You may know how to dress to best flatter your body’s shape, but do you know how to tailor your workouts to produce the most flattering results for your body type? We’ve compiled expert-recommended workout plans for the four most common body shapes—if you’re putting your precious time towards a workout, make it one that’s going to help you look your best.
Rectangular/Straight (Ectomorph)
A rectangular, or straight, body shape is often characterized by a long and lean frame, with long arms and legs with narrower hips--think Nicole Kidman or Cameron Diaz. The goal here is to gain muscle mass and tone without burning off too much fat from your already thin frame.
If you belong to the rectangular body shape, you’ll want to concentrate on strength and resistance training to tone your body, particularly your arms and legs.
For strength training your upper body, try spiderman crawls, bear crawls and crab walks. “These exercises will work upper body, core and some lower body muscles all at once giving you a big bang for your buck time-wise,” explains certified personal trainer and holistic lifestyle coach Briar Munro. You can also do the arm workout that also applies to pear shaped ladies (keep reading for that workout).
To tone your stems, certified personal trainer Katie Humphrey recommends a thigh-targeted workout of lunges, squats, plies and deadlifts. Do at least three sets of 15 reps for each of these exercises. You can use weights if you like, but lower the resistance if you up the number of reps.
Lunges: Start with both feet together, then slowly step one leg forward, allowing both knees to bend so that the forward leg is parallel to the floor and the knee of the rear leg almost touches the floor. Next, slowly push off with your forward leg using your glutes and hamstrings to step back together. Be sure you are stepping out far enough so that your leg muscles, like the quads, hamstrings, glutes and inner thighs, are doing most of the work (not your knees).
Squats: Stand with legs hip-width apart, then lower your glutes toward the floor. When lowering yourself, be sure to really "sit back" so your knees don't come over your ankles. Once you are in a low, seated position, lift up to return to your original standing position.
Plies: Perform these just like squats, but start with your legs further apart and with your toes turned out about 45 degrees. Be sure that when you "squat," your knees face the same direction as your toes.
Dead lifts: Hold weights with palms facing your legs, feet about hip-width apart and bend over with your legs straight and back flat. Lower as far as you can and return to starting position while squeezing your gluteal muscles. For more on how to get toned, slim thighs see: http://www.chickrx.com/articles/what-you-need-to-know-to-get-slimmer-thighs
Apple (Mesomorph)
The apple body shape can sometimes appear as a more athletic build in those that workout often. In fact, apples often build muscles faster than others and often worry they bulk up too fast. Apples usually have wider shoulders than hips and gain weight in their midsection more often than other areas. Famous apples include Jessica Simpson, Oprah and Drew Barrymore.
To get in shape without adding bulk, apples can concentrate on cardio paired with yoga or Pilates, which will help form longer, leaner looking muscles. Yoga such as that in the vinyasa flow may also be helpful for this shape. (For more on calorie burning yoga workouts check out: http://www.chickrx.com/articles/calorie-blasting-yoga-moves)
If you want to concentrate on blasting fat, try incorporating high intensity interval training with your cardio. Interval training is also great to help you get through a weight loss plateau, says registered dietitian Michaela Ballmann. “This could take several forms such as circuit training or spinning,” she says, “where you keep the intensity high and then do spurts where you are really exerting yourself and taking your heart rate up with little bouts of rest in between sets.” In addition to hitting up a local yoga or Pilates class, you can also try the following Pilates-based exercises at home to tone your abs and body overall. Certified personal trainer, yoga teacher and nutrition consultant Kimberly Garrison recommends the following toning moves (she suggests doing a cardio workout most days and toning workouts, like below, at least two to three times a week, skipping a day in between):
Plank: Lie on your stomach on a mat. Then get into position by placing your forearms onto the mat and lifting up so that your shoulders are right over your elbows. Then extend your legs behind you and rest your weight on the tip of your toes (like if you were doing a pushup) and your forearms. Make your body form a straight line from your shoulders to your toes (don't lift your hips too high or arch your back). Keep your abs tight and hold this position as long as you can without bending your back. Try to hold it at least 10 seconds, and gradually work your way up to holding it for 60 to 90 seconds. Take a break and then repeat two more times, for a total of three sets.
Side Plank: This is similar to the regular plank, but done on your side. So get on your right side, with your legs straight and stacked one on top of the other. Extend your right arm so that you are propped up on your elbow, which should be lined up under your shoulder. Put your left hand on your left hip. Keep your body straight, not allowing your hips to dip towards the ground. Keep your breathing steady. Hold this position for at least 10 seconds (try to work up to 90 seconds eventually). Switch sides and repeat. Do three sets on each side.
Leg Raises: Lie flat on your back, and extend both legs toward the ceiling with your feet flexed (as if you were standing on the ceiling). Slowly lower both flexed legs toward the floor, and once they get about six inches from the floor, slowly raise them back up to starting position. Place your hands under your buttocks for extra spinal support. Do three sets of 10 to 25 reps.
Pear (Endomorphs)
Pears or endomorphs are those ladies that carry their weight in the lower part of their body--hips, thighs and rear. Pears most often have shoulders that are narrower than their hips--think beauties like Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce.
If you’re a pear you want to work on building up your upper body with strength training for balance to your shape while trimming down your hips, thighs and waist. To blast the fat your body is storing in your lower body, you’ll want to make sure you’re using cardio in your workout plan and then tone up your thighs and butt with lunges and squats. For the arm you can do more targeted exercises.
For building up your arms, Katie Humphrey recommends three sets of 15 reps for each of the following arm-focused exercises: chair dips to build your triceps, bicep curls, shoulder raises and tricep kickbacks. For the bicep curls, shoulder raises and tricep kickbacks Humphrey recommends using a dumbbell between 3 and 15 pounds.
Chair dips: Stand facing away from a chair's seat. Sit on the edge of a chair's seat and grab the edge of the seat with both hands, shoulder width apart. Still gripping the chair's edge, lift your butt off the seat and walk your feet forward. Make sure your knees don't bend past your toes. With your shoulders back and chest up, slowly lower your butt downwards, stopping just before your arms form a 90-degree angle. Then slowly extend your arms straight, raising yourself up to complete one rep.
Bicep curls: Grasp a dumbbell in each hand, arms by your sides, and palms facing inward. Stand with your back straight, knees slightly bent, and abs contracted. Keeping your elbows still by your sides, slowly turn your palms outward and raise the weight by bending your elbows. Stop when the weights are approximately 4 inches from your shoulders. Focus on contracting your biceps and hold this position for 1 to 2 seconds, then slowly lower the weight down and turn your palms back inward. That's one rep.
Shoulder raises: Grasp a dumbbell in each hand, arms by your sides, and palms facing inward. Keeping your arms straight, slowly raise them straight in front of you, stopping when your hands are at shoulder height. Slowly return back to the starting position for one rep.
Tricep kickbacks: Bend forward from your waist, with a dumbbell in your right hand. With your right elbow at your side, position it so that it's slightly higher than your torso. Hold the dumbbell directly below your elbow, your arm forming a 90-degree angle. This is starting position. Keeping your elbow still, slowly push the dumbbell back until your arm forms a straight line. Slowly return to starting position for one rep. Once you've done your right side, switch to your left.
Hourglass
The hourglass shape needs no explanation. These ladies have busts and shoulders that are the same width as their hips with a smaller defined waist--Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson and, of course, Marilyn Monroe probably come to mind.
When hourglass figures put on weight, they tend to store it all over their body rather than one particular area. Because of this, you’ll want to concentrate on full body toning--cardio is key for this shape. You can start with cardio first like fast-paced up-hill walking, running, swimming, dancing or any other favorite cardio routine. Follow up with lunges, pushups or sit-ups using a stabilizer ball or planks.
One area hourglass figured gals need to concentrate on is strengthening their backs, as they often have larger busts which can create bad posture, back pain and strain. In addition to strengthening your core with planks, which will, in turn, help strengthen your lower back, certified personal trainer Jennifer Menzer recommends band or cable rows, rear deltoid flys and lat pull downs to target your upper back.
If gym equipment intimidates you or if you need to save time, Menzer says you can also use yoga or Pilates, both all-inclusive workouts, to strengthen your back.
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