Pear-Shape Advice from Personal TRAINER.
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Bump0
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Found this on a personal trainers blog.. Is this true?? Pear-shape women should NOT be using weights when losing fat at first or incline??
The pear shape - How to change this look?
Hi again,
since some people asked me about how to get rid of their pear shape, I’m happy to tell more about it in detail.
First of all> What is a pear shape?
Girls with a pear shape tend to have fat storage on their hips and legs but close to none at their chest, arm and stomach area. Do not mix them up with the hour glass shape…as those lucky ones have fat storage around their hips AND chest/arm area.
So what happens is that the more body fat a girl with a pear shape has the more the hips and legs expand. The upper body normally stays nearly the same.
The other thing is that women with a pear shape not only have most of their fat storage around their hips and legs BUT even their bone structure is normally slightly more wider around the hip area then average. So even when girls with a pear shape loose a lot of weight they will still have a round looking hip.
The other interesting thing to mention is that even the muscles around the hip and leg area tend to hypertrophy (growing bigger muscles from exercising) more then on any other part of the body.
So this looks like we really can’t win here
Just getting skinny and making lots of starvation diets doesn’t help as all of your muscles would disappear around your upper body (as the muscles at the upper body of pear shaped girls tend to hypotrophy…means they tend to get small easy and it’s hard to train them on volume) to make your hips even more prominent and the wide hip bones and thick muscles around the legs would still be around the lower body.
SO the more we actually starve the more we come out of balance with our look and even more pear shaped. And if we put on weight again> Guess where it will be all going to;)…but now it would be even worse as the upper body is even smaller after all of this starving and the hips bigger then ever.
But what can we actually do?
Well…there is something
Hooray!
It is called “body shaping”.
What does this mean?
Well, I train my clients after their body shapes. Means: When a girl comes into our studio with bigger hips and legs then I decide to NEVER EVER do ANY leg exercise with ANY WEIGHT at all. NEVER! Not even 3kg! And if she has to do 200 lunges and squats> I don’t care but NEVER do them with weights as your muscles around your legs tend to hypertrophy quite a lot if you are a pear shape… means> The legs will definitely getting bigger from exercising.
To still get the legs strong, lean and toned we have to do body fat reduction (lots of cardio), leg exercises without weight (any), leg exercises in a stretched position (pilates/ callanetics) and good stretching after each session to not get the muscles to big and bulky looking.
Even if this sounds weird but I noticed that pear shaped women tend to have most of their strength in their legs and it is like an absolute power house down there. Muscles there grow fast!
But the most important thing a pear shaped girl needs to do is strength training for her upper body. And no: Here we have to go up! Train like a guy, train with big weights, as hard as you can and don’t be afraid of any challenge. ANY weight is welcome, any chin up, any press up and preferably anything involved in strengthening the shoulders from any direction since muscles are the only source we have up there to get some volume. We have no bones, no fat, no natural muscles there as a pear shaped person, so we need to get some “selfmade” muscles up there. We gotta train our upper body like a man!!!
And of course: We need to lose fat! A woman with a pear shaped body who doesn’t want this to be seen needs to go low in body fat to avoid any dis balance in her looks.
Body fat reduction works well with cardio (best interval) training and a low (GI) carb diet.
The only thing to be aware of>
Since even your bone structure around the hips is wider then average you must know that you will have a gap between your legs once you are down to low body fat. Women with more narrow hips will not have this since their legs aren’t as far apart from each other.
I've only had a chance to skim this, but it is consistent with the advice I've read for pear-shaped women in the past.0 -
I was just reading the other day pear shapes should also do weights for their arms to help the imbalance of their shape. Which is good to know since I'm a pear shape too 0
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I agree, I'd rather have a pear shape than any other shape!Also, we should learn to love our pear shapes! I know I've learned to love mine! In fact, I'm kinda worried with all this exercising that it might go away!0 -
Nonsense. Trainer advocating no leg exercises with weights... hilarious.
Ballet dancers don't use heavy weights on their legs and they have very strong legs. But their legs need to be both strong and attractive.0 -
It sounds good, and I have heard this before but it is not true. I am a pear shape with smaller top than bottom and through diet and exercise (lots of walking up hills and squats with a barbells, the firm dvds, running etc...) I morphed my 43" hips to 36" my thighs from 27" to 19" and my 36C bust to 34B with 19-20 percent body fat and I did not look like a professional body builder with bulging big thighs....my thighs were smaller, nor did I look bigger on the bottom in some exaggerated way I just looked very fit. While yes as a pear shape my upper body will always bring me the most compliments....how did you get those buff arms and flat abs? And I have some girlfriends who have the most beautiful natural gorgeous legs without exercise thats the luck of the genetic gene pool. However, I could still proudly wear a mini skirt at age 42 without looking like the incredible hulk. While some personal trainers use the advice you read about working only the upper body for pear shapes the latest evidence shows to burn lots of calories both during and after exercise you need to do heavy 4 limb lifting and moving (squats, running on an incline, even walking uphills or walking fast) to burn the most fat and calories per hour. Your legs are big muscles especially if you want great shaped and lifted butt pear or no pear shape. At this point in time I have gained some weight due lack of physical activity because of an injury so I had to take it easy, but since January I have been burning 800-1000 calories a day through exercise and weight training, running etc as well as eating all the right foods in small quantities but not starving myself and have lost 25 solid pounds of fat and with 10 pounds to go all through working my legs hard and now I am down 2 sizes. So do your research first and make the best decision for you and your lifestyle.0
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I don't 100% agree. But I do notice, that if I use resistance on the elliptical, my thighs get bigger. If I stick with an incline, they get stronger and smaller. So out of paranoia, I don't use the resistance on the elliptical. Just the incline. But on the converse, my legs never looked better than when I had to walk around a super hilly campus in college.
Not everyone's body works the same way, so you need to experiment and see what happens to you. But I vote for lifting weights. Even for your legs. I notice faster changes when I do.
I 100% agree about the upper body exercises though. I look less pear and more hourglass since I started doing them! I used to look really unbalanced, and now I am almost caught up at the top and bottom.0 -
I was just reading the other day pear shapes should also do weights for their arms to help the imbalance of their shape. Which is good to know since I'm a pear shape too
That's classic advice.0 -
well shes definatly right about pear shapes having stonger legs, id do squats all day not a bother but give me a set of dumbells and im struggling after five minutes, .i do agree with doin more weights on our upper half also, im new to this and i like this advice 0
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how about embracing the pear shape as something that is beautiful? Of course we all want to lose weight but I would so much rather have the body of a J-Lo than a Kalista Flockhart. Don't know about you all, but pear is feminine and I just want to be a not fat pear shape personally
Yep, this!
I'm not quite as pear-shaped as I was, but since I don't have big hooters, some would never call me hourglass. And I do heavy weights, steep inclines, and a lot of running.
I
the muscles in my legs and *kitten*! 0 -
I don't think this advice is as bad as everyone is saying (except for the low-carb thing.) She didn't say not to train legs, but to train them with just bodyweight (at least that was my understanding.) If you do a wide variety of squats and lunges with your bodyweight, that's not training with "no weight"--it's training with your bodyweight. Muscles aren't going to atrophy with this kind of workout. I think what she's saying is to train your upper body harder and heavier to increase size, therefore making your body more balanced-looking...not sure what the big deal is.
When I was in my 20s, I trained very heavy on legs, and they got huge...I was quite slim at the time, and I really did not like the way they looked. Maybe I just have a lot of fast-twitch muscle fibers in my legs, I don't know. Now I train them more often and not as heavy, and they are starting to look the way I want them to. As you can see from my picture, I am NOT anti-muscle. But not everyone wants to look like a damn powerlifter. I want to be lean, muscular, strong, and tight, and I'm getting there.
Not every way of training is for every single person. Each of us has to find our own path.0 -
I don't think this advice is as bad as everyone is saying (except for the low-carb thing.) She didn't say not to train legs, but to train them with just bodyweight (at least that was my understanding.) If you do a wide variety of squats and lunges with your bodyweight, that's not training with "no weight"--it's training with your bodyweight. Muscles aren't going to atrophy with this kind of workout. I think what she's saying is to train your upper body harder and heavier to increase size, therefore making your body more balanced-looking...not sure what the big deal is.
This is exactly what i was going to say. No one's lower body is going to atrophy doing bodyweight exercises.0 -
I do think that pear shapes should do lower body weights. Usually pear shapes just focus on the lower body with cardio but I've noticed that when I add in weights I get more definition. Weights should be used to tone up the arms just as much as the legs.0
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bump for later0
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I do think that pear shapes should do lower body weights. Usually pear shapes just focus on the lower body with cardio but I've noticed that when I add in weights I get more definition. Weights should be used to tone up the arms just as much as the legs.
There's no such thing as "toning." What people usually mean by it is building muscle while reducing fat. The problem is that if you are pear-shaped and close to your ideal weight you can't lose a meaningful amount of fat because you're genetically programmed to put it there. Any muscle you develop may make you look larger in the very areas you are trying to de-emphasize.
It's pretty easy for pear-shaped women to get some definition in their arms: They have little fat there so you see the muscle, sometimes in a month or two or less.
It's the same principle with the abs: You can have the most developed six pack on earth but no one will see it if you have a layer of fat there.0 -
Wow. I am actually shocked by how bad this advice is.
Strong, healthy body >>> purposefully letting muscles atrophy just for a slightly lower circumferance.
I've been maintaining and working on building muscle for awhile now. Know how much my thigh measurement has increased since I started doing heavy lower-body exercises? 0.5". In exchange, my legs look athletic and powerful instead of looking like top-heavy carrots like they did before. I'll take the slight size increase in exchange for shape, thanks.
I can't imagine why I'd want to purposefully let a part of my body get weak.
If you walk (a lot), do cardio and body weight exercise you are not letting your muscles atrophy. What applies to you does not necessarily apply to others. That's why we're having a discussion.0 -
I don't think this advice is as bad as everyone is saying (except for the low-carb thing.) She didn't say not to train legs, but to train them with just bodyweight (at least that was my understanding.) If you do a wide variety of squats and lunges with your bodyweight, that's not training with "no weight"--it's training with your bodyweight. Muscles aren't going to atrophy with this kind of workout. I think what she's saying is to train your upper body harder and heavier to increase size, therefore making your body more balanced-looking...not sure what the big deal is.
This is exactly what i was going to say. No one's lower body is going to atrophy doing bodyweight exercises.
I think part of the problem is one of reading comprehension.0 -
What's so wrong about being pear shaped? :huh:0
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What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??0 -
What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
If you're J.Lo or Beyoncé, nothing at all. I've read that the most women in the U.S. are pear-shaped, although the demographics may have changed since those articles.
I personally think it's a somewhat awkward-looking silhouette for which it is hard to find well fitting clothes. I do, however, like the Empire silhouette which is the best shape for pear-shaped women, along with the A-line. I genuinely think it's elegant, and comfortable, and beautiful in its simplicity. Not everyone shares that opinion.
But if you can change the taste in silhouettes from string bean or hourglass to pear-shaped I salute you. But in terms of perception of beauty, historically, what is common is often not what is most desired. That's why super models have bodies that resemble those of only 1% of the population.0 -
What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??
Nothing. But if you are short, pear-shaped and are concerned about looking stocky you should at least be aware that may happen.0 -
I don't think this advice is as bad as everyone is saying (except for the low-carb thing.) She didn't say not to train legs, but to train them with just bodyweight (at least that was my understanding.) If you do a wide variety of squats and lunges with your bodyweight, that's not training with "no weight"--it's training with your bodyweight. Muscles aren't going to atrophy with this kind of workout. I think what she's saying is to train your upper body harder and heavier to increase size, therefore making your body more balanced-looking...not sure what the big deal is.
This is exactly what i was going to say. No one's lower body is going to atrophy doing bodyweight exercises.
Do ballet dancers have flabby legs?
Don't get me wrong, you won't look like a ballet dancer unless you have a ballet dancer's body, but the idea that you will be flabby if you don't do weights is silly. I think that using weights is a more efficient, faster way of becoming firm and strong, but there are reasons why some women might not want to use weights on their lower bodies.0 -
Love this, thankyou!
I'm a pear and I think this is great to know 0 -
What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??
Nothing. But if you are short, pear-shaped and are concerned about looking stocky you should at least be aware that may happen.
I don't think you read my previous quote, because I'm actually agreeing with 90% of the premise of this thread....0 -
What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??
Nothing. But if you are short, pear-shaped and are concerned about looking stocky you should at least be aware that may happen.
I don't think you read my previous quote, because I'm actually agreeing with 90% of the premise of this thread....
Sorry, I've lost track of the previous posts. From one of your earlier longer ones, I knew you were agreeing with much of what I said. Thank you.
I wish that, as with dieting, people would realize that one size does not fit all. You have to pay attention to your own body and goals.0 -
What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??
Nothing. But if you are short, pear-shaped and are concerned about looking stocky you should at least be aware that may happen.
I don't think you read my previous quote, because I'm actually agreeing with 90% of the premise of this thread....
Sorry, I've lost track of the previous posts. From one of your earlier longer ones, I knew you were agreeing with much of what I said. Thank you.
I wish that, as with dieting, people would realize that one size does not fit all. You have to pay attention to your own body and goals.
Could not agree with you more!! :flowerforyou: Each person has to find their own path. What works for me will not have the same results for someone else. While there's a lot of science involved in weight loss, I really think the human body is a work of art, and there's an element of mystery and individuality that is oftentimes overlooked. Cheers to you...:drinker:0 -
That blog makes not sense. And I love the pear shape
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What's so wrong with being pear shaped? :huh:
Not one thing.... What is wrong with some people wanting to use strength training to change their body into a shape that they like better??
Nothing. But if you are short, pear-shaped and are concerned about looking stocky you should at least be aware that may happen.
I don't think you read my previous quote, because I'm actually agreeing with 90% of the premise of this thread....
Sorry, I've lost track of the previous posts. From one of your earlier longer ones, I knew you were agreeing with much of what I said. Thank you.
I wish that, as with dieting, people would realize that one size does not fit all. You have to pay attention to your own body and goals.
Could not agree with you more!! :flowerforyou: Each person has to find their own path. What works for me will not have the same results for someone else. While there's a lot of science involved in weight loss, I really think the human body is a work of art, and there's an element of mystery and individuality that is oftentimes overlooked. Cheers to you...:drinker:
Absolutely. 0 -
Each person has to find their own path. What works for me will not have the same results for someone else. While there's a lot of science involved in weight loss, I really think the human body is a work of art, and there's an element of mystery and individuality that is oftentimes overlooked. Cheers to you...:drinker:
How sweet. Sounds lovely. Can I sip on a glass of Pinot as I mull this over?
As long as my body is made of bones, blood, fat, water and muscle... and not canvas, paint, or carved out of stone... I'll tend to lean more towards the science side of things.0 -
whether this trainer is talking horse poop or not, it does make me think. all the women in my family, myself included are pear shaped (theres another argument, genetics) my aunty is a hairdresser, on her feet constantly and she is a uk 6 on top but her thighs are massive, it really gets her down bless her, i think she looks fab and i am so jealous of her arms, but no matter what diet or exercise regime she does her top gets smaller and nothing from her bottom half.
saying that, when i was happy with my weight (2008) i was still pear shaped, toned and slim (7st9) and personally i dont ever want to lose that, i like having curves, i just want to be a smaller version, lol, and bigger boobs would be nice, but we are the shapes we are, just keeping it slim and toned is all we can do i think x0
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