What is an Athletic Build? Characteristics, How to Get One & More

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ACE-certified personal trainer Monica Morris breaks down the athletic build

Co-authored by Monica Morris and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 Fact Checked

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• What is an athletic build?
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• Characteristics
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• Getting an Athletic Build
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• Optimizing Your Schedule
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• Other Build Types
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• Final Thoughts
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• Video

|Show more |Show less

Everyone’s gym goals are different, but there’s something special about the raw strength and muscle definition you get from achieving an athletic build. When you add the athletic ability that comes with it, well, that’s a build many strive for. If you’re looking to attain that athletic build, read on, as we work with ACE-certified personal trainer Monica Morris and exercise and wellness specialist Souad Gharib to teach you about the athletic build, its characteristics, how to get one, and more!

What is the athletic build body type?

ACE-certified personal trainer Monica Morris says an athletic build is the build of someone born with the genetic makeup needed to build muscle, which plays a big part in the shape and force you’re able to build. It is characterized by strong muscle definition, low body fat, high endurance, stamina, and power.

Steps

Section 1 of 6:

What is an athletic build?

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1. 
   An athletic build is a lean, muscular build driven by genetics. Morris says, “An ‘athletic build’ refers to an individual who is born with the genetic makeup for building muscle. Ancestry plays a big role in the shape/force someone has the capacity to build.” Athletic builds are characterized by their strong muscle definition (especially in the abs, arms, and legs), low body fat, strong endurance, stamina, power, and flexibility.

   • While some people are more inclined to build muscle, anyone can achieve an athletic build! It’s really all about how well-rounded and often your workouts are, and how well you eat.

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Monica Morris is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified personal trainer with over 15 years of experience.

   Souad Gharib is an exercise & wellness specialist who specializes in helping women reach their goals through exercise, nutrition, and counseling.
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Section 2 of 6:

Characteristics of an Athletic Build

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   Strong muscle definition The muscular, ripped look on the arms, back, legs, and other parts of the body is a key hallmark of the athletic build. By developing the different muscle groups and making sure your body is strong all-around, you ensure that you can perform well athletically, whether you’re on the field or on the court.

   • Practical benefits: Strong muscles are useful for lifting heavy objects and launching things a great distance.
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   Low body fat Athletic builds are known for their low body fat, which is useful for achieving athletic feats. By shedding body fat, you ensure that you have less weight dragging you down when you’re running or moving great distances. As a result, low body fat is great for athletes who have to do a lot of running, like soccer players, track and field runners, football players, and basketball players.

   • Practical benefits: Less body fat means more of your body is being utilized for exercise. The lack of body fat contributes to less drag on the body, which is good for sprinting and long-distance running.
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   Strong endurance Incorporating cardio into your schedule is key if you’re trying to get that athletic build, as it allows you to build your endurance and put effort towards your sport or activity over extended periods of time. This is essential for success-driven athletes looking to stay on top of their energy levels throughout the entire game.

   • Practical benefits: Strong endurance means you’ll be able to manage your energy levels better over time, improving your long-distance running skills and allowing you to do longer workouts.
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   High stamina Being able to keep up the effort is crucial for athletes, as you don’t want to gas out before the end of the game. This is where stamina comes in, as it allows you to maintain high intensity in key moments. By practicing high-intensity interval training (HIIT), keeping a clean diet, and keeping your cardio up, you make sure you’re consistently maintaining high stamina.

   • Practical benefits: High stamina allows you to keep your energy up in high-intensity moments, which are crucial for tight in-game moments.
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Section 3 of 6:

How to Get an Athletic Build

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1. 
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   Eat clean foods and stay hydrated. Avoid junk foods and opt for healthy, clean foods instead. According Gharib, clean foods include carbohydrates (brown rice, sweet potatoes, rice cakes, oats), healthy fats (fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts), and proteins (salmon, egg whites, chicken breast, turkey, beef). Drink lots of water, too, as dehydration can strain your body and muscles.

   • Monitor your eating habits and ensure you’re getting a healthy balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates to ensure your body has enough energy to build and recover muscle.
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   Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT workouts involve short bursts of intense exercise, which are followed by rest periods. You essentially work harder for a shorter amount of time (i.e., 15 seconds of working out and 75 seconds of rest). Not only do they help with cardiovascular fitness and staying lean, but they also enhance athletic performance, making it easier to achieve that athletic build. Some HIIT workouts include:

   • 20-30 minutes of intense running, cycling, or stair climbing.
   • Calisthenics and exercises that rely on your body weight, like jumping jacks, squat jumps, and burpees.
   • Mountain climbers
   • High knees
   • Squat jumps
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   Focus on functional workouts that strengthen your weaknesses. Functional workouts mimic real-life movements that you regularly perform. Mimicking these movements and getting stronger at doing them improves coordination, agility, and balance, all qualities that are crucial for good athletic performance. As you perform the following functional workouts, put extra focus on the weak parts of your body so you can build strength and stay well-rounded:

   • Kettlebell Swings: Plant your feet a bit wider than hip-width apart and hold a moderately heavy kettlebell in front of you. Contract your lats and sweep the kettlebell between your legs, holding the weight in your hips and hamstrings. Drive the kettlebell forward with your hips and glutes as you straighten your legs. Repeat the sweep 100 times (or as many times as you can within 10 minutes.
   • Box Jumps: Set up a box on the floor that’s roughly knee height. Stand tall at an arm’s length away from the box, slowly rising to your tippy toes and raising your arms. Bend your knees at a 45-degree angle as you lower into a squat and bring your arms down. Spring into a jump and jump up onto the box. After softly landing, step down from the box. Repeat 3-5 more times for 3-5 more sets.
   • Medicine Ball Slams: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the medicine ball at your chest using both hands. Brace your core, raise your knees, rise to your toes with your hips slightly thrust forward, and lift the medicine ball over your head. Squeeze your abs, drive your hips back, and slam the ball into the ground as hard as you can. Repeat 6-10 more times, aiming for 3-5 sets total.
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   Incorporate workouts that improve flexibility and reflexive strength. Flexibility and reflexive strength are essential for a functional athletic build, as you need to be able to quickly stretch your arms and legs in all different ways depending on your sport. So, incorporate practical workouts that improve them, like lower back hamstring stretches, arm circles, and banded Romanian deadlifts (RDLs).

   • Lower Back Hamstring Stretches: Stand with your feet together, one hand on a firm surface for support, and the other in front of you. Straighten your back, slowly bend your knees, and slowly lean forward from your hips. Reach toward the floor until you feel the stretch working in your lower back and hamstrings. Hold the position for 20-30 seconds as you take deep breaths. Slowly return to a standing position, then repeat two more times.
   • Arm Circles: Engage your upper back muscles as you raise your arms to shoulder level. Face your palms to the floor as you move your arms in soccer-ball-sized circles. Complete 15 reps, then do 2 more sets in the same direction. Do 3 more sets of 15 in the opposite direction.
   • Banded RDLs: Put a resistance band under your feet and hold it with your hands. Slowly bend down as you keep your back straight, your chest up, your core engaged, and your elbows locked. Come back up and let your body lift the band. Complete 15 reps, then do 2 more sets.
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   Do unilateral exercises that strengthen different sides of the body. Unilateral exercises help strengthen any parts of your body that are underweight or imbalanced. They’re essential for achieving that athletic build, as you don’t want any parts of your body to be less developed than the others, especially arms or legs. To ensure that you keep your body balanced and strong, do unilateral exercises like:

   • Single-Leg Squats: Stand with one hand supporting you on a strong surface, like a table, bench, or counter. Lift one of your legs so that your foot is slightly behind your body. Lower your body through your knee and squat down. Hold the squat for a few seconds, then lift yourself back up with your foot. Repeat 5-11 more times for 3-6 reps.
   • Single-Arm Rows: Hold a dumbbell of moderately heavy weight in your hand and bend over so your opposite knee and hand are supported by a bench. Brace your core and keep your back flat. Then, exhale and slowly pull the dumbbell up as you pull your upper arm backwards and bend your elbow. Inhale and gently lower the dumbbell to the starting position. Repeat 9-11 more times for 3-4 sets.
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   Even out your frame by building muscle and lowering body fat. Morris says, “To optimize building muscle while trying to lean out your body’s composition, eating every two or three hours, weight training five times per week (isolating each muscle group), and lastly doing cardio about three or four times per week, preferably at a separate interval than your weight training, will be your best bet.”

   • Morris suggests jump roping for cardio, saying, “As long as your knees are in good health, I highly recommend.”
   • Really emphasize rest when you can here. You want to give your body time to recover from the intense weight training, especially if you aren’t used to it.
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   Focus on rest and slow, mindful workouts. Rest is just as important as working out, as it gives your muscles time to recover and come back stronger. Rest doesn’t necessarily mean inactivity, either; there are plenty of slow, mindful workouts you can practice on work days to keep your body active and achieve that athletic build, like light yoga. Some techniques to practice on your work days include:

   • Child’s Pose: A pose that involves kneeling, sitting on your heels, and folding your torso and head towards the floor as you reach your arms forward.
   • Downward Dog: A pose where you put your body in an inverted V shape by getting on all fours and lifting your hips while keeping your feet and hands on the floor.
   • Legs Up the Wall: A pose where you lie with your back on the floor and your legs extended towards the ceiling against a wall.
   • Happy Baby Pose: A pose where you lie on your back, bring your knees to your chest, grab your feet or ankles, and gently part your knees and move them towards the floor.
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   Don’t forget to stretch! Stretching ensures that your muscles remain flexible and mobile, which is crucial for performing well athletically. If you don’t stretch, your muscles will shrink and become tight, which isn’t exactly optimal for athletic performance. So, stretch daily and focus on the areas of your body that are most needed, like your lower body, arms, and back.
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Section 4 of 6:

How to Optimize Your Schedule for an Athletic Build

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1. 
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   Dedicate 3-4 days of the week to working out. Giving yourself 3-4 days to exercise throughout the week ensures that you build up strength in specific areas of your body (given that you switch up the areas you’re targeting). During these days, focus on balancing between cardio and strength-training, as both are needed to achieve a lean, athletic build.
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   Build your schedule around your energy levels. To determine the best workout schedule, Gharib says to “see when you have the most energy,” and base your schedule around that. “If you prefer morning workouts, then wake up earlier and get it out of the way before your day starts.”

   • Gharib says that by optimizing your schedule, “You will be more productive and have more energy and mental clarity.”
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   Use the LULU method for your workouts. The LULU method, also known as upper/lower splits, involves splitting your workout sessions into lower and upper body days. The first lower body day focuses on strength, the first upper body day focuses on strength, the second lower body day focuses on impulse, and the second upper body day focuses on hypertrophy:

   • Lower Body Day 1: Work on building strength in your lower body by focusing on calves, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and quads.
   • Upper Body Day 1: Work on building strength in your upper body by focusing on chest, shoulders, biceps, back, triceps, traps, forearms, and core. Then, take a rest day.
   • Lower Body Day 2: Work on impulse development by doing sprints, plyometrics (fast, explosive movements like skips), squats, and deadlifts.
   • Upper Body Day 2: Work on building muscles in your upper body by doing bicep curls, tricep extensions, and other hypertrophy exercises.
   • If you really want to build muscle, add an extra day involving plyometric movements, like leg jumps, skips, stair jumps, and hurdle hops. Just make sure you’re dedicating your rest days to resting.
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   Keep your diet clean and do workouts you enjoy to stay consistent. Consistency is key for building an athletic physique, as it ensures that you’re keeping your body active and your muscles working. Consistency is also easier when you enjoy what you’re doing! Gharib says to become more athletic, “Find different ways to work out so that it is enjoyable. Start to clean up your diet and give your body the right foods. Do this by setting some SMART goals.”

   • SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals that are actionable and trackable.
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   Incorporate rest days into your schedule. Rest days are just as important as workout days. On your rest days, your body gets time to relax and repair any damaged muscle tissue. Not only does this keep you from working out too much and overexerting yourself, but it also lowers your risk of injury. On top of that, a lack of rest can result in mental burnout, plateauing, and emotional distress.

   • If you’re working out 3-4 times a week, try to incorporate 2-3 rest days into your schedule.
   • Make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night so your body has enough time to recover during your resting hours.
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Section 5 of 6:

Other Build Types

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1. 
   1
   Slim Build A slim build is a skinnier build characterized by slight muscle definition and a thin, slim figure. Aside from the slight muscle definition, slim builds also have low body fat, like athletic builds. Unlike athletic builds, though, they don’t always come with stamina, endurance, and flexibility. You still need to work out to attain those.
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   Sleeper Build A sleeper build is a build where you’re buff, toned, and muscular, but not in an obvious way. Sleeper builds are typically tucked away underneath baggy clothes, but once the person flexes or wears tighter-fitting clothing, their strong, bulky physique shines through. They are typically attained through a good diet and weightlifting with big weights and low rep counts.
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   Gym Body A gym body is a strong, muscular build characterized by its attention to aesthetics over functionality. Like athletic builds, the gym body prioritized strong muscle growth, a symmetrical look, and strong muscle definition through weightlifting, resistance exercises, and unilateral exercises. Gym bodies don’t tend to be as functional as athletic builds, though, as they don’t always prioritize functionality.
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Section 6 of 6:

Final Thoughts

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1. 
   Obtaining an athletic build requires a good diet, dedication, and consistency in the gym. By dedicating 3-4 days to doing intense, well-rounded exercises that hit your arms, legs, chest, back, and other parts of your body, you will be able to obtain that muscle definition, strength, stamina, and endurance that’s crucial for an athletic build. Just remember to keep a clean diet of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, and make time for rest.

   • During your rest days, do light yoga and stretches (or even a brisk walk) to keep your body moving. Don’t go too far, though, as rest is crucial for muscle repair and growth.

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