Am I Stuck with What I've Got???

Okay, here is a question that I will send out into the void, and perhaps some bored personal trainer or fitness expert can enlighten me (and any potential readers of this blog).


And let me preface the question by saying that I understand that as human beings our bodies are made up of genetic code that dictates things like our eye color, baldness potential, and possibly even obesity. These things are set in stone. My 5' 9" height has been dictated almost entirely for me by genetic information encoded within me (nope, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with whether or not I finished my plate of chicken pot pie, although that certainly could have added a substantial amount of GIRTH...).


I also realize that, as human beings, current science tells us that, despite the overwhelming diversity of individuals in our species, our body types can generally be broken down into three categories: mesomorph, endomorph, and ectomorph.

Mesomorphs are muscular and compact. They tend to look shorter than they actually are. They are generally the guys you don't want to mess with. They are usually powerful and fast with poor flexibility.



Endomorphs are the "perpetually doughy" look. I know this kid who was quite overweight, and then was able to lose all of his weight and maintain a healthy B.M.I. and all that jazz. He STILL looks a little pudgy, simply because he has this body type.



Ectomorphs are the bean-poles. They look long and lean, and are the kinds of people who seem to eat and eat and never gain a pound.



Obviously, in reality most people are not one single body type, but a mix of two or more. For example, I tend to have a very strong, mesomorphic lower body, yet my arms, shoulders, and chest are usually weaker than average.



I guess my question is: How much can diet and exercise affect the overall make-up of our muscularity and fitness?



I mean, taking examples from the basketball world, I look at a guy like Andre Kirilenko, or the retired Shawn Bradley. These guys have the country's best personal trainers working with them, and play positions, power forward and center, respectively, which almost REQUIRE some extra beefiness to battle for rebounds. Yet these guys never gain a pound. I remember reading one time that they had Bradley on like a 6,000- or 7,000-calorie diet to try to add some poundage to him, and it just didn't work. That's insane.



I realize that those are probably extreme examples, but the fact that even with a very rigid workout regime, these guys remain shockingly thin.



So, I again pose the question: Can you alter your body type? Can a mesomorph be as limber as an ectomorph or have the endurance of an endomorph? Can an endomorph get a 'cut' look like the mesomorph, or the lean look of the endomorph? Can the ectomorph pack on muscle like a mesomorph, or fill out their frame like an endomorph?



I have no idea.

P.S. Here's a good article I just found on the topic.