Women tend to have complexes about their glutes. Hips too wide, thighs too big, whatever. So they impose draconian diets on themselves. What they often don’t realize is that they have a skinny upper-body. The result: the pear shape.
The Apple vs. Pear Shape. The apple shape is obesity. The pear shape is the skinny + fat look: skinny upper-body, fat lower-body. You also have the ruler shape which doesn’t show any shape at all.
Image credit: ADAM, Inc.
Why You Have The Pear Shape. While the pear shape is definitely influenced by genetics & hormones, bad nutrition aggravates the condition.
- Under-eating. Fat is emergency storage. Your body holds fat and burns muscle for energy if you don’t eat enough. You end up skinny, but fat.
- Fat Deposit. Women’s fat deposit is predominantly in the thighs/glutes. Lack of muscle mass in your upper-body will make your hips look bigger.
- Genetics. If your parents have the pear shape, chances are you’ll have it too. Luckily you can work around it. Keep reading.
How to Get Rid of The Pear Shape. Burn the fat while increasing your muscle mass – especially in your upper-body. This will make your hips appear smaller, changing proportions and thus your body shape.
- Build Muscle. More muscle is more calories burned. More muscle will also get rid of your skinny upper-body. Get into strength training. If you don’t know where to start, check StrongLifts 5×5.
- Get Stronger. More strength is more muscle. Do compound weight lifting exercises like Squats, Deadlifts & Presses. Start light, add weight each workout. Don’t worry, you won’t get bulky.
- Eat Healthy. Stop eating food from a box. Eat whole, unprocessed foods 90% of the time. Drink 2 cups of water with each meal.
- Eat Every 3 Hours. No more low calorie diets. Eat meat, fish, poultry, fats, veggies & fruits every 3 hours to increase your metabolic rate.
- Eat Carbs Post Workout Only. Proteins, veggies, fruits and healthy fats with every meal. Rice, pasta, oats, breads, … post workout ONLY.
- Add Cardio. HIIT is better for fat loss, but hard combined with strength training. I recommend moderate intensity cardio (breathing heavier than at rest, not gasping). Start with 15mins post training, add 1min each session until you get to 40mins.
Cardio without strength training & diet is useless. Diet without strength training is also useless. Strength training and diet without cardio takes longer. For best results combine all 3 for 3-4 months and you’ll be who you want to be.
Great article, Mehdi. It’s great to read a smart and informative article pertaining to women, diet and exercise. Since I’ve been doing Stronglifts and eating more veggies, proteins and especially, fats, I have noticed positive changes in my physique. It’s more balanced, more muscular and it’s really nice to have increased strength, especially in my upper body. Gone are my days of hours of cardio and low calorie diets. Which is good, because I love to eat. : ) This has been a great program for me, so thank you!
Sound advice, I investigated weight-training for my girlfriend before finding stronglifts and came up with similar advice. Unfortunately there is too much misinformation surrounding strength-training and getting bulky for her to take the bait. We tried to do some compound movements and she couldn’t get her head round the technique so instead she used machines for 5 minutes did some crunches and used the exercise bike.
It was truly frustrating to watch and she hasn’t been back to the gym since but I don’t want to envangelise and force her to do something against her will; its just not worth the hassle.
Is it possible for guys to be born with that shape too, ie. narrow shoulders and big hips + thighs?
Look at Jessica Biel she trains hard and she has an awesome body
P.S. I wish my girl friend would strength train but she has to do calisthenics for her sport anyways
Anyways good post Mehdi
@Myscat/YA
You’re welcome, thanks for reading.
@John Peden
Bagels & cookies get you bulky, not weight lifting. Lots of misinformation indeed. Show this post to your girlfriend: http://forum.stronglifts.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9406
@Ryan
There are definitely men who have the pear shape too. Usually it’s a combination of bad nutrition, lack of exercise, too much alcohol, etc.
Alrite ladies…..get into shape!! Nice information Mehdi. I always believe that lack of information is the #1 cause of many problems. Of course #2 is not applying them
I too am definitely a victim of the pear shape. Since hitting my 30s, I have gained weight, all in my lower belly, hips and thighs. My boyfriend got me into the strength training program (I’m an x-dancer, yoga, step aerobics type trainer); it’s been hard since I can’t do half of what you guys can do, but I’ve kept it up for a few months and am feeling pretty good. My twin sister is a good 3 sizes smaller than me, which has made me really jealous. But I had a breakthrough a few weeks ago when she borrowed my mp3 player. When she put it on her arm, she had to cinch the strap up much more than I do, and I finally noticed how tiny her arms are! So, maybe my pear shape isn’t so bad after all, especially since my arms, shoulders and upper body are starting to look pretty damn good!
Sorry Medhi, but you’ve completely lost the plot on this one. Stick to what you do best, explaining to us technique, tissues, anatomy, strength rather than commenting on the differences in the female form. Of which some or most of us find extremely desirable one mans meat is another man’s poison eh!. If you wanted to body sculpt than start a bodybuilding site, I thought and correct me if I’m wrong that this was about strength, health, flexibility and things that counted rather than what looked pretty in someones eyes.
Don’t mean to sound hostile Medhi, but just feel that if this is all you can come up with then you are starting to loose integrity and just following another commercial pathway.
We all have various bodyshapes some wish to change and others want to make more functional, and many of us are happy with our shape in an appearance obsessed world.
Another great article, Mehdi. When my girl friends tell me they want to lose fat and “tone”, etc., I always tell them to strength train with weights, that they WON’T bulk up like a guy — their physiology just won’t allow it (at least not with a *reasonable* training schedule like in 5×5.
They usually just nod their heads politely and say, “Yeah, but I’m always so intimidated by the guys in the weight room,” or, “I don’t know how to use the machines”, or some other classic excuse. What they don’t know is that girls in the weight room are almost always infinitely hotter than the ones slaving away on the treadmills, because THEY KNOW HOW TO TRAIN. I consistently recommend women check out this site, too, as I know the training principles apply almost equally to both sexes.
P.S. I can’t believe how quickly your subscriber base is growing. Just a few months ago it was barely over 4k (which was pretty incredible in itself, given the timeframe). Congratulations on the hard work paying off!
@David: I disagree that this is taking the blog in a bodybuilding direction. Stronglifts.com is, and hopefully always will be, an inclusive community. Read the forums to see the diverse range of goals, levels, and experiences. As for what the site is about, look just below the stronglifts title: “Build Muscle & Lose Fat through Strength Training”.
There are few sites that accommodate women and this is one. I think most women have quite different goals to men, and this post reflects that.
I found David’s comment a bit harsh.
This was an interesting read. I am interested in these type of articles because I coach my wife’s training session so I am always open to coaching advice for women.
Keep up the good work Mehdi !
Great article Medhi, its so difficult trying to convince woman that strength training is worthwhile.
@David
I think that strength training, nutrition can make any one man or woman healthy and strong and that healthy people are desirable as apposed to unhealthy people.
Sure it might not matter to you, but to many their bodies appearance is important. I think this article would benefit any one that would read and implement it.
It’s so refreshing to see this advice specifically aimed at women. While there are some differences women on the whole seem to believe that they should train very differently from men.
As we know this is not true and a few simple tips like yours go along way to addressing the issue.
I’ve lost count of women I have heard saying that they don’t want to do weights becuase they will get big! I must be doing something woring then because I train in a very similar fashion to the Stronglifts program and eat well but am not huge. Sure my shape has changed but there has not been a massive change in overall size.
I am lighter but in much better shape physically and aesthetically.
Love the site and I regularly recommnend it friends and others.
@David,
Calm down, I seriously doubt Mehdi is trying to say that every woman needs to change what they look like to fit what he sees as beautiful. He is offering advice to the women who have issues with how they look. There are quite a few women out there who don’t like how they look and saying “You look fine, don’t worry about it. Just be you.” does not help them. If someone is already ok with how they look, they probably aren’t spending time on fitness sites, eh?
Hey great article… I’m all for strength training… and I’m a girl
I’m about to start a 2 month blitz and I’ll be doing a lot of strength training, eating raw foods and cardio as well - but I figure nothings going to work unless I REALLY want it. If I’m only going about it halfheartedly then its just not going to work.
Great article - and don’t listen to the guy who defamed it! More women out there need to read the article! Its truly inspirational
This is a great article that conveys the basic concepts that all adults should know. I am now 30, and I have seen many people grow soft and round over the course of the last 10 years. If everyone could just adhere to the basic principles of getting stronger to get leaner; eating more fruits, veggies, and meats; targeting high-glycemic carbs mostly for post-workout nutrition; and adding in a cardio session or two when they really want to supercharge their results; well I think then we might see a more fit, more shapely America. Until then we will be forever swarmed by walking pears.
Thanks Mehdi for this article. I am a male and I do have this pear-shape which drives my self-esteem down. A lifetime of inactivity and bad eating habits has lead me to this current shape, but thanks to this site I’ll see to it that I change for the better.