Identifying Your Body Shape

Considering today’s need to look attractive, almost everyone is trying to get an ideal body shape. Whether you are bulky or lean, you want to get the right shape to fit into your favorite dress and look the best. Knowing about your body type and identifying the shape can help in planning a healthy lifestyle. Hence, it is necessary to understand about identifying your body shape and its relevant exercises. Exercises are particularly helpful to meet the needs

Biologically speaking, the shape of the human body is not an easy one to understand because of its complex functions and details. But for an outline, we can consider the human body to be a pack of muscles and skins all standing over a skeletal system of bones. And humans undergo growth, which actually happens to change the shape of the body. This growth depends on our way of living like how we eat, sleep, exercise, play, work and so on and finally this growth determines the way our body shape changes.

Identifying your body shape is very important because it actually helps you plan your lifestyle accordingly. You can not only buy the right kind of clothes to wear so that you look attractive but also help you plan your diet and routine. It also tells you the required exercise to make it look better.

Here are a few ways of identifying your body shape to carve a better you.

This is the first step towards identifying your body shape. First study the occurrences in your body for a few days. This must be done in front of the mirror with very little clothes as possible so that you can study the every detail of your body shape carefully because clothes may hide certain parts which may be important. Then see the areas where you put on weight. Check out if it’s the stomach region or the thigh region or so on. Then concentrate on your upper body especially the contours from your waist to the hip line and the rib cage. Then check out if your hips, shoulders, bust, thighs and so on are large and if the contours are straight or curvy. Then jot down the areas of concern and those that need correction and also the parts that are in good shape and need no correction.

Measuring your numbers is the nest important step of identifying your body shape. You can measure your body parts to find out which areas are fat and those that are thin and curvy.

• Measure the Chest – You can measure your chest first from the part that’s the largest in your torso. Keep the measuring tape around the chest and keep a finger in between and stand in front of a mirror and measure it. You can get a good soft tape to do this and you can get a good view from in front of the mirror.
• Measure your Waist – This is a very important part and this is the place where most of the fats happen to accumulate. So take a soft measuring tape and roll it around your body to the front of it so that you can get a view of it. Keep a finger in between so that it doesn’t get tight and cause harms. This should be done at the narrowest part of your waist and don’t try to hold your breath or suck your tummy in. Look at the readings through the mirror or you can look at it with your eyes directly but without shaking your hands, lest the reading changes. Measuring your waist is an important part of identifying your body shape, as it often needs correction.
• Measure the Hip – Now you can measure your lower body. This is the final part of the basic measurements of your body. Stand with both your feet close together. Take a soft measuring tape and roll it around the widest part of the lower body and bring it to the front to get a view of it. Keep a finger in between so that it doesn’t get tight and cause harm. This should be done with the tape being parallel to the ground.

You may want to know the type of body shape you own. Some of the commonest body shapes determine what you can wear to look the best.

• Inverted Triangle Body Shape – When your shoulders are broader than your hips
• Triangle or Pear Shaped Body– When your hips are broader than your shoulders
• Rectangle Shaped Body– When your shoulders and hips are of the same size without a curved waistline
• Hourglass Body Shape- When your shoulders and hips are of the same size with a curved waistline

Identifying your body shape in this manner is particularly useful as it helps to determine various health risks too. People who are overweight may be more concerned but some shapes are such that you may not be overweight, yet, having more fat in a particular area can increase your health risks. Your dressing style too changes based on the areas where you put on more fat.

Commonly known apple shape, with more fat around the abs and pear shape, with more fat around the hips are popular. So, when identifying your body shape, make every attempt to know if you fit into any one of these.

Some of the commonest exercises that can help to tune your body shape include skipping, running, jogging, squats, lunges and stationary biking. For specific ideas and recommendations of exercises to suit your body shape, it is better to consult a fitness expert. Seeking medical opinion is important to know the risk of obesity and any health risks after identifying your body shape.