Workouts for Women by Body Type

If you’re thinking about embarking on a new workout regimen, you may want to take your body type into consideration when setting your fitness goals. Depending on what your basic body type is, you might want to focus on certain types of exercises that will give you a more proportioned body.

Pears are wider on bottom than they are on top. They tend to gain weight easily in their lower halves, and have trouble getting definition in their arms and shoulders. If you are a pear, your focus needs to be on getting your top half more in proportion with the lower half of your body. Pears can keep their hips, butt and thighs toned with moves like lunges and scissor jumps. But they mustn’t neglect their arms–pushups, curls and lateral raises help bring definition to the arms, back and shoulders.

If you have a straight shape without definable curves, then your ideal workout is one that adds some shape to your body. Women with a straight body type have a tough time adding muscle. If you have a straight shape, focus your exercises efforts on building up your core. Abdominal exercises will help to define your waistline. An ideal workout for someone with a straight body type includes repetitions of lunges, squats, planks and crunches.

Curvy gals have a bust and hips that are larger than their waists: the hallowed hourglass physique. If you’re curvy, then your workout goals should include getting overall muscle tone and working on those extremities. Workouts for curvy women include moves such as leg raises, lunges, triceps extensions and step-ups.

Athletic body types have narrow hips and broad shoulders. Your workout goal: add some curves to your butt and thighs and tone your core. To do it, try a routine with a combination of lower-body exercises like squats and lunges, and upper-body toners such as pushups and arm raises.