Body Type Calculator
Pick one of two modes. Shape or quick type works differently for each sex. With Female selected, enter bust, waist and hip measurements in inches or centimeters. The result is one of four body shapes with style tips: apple, pear, hourglass or rectangle. With Male selected, enter height and weight. The result is a somatotype read from your BMI alone: ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph. Somatotype from measurements uses the Heath-Carter method. It rates endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy from height, weight, skinfolds, bone breadths and girths. Height and weight alone give ectomorphy, one of the three numbers. These labels describe body shape, and the evidence for anything beyond that is weak.
How to use the Body Type Calculator
- Pick Shape or quick type, or Somatotype from measurements.
- For Shape or quick type, choose your units and sex, enter the fields shown and press Determine Body Type.
- For Somatotype from measurements, enter your height in cm and weight in kg. Add the skinfolds, bone breadths and girths if you have them, and leave the rest blank.
- Press Calculate Somatotype and read the three ratings. To try other numbers, change any value and press the button again.
The rules and equations the calculator uses
Female: apple if the waist is at least 80% of both bust and hips · · · pear if the hips are more than 5% wider than the bust and waist ÷ hips is under 0.75 · · · hourglass if bust and hips are within 5% of each other and waist ÷ bust is 0.75 or less · · · otherwise rectangle · · · Male: BMI under 20 ectomorph, 20 to 25 mesomorph, over 25 endomorph · · · Heath-Carter: endomorphy = −0.7182 + 0.1451 X − 0.00068 X² + 0.0000014 X³, with X = sum of 3 skinfolds × 170.18 ÷ height · · · mesomorphy = 0.858 humerus + 0.601 femur + 0.188 corrected arm + 0.161 corrected calf − 0.131 height + 4.5 · · · ectomorphy = 0.732 HWR − 28.58 at a height-weight ratio (HWR) of 40.75 or more, 0.463 HWR − 17.63 above 38.25, otherwise 0.1
The female checks run in that order and the first match wins. Those and the male BMI bands are rules of thumb. The Heath-Carter equations come from J.E.L. Carter's instruction manual and use metric units. HWR is height in cm divided by the cube root of weight in kg. A corrected girth is the girth minus its skinfold in cm, triceps for the arm and medial calf for the calf. A rating at 0 or below counts as 0.1. The manual calls ratings up to 2½ low, 3 to 5 moderate, 5½ to 7 high and 7½ or more very high, and names 13 categories such as ectomorphic mesomorph, which the calculator applies to the ratings rounded to half units.
Worked example
A woman measuring 36, 28 and 38 inches at bust, waist and hips gets pear. Her hips are more than 5% wider than her bust, and waist ÷ hips is 0.74. A man 5'10" tall at 145 lb has a BMI of 20.8, which the calculator reads as mesomorph. At 200 lb his BMI is 28.69 and the result is endomorph. For somatotype, take subject 573 in Carter's manual: 178.3 cm, 69.2 kg, skinfolds of 6.4, 7.1, 4.6 and 5.2 mm, humerus 7.2 cm, femur 9.75 cm, arm 33.9 cm and calf 37.6 cm. The calculator gives 1.6, 5.4 and 3.2, the manual's own figures, which round to 1½-5½-3, an ectomorphic mesomorph.
Frequently asked questions
How strong is the evidence for body types?
Weak, beyond describing a shape. William Sheldon proposed ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph in the 1940s, and Wikipedia's article on his theory says his claims have since been dismissed as quackery. The Heath-Carter method, still used in anthropometry, is a description. Carter's manual defines a somatotype as the present shape and composition of the body, and it gives no advice on diet. This page has no source showing that eating or training by type gets better results.
Am I an ectomorph?
Height and weight give you the ectomorphy number. Subject 573 at 178.3 cm and 69.2 kg rates 3.2, which the manual calls moderate. To call someone an ectomorph, the manual needs ectomorphy to be dominant over the other two, so you need the skinfolds, breadths and girths too. A home tape measure is not the method the manual describes, and it assumes a trained measurer.
Should I train differently based on body type?
This calculator cannot tell you that. The male quick type is a BMI band, the female result is a set of tape ratios, and a Heath-Carter rating describes your shape today. None of them tests how your body responds to training, and this page promises no result from any plan.
Why did I get rectangle with a narrow waist?
Rectangle is what remains when the other three rules fail, so it does not always mean a straight figure. Measurements of 40, 28 and 34 inches give rectangle, because the waist is under 80% of the bust, the hips are not wider than the bust, and bust and hips are 15% apart. A bust of 36, waist of 30.4 and hips of 39 give rectangle too. The hips are more than 5% wider than the bust, but the waist is 78% of the hips, and pear needs under 75%.
How accurate is this classification?
The quick type is a rough sort, not a measurement. The male result comes from BMI only, worked out the same way as on the BMI calculator, so a muscular man with a BMI of 27 reads as endomorph. The Heath-Carter rating is closer to a measurement, but only as good as the skinfolds and breadths you enter. Its manual says reliable measuring takes training and considerable practice.