Workouts that produce certain results
 

Do you think that certain workouts really produce a certain look or do you think that genetics dictates what your body looks like no matter what? Have you tried a bunch of different workouts but your body pretty much stays the same (assuming your diet is good).

Never mind

I've seen zero convincing evidence that a certain workout will make someone look a certain way that they didn't already look like to begin with, only with more fat or less muscle.

ETA: I'm just saying what I've seen for myself personally, of course YMMV

My feeling is that both workout type and genetics come into play. For example, if you do Callanetics, and Callanetics only for an extended period of time, you will never look like you have been in training for a (bodybuilding) fitness competition, regardless of body type. However, a true ectomorph may never look as buff as a mesomorph who puts in the same effort into muscle building workouts-- but they may very well look muscular.

I think it goes both ways. I think people who do yoga for a long time frequently have that "yoga body". But maybe the people who are predisposed to having that body are the ones that are attracted to yoga as a form of exercise because their body type helps them excel at it? I hope that makes sense...

I just happened to notice once that female Olympic gymnasts seem to be mostly short and stocky (muscular). You don't see a lot of tall, lanky gymnasts. But since they start training in childhood, maybe the training type affects muscular development?

But for the average population doing exercise for about an hour a day, I think you can have more or less body fat and maybe a little more or a little less muscle with one training method than another, but generally you're going to have the same basic shape.

I feel that various types of conditioning do produce slightly different results - if he genetics are there to support them in the first place. The difference is subtle though and is mostly to do with various areas of focus and thus somehow varied development (ballet feet, yoga butt, weight lifting shoulders etc).
I don't believe that you can transform one body type into another, if its bone structure and proportions are not there to support it.

It's a bit of both.

In many sports possessing certain physical attributes gives an athlete an advantage over other competitors. In basketball, for instance, height is an advantage and as a result the NBA is full of giants. Similarly in gymnastics, having a short, stocky physique is a competitive advantage and therefore we see mostly those types of gymnasts at Olympic level competition.

However not all top gymnasts have that type of body. Svetlana Khorkina was a world champion gymnast who had a (relatively) tall and slim physique.

I would say your genetics are most important, since you can't change that variable. You can't change your bone structure or your somatype. Your workouts will either enhance what you have/your potential, or not.

I don't know how important this is, at the recreational level. e.g., if you are built like a sprinter but want to run distance, you'll probably never be as good a distance runner as you would be a sprinter, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't run distance. You're not maximizing your potential, so to speak, but if you're happy, who cares?

Note that I didn't mention the mythical bulking or long lean lines of a dancer, because if I did, I'd have to shoot myself and I haven't even had coffee yet. But same rules apply. If you have (and recognize) a certain potential, you can play toward it to maximize it or play against it. Or you can do whatever the hell you like, and let the chips fall where they may. :) That would be my choice.