There are many different male body types. Not only is learning about them compelling and fun, but knowing your type helps with clothes and even health and nutrition.
I played basically every sport growing up. It became clear that I wasn’t going to get any taller than 5’7” and that I wasn’t a mesomorph or an endomorph. That’s when I decided American football was out of the picture. Those terms, by the way, are two of three male body types.
Not that every guy who plays a certain sport needs to have the same build. Still, I went straight back into tennis and riding horses after I quit football.
I know you don’t necessarily turn to us for science. But knowing the different male body types and where you fit in to them is extremely beneficial. Even if you use it as a rough guide, you can enhance the fit of your clothes, as well as your game plan for exercise and strength training.
Think about it. Let’s say you’re trying to get your shoulders Spartan-level wide. You may need to do a different set of exercises or more or less of the same exercise, depending on your natural build.
We’ve all met that guy who can eat whatever he wants and never gains weight (he’s usually 25). Or that guy who comes out of a simple strength training class way more ripped than when he started.
A lot of this has to do with body type.
Different Body Types Male: The Somatotypes
There are three main somatotypes, which is a common basis to go off of. Versions of these types had existed for a while, but it was in 1940 when psychologist William Herbert gave them the names we use today.
The body types are based on your height and weight. They’re also based on how thick your skin is at your waist, shoulders, calves, and the backs of your arms. Also measured are your calf and arm girth when flexed, and the breadth of your upper arm and upper leg bones.
From that, we get:
- The mesomorph body type
- The ectomorph body type
- The endomorph body type
It’s important that I point out that these are the different male body types. Or at least, I’ll be going into each type from a man’s perspective.
The way body type affects ladies is different due to, of course, a different anatomy. There are also different shapes, after all. Take a look at the different shapes you can be beyond the somatotypes.
Alright, let’s look into each type in detail. This way, all of you men can answer, what is my body type?
Men’s Mesomorph Body Type
For a long time, the mesomorph was often the go-to for the “ideal” male type. Most comic book superheroes are drawn with mesomorph bodies. That’s because, at their most intense, the mesomorph man is the stereotypical bodybuilder type.
Pros and Cons of the Mesomorph Body Type
Mesomorphs have broad shoulders, strong upper bodies, and much easier muscle gain than most body types. Think former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
They don’t gain fat as easily, but they aren’t as generally impervious to it as the thinner, ectomorph body type. When trying to build more muscle, they can move past the bulking stage easier than most body types, “converting” the weight into muscle pretty rapidly.
A lot of good protein is important for all the different male body types. However, for the mesomorph, it’s the dominant nutritional component to maintain strength.
With the right diet and exercise, the mesomorph can achieve the inverted triangle body shape. However, they can also be rectangular.
The biggest pro with this body type is that it’s versatile. You often gain and lose weight easily, as you need to, and your body is receptive to both aerobic and resistance exercises. It’s what I call the all-star athlete type.
Unfortunately, it’s also easy to overtrain and plateau. This means you may easily reach a level of strength, weight loss, or weight gain before your body stops responding as effectively. To avoid this, you need to satiate your body’s short attention span with a variety of workouts and nutritional approaches.
You might also have to focus on building your leg muscles so that you aren’t too triangular (the classic “don’t skip leg day” adage). However, every guy is, of course, different.
Some sports a mesomorph would excel in include boxing, gymnastics, and jumping.
Dressing for a Mesomorph Body Type
Dressing for a mesomorph body type is relatively easy as long as you find the right fit. While slim and regular fits may be considered classics, you may have to go closer to regular and always tailor your shirts and pants to accommodate your sharp silhouette.
The worst case scenario is a shirt that looks like it’ll burst the moment you flex or pant hems that ride up because that slim fit is fitting more like an early aughts emo skinny fit.
Men’s Ectomorph Body Type
Ectomorphs are usually thin or even quite scrawny, depending on your diet.
If you’re an ectomorph, you might also have narrow shoulders if you’re skinny, though your shape is likely more of a rectangle, regardless. Even when you bulk up, it’s more like lean muscle that adds good weight to your composition, but not necessarily extra width.
If you’re an ectomorph, you probably don’t have much fat on you, but you also don’t have much muscle either. A lot of ectomorphs are tall, but not necessarily.
They tend to be rectangular, as many mesomorphs also are, making the rectangular build a common body type.
Most tall people of this body type stay this body type even as they age. This is because as your metabolism slows down as you get older, a shorter ectomorph may start to fill out faster. A tall ectomorph, since there’s more vertical room there, may not be necessary.
Remember, everyone is different, even within these categories.
Pros and Cons of the Ectomorph Body Type
From a health and nutrition perspective, male ectomorphs may want to focus more on strength training if they’re trying to build visual muscle. It’s not as easy compared to a mesomorph.
High-sugar foods and sweets may not cause you to gain weight as easily, but that’s all the more reason to be careful around them. Just because you can’t see the effects doesn’t mean it isn’t doing damage.
Ectomorphs tend to be good at long-distance running, endurance sports in general, cycling, and swimming. You may be good at strength training, but again, if you want to build bulk, you’ll have to consume more calories and work out frequently.
Some pros of having this body type include the appearance of being naturally fit and the relative ease of weight loss. Plus, thinner, short men tend to look taller.
The main con is the fact that you constantly have to balance slow muscle gain with constant, sometimes unnecessary, weight loss.
Fortunately, if you’re a taller ectomorph, most size, smalls, and certain mediums will fit you beautifully. However, thin hips are often an issue for pant sizes.
Dressing for a Mesomorph Body Type
Still, out of all the body types, the ectomorph has an easier time finding clothes that flatter them. Most male models tend to be ectomorphs. Even the ones that look buff in pictures tend to be leaner in real life.
Men’s Endomorph Body Type
For men, the endomorph body type is stocky and generally thick. You may not necessarily be overweight, but you have that sort of broad rugby-appropriate shape about you.
Pros and Cons of the Endomorph Body Type
However, the endomorph does tend to store body fat quite easily. This also means if you’re an endomorph, it’s difficult to lose fat.
If you’re the type of guy who works out and strength trains constantly, and you’re strong and thick. But if you’re having a hard time creating a definition, you might be an endomorph.
Even for men, you may have wider hips as well as a wider waist. Even if you’re tall, you may look stout.
Endomorphs tend to be naturally strong, too. Just look at the NFL. Most of their lineman are endomorphs, or at least boast some great endomorph qualities. It’s what I call the powerlifter body type.
Rowing and cycling may be easier for you than running and other endurance sports. In fact, running on a treadmill for a long period of time may affect your joints more than it would the other body types.
While the cons of this body type include a typically slower metabolism, you’ll find it isn’t that difficult to gain muscle. It’s just a matter of whether or not that muscle visually shows itself on your body.
That being the case, most endomorphs have to be more careful around high-calorie foods.
Dressing for a Endomorph Body Type
While this body type boasts loads of excellent qualities most would envy, it’s not the easiest to dress for. However, if you stick to solid colors or small patterns, higher waists, and tailored clothes, you can bring your best features out.
Men’s Body Types: Combination
Sometimes, often really, the male body type in real life is a combination. Even if you’re mostly one type, you’ll likely have characteristics of other types too.
For example, I’m a short ectomorph, for sure. I’m naturally thin and rectangular, and my clothes fit similarly during my “fat” phases and my lean muscle phases. However, years of horse riding and soccer have made it so that my thighs are relatively bigger on me than they would be on most guys my body type.
As such, I tend to have to get a bigger pant size than take in the waist and calves. It’s not obvious at first glance, but my tailor knows it all too well.
You may have something like that. Male body shapes truly do vary, whether that’s from just genetics or genetics and a lifetime or a specific kind of activity.
Conclusion: What Is My Body Type?
Again, there are three main male body types.
The muscle-building, triangular mesomorph, the thin, rectangular ectomorph, and the broad, sometimes round, but naturally strong endomorph. Not sure which one you are? Head over to our body type calculator to find out.
Not one body type is inherently better than the other. However, knowing what you are can help you dress better, eat better, and tailor your life the way you tailor your clothes.
Do you know what your body type is? Let me know in the comments!
