So I’m in the gym the other day and I notice a woman training her lower body. She’s in her mid-thirties (I know because I asked her…nicely) and she has the ever–so-common “pear shape” body. (Large hips, small upper body) Well, I go on with my workout and all the while I’m observing her routine. She performs Leg Press, Walking Lunges, Seated Leg Curls, Lying Leg Curls, The Butt Blaster Machine, Abduction and Adduction Machines (you know the ones you squeeze your knees together or push them apart), Bench Step-Ups…etc. Okay that’s quite enough. I’m going to stop there because after 45 minutes of watching her I had to intervene. Why? I’ll give you two reasons why I stopped her. First: she assumed that all that weight training would burn off the fat. That’s false. Second: the intensity was so minimal that she wasn’t going to develop the muscles in her lower body anyway. Sound familiar?

Girls… I get it. You don’t want to be bigger. You want to be smaller. However, in my experience (over 30 years of it) too many girls worry about being smaller when they need to focus more on body proportions. If you have a pear shaped body, consume very little calories, follow a low intensity weight training routine, and perform a massive amount of cardio every day and you will undoubtedly end up a with a smaller version of a “pear shaped” body. Read the next paragraph and just do it. Do it for 6 months. You heard me correctly. Now step up!

Develop your upper body! Make that a priority. Push yourself to a whole new level. For the next 6 months, I want you to always think about improving your upper body strength. Shape follows strength, and improved upper body shape will balance your overall proportions. You’ve talked about having a nice “hourglass” shaped figure. Increasing your upper body strength (and ultimately your shape) is THE solution. I promise you. (And yes some size, but don’t panic) in order to build on your shape you will need to alter your diet. Structure 4-5 meals per day (Breakfast!!!): drink 30% more water (always carry a water bottle with you) and cut out 50% of all sugar drinks. Change one bad habit or eliminate one useless food item every week from your usual routine for the duration of the 6 month program, add a cardio session every day, but change the type, intensity, frequency and duration right now. Just do your cardio differently.

That’s all you get. You want the full program? Send me your contact information.