Are you the type of client has has always struggled with weight gain or weight issues? Are you the type of male or female that no matter how hard you work out, not matter how clean you try to eat or no matter how far away you try to stay from sweets & junk food that gaining weight comes so easy for you that its almost frustrating to even want to eat anymore?

You’ve tried, low carb, medium carb, no carb, soup diets, chicken and salad diets and sometimes even just skip meals because you feel its more satisfying to forget about eating and maybe the weight will burn off on its own through fasting?

Ive seen this before, Ive witnessed this before and our team and I have helped thousands of members over our 15 years of operation break this weight gain phenomenon and made sense of it all to our many Endomorphic members that have sometimes never hard of this body type philosophy and the challenges that can affect your fitness journey when not armed with the right knowledge and understanding of your unique body type.


An endomorph has a thicker bone structure and a tendency to have wider shoulders to waist ratio, appear overweight and often lacks definition. Strength and size come easily for endomorphs who are generally softer and rounder and tend to store fat easily. Endomorphs tend to have curvy, fuller figures and struggle to keep their body-fat percentage in check.

Endomorphs have unforgiving metabolisms. Endomorphs have to make a conscious, calculated effort to not over consume calories or be in a caloric surplus. Exercise, such as walking or running, must become a part of the endomorph’s weekly (or daily) routine.

Exercise is an absolute must. To maintain an optimal body composition and efficient metabolism, the endomorph must train hard both with cardio and weights as well as strive to enjoy more functional daily activity.

Endomorphs most commonly, though not always, have larger frames with medium to large articulations (joints), smooth round contours with waist and hips dominating over chest coupled with significantly high muscle mass.

Endomorphic individuals often tend to be more sluggish and lack energy due to a hypo-reactive (very slow) metabolic rate (BMR). They store excess calories as fat much faster than the other two body types due to the slower metabolism


Even though people with this body type may have a harder time maintaining a healthy weight, with a good diet and regular consistent exercise there is no reason why they cannot have a slim appearance. As extra weight is a key problem area for individuals with this body type, the first thing to consider when working out is a program which burns calories, in conjunction with a low calorie diet.

Cardio type workouts are generally considered to be the most effective either immediately after exercise, first thing in the morning or on non weight training days for this, however if an individual is overweight, it may be necessary to choose a cardio activity that is low impact such as swimming, walking/ jogging, rowing or cycling, at least at first, to avoid unnecessary strain on the joints.

Training immediately in the morning or mid day is best for your body type as you get your body’s natural furnace going early on to burn calories throughout the day. If you cannot train until the evening, make sure you do so at higher intensities. For most workouts, weight training should be kept at the high range utilizing body weight movements along with lighter free weight compound movements.

Cardio is an endomorphs best asset as you will need to be active five to six days per week. High intensity cardio (otherwise known as metabolic conditioning) will need to be a component of virtually every session.

Many Endomorphs have been successful by splitting their workout sessions to morning cardio on empty stomach alongside a mid-day or evening workout.

Inactive endomorphs can start with 20 minutes per day pushing up to 45 to 60 minutes after a few weeks. The longer and more intense your bodyweight training and cardio workouts are, the greater the fat lose.

Vary workouts training in the 15-20-or 25 rep range, resting very little with a 30-60 second maximum. You may also train with time based repetitions instead of counting reps such as doing 3 exercises back to back for 30 to 45 seconds, even 1min long to burn maximum calories and shock the body.

Endomorphs will plateau quickly so they should add sprints, kettlebell swings, jump rope, cycling, classes and martial arts to their training programs regularly. Endomorphs benefit from full- total body workouts four times a week.

“The challenge for most Endomorphs is that they need to ensure they are active more than the other body types (min 4-5x week) regardless of how well their nutritional intake or program is. Exercise & movement are the catalysts to a faster metabolism.”




Dimitri Giankoulas

About Dimitri Giankoulas
