According to Máquina Strength & Bodybuilding there are five popular and common body types that most people wish to have. Check out their article on what they are and how to achieve them.
In this article we’ll summarize the five most common body types and we’ll even add a sixth:
- Slim
- Normal
- Athletic
- Athletic muscular
- Muscular
- Bodybuilder
What defines a specific body type?
When you think about body types you want to think about them in terms of lean muscle mass vs bodyfat. Lean muscle mass is everything your body is made up off with the exception of bodyfat.
One very important thing to know about bodytypes nowadays is what is termed skinny fat.
Skinny fat body types are those that have high levels of body fat but very little muscle. Having high body fat whether you look slim or obese is unhealthy. Skinny fat syndrome typically happens to people who diet through drastic and extreme caloric deficits losing a considerable amount of muscle and then gaining all the weight back via fat stores and not able to build the muscle back.
Slim body types:
These are body types that would be considered skinny. Think about Victoria Secret Models or typical runway models in general. They are usually slim to normal but more often than not veer towards the slim category. Women google Victoria Secret models. For me it’s the same. Male models usually are slim or normal in terms of body types. The biggest difference between female vs male models is that the men tend to be leaner and thus look a little more muscular.
Normal body types:
This bodytype is what is considered to have a basic or normal amount of muscle. If you were to run into someone with this bodytype in the streets you wouldn’t automatically assume that they go to the gym. They won’t look overweight or slim but it does not mean that they are exempt from possibly being skinny fat. In terms of examples I’d google the same terms as slim body types for males and females but understand they’d be a little heavier maybe 5-15 pounds heavier than a slim person but not to the point where they would be considered obese.
Athletic body types:
This is a bodytype that you would assume goes to the gym at least 3x’s per week and is fit. They aren’t big and heavy per say and do not carry the appearance of being strong but they can be since strength can be attained without building muscle. Women google “Bikini competitors IFBB” so you can see what the muscularity of an athletic woman looks like. Women who compete in the IFBB, at a competition, are usually very lean but in the off season may carry 5-15 pounds more of fat on their body. Men google “Mens Physique competitor IFBB” to see samples of athletic body types. On the small side of things they will have an athletic body but on the bigger side of things they’d be athletic muscular. Like women, in competition they are very lean with bodyfats in the range of 3-5%. In the off season they carry more fat and can range anywhere from 10-20 pounds of extra body fat.
Athletic Muscular body types:
These bodytypes are very muscular. You can definitely tell then train hard in the gym, probably 5-6xs per week. They are very impressive and can be considered as being big. This bodytype is very attainable naturally but requires a lot of discipline, hard work, and dedication. Women are still feminine but would be considered thick depending on their body fat levels. Women google “womens figure competitor IFBB” to get an idea of the level of muscularity these women have. Men you can google “Mens Physique Competitors IFBB”, same as athletic, but understand that athletic muscular types are the bigger athletes for this category. The difference between an athletic and athletic muscular bodytype is about 10 pounds of muscle extra on the athletic muscular individual.
Muscular
Muscular bodytypes are the most muscular types that can still be achieve naturally though not many have the genetics or the abilities to reach this category naturally. You must follow a very tough hypertrophy weight lifting program to achieve this look. This takes time, patience, resilience, and dedication. You must eat enough foods with enough protein to build the muscle required efficiently. Women at this point can still look feminine on the face but many would have the opinion that their body is masculine looking. Women google “womens physique competitors IFBB” and men google “Classic Physique competitors IFBB” to get an idea of what these physiques look like..
Bodybuilding
These are the biggest of all the body types. Achieving this level of muscularity requires the use of performance enhancement drugs and is not achievable naturally. Because of the use of anabolics women will develop masculine characteristics as well as other side effects. Women google “women bodybuilding competitors IFBB” and men google “mens 212 competitors IFBB” or “mens open bodybuilding competitors IFBB” to see what these body types look like.
It doesn’t matter which body type you wish to have. Understand that when we refer to muscularity we are talking about the amount of lean muscle a body carries. In order to be lean or toned you must have low levels of bodyfat. When we talk about low levels of bodyfat we are talking about the general population since over 60% of the population is overweight and have high bodyfat.
Body fat ranges:
- A healthy body fat range can be anywhere from 12-16%. You won’t be necessarily toned but you may be at 12% depending on your muscularity and tightness of your skin.
- Being lean and toned means you are in the 8-12% body fat range. You will start seeing definition and abs especially if you have a good amount of muscularity.
- Getting shredded or what is termed competition shape in bodybuilding means you are in the 3-6% bodyfat range. You will have vascularity, striations, and abs at this point.
If you need help achieving any of the body types mentioned above check out Máquina Strength & Bodybuilding products 14 day FoolProof Challenge.