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Diet for ectomorphs and endomorphs
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

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As we already know, there are 3 main body types: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. Moreover, they are typical for both men and women. And among women there are hereditary skinny people, as among men there are fat people.
It is easiest for mesomorphs, because the bulk of diet calculations correspond to this type of physique, which is considered normal. As for the endomorph, this type of physique includes people with a round head, a big belly, a wide chest, a large body. Most often, such people have a short stature and a wide bone structure, although the wrists and ankles can sometimes be compared to children's, they are so narrow in size.
Large bones in endomorphs are a plus for strength sports, especially since these people gain weight very actively. True, not all the gained mass is muscle. Still, a high-calorie diet is designed to increase weight, so not only muscles gain weight, but also fat, which is very difficult for endomorphs to get rid of due to their constitutional features.
Endomorphs tend to store calories not on their forearms, where it looks nice, but on their buttocks, sides, stomach and chest in the form of “cute”, but not always desirable curves. No matter how hard a person tries to excel in strength sports, he/she cannot achieve a beautiful body relief. But not because the muscles grow slowly (there are no problems with this), but because all the achievements are hidden by a decent layer of fat, getting rid of which is problematic for an endomorph.
To avoid the deposition of excess fat, people prone to obesity do not need to train hard. It is very important for an endomorph to follow a special diet for gaining muscle mass. At the same time, the number of calories consumed should be less than what is considered optimal for a mesomorph.
There are very important features in the endomorph diet that help to correct the shape of your body:
- the diet should be free of fast carbohydrates, or at least their volume should be significantly reduced,
- but the amount of protein should be significant,
- It is essential to use specialized sports nutrition that helps you gain weight without the risk of increasing your body fat,
- fractional meals are also considered mandatory, but if a mesomorph can afford to eat 4-5 meals a day, then an endomorph will have to eat smaller portions 6-8 times a day.
Approximate menu for 7 meals a day:
- 1 breakfast – omelet of 5-6 egg whites, a piece of whole grain bread, unsweetened compote
- 2nd breakfast – a piece of low-fat cheese, a couple of apples
- Lunch – stewed beef with vegetable salad, tea
- Pre-workout snack – protein drink, apple
- Post-workout snack – protein drink, a handful of dried fruit
- 1 dinner – baked fish, boiled rice, fresh vegetable salad or canned food
- 2 dinner – low-fat cottage cheese or protein shake.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner should be hearty, but dinner should be lower in calories. Snacks before and after training should be done half an hour to an hour before training or 15-30 minutes after. The last meal should be no later than 40 minutes before going to bed.
The daily caloric content of food should not exceed 4000 kcal, while the amount of fats and carbohydrates should be no more than 60 and 450 g, respectively.
For endomorphs, a vegetarian and protein diet for gaining muscle mass is more suitable, as well as separate meals, in which proteins and carbohydrates are not mixed in one meal.
Now let's get back to our skinny ectomorphs, and it is they, like no one else, who lack definition in their forms. Nature has endowed them with great mobility and energy. But with a naturally thin body and thin bones, these people find it very difficult to build muscle mass, because with their fast metabolism, energy is spent instantly, so neither fat nor muscle has time to settle on their forms.
The advantage of such a body type is the almost complete absence of the probability of becoming obese, which means that they do not have to limit themselves in their diet. And the diet for gaining muscle mass for an ectomorph involves consuming more calories compared to other body types.
Nutritional features of an ectomorph athlete:
- They should have 5 or 6 main meals. But the interval between meals should not exceed 2 hours, so that the body does not take energy from the muscles. This is only possible if you add 3-6 snacks between the main meals.
- The diet should be complete and high-calorie. But even in the case of an ectomorph, one should not forget about the correct ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. In this case, the following percentage ratio will be optimal: 50x20x30. As we can see, the percentage of fat is slightly increased here, but it does not go beyond the upper limits of the norm for our type of diet. Moreover, we are talking mainly about fats of plant origin and fatty seafood.
- It is important to drink a lot of water, which also helps to build muscle mass.
- Ectomorphs must eat a lot, so it is especially important for them to correctly calculate the calories needed by the body, so that at least some of them are often converted into muscles and are not subsequently “eaten” by the body.
For ectomorphs, a high-calorie diet would be preferable.