The endomorph body type is characterized by having a soft and round shape. Endomorphs tend to be on the larger side with a large waistline, hips and thighs. If you have this body type, you probably also have a high percentage of body fat and find it difficult to lose or maintain weight.

Endomorphs are often referred to as pear-shaped because their hips are much larger than their shoulders. They have short arms and legs, which makes them appear shorter than they really are. Endomorphs tend to gain weight easily, especially around their midsection. They also tend to be slow metabolizers of food and thus tend to gain weight more easily than other types of metabolizers.

In order to lose weight, endomorphs must follow an exercise program that builds muscle, especially around the upper body area (back, shoulders). An exercise program that focuses on aerobic exercise will also help because it burns calories faster than resistance training does.

Right here on Buy and Slay, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on best exercise for endomorph body type, hiit workout for endomorph female, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.

Endomorph Workout For Weight Loss Female

Cardiovascular exercise is an important part of any workout plan and should make up the bulk of an endomorph’s exercise routine. Regular cardio improves cardiorespiratory fitness and has an incredible impact on health. Studies show that cardio reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and several cancers. It also improves mental health, sleep, and energy levels.

Furthermore, cardio workouts burn calories, and in conjunction with diet creates a bigger calorie deficit. It is a combination which leads to greater long-term weight loss. Therefore, cardiovascular exercise plays a key role in losing excess body weight, keeping the weight off after weight loss, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Endomorph Workout Plan: Cardio

People with an endomorph body type respond well to a workout plan comprised of a mix of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity cardio workouts.

The oft-touted fat-burning zone that you’ll find on many cardio machines burns few calories and is an inefficient, time-intensive way of losing weight.

Striking a balance between interval training and steady state workouts is ideal for people with this body type, as it will test the heart, lungs, musculature and energy systems in different ways. A comprehensive approach will result in faster weight loss, superior fitness, and a wider spectrum of health benefits.

Moderate-Intensity, Steady-State Cardio

The first part of the cardio equation for endomorphs is moderate-intensity cardio, performed at a steady pace. To exercise at moderate intensity aim for around 70% of maximum heart rate, exercising for 30 – 60 minutes. It’s an intensity that allows you to talk in short sentences. You should break into a sweat after at least 10 minutes and keep sweating for the entire hour.

If you haven’t exercised for a considerable period, start at about 60% of maximum heart rate (MHR). Slowly increase intensity and workout duration as your athletic ability improves.

As you grow stronger, week by week, your workouts will feel easier. That means you have to make your workout harder to keep your heart rate at about 70% MHR. To do this, you can incrementally increase the length of your workout, your pace, the resistance, or incline as you get more fit. For example, if you started by walking briskly, you might might increase your pace or start a beginner run/walk plan to keep your workout challenging. This will burn more calories, help you to keep on losing weight, and increase your fitness levels.


High-Intensity Interval Training

The second piece of the cardio puzzle for endomorphs, is HIIT. Unlike long constant-pace cardio, HIIT workouts involve exercising at maximum intensity for a shorter period of time. It substantially cuts down the amount of time you need to exercise because HIIT sessions are short and intense.

HIIT also confers several benefits that lower intensity exercise either can’t or is unable to match to the same degree:

  • Weight loss. Not only an efficient calorie burner, HIIT also increases the body’s fat burning ability, reduces appetite, and boosts the body’s sensitivity to insulin, thereby countering insulin resistance (a precursor to diabetes and linked to excess weight) and improving blood sugar control.
  • Increased muscle mass. HIIT sessions can increase muscle mass, unlike endurance cardio. Furthermore, research shows that HIIT is able to increase muscle mass while simultaneously reducing body fat.
  • Increases metabolic rate. Moderate-intensity cardio workouts increase metabolism for several hours afterwards. However, HIIT can increase this “afterburn” to a greater degree and in less time.

Check with your doctor before you start a new exercise program, especially if you haven’t exercised for a long time or are have any medical conditions.

The table below gives a rough guide of what the different exercise intensities feel like.

Level/ IntensityHeart Rate*ExampleBreathingSweating
Low< 65% MHRLeisurely walkBreathing normal, able to carry on full conversationNo
Moderate65-75%MHRBrisk walkBreathing deeper, can talk in short sentencesAfter 10 minutes
High+ 75% MHRRunningBreathing fast and deep, talk in short spurtsAfter 3-5 minutes

* Rounded figures

How often Should Endomorphs Exercise?

Endomorphs should aim for a total of 5 to 6 cardiovascular workouts a week. Of these, 2 – 3 should be HIIT workouts. HIIT by nature is intense, which means the body needs time to recover and repair. Therefore, leave at least one day between HIIT workouts. On days between HIIT you can perform moderate-intensity workouts, which are less taxing on the body.

Beginners. High-intensity interval training is very demanding and thus not suitable for beginners. Beginners should start with regular moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise to build a solid fitness base. To do this, start with 30 minutes moderate-intensity cardio workouts 3 times a week and slowly increase these to 5 a week. After about 6 weeks, start to incorporate some short bouts of slightly higher intensity exercise into 2 of your weekly workouts (interval training) to increase your fitness further, before adopting HIIT. 

Rest. Allow for 1 – 2 rest days a week, during which you take a complete time out or perform low-intensity activities such as yoga, stretching or leisurely walking (active recovery).

Variety. You needn’t stick to the same exercise for every workout. You can mix things up with different activities, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming, in order to prevent overtraining or boredom.

Exercise Timing for Endomorphs

If you can, do your cardio workouts at the same time each day. Research shows that a consistent workout time is associated with higher levels of exercise in people who successfully lose weight and keep it off.

This consistency helps to make workouts a habit and a firm part of your daily routine – just like brushing your teeth. It’s an automatic process that you don’t even question and do without thinking. If you exercise in the morning, you’ll automatically get on your gear and go out for a brisk walk or run. If you exercise in the afternoon, you might head straight to the gym. The point is, making exercise part of your daily rhythm increases the likelihood of meeting – and crushing – your goals, not just now but in the long-term.

Mini-workouts. You can, if more convenient, break a longer moderate-intensity exercise session into several shorter ones. Simply leave the longer workouts for the weekend or less busy weekdays.

Studies suggest that shorter, more frequent workouts spaced throughout the day can as effective as one long workout of equal length. You’re also less likely to run out of steam, enabling you to work out at higher intensity.

What’s the Best Time to Exercise?

The simple answer is that the time of day you do your cardio is way less important than actually doing it, whenever that may be. Do it when you have the time and when you prefer. You might be a morning person or a night owl. Workouts at times that feel unnatural to you feel harder and are associated with greater levels of fatigue.

Having said all that, if you can and it feels right, exercise first thing in the morning. You’re guaranteed to get your workout done. It’s out of the way, before distractions and excuses are able to take hold. Those who stick to their exercise routine long-term, are more likely to exercise in the morning.

Also, morning exercise may enhance weight loss by positively affecting eating habits and appetite, and is more likely to be done in a fasted state which may improve fat metabolism. It’s also the perfect time to get energized and set for the day!

ENDOMORPH LONG-TERM WORKOUT PLAN 

After you’ve reached your weight loss goals, assess what works for you and how much exercise you require to stay fit and prevent weight regain. Some endomorphs will require more exercise than others to maintain their weight loss. So you need to fine tune your workouts to suit your body and metabolism. How much you will need to exercise will also depend on your daily calorie intake.

How much exercise? Research suggests that many people who have lost more than 5% of their total body weight need to do at least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (e.g. brisk walking) a week, to keep the weight off. That’s about 150 minutes of vigorous activity (e.g. jogging) per week.

Lifestyle Activities

The best way to keep exercising long after you’ve lost weight is to find an activity that you enjoy doing and make it part of your lifestyle. But also one where you can measure your progress and work towards a goal.

For example, if you enjoy running you can work towards training for a 5K. This takes the focus off exercising just to lose weight, and onto achieving something else entirely. It gives you a real sense of physical and mental accomplishment and a success that goes way beyond weight loss. It’s empowering. And you’ll be hooked on it, not because you have to do it to lose weight or maintain weight loss, but because you love it and it makes you feel great.

The other advantage of training for a goal other than weight loss, is that you will achieve a higher level of fitness. This means that instead of brisk walking, for example, you can run or jog, burning at least twice as many calories per minute of exercise. In other words, it’s easier to prevent weight gain.

Choose any cardiovascular activity that you enjoy, be it swimming, cycling, tennis, or Nordic walking. And if you can join a club, even better! You’ll meet like-minded people and form new friendships, which will keep you motivated and give you more reasons to head out and exercise.

Best Exercise For Endomorph Body Type

Before we get int the nitty gritty of what’s the best exercise for endomorphs, let just start with this. The best exercise is the one you enjoy most. If you like it, you’ll do it. But, if the thought of having to get out of bed in the morning fills you with dread because your cardio workout looms, you’ll find a thousand and one reasons to get out of it. So, pick something you enjoy doing.

Try as many different activities as you can and, if you have access to a gym, various exercise machinery to determine what type of cardio you most love.

When you’re done with your workout you should feel on a high, even if you feel shattered because you gave it your all. It doesn’t matter if you just ran 5K, killed it on the cross-trainer or did a crazy awesome Zumba class and unleashed your inner Beyoncé.

Cardio is the main focus for this body type. Endomorphs need to incorporate almost daily cardio into their lifestyle and make it a permanent part of their lifestyle. So it’s super important you find a cardio workout you love and have fun doing, since you need to incorporate it into your lifestyle not only to achieve the health, fitness, or body you want, but also to maintain it.

Below are tips for choosing an exercise activity that you’ll find comfortable, but is sufficiently intense to stimulate fat burning and weight loss.

ENDOMORPH WORKOUT

The ideal activity for endomorphs should be one that allows you to workout

  • for at least 20 minutes
  • engages the large muscle groups (e.g. legs, back)
  • requires continuous, rhythmical movement (i.e. not stop and start like tennis)
  • is moderate intensity

Another factor to consider is how much impact an exercise has:

  • Joint problems, previous injury, muscle imbalances and higher body weight increase the pressure on joints and bones during high-impact exercise, increasing the risk of injury.
  • The more you weigh; the more force your body has to absorb.
  • Body fat, bone and muscle mass all contribute to overall weight.

High-impact exercise is absolutely fine for endomorphs, but will be challenging if you have been sedentary or overweight. High-impact exercise (e.g. running) requires greater levels of fitness and strength to lift yourself off the ground, withstand the bigger impact and avoid injury. The more you weigh or the more out of shape you are, the tougher it gets. That means it’s harder to exercise long enough (i.e. more than 20 minutes) to burn a significant amount of calories and that your risk of injury is greater.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run, jump-rope or do any other high-impact workout. But just that if you’re a beginner, you need to ease into it. Remember. Do what you love!

And whatever you do, don’t throw yourself into a high-intensity, hard-core workout on day 1, only to swear off ever exercising again! You want to love exercising. And to understand that if something didn’t work out, why it didn’t, what to do next, and that it doesn’t mean you can’t try again later when you’re stronger, more fit and a lot more fierce!

BEST EXERCISE FOR BEGINNER ENDOMORPHS

People with an endomorph body type tend to find non- or low-impact activities easier, which minimize impact with the ground and strain on the body, especially in the beginning. Ideally endomorphs, particularly if overweight and/ or sedentary, should start with a workout plan that is low-impact in nature.

Once you’ve improved your level of fitness and strength, you can switch to high-impact exercise. If you are already fit, in good health and do not suffer with joint problems, by all means start with higher impact exercise. But still ease in to it. If you’re interested in running for example, start with a run-walk plan, that alternates high-impact running with periods of low-impact walking.

Low-Impact Workout

Unfortunately low-impact exercise has a bad rap. Low-impact is often confused with low-intensity. However, the two are not the same – far from it. Impact is how hard you hit the floor when doing a particular activity. Intensity is how difficult a workout is – how hard your heart is beating, how much you’re sweating, how out of breath you are, and how many calories you’re burning.

It’s true that doing high-impact exercise tends to lead to a high-intensity workout. But the reverse isn’t necessarily true. Low impact exercise doesn’t have to result in a low-intensity workout. Low impact exercise can be very intense and burn a ton of calories – if you want it to.

The advantage of low-impact exercise is that it feels easier, even if it burns a lot of calories. For example, exercising on the elliptical trainer can burn as many calories as running on the treadmill. But despite burning a similar amount of calories, exercising on the elliptical feels easier than running. And if you find it easier, it means you can exercise for longer and burn more calories!

There’s a vast array of exercises that allow you to work out at a high level, but are low impact. The bulk of your workout plan should consist of one or more of these core activities listed below. These activities will allow you to exercise long enough and hard enough to burn a lot of calories and lose weight, if that’s your goal.

You can also supplement your core exercises with extra activities, which offer variety, fun and team interaction, but are less effective calorie-burners.

CORE ACTIVITIES FOR ENDOMORPHS

High-intensity, low-impact workouts. The activities are low-impact, but can be high-intensity, which means they can burn a lot of calories.

  • Cycling/ Spinning/ mountain biking
  • Power walking/ Race walking
  • Swimming
  • Cross-trainer
  • Elliptical machine
  • Ski machine
  • Stepper/ Stair-climber
  • Stair climbing
  • Rowing
  • Low-impact, high-intensity aerobics (some Zumba classes for example – speak to an instructor)

You can do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio workouts with all of the activities. HIIT workouts are a super efficient way of increasing fitness and burning calories.

High-intensity, high-impact workouts. High-impact workouts that are great for weight loss include:

  • Running
  • Jump rope
  • Plyometrics
  • HIIT programs such as CrossFit, PX90, and other HIIT based DVD workouts such as Jillian Michaels, which are very tough but effective.

OTHER ACTIVITIES FOR ENDOMORPHS

Moderate-intensity workouts. The activities tend to be low-impact and moderate calorie burners:

  • Hiking
  • Rollerblading
  • Nordic walking
  • Rock climbing
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Aerobics-based programs e.g. cardio-boxing
  • Low-impact aerobics
  • Step aerobics (low impact)
  • Dancing
  • Water aerobics
  • Hula Hooping

Low-intensity workouts. Stretching classes, Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates and other related activities aren’t cardio workouts. And while they possess immense benefits, they won’t help you lose fat. You can include them in your exercise routine, but don’t substitute your cardio for it.

Hiit Workout For Endomorph Female

Just like any body part, the body adapts to repetitive exercise. This is why when you run the first week, you see results. But then you run the same amount the following weeks and the results slow down.

When the basics no longer work like they once did, it’s time to start switching up your training. Try doing HIIT workouts a few times a week rather than your traditional cardio. This may lead to you putting your fat loss in hyperdrive.

HIIT Workout Plan

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. This is a cardio method that has been used to decades by people aiming to lower their body fat fast.

When doing a HIIT workout, you will cycle between high/max intensity intervals and low intensity/rest intervals. Each of these intervals will be less than a minute each.. sometimes even as short as 10-20 seconds but you must put your full effort into it.

When done correctly, a full workout should be completed in about 10/15 minutes. By doing this, you create a metabolic response in your body. This metabolic response ramps up your caloric expenditure for hours after your workout.

So try it 2-3 times a week and watch the fat melt!

The Workout:

This HIIT workout plan will consist of only 4 exercises. You will perform each exercise for 50 seconds. Then follow up the exercise with a 10 second rest.

Make sure you do not extend the rest any longer than 10 seconds! It should be just enough time to get ready for your next exercise!

The Exercises:

  • Single Leg Burpees

Act as if you are going to do a regular burpee, but instead of going down to the ground with two feet back, you will only use one. Alternate legs and repeat as many times as you can for the full 50 seconds.

  • Plank Jacks

For this exercise, you will start in regular plank position. From there you will hop your lower body up off the ground and widen your legs. Then immediately after, you will hop your lower body off the ground and bring your feet back together. Repeat for as many reps as you can do for the full 50 seconds.

  • Hand Release Push Ups

This exercise is meant to be treated like an explosive rest/pause type exercise. Meaning you will start in regular pushup position. You will then lower yourself to the ground until you are able to pick your hands up off the ground. (This will act as a one second rest for your chest.) Then you will place your hands back on the ground and do an explosive pushup. Repeat as many times as you can for the full 50 seconds.

  • Tuck Ups

For this exercise, you will start by laying flat on your back. From here, you will take your upper body and your knees and bring them together to meet in the middle. Be sure to find a good spot on your tailbone so you can balance on the ground without any pain. After you have tucked your knees into your arms, you will lower yourself back down to the ground. Repeat as many times as you can for the full 50 seconds.

Just one round of this workout, when done correctly, will quick HIIT workout plan will leave your heart rate skyrocketed!

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