The Best Exercises for Each Body Type – Women’s Fitness Goals

One thing you need to know is that each woman’s body is unique. So, try to understand how different body types affect fitness because this will help you to achieve your workout goals. Before you choose the specific exercise for building strength, losing weight, or improving endurance, you should know your body type. Therefore, learning about different exercises for each body type will help also. Here, you will learn the three main body types which are the endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph and how each impacts your fitness goals.

Generally, there are three main body types or physiques known as somatotypes. These are described based on people’s body shapes and compositions. Some women may not fall perfectly into any of the types. But you still need to understand which body type you lean toward to choose the best fitness routine to maintain. Also, there top exercises for each body type that will support your fitness goals (Yugay, Diego and Edmeades, 2023).

Female Ectomorphs are typically slender in appearance with thin limbs and a delicate smaller bone structure. They also have narrow hips small shoulders and a fast metabolism. Also, these women often have a flat chest and small breasts. They often find it challenging to gain weight or build muscle mass (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

Ectomorphs are naturally lean build with little body fat, which can be beneficial for endurance-based sports. So, they cope well with running, cycling, and swimming due to their high tolerance for physical training. But they may need extra effort to build strength and muscle mass (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

Female Mesomorphs tend to have a balanced and athletic build with a well-defined muscle. And they have broader shoulders, and a higher muscle-to-fat ratio. As a result, hese women build muscle easily and maintain a healthy weight. So, they can often shift between gaining and losing weight with relative ease. Also, they have a medium-sized bone structure, with a proportionate and well-defined waist. These women have a moderate metabolism, and a naturally curvy figure (Yugay, Diego and Edmeades, 2023).

If you have this body type, you can gain and lose weight more easily than ectomorphs or endomorphs. Also you will be able to handle high-intensity and endurance activities. So you will be generally well-suited for various types of exercises, from cardiovascular to strength training (Yugay, Diego and Edmeades, 2023).

Female endomorphs have a softer, rounder body shape, wider lower body, narrow shoulders and a slower metabolism. This slow metabolic process makes it easier for them to gain weight and more difficult to lose it. Women with this type of body will typically have a higher proportion of body fat. So, they will be more responsive to resistance training than cardiovascular. In general, they have a larger bone structure and a rounder face (Yugay, Diego and Edmeades, 2023).

Endomorphs may find it more difficult to build muscle mass compared to other body types. So, if you have this body type you may have a larger waist-to-hip ratio and a curvy figure. Also, you may have a greater insulin sensitivity whic predisposes you to a higher risk of diabetes and metabolic diseases. Therefore, you may benefit from fitness routines that involve cardiovascular (to support weight management) alongside strength exercises (Yugay, Diego and Edmeades, 2023).

Because women have different body shapes and compositions you need to set a realistic, and achievable goals. So, these fitness goals will align with your body type, to naturally respond to your exercise routine. Because women should consider the best exercises for each body type when planning their workouts. Now, let’s look at some fitness goals commonly associated with each body type in women.

If your body type is ectomorph, your exercise goal should be to target on building muscle mass. You should also considr increasing strength, and maintaining your energy. Women with this body type have fast body metabolism and may struggle with weight gain and muscle development. So, they will benefit from strength training and may need to focus less on cardiovascular workouts. This is because, reducing cardio will prevent burning too many calories (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

Women whose body type is mesomorph, with their athletic build, they should focus on a range of fitness goals. This reanges from toning to enhancing their endurance or achieving a lean physique. So, your goals may be to build or tone your muscles and maintain balance between strength and cardiovascular workouts. These women usually have a body that generally responds well to various exercises. This will make it easier to adapt their fitness routines to specific goals. So, their knowledge of exercises for each body type will help them choose right (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

It is advisable for endomorphs to focus more on weight loss, toning, and improving endurance. So, their major goal should be to increase their cardiovascular fitness, support fat loss and maintain muscle. Since they tend to gain weight more easily, to achieve these, they need to combine strength training and cardiovascular exercise for best outcomes. Your goal should be to maintain a routine that helps burn your fat while toning your muscle.

Since there are different fitness goals women should target, let’s see the best exercises for each body type. So, I recommend that you choose the right mix of exercises. This will maximize results and make progress toward your unique goals. Therefore, consider the best workouts that you enjoy..

Women whose body make-up is ectomorphs do well with workouts that focus on promoting strength and muscle growth. It is always important to keep cardiovascular exercises to a minimum to conserve calories for building your muscle. These women will also benefit from compound exercises that affect multiple muscle groups. So, I suggest you do you workout regularly.

• Compound Lifts: These involve exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses which help to stimulate your muscle growth (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).
• Resistance Bands: These kinds of bands provide constant tension on your muscles and help to build your strength.
• Limit Cardiovascular exercises: You should do shorter sessions (15-20 minutes) of low-intensity cardiovascular exercises, such as walking or light cycling.

• Workouts for women who have slim body types should do 3 to 4 days of strength training with heavy weights and lower repetitions.
• The focus should be on using heavier weights and completing three to five sets of approximately 8 to 12 reps for each muscle group (Basu, 2024).
• Target 1 to 2 days of short cardiovascular sessions (15-20 minutes).
• The key to stimulate muscle growth is to do a minimal number of cardiovascular exercises required for general health (Basu, 2024).

Women with mesomorph body can do well with a balanced fitness routine that involves both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. When they combine the different kinds of workouts, they build their muscle and maintain their endurance without overdoing a single workout. So, women should know the best exercises for each body type that are suitable for them.

• Combination Training: This involves circuit workouts that blend cardiovascular exercise and strength training to achieve an effective fitness outcome. Circuit training is a combination of six or more exercises performed with short rest periods between them for either a set number of repetitions or a prescribed amount of time (Goulding, 2016).
• Interval Training: This include a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) which is ideal for improving endurance and calorie burn in women.
• Weight Training: Mesomorphs benefit from moderate-to-heavy lifting to tone their muscles.

• Workouts for women who have athletic body types should do 3-4 days of Strength Training with moderate weights and moderate repetitions
• These women with athletic builds, should Target 2 to 3 days of short cardiovascular sessions including one High-Intensity Interval Training session (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

Endomorphs benefit from a fitness routine that combines cardiovascular sessions to burn their calories with strength training to preserve their muscle mass. You should do regular cardiovascular sessions for your weight management and resistance exercises to help tone and strengthen your muscles (Attard, 2024).

• Circuit Training: This involves the combination of many workouts to help keep your heart rate up while building your muscle, making it an effective way to lose your body fat. This can allow you to train large muscle groups together through a combination of upper, lower and whole-body exercises (Goulding, 2016).
• Endurance Cardiovascular Exercises: Here, you may need to do some longer cardiovascular sessions such as cycling, swimming, or jogging to help you to achieve your desired level of weight loss (Attard, 2024).
• Bodyweight Exercises: These are movements such as squats, push-ups, and lunges to help in toning your muscles without heavy equipment.

• Women with endomorph body type are expected to do 2-3 days of cardiovascular exercises for 20-45 minutes per session.
• They should also perform 3-4 days of Strength Training with lighter weights and higher repetitions to strengthen your muscles.

During workouts female ectomorphs often need a higher calorie intake to support muscle growth and energy such as foods rich in complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean proteins.

• Focus on Carbohydrates: Your target should be to take more carbohydrates rich diets to supply energy for your workouts and help in building your muscle
• High-Protein Diet: You need to take diets rich in protein to support your muscle repair and growth.
• Healthy Fats: There are some healthy fats that you should eat during your exercises which include foods like avocado, nuts, and olive oil to sustain your energy (Pure Gym Limited, 2024).

Women with mesomorph body type generally do well on a balanced nutrition with moderate protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. They need to adjust their diet based on their specific goals, such as building their muscle or shedding body fat (Kalnes and Ranasinghe, 2022). The following will help them:

• Balanced Macronutrients: Women need to include protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats in each of their meal (Kalnes and Ranasinghe, 2022).
• Adjust for Goals: If your goal is to lose weight, you need to reduce carbohydrates intake slightly; and if your plan is to build muscle you should increase protein in your food.
• Stay Hydrated: You should ensure copious fluid intake to enhance your endurance and muscle function.

Female endomorphs typically benefit from a combination of diets rich in lean proteins and vegetables with a slightly lower carbohydrate. These women need to eat frequent and smaller meals to help them maintain energy and body metabolism (Attard, 2024).

• High-Protein and Low-Carbohydrate Diet: To achieve best fitness outcome for women with this body type, the core of their diet should be formed by lean proteins and non-starchy vegetables.
• Avoid Processed Foods: It is advisable to stay away from processed carbohydrate or other types of processed foods because they can cause weight gain for endomorph women.
• Frequent Small Meals: They should try to maintain small and frequent meals to promote their metabolism and energy levels.

Attard, R. (2024). Female Endomorph Body Type: Best Diet & Workout Routine for Getting Lean. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.rachaelattard.com/how-to-get-skinny-legs-endomorph-nutrition-workout-guidelines/

Basu, S. (2024). Do You Have an Ectomorph Body? This Is How You Should Eat & Exercise. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.netmeds.com/health-library/post/do-you-have-an-ectomorph-body-this-is-how-you-should-eat-exercise

Goulding, P. (2016). Circuit training for fitness | The benefits, how to do it and workouts to try. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/article/what-is-circuit-training

Kalnes, S and Ranasinghe, M (2022). The Best Diet and Exercise Plan for the Mesomorph Body Type. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.livestrong.com/article/293260-mesomorph-diet-exercise/

Pure Gym Limited. (2024). The Ectomorph Body Type: Exercises, Workout Plan & More. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.puregym.com/blog/ectomorph-body-type/

Pure Gym Limited. (2024). The Mesomorph Body Type: What is it, Workout Plans & More. Retrieved 20, December 2024 from https://www.puregym.com/blog/mesomorph-body-type/

Yugay, I, Diego, R and Edmeades, E. (2023). Female body types: Your guide to understanding your body’s potential. Retrieved 19, December 2024 from https://blog.mindvalley.com/female-body-types/