Shape Up! Expert tips to make your body look better

by Diane York

What shape are you?
When it comes to a woman’s figure, the pear shape is OK, the inverse pear is ideal, but please, no plums. Men, you should look more like a carrot, (wide on the top and tapering down) but never a potato. Stud yes, but spud, no way. So how do you reshape your body? Aside from the usual dieting to reduce overall weight or just adding some cardio to your day, there is a real art to reshaping your body. Just look at pictures of weight lifters. Once the body has been slimmed down, they can put muscles and bulges just about anywhere.
Fitness professionals understand that just walking through the door of the gym is a big step for many people. But they’re there to help you get the body you want. I asked some local body experts on how these changes can be brought about by the average person using their local gym.
Chris Birdsong White:

With 20 years experience as an aerobics instructor and personal trainer, former UVA cheerleader, Chris Birdsong White is known for her kick-butt workouts at the Tuckahoe YMCA. She teaches advanced cardio classes, power yoga, Kickit (kickboxing), a class called Boot Camp (which is a lot like real boot camp) and Zumba, which is Latin dance done aerobically.
Bodyshaping, she says, is simple in theory. To change body shape you must get more muscle. To define certain parts of the body, you choose an exercise that works that muscle group. “The body shaping class at the Y is a muscle building, resistance training class,” says White. “You do not bulk up from it because it utilizes frequent repetitions using light weights. “I highly recommend Pilates for the abs because it works so much on your core.” The breathing in Pilates is important- deep breathing through the mouth rather than the nose as in Yoga. “In Pilates you do a lot of holding plank, a long static stretch of the lower transverse abdominal muscles,’ she adds. If you are using machines to build your back muscles, consider adding some time “on the ball.” Most gyms have supplies of large rubber balls that can support your frame.
“Lay on your back and it hyperextends the back and abdominal muscles,” explains White.” When you work muscles they tend to bunch up and contract- the hyperextension of the muscle keeps it long.”

White's Tips:
►Start slow, especially on cold mornings. Have at least 10 minutes of warm up.

►Vary your exercises to get all parts of body and prevent body adaptation and burnout or boredom

►Do not get discouraged by the scales; as you add muscle it may appear you are gaining weight when you are actually exchanging muscle (which weighs four times as much as fat!)

► Here’s a way to stay motivated: The inner changes, (blood pressure, cholesterol, strengthening of heart and lungs) while invisible, can be almost immediate while the outer, visible changes take longer to occur. To reinforce yourself, get your numbers checked after a month of exercise. Seeing a drop in your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate can reinforce
the good work you are doing.

Joe Morris:

Joe Morris was a Henrico County policeman for 30 years and a body builder in his spare time. He won numerous competitions and enjoyed showing others how to reshape their own bodies. When he retired four years ago, he began his second career as a professional trainer, doing something he always loved.
The art of body building or body shaping is to create the illusion of symmetry in the body, he says. “You cannot spot reduce -- there is only overall reduction of fat through diet and exercise, then building up areas of muscle to change your shape.” For example, he suggests you slim your waistline by reducing your overall weight, then build up your shoulders to make your waist look even smaller and create symmetry in your look. “Of course much of your shape is pre-determined,” he says. “You have to work with what your genes give you and build on that. But you can make significant changes.” Ironically, building muscle burns fat. In fact, Morris points out, a person with big muscles will burn more calories just sitting still than a person with less muscle. Age makes all this a bit harder but quite possible. “When one of my older clients began working out with me in December of 2008, he could only do three minutes on the elliptical trainer,” says Morris. “He kept working and by February of 2009 he could do 35 minutes, by April of 2009 he had lost 30 pounds and was doing 45 minutes of cardio every day and 30 minutes of strength training three times a week.” Two of Morris’ favorite exercises are chin ups- great for building a strong, broad back and arms - and lunges which are terrific for hips, thighs and waist, especially if you are holding dumbbells at the same time.

Morris' tips:

►Exercise at the same time each day–your body likes that and responds better.

► Water and sleep are two overlooked things that help body building. Without sufficient water, your metabolism slows down. Without sleep your body does not recover.

► Stay motivated: You will tend to lose interest after five or six weeks, but if you
stick with it for 12 weeks it will become a habit, a habit that is easy to keep and
hard to break

Joella Allerton

Joella Allerton is a fitness instructor and former Director of Aerobics at the Tuckahoe YMCA.
Allerton offers tips for shaping certain muscle groups.
“If you want to work your arms, I would suggest dumbbells rather than a bar type weight. With a bar, if one arm is weaker than the other, the arm will compensate so you will have uneven development. Use dumbbells to work the biceps and triceps-working the muscle to fatigue,” she says. An important consideration, says Allerton, is to always work the largest muscle groups first, then the smaller ones. If you work a smaller muscle first, it will not allow you to work the next largest muscle. Trainers know this and can help you use weights and machines in the right order. “Lift the heaviest weight you can handle with very low reps three times a week,” she says. “Lift moderate weights and with moderate reps one day a week and use low weights with many reps one day.”

Allertons' tips:

►  Find a workout buddy, so there is some social reinforcement for your workout.

► Hire a personal trainer, at least long enough for you to get hooked by how much better you
will start to look and feel.

► Take your ‘naked” body measurements, chest, waist, hips or arms, whatever you want to see
change. Keep a written record on a chart where you can see it. This visual aid will reinforce you.

► The body tends to plateau or get used to certain exercises. Keep varying your workouts
to prevent this and to keep you interested.

The best way to stay motivated with any exercise program is, of course, to enjoy it. So, in addition to the above workouts, find a sport you love that addresses the body shape you want.  Look at athletes in different sports. Cycling shapes the legs, thighs and butt, as well as providing cardio and endurance benefits. Have you looked at Lance Armstrong’s legs lately? Cold water swimmers develop a layer of fat. Endurance runners get great lungs, sprinters get strong calves and thighs. Ballet dancers work the neck and arm muscles constantly lengthening those parts. Even very old ballet dancers look great! With some work, you can too.

Diane York is a Richmond freelance writer specializing in health and fitness.