© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 1 Somatotypes

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body What you will learn about in this topic: 1.Body types (somatotypes) 2.How somatotypes are determined 3.Which somatotypes suit which sports Somatotypes 2

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 3 Learning objectives By the end of this presentation you should be able to: Understand what somatotypes are Describe each somatotype Explain why different somatotypes are suited to certain sports

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes Somatotyping is a method of identifying people by their body shape. There are three extreme categories of somatotypes: Endomorphic Mesomorphic Ectomorphic Somatotypes 4

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 5 A person with an endomorphic body type has a tendency to put on fat, has a soft roundness of shape, short tapering limbs, small bones and wide hips.

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body A person with a mesomorphic body shape usually has a high proportion of muscle and bone, a large trunk, a heavy chest, broad shoulders and narrow hips. Somatotypes 6

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body A person with an ectomorphic body shape has a lean, fragile, delicate body, small bones and is narrow at the shoulders and hips. Somatotypes 7

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Each somatotype has a 1 to 7 score where 1 is low and 7 is high. Each person is measured to find their personal mark. A non-sportsperson may have the following combination: 4, 3, 3 (4 = medium endomorphy, 3 = low mesomorphy, 3 = low ectomorphy). Somatotypes 8

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body There are very few people with the extreme examples of these body type. Most people have a combination of all three. Sportspeople generally have more mesomorphic (muscle) and ectomorphic (thinness) than endomorphic (fatness) characteristics. Somatotypes 9

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body A top-class sport, however, will attract the best extremes of body type suitable to that game. Somatotypes 10 For example, basketball will attract players who are all very tall and thin with sinewy muscles, falling into the ectomorph/mesomorph category.

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Jockeys, swimmers and marathon runners fall into the ectomorph (relatively thin) category. A centre in netball, a gymnast and a sprinter are all mesmorph types (relatively muscled). A prop in rugby would be the mesomorph/endomorph type. Somatotypes 11

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Task What would you say is your somatotype? Make a poster to show the different types of bodies sportspeople have. Use photos from magazines or the Internet to illustrate a range of types. Somatotypes 12

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 13 Exam questions 1. What somatotype do sumo wrestlers tend towards? Explain your answer. 2. Using a sporting example, describe what an extreme mesomorphic person would look like.

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 14 What you have learnt in this topic: 1.Body types (somatotypes) 2.How somatotypes are shown 3.Which somatotypes suit which sports

© Folens 2009 FOR EDEXCEL 1.2.1a Physical activity and your healthy mind and body Somatotypes 15 Learning objectives You should now be able to: Understand what somatotypes are Describe each somatotype Explain why different somatotypes are suited to certain sports