Below are the 3 major classifications of body types. However, they really don’t tell the whole story as it relates to bodybuilding genetics.

Body type groups:

Ectomorph: These are the traditional “skinny hardgainers” of bodybuilding. They have a fast metabolism and low bodyfat %. Gaining weight can be difficult when they are younger. When their metabolism slows as they get older, is when weight gain becomes easier. “Skinny fat” is a term for ectomorphs who are out of shape and have a gut.

Mesomorph: Mesomorphs have a balanced athletic body. They don’t have much of a problem gaining or losing weight. Only later in life, when their metabolism slows, gaining fat is more of a problem.

Endomorph: Endormorphs gain weight very easily. As a result, they naturally tend to carry a high bodyfat %. Lack of excercise and dieting can easily cause them to become obese.

What the classifications don’t tell you:

Each individual of a bodytype will have different genetics from each other of the same bodytype, when it comes to muscle building and fat loss abilities. Some ectomorphs for example, will have a much easier time gaining muscle than other ectomorphs. Some ectomorphs might have more of a tendency to put on fat instead of muscle compared to most ectomorphs.

Where people gain the weight, also varies slightly for each person. Some might gain mostly fat on their stomach. Others of the same bodytype might gain weight, but it’s more evenly distrubuted across their body in the form of both fat and muscle.

Bodybuilders are so caught up making sure their diet is to a “T” and their workouts are never missed. Getting a good quality sleep however, is just as important for bodybuilding.

Benefits of Sleep:

The average american only gets 7 hours of sleep according to a recent study. According to a recent study done on men 18 to 27, glucose metabolism dropped 30-40% and had increased levels of cortisol. High levels of cortisol can lead to insulin resistance, fat, muscle breakdown, more difficult athletic recovery, and other effects. The lowering of glucose metabolism normally seen in ederly led researches to speculate that prolonged sleep deprivation can increase aging.

Improving sleep improves bodybuilding gains:

The body releases human growth hormone during sleep. Although the biggest spike is after you fall asleep, you will continue to release GH in bursts throughout sleep. Getting a good nights sleep without any interruptions will help make sure you get adequate GH released.

As you can see from the earlier study, sleep deprivation causes cortisol to rise. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone and works in the opposite fashion of testosterone, an anabolic muscle building hormone. The higher cortisol levels and other effects on the body shown by this study shows it is necessary to get quality sleep every night or it will greatly effect your ability to gain muscle or lose fat.

How much sleep do bodybuilders need?

Everyone seems to have slightly different requirements. Age, genetics, and lifestyle play a role. Generally a bodybuilder should aim for at least 8 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Any supplements to help improve sleep?

ZMA is effective in improving sleep. If you are already slightly deficient in zinc the effects will be more profound. You can get the same effect by taking a zinc supplement pill. Melatonin supplements are another option, although I would caution against long term use of them.

Losing substantial fat can be a life changing effect. Unfortunately, loose skin often plagues people after significant fat loss.

Someone who is younger is less likely to have very noticeable loose skin after losing fat, unless they are extremely obese. The older and longer you been overweight, the worse your excess skin will be when you lose the weight.

Luckily, over time the loose skin will slightly tighten up if you continue to maintain your smaller self. However, the only real way to completely get rid of loose skin in moderate to severe cases is with surgery.

Cellulite is a huge concern for woman. Luckily woman bodybuilders, will have an easier time “curing it” as a result of their lifestyle.

About cellulite:

Cellulite is a “cottage cheese” appearance of the thighs and buttocks. It effects about 90% of woman to various degrees.

What causes cellulite?

Cellulite is usually only seen in woman. Genetics plays a role in your pre-disposition to cellulite. Cellulite is caused when fibrous tissue below the skin forms skin pockets. When they fill up with fat and water they give that bumpy appearance.

Curing cellulite with bodybuilding:

Despite all the claims there is really no cure for cellulite. The only way to reduce cellulite is to lower bf% and to increase muscle mass. By increasing muscle mass you will firm up the spot making it less likely to look like cellulite. Following the bodybuilding diets and weight lifting routines you will lower your bf% and increase your muscle mass, curing yourself from unsightly cellulite.

Gyno also crudely known as “man boobs” is a common occurence in men. It can be a very embarassing condition for men.

About Gyno:

Gyno is the abbreviation for gynemocastia. It is the development of breast tissue in men. It is usually felt as a hard lump, in various sizes depending on the severity of gyno.

Causes of Gyno:

Gyno is caused by high levels of estrogen in the male body. Some men are more susceptible to gyno then others. The most common causes of Gyno are puberty, obesity, and steroid use.

Gyno Cures:

Moderate to severe cases of gyno are incurable without surgery. Nolvadex is a prescription drug available, that has been proven in scientific studies to reduce or eliminate gyno lumps in some men. Nolvadex’s normal prescription use is for woman with breast cancer, so some doctors are not aware of Nolvadex’s action in helping to treat Gyno. Surgery is always an option, but costs thousands of dollars. Nolvadex is not a guarantee to work, but it is a cheaper alternative with a moderately high success rate.

As bodybuilders, stretch marks is a common event. It can even be a sign of success after a massive bulking phase. The novelty soon wears off though as they seem to draw attention away from your physique you worked hard at.

About Stretch Marks:

Our skin is composed of 3 layers: Epidermis, Dermis, and Hypodermis. Stretch marks medically are known as stria atrophica and are tears in the dermis. They are not scars though, but instead stretched or tears in the elastic fibers.

Why We Get Stretch Marks:

Growing too fast for the skin can cause the tears and extreme stretching in the elastic fibers in the skin. Once this happens it is irreversible just like when the elastic in our clothes breaks or is overstretched.

Stretch Mark Cures?

Realize there is no 100% cure for stretch marks. Over time though stretch marks go from an ugly red to a whitish/light color. Some common treatments for it are Vitamin E, Cocoa butter, and Fish Oil. Some people opt for actual surgery such as laser. There is also a prescription available for stretch marks called Tretinoin Retin-A.

Prevention is the cheapest and best way. The easiest way to prevent as bodybuilders would be to not have messy bulking phases and to go for a nice clean bulk instead.

Among all the marketing gimmicks, magic supplements and the people pushing you books for the magic routine, I have to say point blank: bodybuilding results is mostly genetics. If you’re a bodybuilding “newbie” (or maybe even a veteran) your going to hate to read those words, but it’s the truth. It’s ingrained in our psychology that we hate to admit that anything is mostly genetics. It took me a while myself, before I finally came to terms with that.

If you are a “hardgainer” you will never acheive close to what a easygainer gets, at least not naturally. Just like some people are smarter then others, look better, some people are more nervous, some are introverted, genetics plays a role in everything so why not bodybuilding? Bodybuilding is an ego driven sport, so people are not going to want to admit that they can’t look like Arnold or the buff gym rat if the weigh 140 lbs soaking wet. They will convince themselves if they just try a little bit harder on their diet or routine, they will eventually be the biggest in their gym.

Even steroids are not a magical drug. They give you a boost and get you through plateaus, but watch what happens when you get off them after a year or two. You will drastically shrink, often back to your previous size before steroids. And you don’t want to be relying on them indefinitely because of the negative effects on your heart, liver, kidneys, prostate, and sexual health.

So what genetic factors are in place?

Fiber type and amount. The more gifted larger bodybuilders often have more fibers and more of them fast twitch on average. Myostatin is another one. When myostatin was manipulated in mice they grew muscle at unbelievable rates. Testosterone levels play a huge role also. People with large testosterone levels should have a easier time building more muscle and keeping lean /losing fat. Metabolism of course is another big one. If you have a fast metabolism you will have a hard time building muscle.

Did I give up? of course not I still train hard. I just realized I needed a more realistic perspective about my abilities. It is unhealthy to obsess and have unrealistic expectations. So if you have been following a strict diet and weight lifting routine for a few months and still don’t look that great, just accept that because of your genetics, the gains will be probably slow. You may have to accept you’ll never reach your ideal goal in your mind. However, you will look a heck of a lot better than if you did nothing! And that is all that matters in the end.

If you found this article interesting, you may want to read this other article I wrote: Does body type dictate muscle gains?

Testosterone is a important hormone for men and even for woman. Low testosterone will affect your mood, sex life, and health. After 18 is when testoerone levels start to slowly decline in men. Some men in their 20’s or 30’s can have low testosterone levels, called hypogonadism. Hypogonadism can be caused from various causes including; undescended testicle, a testicular injury, a pituitary gland disorder, or prescription drugs.

Testosterone is extremely important for bodybuilders, because it is the main anabolic hormone in the body. Nothing contributes to muscle building like testosterone levels. It’s important to note that testosterone artificially given, will only hurt you in the long run. Your body will stop producing it naturally and your testicles will “shrivel up”. Long term steroid abuse can permanently effect your natural testosterone production.

Women bodybuilders should not be afraid to naturally increase their testosterone levels. It will improve their confidence, energy, and sex drive also.

How to maximize natural testosterone production:

- Excercise regularly. If your a bodybuilder you should be doing this already.

- Make sure your diet is high in good fats, such as monounsaturated found in nuts such as peanuts and walnuts. Adequate omega 3 fats is crucial. They are found in walnuts, fish, and flaxseed.

- Give your body adequate rest. Get 8 hours of non-interrupted deep sleep everyday. Go to sleep at the same time everyday so you don’t interfere with your circadian rhythm.

- Avoid long term consistent calorie restriction, which can cause lower testosterone levels.

-Through dieting and weightlifting, keep your muscle mass high and body fat% reasonably low. Fat cells in the body elevate estrogen, which can reduce your testosterone levels.

- Avoid overtraining.

- Get adequate zinc in diet. Zinc is a hard mineral to absorb and many people are deficient in their diet. Zinc plays a crucial role in maintaining optimum testosterone levels and is the main basis for the supplement ZMA. Sometimes a multi-vitamin is still not enough for getting enough zinc due to inferior zinc form and because of the extra requirements by active athletes. Therefore bodybuilders often notice a improvement in sleeping and testosterone levels, when taking an additional zinc supplement.

While some believe that squats and deadlifts help increase testosterone levels long term, it is more complicated then that. There is a temporary increase in testosterone during and after resistance excercise, but testosterone levels will then quickly drop below normal for about a day or 2. Then tesosterone levels will come back to normal. Resistance training will help maintain or give a small boost to testosterone levels long term, only as long as you aren’t overtraining. Excessive weight training or not giving your body breaks every few weeks, will actually cause lower testosterone levels. Testosterone levels drop from overtraining because of higher levels of cortisol, a hormone released from resistance excercise.

Diet seems to play a bigger role in maintaining testosterone levels. In a study published J Appl Physiol. 1997 Jan;82(1):49-54 on individuals doing resistance training under various diets. The testosterone levels temporarily increased post resistance excercise in all groups, but the true correlation between the groups resting testosterone levels, was actually due to their diet(fat intake).