How I Learned to Exercise for My Body Type & Personal Goals

Let me just preface this blog post by saying that I have been active my entire life and have been routinely working out outside of sports since high school.  I used to go to the gym after school and sometimes even after practices.  So I have done A LOT of workouts in my life.  I am now 32 years old…and have only just in the last few years learned what exercise is best for my body and for the aesthetic that I want to achieve.   And I should note, aesthetic is a totally personal preference and I’m in no way saying that one is better than another…it’s all about what makes YOU feel the best.  So I’m going to share that and how I learned to exercise for my body type and my personal goals.

I was primarily inspired to write this post because of various different questions and DMs I would get about it.  I aforementioned that it has taken me quite some time to truly find the exercises that work best for my body and for how I feel best, but I should also mention another important thing is that I needed these exercises to be ones that I enjoyed doing.  It’s really crucial that you understand that it can be a process and it can take time…but if you’re truly serious about finding a way that you can make this a lifestyle, that it’s worth the effort and patience.

My Body Type

There are three generic body types into which we can be categorized.  Endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph.  You can take a quiz to find out your body type.  I don’t think that this should be the be-all, end-all, however.  I think no two bodies are the same and you can kind of have characteristics of different ones. These are just generic buckets that can kind of help give you a sense of direction in finding what works best for you.  I am a mesomorph, and so I can put on muscle very easily but I can also put on fat easily, and this is something I didn’t realize early on.  I have always known I could put on muscle, but didn’t realize that I can easily tip the scale (no pun intended) to where I’m putting on fat with my muscle if I do too much intense exercise without watching what I eat.

Exercising for My Body Type

What works for me is the schedule I’ve kept now for 4+ years, and it’s M-W-F 30 minute HIIT/Circuit Workout focusing on one muscle group each time of either legs, abs, or upper body.  T-Th-Sat I do cardio, primarily running but sometimes walking and even less frequently, I will do a spin workout if its raining or more convenient.  Sunday I take off.  This is the schedule we follow in the Besst Workouts app.  I do mostly bodyweight workouts or light weight workouts (the max thing I use is a 12lb kettlebell, dumbbells max 8 pounds) because that keeps me lean, and that’s how I want to look. That’s where I personally feel my best.  I did try to get super muscular back in the day and was lifting heavier weights, and I did gain muscle, but I also gained fat.  Because I don’t like to track what I eat…doing that sucks, to be completely honest.  I don’t want my life to be ruled by what I am eating so I don’t like to give it too much thought.  I make nutritious choices when I can but don’t think twice if I want to eat pizza.  I don’t track macros or count calories or keep a food journal.  Honestly, just even the thought of doing that really stresses me out…blah.

I used to do long, super intense workouts and I run miles and miles thinking that was how I was going to get in this amazing shape…when in reality all I was doing was overexercising and then making myself absolutely STARVING from all the exercise.  So then my appetite would be out of control and I’d eat a ton.  And with my body type, that equaled a lot of muscle gain but also a lot of fat gain…which is the opposite of lean.  I looked puffy, basically.  So I had to figure out that actually, for me, doing LESS is doing more.  I get a good sweat in, I move my body and enjoy the workouts that I do, but I don’t over do it.  I found the right balance for me.  I think I may have figured this out the hard way when I ran a marathon and at the end of all my hundreds of miles worth of training, I had gained 12 pounds.  Like REALLY?!  That is messed up.  LOL.  Oh and had a stress fracture.  That’s another story (but no more long distances for me!)

I still didn’t fully understand it all until I started doing bodyweight circuit training instead of heavy lifting sessions.  I’d notice how I’d start seeing more definition from the bodyweight workouts (and they weren’t making me want to eat uncontrollably.)  Everyone says “lifting won’t make you bulky” but honestly that makes me kind of irritated because it’s just yet another generalization for our bodies when we are ALL so different.  Lifting heavy weights *does* make me bulkier, because I put on muscle like a freak (lol) and I refuse to be disciplined enough to track macros to prevent the fat gain that comes with it.  That makes me a crazy insane person and I feel like I’m in a prison with what I’m “allowed to eat”.  I am not down with fitness being so dang tedious and hard.

On the flip side, heavy lifting also makes some people absolutely shredded.  So I’m not saying lifting makes EVERYONE bulky because it does not…but that’s the case for me because I am super predisposed to it.  For example, I think while it’s harder for an ectomorph to gain muscle, that allows them the ability to lift heavier weights and get that really lean but strong look (just my observation.) I think we have to just not listen to all these generalizations about how “X” workout will make you look like “X” because it’s just not the case.  Two women doing the exact same workout and workout routine can and will end up looking very different because they have different bodies.

Find Your Balance

I wanted to share this because when I privately chat with y’all over DM about this, it seems like a lightbulb goes off for so many of you.  I wholeheartedly believe it’s possible to find a balance in your life between exercise and eating to where it doesn’t all have to be so complicated.  Starting with understanding your body and how it responds to exercise, and what kind of exercise, can be a great starting point.  From there, be patient.  Do some experiments to see what workouts your body responds to and how it responds.  Tweak where you need to.  Make a schedule and of course, find exercise you ENJOY because if you go through all of this and you end up hating the workout, you aren’t going to keep it up anyways.

My circuit workouts in the Besst Workouts app have the schedule and workouts all laid out for you if you want to give them a try for a couple months and see how your body is responding.  They have done wonders for me, physically and mentally.

I feel like I could go on and on about this, but it’s already pretty long, ha.  This is all just what worked for me, so I wanted to share in case it helps you.  If you have any tips for what helped you find balance, leave them below!

xo,

Bess