Man, I'm a High School Runner and was wondering if you think being an ectomorph (slim, slight) is a big advantage to distance runners. I realize I'll never turn Kenyan but I've contemplated whether eating minimal meat and plenty of carbs will get rid of some useless muscle mass. Thanks.
I'd be curious about this too. I'm no lightweight. Just not my body type, but I do wonder if it's possible to get rid of some excess muscle.
What works for one body, might not work for another body. How one person responds to training may be different than how another person responds to training. Unless you have been lifting heavy weights for months on end you shouldn't have any useless muscle mass. Simply run hard and run far and your body will adapt to the training in a way that may be different than how a Kenyan adapts to the training. There are pros and cons to having an ectomorph body type and a mesomorph body type. There have also been a lot of world class runners with more of a mesomorph quality (Derek Clayton for one, first person to break 2:10 and 2:09 in the marathon). The Japanese marathoners have a tendency to be more bulky than their Kenyan counterparts but they have the second greatest depth in the marathon next to the Kenyans. Don't worry about your muscle mass unless you used to lift a lot of heavy weights. Runners need protein to rebuild muscle tissue after hard training so greatly reducing meat intake could be a bad idea. Simply train hard and your body will adapt to it in a way that fits YOUR body. There have been very skinny milers and very broad milers. There have been very skinny marathoners and pretty broad marathoners.
Alan
Thanks, and yes I do lift 3 x a week around 3x12 sets and reps, but have now increased it to 3x15. I've been averaging 50 miles a week for the past 5 weeks (with hill workouts), and am now starting to race (mile and 2) What you said about body types makes sense. Thanks
The whole endomorph/ectomorph/mesomorph thing is an arbitrary classification. It is a system no more useful than phrenology (the belief that bumps on your skull can reveal how smart you are) and not something that you should spend too much time worrying about.
Ectomorph is just a fancy way of saying "really skinny person"
Yes, but some people put on muscle mass easier than others. This is a trait of "mesomorphs". Others have a hard time gaining any weight atall. This is a trait of "ectomorphs". Some people put on weight very easily. This is a trait of "endomorphs". Take someone who could be called an "ectomorph" and someone who could be called an "mesomorph" and put them each through a distance training program. The mesomorph will likely gain more lower body muscle mass than the ectomorph because that's how his body responds, even though both are trained the same way and may even have the same PRs.
Alan