Body Shape – What’s Your Shape?

Your body shape is based upon the size of your physical features and the overall balance of your body. These four shapes are spoon, cone, ruler and hourglass and describe skeletal structure. While there is no universal definition for each body shape, in terms of concrete numbers/ vital statistics, understanding the overall balance of your body (top heavy, bottom heavy, or balanced) can help you determine which areas of your body you need to target with resistance training to improve the overall balance of your body.

For example, pear-shapes are bottom heavy, having a smaller upper body compared to their lower body. Pear shapes can boast amazing abs, but tend to struggle with larger thighs. Once pear shapes have lost weight, resistance training targeting the upper body will help balance body shape. Cone/ apple shapes are top heavy, having a bigger upper body compared to their lower body. Therefore apple shapes have amazing legs, but struggle with belly fat

Don’t forget to read about your body type.

Ruler Body Shape (Rectangle/ Banana Shape)

• Tend to be waif-like and slim.
• Shoulders, hips, waist almost same size.
• Very little indentation at waist.
• Tend to put on weight in stomach and bottom, while maintaining slender arms and legs. Usually are ectomorphs.
• E.g. 34-30-35, 36-33-37, 40-36-42.

Hourglass Body Shape

• Well-proportioned upper and lower body.
• Shoulders and hips (almost) same size
• Dramatic indentation (> 6″ -  some sources stipulate an indentation greater than 8″, other 9″ and some sources even 10″) at waistline.
• Tend to gain weight all over your body, especially hip and chest area.
• Tend to be endomorphs or mesomorphs.
• Strictly female shape.
• E.g. 32-26-33, 33-27-35, 36-30-38.

Spoon Body Shape (Pear Shape)

• Larger lower bodies and smaller upper bodies.
• Shoulders narrower than hips (commonly found in women).
• Tend to gain weight below your waist.
• Small chests and flat stomachs, great abs.
• Usually are mesomorphs.
• E.g. 32-28-39, 34-30-38, 36-30-44

Cone Body Shape (Apple Shape)

• Wider shoulders than hips (usually found in men).
• Bigger on the top half of their bodies than on the bottom half.
• Slim hips and legs
• Large chest and stomach.
• Tend to gain weight above the waist or bottom.
• Usually are mesomorphs or endomorphs.
• E.g. 40-36-33, 36-32-30, 34-30-29