A quantitative, and therefore more rigorous, indication of what one’s body composition should ideally look like is provided by the somatotype. The somatotype is a particular biotypological classification of individuals based on certain anthropometric parameters. The authors of the method I am going to present, Heath and Carter, modified and (according to most) improved an earlier work by Sheldon from 1940. They believe that a somatotypical classification of the human body into three different components is possible: endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy. More specifically, endomorphy is associated with the amount of body fat, mesomorphy with the amount of muscle (and bone) mass, while ectomorphy can be considered as a measure of body ‘length’. In other words, individuals with a high ectomorphic component tend to be rather long. These three components are variously distributed in the general population, so each individual may have more or less of each. A method for calculating one’s somatotype will be presented later. For now, what is of interest is to understand what one’s own somatotype should look like. For this purpose, the graphical representation of the somatotype is particularly useful, as it makes it possible to identify ‘zones’, i.e. intervals between the values of the three components that are positively correlated with performance in particular athletic specialities.

The somatocard

  The somatochart is, in fact, a chart that provides an immediate visual indication of one’s somatotype. It is a Cartesian plane within which the various somatotype components can be related to each other. The somatotype chart can also be divided into six zones, each corresponding to specific value ranges of the somatotype components positively correlated with specific athletic performance. In more detail:

• zone A: the high mesomorphic component, together with the low distribution of endomorphy and ectomorphy (with the latter, however, prevailing over endomorphy), makes individuals whose somatotype is located in this zone particularly performing in disciplines such as gymnastics, most team sports and the fast running specialities of athletics.
• Zone B: the somatotype of individuals falling in zone B implies a moderate distribution of both the mesomorphic and ectomorphic components, while the endomorphic component is reduced. Athletes whose somatotype falls in zone B are particularly good performers in endurance disciplines such as marathon running.
• Zones C, D and E: Individuals whose somatotype falls in zone C have a body composition in which the ectomorphic component prevails over the others, while those whose somatotype is located in zone D see the endomorphic component prevail in them. Both the former and the latter turn out to have a physique that is inadequate for athleticism in general due to the excessively low distribution of the mesomorphic component, which, it should be remembered, is associated with muscle mass. Individuals with a somatotype in zone D, moreover, in addition to the problems due to the low distribution of mesomorphy, also have others due to an excess of endomorphy. It is generally those individuals whose somatotype falls in zone D of the somatotype that are associated with the lowest level of success in athletic performance, whatever that may be. Individuals with a somatotype in zone E, on the other hand, are also unsuccessful in any type of performance, but this time not because of a reduced distribution of mesomorphy, which appears moderate in them, but because of an excess of endomorphy.
• Zone F: Finally, as for the physique of individuals whose somatotypical value falls in zone F, the high mesomorphic component, together with low components of endomorphism and ectomorphism, with the former prevailing over the latter, is particularly suited to power performance, such as weightlifting, but also to disciplines such as wrestling.