One of the most beautiful things about women's bodies is that each one is different. Just take a glance around a locker room or beach and you'll know what I mean. The array of shapes and sizes is amazing. Still, most of us fall into one of two loose categories: apple or pear. I'm definitely a pear, which means I carry more weight in my lower body than my upper body. After years of working out, I know that I have to tailor my workout program to accommodate my smaller upper body and my ever-widening butt. Understanding and looking at your body will help you determine the best workout for you.
But regardless of your shape - apple, pear, or fruit salad - appreciate your body's strengths and make the most out of what you have.You can't alter your bone structure or change where your body naturally stores extra fat. Most of that is in our genes - a little gift from mom and dad. But what you can do is lose inches and tone your problem spots, which will give you a new sense of well-being and empowerment, as well as a fabulous figure, whatever its shape.
An easy way to see whether you're an apple or a pear is to start by taking a good look at your body in the mirror, preferably with no clothes on. Eyeball where most of your body fat is apportioned. The apple shape is medically known as an android, which in Greek means man. Gals with apple figures tend to have larger breasts, thin thighs, relatively no butt, and waists that are bigger than their hips. The pear is known as the gynoid, which is Greek for woman. Pearshaped women usually have small waists and upper bodies and larger hips and butts.
Apple-shaped gals typically gain weight around their middles. Fat around your middle - also known as a pot belly - often means you have visceral, or internal, fat that's surrounding your organs and sometimes even in the liver. We all have some visceral fat to protect our organs and act as an insulator. However, too much of this internal fat is not a good thing. It's more dangerous than carrying your weight around your booty, hips, and thighs like pears do because it can boost your blood sugar and increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Research shows that these risks increase if your waist measurement is more than 35 inches. But you don't even have to have a major beer belly to have visceral fat. Even skinny-minnies with small pot bellies may have it. The key is to look at the waist-to-hip ratio: If the waist is wider than the hips, that could mean trouble.
Your genes are about 30 to 60 percent responsible for how much visceral fat you have. Some research has suggested that extra fat around the belly is also caused by a hormone called cortisol, which your body pumps out when under stress. At the same time, cortisol stimulates your cravings for fatty, sugar-filled foods. Foods that contain trans fats may also be to blame, suggests a study from Wake Forest University.
Enough of the bad news. The good news is that you can do something about this. Studies from Duke University Medical Center found that exercise can significantly reduce the amount of visceral fat clinging to an apple gal's tummy. Losing as little as 7 percent of your total body weight - just 10 a half pounds on a 150-pound woman - can help. If, on the other hand, you keep your butt planted firmly on that couch, you'll not only pack on the pounds but also add more internal fat to your body. Another study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that those who didn't exercise had an 8 percent increase in visceral fat in just six months. Apples usually have less muscle tone on their legs than on their upper body.Working the legs more frequently to build muscle mass and definition will balance the apple's appearance.
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