Many factors combine to determine a person’s physique, and they can be divided into (i) factors that we can influence or alter (including the amount and type of physical activity, the quantity and quality of  food that you eat, your body’s ability to store or burn calories), and (ii) those that cannot be changed at all (for example, bone structure, gender and genetics).

Generally, there are three main body types (called somatotypes): ENDOMORPH (fat), MESOMORPH (muscular), and ECTOMORPH (thin).  It is likely that most people will possess some characteristics of each of these three body types, rather than being categorized fully in one of the three extremes.  When considering somatotype, remember that only body shape or form should be taken into account, not body size.

Remember that you cannot change the skeletal structure that you were born with.  With hard work and discipline, however, you can lower your percentage of body fat by combining the right amount of exercise with improved eating habits.  A safe, well-designed program of lifting weights can help to significantly alter your somatotype, both directly by increasing your muscle mass and indirectly by raising your body’s metabolism.

It is imoportant to note that somatotype should not be used as anything more than a very basic measure of health.  In order to obtain an accurate assessment of your physical fitness, we recommend that your visit Phoenix Fitness West Hamilton to have a fitness assessment done for you by their Fitness Consultant, Leslie.

BEAUTIFUL, NOT BULKY:  For the last time, weight lifting will not turn you into a raging green superhero.  It’s just not in your blood.  “Testosterone helps men gain bulk,” says Suzanne Meth, M.S.,C.S.C.S., a manager at Equinox Fitness in New York City.  When men lift weights, the hormone causes their muscle fibers to grow.  Since we have 20 to 30 percent less testosterone than guys do, we gain strength without the heft.  Your chances of getting scary big?  Nearly zilch.  Even if  you have more testosterone than average, to hulk up you’d have to quit your job, spend 24/7 eating and working out in a very specific way, and slather on buckets of baby oil.

WHO’S STRONGER:MEN OR WOMEN?  When researchers compared the muscle strength of men and women, they found that men were about 50 percent stronger than women.  But when they factored in body weight and muscle weight, they discovered that, on a muscle-for muscle basis, women are just as strong as men, according to Wayne Westcott,  Ph.D., C.S.C.S., fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts.

WHERE YOU’RE MOST LIKELY TO GROW:  It’s the width of your shoulders, says Lou Schuler, co-author of the “The New Rules Of Lifting For Women”, Schuler says there’s generally not a lot of fat around a woman’s deltoids, so muscle growth there is more defined under you skin.  Major plus: Wider shoulders make your waist appear smaller, so, yeah, basically it’s all good.

WHY YOUR WORKOUT FEELS WORSE THAN A BIKINI WAX:  For decades scientists thought the burning sensation was a result of your body’s producing lactic acid to slow you down when you’re going too hard.  Seemed logical, until researchers at the University of California, Berkeley discovered the real reason your muscles burn.  Turns out that although the burning is caused by lactic acid, it’s not your body putting the brakes on your workout.  The acid actually is a main source of fuel for your muscles.  When you push yourself, your muscles convert glucose from food into lactic acid, which is moved via proteins to the mitochondria, your muscles’ energy factories.  The more you workout, the more efficiently your body used lactate as fuel, which means you can go longer and harder.  Love the burn.

KNOT MUCH FUN:  Normally, muscle fibers lie flat or in a regular pattern, allowing them to contract and release efficiently.  Overuse or injury can cause portions of these fibers to beacome trangled and/or shortened, compromising circulation and causing tightness.  The fix:  Swap your strength sessions for yoga, and chug water.  (Divide your weight by two to get the approximated number of ounces of water you should down per day.)