Western Body Types Meet Ayurveda
I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that two people can eat similar foods, do the same exercise programme and have completely different bodies. Some people seem naturally slight, some build muscle relatively easily and others have naturally broader, softer or more solid bodies. So does our body type actually matter?
I think the answer is both yes and no.
You may have heard the old Western descriptions of body types: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. An ectomorph was traditionally described as naturally slimmer and more lightly built, a mesomorph as more naturally muscular or athletic, and an endomorph as having a broader build and a greater tendency to carry body fat.
These ideas became incredibly popular in the fitness industry, and you’ll still see exercise and diet plans advertised for different “body types”. But the original somatotype system isn’t a modern scientific prescription for how somebody should eat or exercise, and most of us don’t fit neatly into one of three boxes anyway.
Human bodies are much more complicated than that.
Our shape and body composition are influenced by genetics, age, hormones, sex, muscle mass, nutrition, activity, sleep, health and many other factors. And our bodies can change enormously throughout our lives.
So I don’t want somebody deciding, I’m an endomorph, therefore I’ll always be overweight, or I’m an ectomorph, therefore I can’t build muscle.
Those labels can become limiting very quickly.
However, I do think there’s something useful underneath the body-type conversation: we are not all starting from the same place.
This is where my interest in Ayurveda becomes particularly relevant.
Ayurveda is a traditional Indian system of health and wellbeing that has existed for thousands of years. Within Ayurveda there are three constitutional principles known as the doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Traditionally, we’re understood as having all three in different proportions, rather than simply belonging to one rigid type.
Vata is traditionally associated with qualities such as lightness, movement and change. Pitta is associated with heat, intensity and transformation, while Kapha is associated with solidity, stability and structure. Ayurvedic practitioners consider much more than somebody’s physical shape when thinking about constitution — digestion, energy, temperament, sleep and other characteristics can all form part of the traditional assessment.
It’s tempting to say that Vata simply equals ectomorph, Pitta equals mesomorph and Kapha equals endomorph.
But I don’t think that’s accurate.
They’re two completely different systems developed in different cultures for different purposes, and Ayurveda shouldn’t be squeezed into a Western fitness model just because some of the descriptions occasionally appear similar.
What I do like about Ayurveda, though, is the idea of individuality.
Instead of constantly asking, What’s the perfect diet? What’s the perfect workout?, perhaps we should ask, What’s appropriate for this person?
Someone who naturally loves high-intensity exercise and competition may need something completely different from someone who finds intense exercise overwhelming. Someone who struggles to gain muscle may need to pay particular attention to progressive strength training and getting enough food and protein. Someone who gains weight more readily may have different nutritional goals.
But none of those things mean that our body type dictates exactly what we should do.
In modern personal training, I’d much rather look at the person standing in front of me. What is your current strength? What’s your body composition? How do you move? What’s your fitness level? What do you enjoy? How much time do you realistically have? How are you sleeping? What are you eating? What are your goals?
Then we build from there.
The Ayurvedic influence on my approach is slightly different. It reminds me to remain curious about the whole person rather than seeing somebody as a collection of muscles that need exercising.
How does this person feel after certain types of exercise? Do they thrive on intensity or constantly exhaust themselves? Do they need more stimulation and movement, or would they benefit from adding recovery and calming practices? What routines are actually sustainable for their personality and their life?
That’s where I think ancient ideas and modern fitness can have an interesting conversation without pretending they’re the same thing.
Modern exercise science gives us useful principles: muscles respond to progressive resistance, cardiovascular fitness responds to appropriate cardiovascular training, and body composition is influenced by factors including nutrition and activity.
Ayurveda gives me a different question to consider:
What does this individual need?
I don’t think we need to choose between the two.
Your genetics and natural build matter. Your age and life stage matter. Your current fitness matters. Your preferences matter.
But none of those things are a sentence handed down to you at birth.
You can build muscle.
You can become stronger.
You can improve your cardiovascular fitness.
You can improve your mobility and balance.
And you can learn which combinations of movement, food, challenge and recovery seem to work particularly well for you.
So perhaps instead of trying to discover which box your body belongs in, become curious about the body you actually have.
Learn it.
Work with it.
Nourish it.
Challenge it.
Allow it to recover.
And most importantly, don’t spend your life wishing you had somebody else’s body type.
The aim isn’t to turn your body into somebody else’s. It’s to discover what your own body can become when you understand it and work with it.
Selena
Personal Trainer, Yoga Teacher & Wellbeing Coach
In Flow Wellbeing Studio, Cheltenham
