Oh, okay. We are back to discuss a fun topic today and honestly I was going to do this episode. I had the thought about talking about it because I’ve posted about this on Instagram before and people are always like shocked. Um, but then I feel like I really have been Seen this topic mentioned to anywhere and I was like, maybe it’s not really relevant anymore.

And then I Literally just saw someone post about it. Was it on my explorer page? No, you know what it was like when you’re scrolling instagram and now they’re like suggesting posts to you that aren’t necessarily based on Like someone you follow it’s just like oh, I think you might like this post and it’s like no I I don’t follow that and I don’t Want to see it, but good try.

Um, that’s where, that’s where it was from. Uh, but we’re talking about somatotyping, which is like the fancy word for body types. So essentially determining something about someone based on their body type. And the somatotypes. R. And Isaiah, my amazing video editor, would you please put this graphic up on the screen for those of us that are watching on YouTube?

Those of us, as if I’m sitting there watching it with you. I have a graphic to kind of like show the different types. I can do my best to describe for those of you that are just listening. But we have the ectomorph. The mesomorph and the endomorph. And the ectomorph is like your tall, lanky kind of body type.

And this is going to be weird for me to be like trying to describe a body. I don’t really love this as it’s coming out of my mouth. But, and we’re going to get into the entirety of all this. Uh, mesomorph. This is your, like, person who builds muscle pretty easily. Maybe they’re just a little bit more, like, built in general.

Endomorph is someone who carries fat more easily and typically maybe a little bit, like, shorter, stockier body type. God, I even, like, I literally hate saying these things. So this is something that’s been around for a long time and it’s Essentially, this idea that you put yourself into which type, which body type you are more, most like.

And then based on your body type, right now, how we, uh, How we use body types is to determine a person’s like muscle building or fat loss potential and their ability to Tolerate higher calories like specifically like higher carbohydrate. So someone who is a mesomorph type the more like Easy to build muscle type may do better with more calories, more carbs, versus like someone who is an endomorph and is more predisposed to holding on to fat so they shouldn’t.

I don’t actually fully know the ins and outs and how people use body types because I know it’s bad. Bullshit. And that’s what we’re getting into today. So if I’m saying something, you’re like, Oh, that’s not what I heard before. I heard that endomorphs need this and ectomorphs need that. And like that, like, I actually think it might be that ectomorphs like super tall, skinny, harder to build muscle need like more carbohydrate.

That might be like the idea. Um, but again, I don’t actually know what is taught because As I’m going to share with you today, this is, essentially, has no true evidence basis, so I would not suggest putting yourself into a category, putting your clients into a category, and then basing what they should. eat and how they should exercise off of that.

Um, but essentially we took some of this fake science of somatotyping, which is actually based on eugenics. And we’re going to get into that and turn it into like this more fake science from like a bro science perspective. Now, of course, there is a difference from person to person in their ability to build muscle, to lose fat.

To eat more, eat less than another person, genetics are a real thing, biology is a real thing, and I’m not discounting that. That does not mean that people are going to fit into these perfect boxes of ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph. So that is kind of where I want to start with that. And from a mindset perspective, if you’re putting yourself into a specific category and thinking like, Oh, because I’m an ectomorph, like, I am so sucky at building muscle and it’s never going to be easy for me.

What can then happen is that you’re cultivating a fixed mindset about what you’re capable of doing and how much muscle you’re capable of building, what you’re, And so because of that, you may say, well, I’m just going to stick to cardio then, because like, what’s the point of me even trying if I can’t really build that much muscle anyway?

Obviously, we know where that will go. Like now, of course, you are going to become the ectomorph because you’re not training to do anything else. Um, or it may just be that you don’t work as hard, and these are subconscious things sometimes. So if you think, well, I’m an ectomorph, I can’t really build muscle, you still go to the gym and lift weights three to four times a week, but you may not be working as hard as you would be otherwise.

You may not be pushing yourself as you would otherwise because you have this information of I’m not really capable of building that much muscle regardless. So like why would you try harder? Like of course you wouldn’t. Um, but then it becomes like a self fulfilling prophecy because you’re not really trying that hard in the gym because you don’t think you can build muscle.

Then you don’t actually build that much muscle. See how that works? Mindset man. Um, so don’t love Categories of things in general for that reason, um, like how often you hear like, I, yeah, I’m an ectomorph, like, I can never build muscle, it’s so hard for me, or dieting never works for me, being an endomorph, like, super sucks, you know, just things like that, um, And I get it, you know, just like how horoscopes and personality types are popular, we like to put ourselves into categories, classify ourselves, take quizzes, figure out like where we belong, but, In this case, it sort of becomes, like, at what cost, like, and also, is it actually helping to put you into these categories?

So, what many people don’t know is the origin of these body types. The origin came from Mr. William Herbert Sheldon in the late 1800s, early 1900s. And He was known to say that physique is destiny. That was kind of his, if William Herbert Sheldon had a tagline, that’s what it would be. And he believed that modern medicine had allowed people of poor genetics to reproduce and dilute the genetic pool.

So he created the somatotype system to try to correct that course. He believed that body type determines your life trajectory and is pretty much unchangeable. So his focus with this too was on psychological factors. Essentially that your body type could determine Your personal character and behavior.

Okay? Please understand, like this is literally where body types came from originally. So there’s no scientific evidence to actually support this. That whether you are an ectomorph or endomorph makes a different in the difference in the type of person that you are, that you’re your character traits . So, but Sheldon created Somatotypes purely from his own observations and the fake science of eugenics.

So the real fun, like. Additional fact here is that Sheldon, William Herbert Sheldon, who I’m speaking to, speaking about here, um, the guy that created Semantic Types, he originally based all of this too on white men only because women or folks of color weren’t included. Because of their inherent inferiority.

So they were already so inferior that there was no point in even including women or folks of color into this process. Because it’s like, oh, we already know that they’re not, like, even worth being categorized. And then from there, we’ll take all of the white men and decide who is better and who is, has better personality traits and characteristics based on whether they’re an ectomorph, endomorph, or mesomorph.

I’m just, I’m not making this stuff up, guys, like, please. Search behind me, do whatever you need to do. But what I think is crazy is at some point the health and fitness industry, and like I think mainly, not necessarily the bodybuilding community, but people who are looking to like build muscle and like optimize their physique, at some point got a hold of this and said this is how we determine whether or not someone can like handle 150 grams of carbs or 250 grams of carbs.

And how we have to. Figure out which exercises are best for these people, like who, how did that get translated? Like where, that’s where I’m lost. So if anyone has that information, please let me know. Um, but keep in mind that although genetics do play a role, like again, I’m not discounting that, your body type does not predetermine your ability to get big, to get strong, to get lean, to get ripped, or anything in between.

Somatotyping is not science. It is, however, a ticket to fixed mindset land, and that’s what I, I really do worry about. With a lot of this stuff, like horoscopes and things included, is that people will say, like, okay, well, I am this type of person, I am this type of way, and so this is how it has to be for me, and this is how it will be for me, and my outcomes are predetermined because of that.

And that’s just so unfortunate to me, because Sure, your genetics may play a role in something, or, yeah, the moons and the stars may have something to say about this, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck there. There’s still so much more and so much potential that you have that you are now missing out on because you have decided that it can only be this way for you because your birthday said that, or because someone told you you were an ectomorph.

Like, come on, guys. Come on! Alright. That is all I have for you. I hope this one was, like, interesting to listen to. Like I said, when I’ve posted about this on Instagram before, everyone’s like, what? Like, that’s where body types came from? Like, how did we, where did this? I’m like, girl, your guess is as good as mine, but it is not science.

Genetics do matter, but please don’t allow it to determine everything that you do and determine the outcomes because it can go that way. It can go that way. But you, my friend, are in far more control than you realize. So, that is all I have for you, and I will see you next time.