Would you generally describe yourself as lean and lanky? Do you have longer arms and legs with a slimmer midsection? You might be an ectomorph. Ectomorph is one of the three main body types, also called somatotypes. The other two are mesomorph (more naturally muscular) and endomorph (may gain weight more easily).

“An ectomorph might have a thin, narrow, or smaller frame without a lot of muscle,” says Adam Feit, head strength and sport psychology coach for Precision Nutrition in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Most people are a mix of body types, since we’re all unique individuals, he says. However, if you have ectomorph characteristics, thinking about your body type and how it impacts your natural preferences for exercise and plays to your strengths and weaknesses can help you create a well-rounded routine that improves your health and performance.

What Types of Exercises Should You Do if You’re an Ectomorph?

First, remember the underlying rule that the best workout (no matter your somatotype) is one that you want to do and you stick with. However, because ectomorphs generally are lean and lanky and don’t tend to build muscle easily, you should likely be doing strength training because increasing strength helps you avoid injury and maintain mobility and functioning over time, says Feit.

“It’s natural to gravitate toward things we’re good at. For people with lower body fat, they may find they naturally excel at endurance activities, like running,” says Feit. Running is a very effective aerobic workout. Compared with people who don’t hoof it regularly, runners enjoy a 27 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality, according to a November 2019 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

But ideally it’s not the only exercise you should be doing (nor is any other steady-state aerobic activity, like walking or cycling) — especially if you’re an ectomorph.

For a more balanced routine, consider adding HIIT (high-intensity interval training) or strength training, says Feit. Strength workouts improve bone mineral density and the efficiency of your muscular system, which interacts with your cardiovascular system, he explains. HIIT and other types of interval training help boost aerobic capacity, so you get more efficient at all of your workouts over time, according to Mayo Clinic.

For ectomorphs, these types of exercises boost the areas of fitness the body may be more prone to struggling with (strength and power) and they’ll help you do better in the areas of fitness the body tends to do well with (aerobic exercise).

For clients who have gravitated toward more cardio-heavy workouts, Feit suggests starting a strength routine with moves such as dead lifts, squats, split squats, tricep presses, bicep curls, and shoulder shrugs.

As for structuring a strength workout, Katrina Pilkington, a National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer in Sacramento, California, recommends performing 8 to 12 reps of the exercises you pick with a slow-focused tempo all the way up and down. This will train muscle fibers for both strength and endurance. Another option is to set a timer for 30 seconds and do as many reps as you can in that time frame. Perform three sets total of each exercise.

Mobility and flexibility training is also important to maintain and improve range of motion in joints. Feit often recommends interspersing mobility moves with strength in the first 5 to 15 minutes of a workout. For example, for shoulder mobility add a band pull-apart: Hold a resistance band with each hand, raise arms to shoulder height and pull hands apart. Try a hip opener stretch or a spinal twist. Bonus: These type of “moving” stretches will also relieve tension and tight muscles (which generally feels really good).

Common Ectomorph Exercise Mistakes — and How to Fix Them

Limiting Yourself Building muscle might be something you have to consistently work at, and it will be challenging. But you can absolutely reach your goals to get stronger, says Feit.

Too Many Miles Not all ectomorphs like to run or even enjoy endurance exercise. But if you do enjoy endurance activities, you likely know the tendency to want to keep increasing that mile count (whether you’re walking, running, cycling, or cross-country skiing). Adding distance will increase fitness, says Pilkington. But using some of that time for other types of exercise (like the aforementioned strength and interval training) might do your body more good than those extra miles, she says. “If you want to get faster and be a more powerful endurance athlete, you have to train your muscles accordingly.” (Strength training appropriate muscle groups also helps prevent overuse injuries for those who do long-distance activities.)

Skipping Exercise Ectomorphs tend to have long, lean body types naturally and not gain weight readily, which may lead you to think that based on your aesthetics you’re fit. Fitness is about more than aesthetics. No matter your weight, you need to be doing aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises to maintain fitness (which in turn promotes health by decreasing the risk of health problems like heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and early death). “Your body was meant to move,” says Pilkington.

Only Doing One Type of Yoga Yoga is a fantastic mind-body exercise that helps relieve stress, improve mood, diminish pain, lose weight, and more. But just like it’s not ideal that your only form of exercise is running, it’s not ideal for your only form of exercise to be yoga either. If a steady practice of yoga brings you joy, Pilkington recommends varying the type of yoga you do. For instance, there’s hatha yoga (generally a slow-paced style), which could be great when you need to de-stress, but it may not be intense enough to boost strength. You might also want to try yoga with weights or a yoga flow class (like vinyasa yoga) to boost aerobic fitness, Pilkington says. “As you age, strength and bone density start to decrease. You want to maintain it.”

Forgoing Protein If you exercise for endurance, you may be used to focusing on carbohydrates to fuel your workouts. To build muscle and meet your energy demands, you need protein, Pilkington says. If you’re making pasta for dinner, try adding chicken or tofu. If oatmeal is your breakfast of choice, add some nuts or a spoonful of peanut butter.

Not Making Modifications Longer legs might make dead lifts and squats more challenging for you compared with someone who is proportionally closer to the ground. Modify them by shortening the length of movement. For instance, position a low box in front of you while you do a dead lift, and touch the weight to the box (instead of the floor), so you’re not reaching down so far that you’re compromising the posture you’re trying to maintain, recommends Feit. For squats, it’s okay to go only as far down as your legs allow without compromising a straight back and keeping your heels on the ground.

Doing Too Much Too Quickly When It Comes to Strength Training If your goal is to do 8 to 12 reps per set for strength training, but you can do only 4 reps of the move, then do 4 reps, rest, and then do 4 more. The goal is to complete the reps in as few sets as possible, and that can be something you work toward, says Feit. Trying to crank out too many reps without a break may compromise your form, which can make the move less effective and increase injury risk. What’s more, exercise is about challenging yourself, but if you get frustrated by what you’re doing, there’s a risk you might stop doing it altogether. The point of a workout is that you should be working through it; if it’s easy you’re probably not making progress.