For those with siblings, I've got a question. Do you share similar body types with your brothers and sisters? I've got a brother and sister that I look completely different from. With the exception of hair color and facial features, our bodies are totally different. My brother is extremely thin and hovers right around 8% body fat year round. He doesnt exercise much but eats fairly well. My sister takes ballet and is a vegetarian, but also remains fairly thin without much effort. I on the other hand, normally sit at 10-11%, but have to exercise regularly and eat well to maintain this. However, I have the ability to put on muscle much easier than my brother. I'm just wondering if body types usually run the same in families, or if it's likely that one sibling might take after one parent more?

My bro and I could be twins! Except for the rather obvious fact that he puts on muscle faster because hes a guy, we have extremely similar body types. But then, our parents also have very similar body types?

I have a brother who is 7 years older. We couldn't be more different. He's short, heavy, and bald with brown eyes. I'm the opposite. On the other hand, my kids could pass as twins.

For those with siblings, I've got a question. Do you share similar body types with your brothers and sisters?

Yes and no. Of the five of us, three of us have the trademark thick and powerful legs, and the other two don't have 'em. My brother the power lifter is the only one of the five who has the big legs and also has big arms. I would guess his arms are from his decades of heavy lifting and his legs and lower back are mostly genetic.

My brother and I are completely different...we don't look a like at all and our body types are completely different.

With my 4 kids, there are some similarities, with 2 being the similar and another 2 being similar.

Both of my brothers are overweight and have almost no muscle. They started getting larger when they were preteens. I've always been rail thin and low fat.

Yes and no. My brother seems to eat mostly junk, but has a low bf% and average/low muscle-mass (like a f/weight boxer I guess). He rides a sportsbike through the day though, perhaps an example of endurance training?
I'm probably in the 12-13% range (don't know, never checked!), I've probably got more mass. Good genetics both sides of the family, so I can't complain :)

I am the second oldest of 6 kids. 3 girls, 3 boys. 3 of us are classic ectomorphs. Two of my brothers are taller than I am, and one brother, my older brother is a good 4 inches shorter than I am. Most of us are lean. Although I do have a sister that is only 5"5 and a classic endomorph.

Our heigths are all over the place (b) 5"9 (g) 6"0 (g) 5"5 (B) 6"2 (G) 5"9 (B) 6"1

My Dad is 6"4, but all of his length is in his body. He has only a 32" inseam. My mom is only 5"4 and a tad overweight. Me, I am 6"0, but mostly legs, although I do have a long torso, I do best with a 34" inseam.

My sister and I both have muscular legs and green eyes.

But I tend to hold on to fat easier than she does, she's more ecto-meso, while I'm more pure meso (maybe endo-meso).

And she looks a lot more like a woman than me.

Yeah, my brother, sister and I all have the basic same body types -- mesomorphs (my mom and dad were both mesos). My brother doesn't do any exercise though, so while we retain similar body shapes, I am significantly more muscular than he is, and I also have less body fat. If he exercised, he'd put on a lot of muscle and strength relatively quickly. My mom has always been freakishly strong .... stronger than alot of men her size...and although my sister isn't quite as strong, she inherited the ability to put on muscle very easily...which to her, is a source of frustration. She refuses to lift weights because the second she sees an emerging tricep bulge, she thinks she is turning into a man and immediately quits. :mad:

My brother and I couldn't be more different. But we both have characteristics from both of our parents.

My brother's shorter (about 5'7.5" or so) and hovered around 135-140lbs for YEARS - only recently has he been up over 150'ish. He has lighter skin, but *black* hair and dark brown eyes. He's 3 years older than I am and is more often compared to a similar look to Tom Cruise.

I'm about 6', currently close to 240 (closer to 260 about 5-6 weeks ago when I started this). I've been over 200 for as long as I can remember. I've got darker skin, medium brown hair and a sort of icey blue eye colour. I get compared to someone more like Russell Crowe (as opposed to his Tom Cruise).

He's always been more active than I have, but always ate similarly poorly. I got the raw deal on the body type, though.

It's just so funny that two people can be similar in so many ways, can be so different as well. A year and a half ago, I found myself 40 pounds over weight. It was the accumulation of 10 years of bad habits, but my brother would never have that problem. I'm envious sometimes, but he's also very bird chested, and has absolutely no muscle. I often wonder how thin I should be? I've been through so many bulking/cutting cycles that since I began losing fat over a year ago I've really never just ate without counting calories. I don't think I'm predisposed to be as thin as my brother, but I wonder? I'll have to give it shot one of these days.:D

I've always been stronger than my sister (when I was 4 and she was 6, I used to pull her around in the wagon), but up until a couple of years ago, I also carried a lot more fat than she did. I always thought of her as tall and thin (she's 5'7") and I'm a little more short and stocky (5'5", with large calves and broad shoulders).

Interesting about my kids though. They seem to have taken on our current physical states. Our older one looks like my husband, but she is generously built; whereas he was always thin up until we got married. My little girl is blonde like me, and has the good musculature, but does not carry any of the extra fat that I had between five and thirty years old. Makes me think it could be a diet issue (not that she eats any more healthy than her sister :confused: )