20
higher risk for cardiac disorders. To execute this test,
you have to measure the girth of your waist just
above your belly button, without holding in your
stomach and in a relaxed position. Than measure the
girth of your hips on his widest point. Divide the girth
of the waist by the girth of the hips. If the result is
lower than 0.9 (for men) and 0.8 (for women), you
don’t have a higher risk for cardiac disorders than
normal.
Measurements
Do also take your other measurements, besides your
waist and hips. If you want to improve your
silhouette, these measurements can show you the
changes your body made during training. This
method is still the most precise, fastest and cheapest
one. Please pay attention you take your
measurements always on the same place. We advise
you to take measurements of the following parts :
girth of the neck, shoulders, breast, arms, upper
arms, waist, hips, thighs and calves.
Figure
Talents are often seen as interesting and attractive in
daily life. This is also the case for our figure. If it
doesn’t measure up to certain criteria, we find a way
to change this. Unfortunately we also have to say
that the “Fred Astaire” type not often becomes the “
Arnold Schwarzenegger” type. This is also true for
our body, the “Rubens” type will not become easily a
“topmodel”. So before we begin fighting windmills, it
is probably more sensible to take into account our
figure. Do we all have to be “topmodels”? Our
physical appearance depends strongly on the time
we live in. Therefore it is rarely that the body types,
you find next, exist. Most people among us are a
combination of different types.
Leptosome/ectomorphe type
Features :
• Wider pelvis than shoulders
• Very supple joints
• Weak muscle development
• Weak blood pressure
• Increased pulse in rest
• Weak circulation (less endurance)
• Cold hands and feet, dizziness when you stand up
• Intense activity of the nervous system
• Weak metabolism (hard to gain weight)
Contradictory to other types, this type will not be
suitable for performances which include power and
endurance. An adapted training can improve these
shortcomings even though the starting points are not
always favorable. The figure of the ectomorphe types
often creates envy by other types. This type has the
privilege to eat as many as he wants without gaining
weight.
The atlete / mesomorphe type
Features:
• Strong and muscular
• Wider shoulders than hips
• The muscular system and the blood circulation are
suitable for excellent performances
• Weak blood pressure and pulse in rest by the active
mesomorphe types
• Increased blood pressure and pulse by the non-
active types
• Not susceptible to cold
• Correct general figure
• Normal digestion
• In case of inactivity or over feeding, the fat stays
hanging on the body
Taking into account above features, a moderate
training will be enough for the mesomorphe type to
improve his performances. The risk on injuries is
much higher for this type because the development
of the muscles isn’t always in proportion to the
elasticity of the muscles. We therefore recommend
you to invest a lot of time of your training in improving
the elasticity of the muscles.
The figure of the athletic type and the active
mesomorphe type stands very close to the ideal
figure in the 80ties and 90ties. Therefore many of us
would like to belong to this category, although they
often belong to another category. Those who can’t
admit that not everybody can have the perfect body,
often remains frustrated.
Endomorphe type
Features:
• Round shapes, holding fat
• Width shoulders, width pelvis (due to overweight)
• More equal distribution of the weight in comparison
to the other 2 types
• Average figure
• Very suitable for performances aimed at power and
endurance
• Easy food insertion and slow digestion make it easy
to gain weight
• Slow pulse in rest, normal blood pressure (for active
types)
Power, endurance and mobility are the greatest
trumps of the endomorph. Only the weight, often too
high, can be an interference in some situations.
Therefore he must pay attention to his food, healthy
and adapted to his needs, emphasizing endurance to
stabilize his weight.
Taking into account the beauty ideals of this moment,
the figure of the endomorph type is not suitable. But
above features also show that the active endomorph
has the right talents for a good health and a sportive
attitude. If the endomorph takes into account his
genetic potential, a few extra pounds, can not harm
him.
