Phil Catudal - Just Your Type: The Ultimate Guide to Eating and Training Right for Your Body Type

B E HONEST: A T THIS VERY MOMENT, DO YOU HAVE THE BODY you want? Im guessing the answer is no since youve picked up this book. Well, youre in good company (and you definitely get props for coming clean about this). Many people discover that even after theyve been killing it at the gym or sticking with a wholesome, balanced diet, they dont get the results they were hoping for in terms of changing their body shape or body composition. Maybe they cant shed the body fat or gain the muscle definition theyve been striving for. Or maybe they dont get the energy or stamina they want. Or maybe they dont achieve the personal record they were working toward. This may be because while they appeared to be doing everything right, they were actually following the optimal protocol for someone elses body, not their own. In other words, it might have been the ideal approach for their best friend or boss but not for them.

At any given hour during the day, millions of Americans are working outrunning, lifting weights, or engaging in some other form of cardiovascular or resistance training. For the first time ever, in 2016 more than half of people in the United States reported that they were getting the minimum amount of exercise recommended by health experts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While thats a major milestone, in my experience approximately 70 percent of people are exercising the wrong way for their bodies needs. To put it another way, for every 10 people who are exercising or working out, only about 3 of them are doing what it takes for them to achieve results efficiently.

Confused? Heres the backstory: every single one of us has a genetic blueprint that dictates our body type (a.k.a. somatotype). Every body type has its advantages so dont judge. But different body types do respond differently to certain dietary regimens or fitness programs. So, if you havent achieved the fitness or weight control results youve been aiming for, this may be because you werent providing your body with the physical challenges or the nutrients it needed to transform its appearance and physical condition. Its not your fault since you probably didnt have the fitness know-how or the right tools to do this. So dont beat yourself up about what didnt go right in the past, and stop bemoaning the build you were born with. Its time to take a different tack.

Whether you have a naturally athletic or curvaceous build or a physique thats slender, wiry, or willowy, theres good news: with the right exercise modalities and the right foods, you can turn the body you have into the body you want, losing inches, dropping pounds, and developing a more sculpted look in the process. You can perform better at certain sports, gain energy and stamina, and improve your overall health along the way. The key is to work with your individual body, rather than against it, based on your natural somatotype. There are three basic body typesectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphsthat can determine how you respond to certain foods and physical activities, what your hormonal and metabolic characteristics are, and how much lean muscle and body fat you have (and where its located). This is something else you can partially thank your parents for: research suggests that a persons somatotype is 56 to 68 percent inherited (for the record, the mesomorph type has the highest degree of heritability), according to researchers from York University in Canada. Few people are purebreds, though, as far as body types go; instead, most people have a mix of characteristics from different somatotypes.

Once you identify and understand what your body type is, youll discover how to work with it to achieve your weight and fitness goals. Adjusting your diet, your objectives, and expectations and adapting your workout approach to suit your DNA-determined reality can help you get to that prize. In other words, you can cultivate what you didnt get automatically from your genetic makeup. There are limits, of course: eating more healthfully or training more efficiently for your body type wont make you taller or change your bone structurebut it can change your body composition, as well as the way you feel, for the better. And thats where this book comes in: youll learn how to put together a diet and exercise plan thats designed for your natural-born body type so that you can fuel it optimally with your food choices and enhance it with the right workout approaches to achieve your goals to get fitter, stronger, sexier, and more self-assured.

Trust me on this because Im personally and professionally familiar with the importance of working with your body, instead of against it. After winning a five-year battle against childhood leukemia (I was the bald kid in my kindergarten photo because of chemo), I became a fitness freak in my teens and developed a diet and exercise regimen that helped me become super strong and fit; before I knew it, people at the gym were begging me to train them. I thought about becoming a doctor but decided that instead of treating people who were sick, I wanted to help people avoid going down the path to disease or illness. Today, I am a highly successful global health coach and celebrity trainer based in Los Angeles and a father of three.