Every human body is unique, displaying diverse proportions and skeletal structures. Determining your body shape and somatotype is not about judging your physical appearance, but rather about understanding your natural proportions to guide your fitness programming and styling choices.
Fashion and structural design classify female body shapes using ratios between the bust, waist, and hips: - Hourglass: Bust and hips are of similar width, with a significantly narrower waist (waist is at least 25% smaller than bust and hips). - Pear (Triangle): Hips are significantly wider than the bust and shoulders. - Rectangle (Banana): Bust, waist, and hips are relatively equal in width, with little waist definition. - Inverted Triangle: Bust and shoulders are wider than the waist and hips. - Spoon: Hips are wider than the bust, with a defined waist, but the hip measurement is larger than the bust by a wider margin.
To check your body composition alongside your shape, see our body fat percentage calculator.
In fitness and biology, bodies are also grouped into three generalized metabolic and structural somatotypes: - Ectomorph: Lean and long, with difficulty building muscle or fat. Typically has a fast metabolism. - Mesomorph: Athletic and muscular, with a natural ability to build muscle and burn fat easily. - Endomorph: Strong and stocky, with a slower metabolism, meaning they gain weight easily and store fat.
To see how your resting metabolism compares to your somatotype, see our basal metabolic rate planner or check our full daily calorie energy planner.
Use a flexible cloth tape measure, keeping it snug but not tight: - Bust: Measure around the fullest part of your chest, keeping the tape parallel to the floor. - Waist: Measure at the narrowest point of your natural waist, typically an inch above your navel. - Hips: Measure at the widest protrusion of your gluteal muscles.
To see if your overall weight matches healthy parameters, use our Body Mass Index classifier or view our healthy weight range finder and ideal weight solver.
- Ectomorphs: Should focus on resistance training to build lean tissue, paired with a calorie surplus. - Endomorphs: Benefit from combining heavy strength workouts with cardiovascular exercise to manage fat-free ratios. - Mesomorphs: Typically respond well to a balanced program of strength and conditioning.
To calculate your total protein and carb needs to support training, try our protein calculator and check our carbohydrate calculator. To manage daily fat intake, see our fat intake guide.
Your body type affects your daily energy expenditure. Endomorphs may need to pay closer attention to active energy burn during cardiovascular workouts compared to mesomorphs or ectomorphs.
To calculate your total daily burn based on lifestyle and exercise, use our total daily energy expenditure solver. To calculate lean body weight, try our lean body mass estimator. To calculate workout splits, try our pace calculator, or see energy expenditure with our activity calorie expenditure finder.
Evaluating structural ratios helps you see body changes that are not captured by a standard scale. For example, building shoulder muscle while losing fat around your waist changes your waist-to-hip ratio, even if your total weight remains unchanged.
For calculating specific ratio differences, try our relative ratio solver. If you need standard math helps, visit our everyday daily math helper.