Body Type
Physique varies from person to person and any classification of figure types can only be a general guide. It is important to recognise that there are variations in frame structure, and to acknowledge that you can never change your body type. You have to learn to keep within its range, work within its possibilities. By the early twenties, the dimensions of the skeleton are settled and the appropriate muscle and fat covering is determined. Everything is a matter of proportion, judged three-dimensionally and often in truer perspective from a side view. Height has nothing to do with body type.
There are three basic shapes: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph and there is a degree of overlapping but no moving from one group to another. A fat ectomorph is a fat person, not an endomorph; while the slimness of a mesomorph in no way resembles the ideal of the endomorph.
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ECTOMORPH: Small frame in width and depth, side view slender; narrow shoulders, often still narrower hips; ideally thin with some bust shaping, without much muscle or fat.
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MESOMORPH: Medium to large frame, ranging from athletic to rounded but always with depth and a certain degree of narrowness through ribcage, waist and hips; sometimes broad-shouldered and a forceful shape; ideally with a lot of muscle and bone, not much fat, controlled hips.
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ENDOMORPH: A heavy build but not necessarily a large frame; rounded on all sides with a chunky middle section; shoulders often narrower than hips; ideally well-covered without excess fat and trim muscles.