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    • Pear shaped and exercise

    Posts: 76 Member
    edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
    I am pear shaped , This week I have been to the gym everyday and ran or been on the cross trainer . It has enabled me to stay at a defecit and ive had a week of no binges ... HOWEVER

    Yesterday I ready a book stating that pear shapes should not do exercises like the cross trainer or running as it will make there legs look bigger ....

    It suggested only walking and yoga and defo no weights lower body . It said the aim is to loose muscle from the legs or they will just look bigger

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    • Posts: 76 Member
      What do I do now !???
    • Posts: 4,047 Member
      Can you please tell us what book?
    • Posts: 7,097 Member
      connorlauren3638 wrote: »
      I am pear shaped , This week I have been to the gym everyday and ran or been on the cross trainer . It has enabled me to stay at a defecit and ive had a week of no binges ... HOWEVER

      Yesterday I ready a book stating that pear shapes should not do exercises like the cross trainer or running as it will make there legs look bigger ....

      It suggested only walking and yoga and defo no weights lower body . It said the aim is to loose muscle from the legs or they will just look bigger

      Running doesn't really build muscle, so that sounds wrong.

      And women have to lift a hell of a lot of weight to add any muscle.

      Do whatever exercise you enjoy! You look great in your profile pics!
    • Posts: 85 Member
      You don't want to lose muscle in your legs. What that terrible book didn't tell you is that having more lean muscle mass causes your body to burn fat faster. So if you eat in a calorie deficit while doing things like strength training, you keep your muscles and burn off the fat that's sitting on top of them. And then you look leaner overall.
    • Posts: 1,400 Member
      "It said the aim is to loose muscle from the legs or they will just look bigger"

      I have to say that is some of the worst advice I've seen on here. I'm pear-shaped and I'm a runner. I've lost four inches off my hips and four-and-a-half inches off my thighs this year. My legs look noticeably smaller.

      You should throw that book in the trash.
    • Posts: 1,597 Member
      connorlauren3638 wrote: »
      I am pear shaped , This week I have been to the gym everyday and ran or been on the cross trainer . It has enabled me to stay at a defecit and ive had a week of no binges ... HOWEVER

      Yesterday I ready a book stating that pear shapes should not do exercises like the cross trainer or running as it will make there legs look bigger ....

      It suggested only walking and yoga and defo no weights lower body . It said the aim is to loose muscle from the legs or they will just look bigger

      Bad info. I lift heavy and my hips & legs have gotten smaller. Not as pear shaped as I was. Do any exercise you enjoy and that you will stick with. Deficit for fat loss.
    • Posts: 2,468 Member
      I think any excersize that uses legs will add some edema for at least 24 hours, so if that what the book is saying, well, ok,you get a temporarily a bit larger calves maybe, and maybe in time you build some muscle.

      Its great that you can build muscle in your legs. They are the pillars that hold us up and keep us strong enough to keep marching into old age. Rejoice in your shape!
    • Posts: 4,658 Member
      Absolute rubbish. You will not gain any muscle in a caloric deficit especially not from cardio.
    • Posts: 429 Member
      I'm also pear shape and I love lifting and running.....
    • Posts: 35,719 Member
      trigden1991 wrote: »
      Absolute rubbish. You will not gain any muscle in a caloric deficit especially not from cardio.

      this
    • Posts: 120 Member
      I am a 5'1" formerly pear shaped gal myself. I believed this myth for years, but discovered that it's wrong, wrong, wrong!

      Due to a knee injury, I started slowly a couple of years ago with low impact body weight exercises for my lower body; such as leg lifts. Kept adding more reps and harder variations as I grew stronger. Started noticing a change in my pants size. I was losing sone weight along the way but still noticed I was getting into smaller sized pants than I ever had when at the same weight before. Wish I would have taken measurements.

      Been in maintenance over a year. current exercise routine is probably 70% lower body strength and 30% upper body - all body weight exercises, no weights. I walk 2-3 times a week for cardio - nothing major.

      My lower body has never been this proportionate - I'm an hourglass now instead of a pear! I wish I would have started focusing on lower body strength training much sooner.
      connorlauren3638 wrote: »
      I am pear shaped , This week I have been to the gym everyday and ran or been on the cross trainer . It has enabled me to stay at a defecit and ive had a week of no binges ... HOWEVER

      Yesterday I ready a book stating that pear shapes should not do exercises like the cross trainer or running as it will make there legs look bigger ....

      It suggested only walking and yoga and defo no weights lower body . It said the aim is to loose muscle from the legs or they will just look bigger

    • Posts: 87 Member
      I'm pear shaped. I sling heavy weights around 4x a week and my legs? Not getting BIG. They're getting toned though, and I've lost almost a full inch in the last month. Go ahead and burn that book and find an exercise you love.
    • Posts: 4,047 Member
      Seriously I'd like the source book please?
    • Posts: 181 Member
      Truly--that's crazy talk. It would be good to know which book is promoting that claptrap....

      OP, congrats on finding an exercise you like to do. Keep it up!
    • Posts: 2,111 Member
      Im pear shaped and doing a recomp. In over 240 days I have only gained just over 1lb of actual new muscle (dexa scan confirmed) and most growth is in my upper body. I suspect this is because I lacked muscle there more and spent 6 weeks on crutches giving my shoulders quite the work out. The point...my legs havent bulked. I do weighted squats almost daily, over an inch lost from each thigh.
    • Posts: 76 Member
      Sorry for late reply , the book is bye bye thunder thighs by Hugh camille
    • Posts: 4,658 Member
      SCoil123 wrote: »
      Im pear shaped and doing a recomp. In over 240 days I have only gained just over 1lb of actual new muscle (dexa scan confirmed) and most growth is in my upper body. I suspect this is because I lacked muscle there more and spent 6 weeks on crutches giving my shoulders quite the work out. The point...my legs havent bulked. I do weighted squats almost daily, over an inch lost from each thigh.

      And that 1lb of lean body mass is probably water.
    • Posts: 8,736 Member
      connorlauren3638 wrote: »
      Sorry for late reply , the book is bye bye thunder thighs by Hugh camille

      Throw that book out. It is utter nonsense
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