Oh no! You’ve been so busy with midterms, spring break, everything else Hopkins has to offer that you might have put off working on that summer bod. Well, not to worry, you still have plenty of time. It’s going to take hard work, sweat, and maybe some tears, but it’s going to be worth it when you’re strutting around at the pool, or maybe even on the beach! Sometimes we might get a little antsy and might start looking into fad diets to speed up the process but let’s be honest, they are hard to stick to and usually don’t work, right? Right. There actually is another way to speed up your fitness progress and that is to work out for your body type. By body type I don’t mean skinny, fat, muscular, slender, athletic, or any of those terms, I literally mean the shape of your body. The shapes are: pear, apple, banana, and hourglass. Thanks to breakthroughs in science, there is now a specific way to work your body, according to your shape, in order to see faster and better results!
1. Pear
Type: You’ve got full hips, thighs, and bottom and you’re a little narrower on top. Pears are smaller on top, and easily pack weight onto the lower half of your body. Having a pear shaped harder actually makes it harder to tone your arms and shoulder – partly because you might be too busy knocking out those lunges and squats, but partially because of the fat and muscle distribution that makes you a pear.
Soul Sisters: Some famous ladies that rock the pear shape are Alicia Keys, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Rihanna, and Jennifer Lopez.
The Fix: Cardio and complexes are your friends! The best cardio for you is going to be interval training and “hill” training (increasing and lowering the incline to create a hill effect), which can be done with a treadmill, elliptical, bike, and even those cool Arc Trainer machines in the gym! Complexes are a combination of moves done at the same time. Some good complex moves would be a curtsy squat/row, lunge/shoulder press, and burpees. You can get creative with your moves, but you’re shooting to work your top and bottom in one move.
2. Apple
Type: You’re almost the opposite of an apple. You’ve got narrower hips, a less defined waist, and a flatter bottom, but you’re nothing close to flat chested and are broader in the shoulders. Slim apples are slightly athletic looking and have a lower body fat percentage.
Soul Sisters: Think Jessica Biel, Tyra Banks, Angelina Jolie, and Rosie O’Donnell. There is a lot of variation with an apple shaped body!
The Fix: Along with high intensity interval training, you’ll want to incorporate moves that focus on your core and lower body, like your glutes and thighs. A good high intensity interval training session is to hop on a type of cardio machine (a stepper would be best for you) and to go all out for 30 seconds to a minute then rest until you feel your hear rate slow down, and then repeat the process. Planks, supermans, and bicycles are tummy toners and side lunges, squats, and leg raises can perk up that bottom!
3. Banana
Type: You have very few curves – a mostly undefined waist, narrow hips, and maybe even a small bust. You’re stick straight, which is never a bad thing! Your banana shape probably makes it difficult to add muscle tone to your figure.
Soul Sisters: These lovely ladies share your straight body type: Cameron Diaz, Keira Knightly, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Reese Witherspoon.
The Fix: The best way to create the illusion of curves is to tighten your core and perk up your bottom, that way you’ll be able to pull in your obliques to add curves to your waist and add muscle to your bottom for a rounder look! You don’t need to go so heavy on the cardio, but it’s still important to work it in to your routine at least 3 times a week, and when you do, definitely work on an incline! Good exercises to tighten those abs are: plank, roll-ups, crossover crunches, and just about any exercise with a stability ball. Glute-wise, lunge/shoulder press combinations, squat/over head presses, and squat jumps will lift your bottom.
4. Hourglass
Type: Curves, curves, and more curves. Your waist is small compared to your bust (sometimes) and hips. You’re problem might be a lack of muscle tone, or maybe you’re thighs and upper arms stick out just a little more than you would like them to.
Soul Sisters: Beyonce, Scarlett Johannson, Drew Barrymore, and Salma Hayek share (and embrace!) your curvaceous figure.
The Fix: You’re going to want to incorporate both cardio and strength training into your routine. It’s important to do mostly cardio if you still have some love around the edges that you’d like to get off before training with weights too much because you don’t want to force your curves out any more with muscle. High interval training will work for you just like it does for apple body types. Once you get into strength training, full-body toning exercises will help balance out your curves. Focusing on your arms and legs is a good way to start out. Step-ups, hip bridges, and reverse lunges will help to slim down your lower body while bicep curls, triceps extension, shoulder presses, and triceps kick-backs will tone up your upper body!
Sources:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com…
http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr…
http://www.brainyweightloss.co…
http://www.look-fabulous.com/c…
Images:
http://www.freedigitalphotos.n…
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