The physique is determined by the sizes, shapes, proportions and features of the location of different parts of the body relative to each other.
Depending on this, you can easily make your figure more beautiful: remove the “excess” somewhere, and add muscle shape somewhere.
We bring to your attention specially selected programs for each body type.
Surely you have already heard about the pear-apple, hourglass body types... However, when it comes to correcting your physical shape with the help of a physical activity program, the three body types described are not enough, since there are several mixed body types, where the characteristics of some body types overlap with others.
So, we can distinguish 6 types, conventionally named by the letters of the Latin alphabet: T, A, O, H, I and X. Let's look at each type with examples of training.
T-type or inverted triangle
Women with a T body type need to focus on the lower body. Intensely train your buttocks so that they become more convex - this volume will help remove the impression of “flat” shapes and give the body an attractive roundness
Body Features:
- “boyish” appearance;
- tendency towards thinness;
- broad shoulders;
- small breasts;
- tendency to gain weight in the upper body;
- slim waist;
- narrow hips;
- thin legs, small calves.
Exercises for T-type (for outer thighs)
Perform forward lunges (for the inner thighs) with dumbbells.
Perform three sets of 15–20 repetitions on one leg, then on the other leg.
Lying leg curl
Lie down on a leg curl machine bench. Bend your legs with maximum amplitude until your thighs touch the machine’s roller. During leg extension, do not relax the muscles. Perform three sets of 12–15 repetitions.
Standing calf raise (for inner calves)
Stand on a stand 15–20 cm high, turn your socks at an angle of 45 degrees outward. Rise as high as you can to stand on your toes, then slowly lower yourself, bringing your heels closer to the floor.
Perform three sets of 15–20 repetitions.
Additional exercises:
These upper body exercises will help you gain the volume that this body type usually lacks.
Bent-over dumbbell row
Perform three sets of 12–15 repetitions.
Lifting dumbbells in front of you (for the front parts, deltoids)
Stand with your feet apart, lift the dumbbell with both hands up to head level, and slowly lower it to the starting position.
Perform three sets of 10–15 repetitions.
(for chest muscles)
Lie on a bench with an incline of 30 degrees (dumbbells to your shoulders). Straighten your arms, “squeezing” the weight, then slowly lower the dumbbells down.
Perform three sets of 10 repetitions.
Aerobic exercise
After an athletic workout, do aerobics for 20–30 minutes on any of the machines: rowing machine, stair machine, ski machine, stationary bike, or just walking with weights.
A-type or triangle
This body type is the most common. The most difficult areas are in the pelvis and hips, where excess fat is most often deposited.
Body Features:
- “pear-shaped” body shape;
- “non-athletic” muscles;
- narrow chest, narrow back;
- protruding belly;
- tendency to accumulate fat in the pelvic area;
- wide pelvis, large buttocks.
Another disadvantage is the low tone of the muscles of the shoulder girdle. To compensate for the “unathleticism” of the upper body, it is necessary to focus on exercises for the shoulder girdle, pectoral muscles and triceps.
Exercises for type A
Swing your leg to the side
Three approaches 20-30 times on each leg, you can use weights.
Inclined leg press (to remove the “breeches” - loose parts of the thighs).
Place your feet on the top of the platform (legs apart) at a distance of 20 centimeters parallel to each other. Squat down slowly; when going up, do not stop, lift your pelvis off the machine (you can also lift your heels off the platform).
Perform three sets of 15–20 repetitions.
Dumbbell bench press (for the sides of the chest)
Raise the dumbbells forward, lower them down to your shoulders (until the muscles are tense), hold your hands in this position for one count, then slowly raise them forward.
Perform three sets of 10 repetitions.
Lateral dumbbell raises (for shoulder girdle muscles)
Raise the dumbbells to the sides, round your elbows, and turn your palms down. Slowly lower the dumbbells to the starting position.
Perform three sets of 12–14 repetitions.
(for abdominal muscles – lower bundles)
Hanging on the bar, bend your legs as much as possible (knees to chest)
Perform three sets of 15 repetitions.
Aerobic exercise
After strength exercises, move on to aerobic exercises: dance aerobics, step, ski or stair training, stationary bicycle or gliding machine.
10-minute set of exercises for tightening the whole body
You should start a set of exercises to tighten your entire body with a warm-up and end with a cool-down.
The time spent on such stages is not taken into account when calculating the total duration of the express workout:
- Running in place with high hip raises – 2 min.
- Forward lunges with weights – 3*10.
- Knee push-ups – 10 reps.
- Plank with alternating knees – 3*5.
- Lying down crunches – 30 reps.
- Leg abduction to the sides and back – 15 for each direction.
- Jumping from the bottom point – 2 min.
To achieve visible results from express training, you must perform it daily, gradually increasing the load and number of repetitions.
As a physical activity for every day, it is not recommended to choose a long complex consisting of more than 10 exercises for different muscle groups. You can achieve an ideal figure with the help of basic training that can work the muscles of the whole body without spending a large amount of the athlete’s physical and emotional resources.
Knowledge of the execution technique, as well as the principles of compatibility of exercises, will allow you to independently create a training program, even for a person far from the world of sports.
O-type or "Apple"
Women of this type usually do not exercise at all and do not monitor their diet, which leads to disastrous results. But no matter how hopeless your figure may seem to you, you cannot despair. Hard and regular training will definitely bring success.
Body Features:
- pronounced fullness;
- cellulite;
- large breasts;
- rounded back (due to excess weight);
- full hands;
- protruding belly;
- rounded hip lines;
- the hamstrings and buttocks are not separated;
- massive calves.
Exercises for O-type
(for hamstrings)
Bend your legs with maximum amplitude, perform leg extensions with resistance at a slow pace.
When repeating the exercise for the second time, bend your legs only to half the amplitude, and perform leg extension with resistance at a slow pace.
Alternate full and incomplete repetitions, but count only complete ones.
Perform three sets of 15–20 repetitions.
Leg press (for buttocks)
Stand in the center of the platform of the vertical press machine (the distance between the feet is 30 cm, toes outward), transfer the weight to the heels.
Perform the bench press for three sets of 12–15 reps.
Russian twists (for the waist)
Perform torso turns to the right, then to the left, in a sitting position, sitting on the floor with your legs bent (keep your knees together).
Perform three sets of 50–75 repetitions (a repetition is considered to be turning the body to the right and left).
Abdominal retraction (for the waist)
Standing or kneeling, take a deep breath, pull in your stomach as much as possible, hold this position for 15-120 seconds, then relax your abdominal muscles and restore your breathing. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise two more times.
Aerobic exercise
Be sure to include aerobic training (running, swimming, exercise bike) in your program - at least 3 times a week.
For beginners: start with 12 minutes and increase the duration of exercise by 2 minutes each week until you reach a half-hour workout without rest at your optimal heart rate.
Diet
As we already said, you can't eat fast food and try to lose weight. Training should be accompanied by a diet. However, this does not mean at all that it should be as strict as possible, with the exclusion of everything tasty and beloved from the diet. Diet here means proper nutrition. And it does not require a lot of restrictions. Its main postulates are:
- absence of bad habits. Alcohol is very high in calories, and cigarettes put a huge strain not only on the lungs;
- avoidance of foods high in carcinogens, dyes, food additives, salt and sugar. Fast food and factory-made sweets should disappear from the diet;
- drinking regime. A person must drink at least 2 liters of clean water (juices, teas and other drinks do not count);
- include more protein and fiber in your diet. These are healthy foods that quickly saturate the body without giving it an excessive amount of calories;
- use special dietary supplements. For example, for those losing weight, there are entire lines of Herbalife products that reduce cravings for sweets and help remove excess water from the body.
I-type or rectangle
An I-shaped figure is characterized by thin bones and weak muscles. Representatives of this type have almost no fat deposits and have a high metabolic rate.
This figure needs to be added to its roundness, for this you need to combine a well-thought-out training program with a specially selected diet that will help you increase weight without “gaining fat.” You could have inherited such thinness or due to intense exercise, lack of appetite, or various diseases.
A calorie deficit combined with high-intensity training depletes the body. Excessive thinness is associated with too high a metabolic rate; gastrointestinal diseases, when nutrients are not fully absorbed; diabetes, which sometimes leads to weight loss.
It is recommended to adhere to the following rules during training:
- Lift heavy weights for relatively low reps. Sports science has clearly established that for anabolism (muscle tissue growth) it is necessary to perform 6-10 repetitions per set with heavy weights.
- The length of rest between sets depends on your goals. If you need to “burn” fat, rest should be short. The more often you train your muscles, the faster they will acquire the necessary roundness, but do not allow daily training - you only need to do bodybuilding no more than three times a week.
- To begin with, train once a day for at least two months, then try switching to a twice-daily training system. After three weeks of this schedule, return to one-time training. You also need aerobics to strengthen your cardiovascular system. Brisk walking for 20–30 minutes or swimming (three times a week) is recommended.
We recommend that you read the article How to gain weight quickly for a thin girl.
Memo for losing weight
A kilogram of fat and a kilogram of muscle occupy different volumes in our body. But, unfortunately, when trying to lose weight solely with the help of diets, it is the muscles that “deflate” first. This is due to the fact that the body, which is under stress (and any diet is stress), begins to intensively defend itself. The reaction of the ancient brain is triggered, for which a sharp drop in daily calories consumed is evidence that the body needs to be put into an emergency state. Fat reserves are deposited, a person loses energy: the body goes into an energy-saving mode, allowing it to survive without food. Therefore, any diet will not give the expected effect if you switch to it abruptly or do not support it with physical activity. What do you need to remember if you want to lose weight?
- The calorie content of dishes should be reduced gradually. You cannot suddenly stop eating fatty, fried meat, sweets and stop frying food in butter if you have been doing this for the last few years. Everything harmful should be eliminated from the diet gradually. If you usually consumed 2000 calories a day, to lose weight you need to reduce them to 1500. But this must be done within three to four weeks, not faster!
- Monitor insulin levels. This hormone transports glucose throughout the body, increasing glycogen stores in the muscles. This substance is necessary for effective training. Insulin rises after each meal, interrupting the processing of fat cells for 1-2 hours. That is, regular snacking with sandwiches, cookies and candy increases weight precisely because insulin production increases. Carbohydrates should be consumed only at strictly defined times and not exceeding the daily dose in accordance with the harmonious calculation of the BJU.
- Exercise regularly. Exercises for beginners are good because they are quite easy and simple to perform. Therefore, there is no need to abandon them: if you trained for two weeks and then abandoned them for several days, there will be no result. To be effective, a serious systematic approach is required. The habit is developed in forty days, so you will have to do all the exercises honestly and regularly for at least a month.
Interesting fact:
Simple walks help you lose weight. Yes, it is absolutely not necessary to run in the morning and evening. Firstly, incorrect running is harmful to the knee joints. Secondly, for some people who are losing weight, going for a walk is mentally easier and more enjoyable than going for a run. The only condition: daily walks must be at least 3 kilometers. Ideally, 6–10, but few agree to such feats.
H-shaped body type or “Brick”
An H-shaped figure is characterized by wide or medium bones, small breasts, and full legs. The visual impression is that the width of the shoulders, waist and pelvis is approximately the same.
In women of this type, there is a tendency to form fat deposits in the thighs and abdomen, and the metabolic rate is moderate. A big plus is always slender legs. Your muscles, which are naturally strong, respond very quickly to formative exercises with weights.
The main problem is the “sides”. The first task is to get rid of fat deposits. Belly fat is naturally given to you, so it is not so easy to remove it, since the fat cells on the waist are the largest and most fat-hungry.
You shouldn’t pump up your abs in hopes of “building a waist.” Stop: you don’t have it and never will. Physical exercise and nutrition cannot change the skeleton, but even deformity can be completely spoiled. Exercise alone will not help here - you also need to adhere to a low-calorie diet, aerobics and a training program aimed at the abdominal muscles.
Certain types of aerobics (45 minutes several times a week) specifically make the waist area “lose weight”!
The training program is built on the principle of separate training: on Wednesday and Saturday - exercises for the abs, and on Monday and Friday - for other parts of the body. As usual, aerobic training is included in the program to burn fat.
Exercises for H-type
Cardio
Your ideal cardio is where your midsection engages. The incline treadmill and stepper are your everything.
Strength training
Avoid exercises that place a lot of stress on your lower back. No heavy deadlifts, weighted crunches, or especially dumbbell side bends.
Allocate two workouts a week on legs and build them as follows: at the beginning of the workout - heavy complex exercises (all kinds of squats, bench presses), after - “grinding” with lunges, extensions, abductions.
In combination with confident, muscular legs, the torso will not look so massive. Heavy training will help you add muscle, but there is a nuance here: feel where the load is going and be able to remove it from those parts of the body where it is not needed.
X-type or hourglass
An X-shaped figure is characterized by medium bones, a narrow waist, a full chest, the width of the shoulders is approximately equal to the width of the hips, fat deposits are formed on the buttocks and thighs, and an average metabolic rate.
The classic female physique is the hourglass. The main task is to maintain your physique, protect it from excess fat deposits, and not lose the elasticity of your body, and for this you need to do physical exercise and eat wisely, combining bodybuilding with aerobic training.
Full body workouts and interval cardio workouts are great options. See an example of a full body workout below:
Remember, the results of training cannot be lightning fast - you need to be patient, and your body will thank you.
The main thing is to have patience!
Additional workouts
For those who find regular exercises not enough, we suggest considering several additional training options for beginners. These are fashionable and useful activities that allow you to strengthen your muscles and stretch your ligaments.
Yoga
. The practice is not for everyone: it is contraindicated for people with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and back injuries. The rest can watch a video from the Internet and enjoy the simplest asanas for beginners. There is absolutely no need to go to the gym for this. The advantage of yoga is that its ease (at the initial stage) hides the possibility of quickly burning a large number of calories.
Pilates
. You can do it, like yoga, without an instructor at all. All you need to do is get a mat, watch a few basic exercises and strengthen your own muscles at home.
Dancing
. Yes, you can dance at home too. And most modern trends help a lot in getting rid of excess fat. And for those who like more traditional options, you can try belly dancing: belly dancing really does a great job of strengthening your muscles.
