What Your Body Shape Reveals About Your Health Back

Your body shape not only affects what clothes you’ll look best in, but more importantly, it can reveal important information about your health.

Where you pack on the extra pounds depends on multiple factors like genetics, hormonal influence and lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and stress.

By determining your body shape, you can identify health issues that are more likely to affect you and therefore take preventive measures to minimise health drawbacks. WHAT SHAPE ARE YOU?
You can normally determine your body shape just by looking in the mirror, although if you want a more definitive way to establish what body you have you can use the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).


To calculate this, divide your waist measurements by your hip measurements.


To determine your waist circumference, the tape measure should go around your belly button.


For your hip circumference, measure around the widest part of your bum.


Divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement to get your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).

Apple – WHR above 0.8 for women, above 0.9 for men
Pear – WHR below 0.8 for women, below 0.9 for men

Let’s look at what each body shape reveals about your health. APPLE

RECOMMENDATIONS
FITNESS
An active lifestyle is especially important if you are apple-shaped.

Cardio workouts and weight training exercises are highly recommended.

Swimming, cycling, or weight training will help to keep your body fat percentage in a healthy range.

If you have a desk job, make sure to get up often to stretch and go for a brisk walk at lunch. Always use the stairs!

NUTRITION
Apple-shaped people will benefit from a diet rich in protein and fibre and low in carbohydrates.

This will help to control the amount of fat stored on the body as well as flush fat out of the bloodstream.

Choose fruits and vegetables and avoid processed foods such as white bread and pastries.

Add more spices to your meals such as garlic or chilli as these stimulate your metabolism and improve liver function.

Apple-shaped people are especially prone to mid-afternoon snacking so make sure these are healthy and avoid temptations.

INVERTED TRIANGLE

RECOMMENDATIONS
FITNESS
Your focus in exercise should be to build up your bottom half, especially your legs and bum, and define your waist.

Stepping, lunging and squatting can strengthen and build your lower body and core.

Combine these with high-intensity cardio to effectively eliminate fat around the midsection.

NUTRITION
In order to cut health risks, those with a triangular shaped body should consume a high amount of protein from foods like poultry and fish.

PEAR

RECOMMENDATIONS
FITNESS
Perform exercises that target the leg muscles such as sprinting or strength training.

By converting burning fat and building muscle, pear-shaped people can significantly reduce their risks of illness.

NUTRITION
Choose higher-protein foods and lean meats.

Pear-shaped people may have a tendency to get emotionally upset easily, therefore make sure you never skip meals.

Eating regularly will help stabilise your blood sugar levels and mood.

RECTANGLE

RECOMMENDATIONS
FITNESS
Looking to build more curves?

Focus your strength training on your shoulders and lower body muscles like your bum and legs.

Muscle-building strength routine is highly recommended.

And ladies, I’ve said it before but needs to be reiterated: You will not bulk up!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Now that you have identified your body shape and the potential health risks, you can take more control of your health.

But regardless of whether you have a pear or apple body shape, you should always focus on staying healthy. Eat well to feel good. Maintain a well-balanced diet, high in fibre, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and low in saturated fats and sugars.

Keep moving! Being sedentary encourages the accumulation of belly fat. Perform at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 3-5 times per week.

Make lifestyle changes. Heavy alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking both can lead to dangerous belly fat.