Denise Druce

Great question, and a very common one. Many women have a pear shaped body. It’s nature’s way of making sure our hips are ready to make room for a baby and carry on the species. There are a few things you can do to make sure your workouts are the right ones for your body type.

First, make sure that your body fat level is in the healthy range. Eating the right amount of calories and getting the right amount of aerobic activity are key to this. Usually, pear shaped bodies are thin people who carry their extra weight in their lower body. By losing even a few pounds of fat weight, our bodies become more balanced.

Next, you can look at your strength training. The more muscle mass we have, the more calories (and fat) we burn, during activity, and at rest. Do lunges, squats and hamstring curls to balance out the muscles of the lower body. You can use lighter weights and more repetitions to make sure you are not building bigger, more bulky muscles. By lighter, I mean a weight you can lift 12 to 15 times but one that makes you feel fatigued by the last repetition. A lot of women shy away from lifting heavy weight and never see any results. I use 12-15 pound dumbbells, or a bar with a total of 35 to 45 pounds on it.

Finally, don’t forget to work the muscles of the upper body. Well developed shoulders, lats, arms and chest give the pear shaped body a look of balance. Check out my 10-exercise workout to get a total body shape up! Just click on the "journal" section of this site.