with my kids, going to the beach, rock climbing, or doing HIIT hill sprints. This amounts to about an hour a day of working out, with a full rest day or even two each week. If I want to get super lean for an event, a photo session, or another reason, I will increase my protein intake (to 40 percent of my daily calories) and reduce my carbs slightly and add in a little more cardio. If I want to add muscle, I’ll add a few hundred calories of protein (going up to 35 percent) and carbs (going up to 45 percent) and reduce my fat intake (to 20 percent). In other words, there’s some wiggle room in the optimal nutritional approach for ecto-mesos, depending on their goals.
With this macronutrient ratio, breakfast could be 1 cup cooked oatmeal, topped with 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, ½ cup blueberries, ½ tablespoon chia seeds, with ½ scoop protein powder. Lunch might consist of 1 cup black bean soup and ½ turkey sandwich (3 ounces roasted turkey, 1 tablespoon hummus, 1 slice tomato, 2 avocado slices, on 1 slice Ezekiel bread). Dinner could be 4–6 ounces grilled or broiled salmon, 1 baked sweet potato, and 12 steamed asparagus spears. Snacks might include a hardboiled egg and an apple, a cup of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt with berries, or a protein bar. (For the sake of simplicity, you can use the weight-loss mesomorph diet in Chapter Five as a guide, adding a smidgen more carbs.)
Since having an ecto-mesomorph body type allows you to build muscle quickly, your fitness regimen will depend on what your goal is: if you want to develop a lean and toned look without building visually prominent muscles, your best bet is to stick with steady-state, endurance cardio workouts (such as brisk walking or light jogging for 30 minutes) and plyometric strength training instead of high reps and heavy weights (train like a mesomorph, in other words; see workout in Chapter Five). On the other hand, if you want to develop impressive muscles, you’d be better off going with HIIT circuits (such as burpees, squats, jumping jacks, push-ups, and mountain climbers) in the 8 to 15 rep range; in this case, you’ll want to aim for muscle failure, not just fatigue.
OPPOSING QUALITIES: THE ECTO-ENDOMORPH PHYSIQUE
Given that ectomorphs and endomorphs are at opposite ends of the somatotype spectrum, this hybrid type may seem to be impossible—but it’s a modern phenomenon, which is why I’m including it here. Basically, an ecto-endomorph has the musculoskeletal system of an ectomorph but the person has lost his or her way in terms of diet and physical activity for so long or so drastically that his or her endocrine (hormonal) system has gone off course, veering toward insulin resistance. In other words, endomorphic properties of softness, insulin resistance, and fatigue have greatly changed the person’s body, thus corrupting his or her natural ectomorph status. Depending on the level of change that has occurred, the ecto-endomorph still may be slim-limbed, but with larger fat stores around the belly, thighs, butt, and chest. If the changes have become more entrenched and penetrated the body more deeply, the person may look soft and bloated all over, due to hidden inflammation and water retention; in this case, this is almost like the person’s internal systems are screaming, This is not what we were meant to do!
Either way, the challenge for these folks is to unmask their inner ectomorphs. Doing this requires dropping excess pounds (including body fat and water weight), optimizing their hormone levels, and eventually adding muscle. To get there, it’s important to follow a strict endomorph weight-loss diet (see here) with low carbs (20 percent), 40 percent protein, and 40 percent fat; once the weight loss is significant (once you drop below 15 percent body fat, which would bring you back to more of an ectomorph physique), you can slowly add carbs back to see if you still feel energized and upbeat, which are signs that your body is back on track (and no longer flirting with insulin resistance), and can keep off the weight you’ve lost.
While eating like an endomorph, it’s best if you start training like an ectomorph with heavy resistance training (including compound movements)—mostly keeping reps in the 8 to 12 range, with occasional 5-rep sets and 20-rep sets to the point of burnout—but with the low-intensity cardio workouts from the endomorph plan. Confused? Don’t sweat it. Here’s what this approach would look like:
LEGS/ABS DAY:
5 sets of 12 Weighted Squats
3 sets of 12 Romanian Deadlifts
3 sets of 20 Squat Jumps
3 sets of 12 Walking Lunges with dumbbells
3 sets of 10 Leg Presses (on a weight machine)
3 sets of Planks (holding each one as long as you can)
3 sets of Side Planks (holding each one as long as you can on each side)
3 sets of 15 V-Ups, immediately followed by 20 Supermans
CHEST/BACK DAY:
5 sets of 8–12 Incline Bench Presses
3 sets of 10 Flat Bench Presses with dumbbells
3 sets of 12 Dumbbell Pec Flies
3 sets of 12 Dips (use a machine that assists)
3 sets of Push-Ups to the point of failure
5 sets of 5–12 Lat Pulldowns (start light weight and high reps, add weight each set)
4 sets of 6–10 Bent Rows
4 sets of 8 Deadlifts
3 sets of 6–8 One-Arm Dumbbell Rows
SHOULDERS/ARMS DAY:
3 sets of 6–10 Shoulder Presses with Dumbbells
3 sets of 10 Front Dumbbell Raises
3 sets of 15 seated Military Presses on a Smith machine
With the exercises that follow, you’ll want to do 10–15 reps per set, with 3-second negatives: this means slowing down the lowering or downward part of the lift—the eccentric phase, which is what causes the muscles to adapt and get stronger—to 3 seconds.
3 sets of alternating Standing Barbell Curls and Skull Crushers
3 sets of alternating Dumbbell Biceps Curls and Triceps Rope Pushdowns
3 sets of alternating Hammer Curls and Triceps Dips
As for cardio, focus on low-intensity aerobic exercise such as walking briskly on a slight incline on the treadmill three times a week for 30 to 45 minutes, in order to torch the fat stores your body has been stubbornly holding onto. Your heart rate should be in the zone of 70 percent of your MHR. When your physique has returned to a thinner ectomorph frame (woo-hoo!), even if it’s still a little bit soft, you can focus on working to add muscle mass at a higher rate, using the ectomorph muscle-building workouts (see here) and the 40-40-20 ratio of carbs-protein-fat.
When I started working with Jeff, a successful Hollywood talent manager in his mid-40s, his body was soft, with very little strength, ample belly fat, and “man boobs” despite having slender limbs and bones. In other words, Jeff was an ectomorph who had let himself go and had become an ecto-endomorph. We put him on an endomorph eating plan (low carbs and only pre- and post-workout) until we got his body fat down from 20 percent to 14 percent, and we started an ectomorph-style training regimen with heavy resistance training (previously, he had been doing only cardio). After four months with this program, he lost 12 pounds of body fat and added some lean muscle. At that point, we began adding carbs back to his diet (in increments of 10 percent) while increasing his workouts. It’s been a year since we started working together and he looks amazingly different—now, he is down to 10 percent body fat and has killer abs! The endomorph qualities are gone.
THE PAYOFFS
As you’ve seen, if you have a hybrid body type, that doesn’t mean you’ve slipped through the cracks with the somatotype approach to maximizing your body type. On the contrary! It means you can borrow the diet and exercise strategies from two different body type plans in order to customize an approach that suits your body’s needs and tendencies. I do this on a regular basis with my clients and they achieve incredible results. You will, too. Within weeks of following the hybrid plan that’s right for you, you’ll start slimming down, shaping up, and gaining greater muscle tightness, tone, or definition. And because you’ll be mixing and matching approaches from different body-type plans to achieve your personal goals, you’ll learn how to continuously tweak your diet and exercise habits in ways that will work for you in the long haul. That’s a win-win outcome if ever there was one!