Body Shape and Waist-to-Hip Ratio

Knowing your body type and body shape and then choosing the appropriate type of exercise or program will make it easier for you to achieve your weight loss goal.

There are two main types of physique affectionately known as 'apples' and 'pears'.

Apple shaped physiques tend to accumulate fat around their waist and abdomen.

Pear shaped physiques accumulate fat on their hips, buttocks and thighs.

Many overweight women generally appear to be pear shaped while most overweight men tend to be apple shaped.

The apple shaped physique is at greater risk of developing serious weight-related medical problems than the pear shaped physique.

Fat accumulated around the waist and abdomen increases the amount of fat in the liver, which tends to make the liver resistant to insulin. This can result in a rise in your insulin level, increasing your chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Although the pear shaped physique has a lesser risk of developing weight-related medical problems, they do however have a greater weight loss challenge, in that fat stored in the thighs, hips, and buttocks takes longer to be broken down than abdominal fat.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio

This ratio measures your shape.

To calculate:

• measure your waist 1 inch above the navel
• then measure your hips at their widest point, now
• divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement to give you your waist-to-hip ratio.

The ideal ratio for a woman would be when her waist size is less than 80 percent of her hip size.

For men it's having a waist size less than 95 percent of their hip size.

The lower your waist-to-hip ratio healthier you would look.

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