What is a samotype?
A persons “samotype” is based off of W.H Sheldon’s research into how to categorise human physique, this was later used regarding which traits are more likely within each samotype, but for aesthetics the traits irrelevant. Knowing your samotype can help you with weight loss/gain and gym progress.The three samotypes include this:
Ectomorph - Skinny, taller, longer limbed with a low muscle mass, difficulty gaining weight.
Mesomorph - Even weight distribution, muscular, “good posture with narrow waist”
Endomorph - Chubbier, lower muscle mass, shorter, difficulty losing weight.
How do I know my samotype?
To determine your samotype, it’s easy to eyeball but if you want to be super accurate, you need to follow the Heath-Carter formula. For this you will need a handful of measurements:
Height (cm)
Weight (kg)
Skinfold thickness (mm) of triceps, subscapular (under your shoulder blade), supraspinal (above your hip bone) and medial calf (inner calf at its widest point)
Circumference (cm) of upper arm, maximal calf (upper calf)
Bone thickness of humorous (elbow) and femur (knee)
To measure skinfold thickness:
Use a skinfold calliper - cheap ones go online for like ~£10
Always measure on the right side of the body
Pinch hard but only the skin + subcutaneous fat – don't flex your muscle.
Place the caliper next to your fingers and write down the reading.
You could use this calculator https://www.topendsports.com/testing/somatotype.htm
Or, if you want to do it yourself, using those measurements, you will need to follow three equations:
Let’s refer to the results as ecto, meso, endo.
where x = (triceps + subscapular + supraspinal skinfolds) × (170.18 / height in cm)
Ecto: PI = height x weight^(1/3)
If PI > 40.74 → then 0.732 × PI − 28.58
If 39.65 < PI < 40.74 then 0.463 × PI − 17.615
If PI ≤ 39.65 then 0.5
Meso: 0.858 × humerus breadth + 0.601 × femur breadth + 0.188 × upper arm girth + 0.161 × max calf girth − 0.131 × height + 4.5
Endo: 0.7182 + 0.145x − 0.00068x² + 0.0000014x³
You should get three different results, the balance between these shows which samotype you lean towards more.
How is this relevant to gym progress?
If you’re leaning ectomorph(4+ on the first equation), you struggle with weight gain therefore you should eat way higher calories than usual and focus on heavy lifting.If you’re leaning mesomorphic(4-6 on the second equation), you gain muscle easier and thus can follow basic routines.
If you’re leaning endomorphic (4+ on the third equation), you should expect slower fat loss and focus on cardio and calorie cycling.
Sources:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/do-you-know-your-body-type/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatotype_and_constitutional_psychology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpulence_index
