The 5-Step Guide to Sculpting a Beautiful Hourglass Silhouette.

  Most women desire the hourglass shape for its beauty and sex appeal. However, only 16% of women have it. It is characterized by having broad shoulders that taper down to a very narrow waist and flare out to wide hips.

 The shoulder-to-hip ratio, not breast to hip ratio, measures the hourglass shape. The hips and shoulders are on the same level and neither is broader than the other. 

  Sometimes, some hourglass-shaped girls are small-breasted and pear-shaped girls that are busty. However, that is not the norm.

  Also, realize that no body type is better than the other. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Examples of women with hourglass figures are:

1. Brigitte Bardot
2. Kenya Moore
3. Scarlet Johansson
4. Aracely Arambula
5. Lara Dutta
6. Priyanka Chopra
7. Jayne Mansfield

So what is The 5-Step Guide to Sculpting a Beautiful Hourglass Silhouette?

 Follow these tips to get an hourglass shape regardless of your body shape:

Diet

 Your diet determines 70% of your physique. Also, know that you cannot out-train a bad diet. Do the following to get your diet in control:

• Don’t eat carbs late at night.
• Decrease your intake of high glycemic foods such as sweets, pasta, white rice, biscuits, potato chips, cakes, pies and bread.
• Eliminate all forms of refined sugar from your diet. These are in all soft drinks, table sugar and fruit juices sold at stores.
• Drink eight glasses of water daily. You can also drink green tea because they are rich in antioxidants.
• Eat low-glycemic foods like beans, oat bran, corn, millet and brown rice in moderation.

KNOW YOUR BODY SHAPE.

The next thing to do is to find out your body shape and tailor your exercise needs towards it because one size doesn’t fit all. The most common female body shapes are:

• Pear
• Inverted triangle
• Apple
• Rectangle
• Hourglass

Your weight has to be taken into consideration. If you are overweight, you may need to lose some kilos but not too much to have curves.

Discover your body shape by using the shoulder-to-hip ratio and measurement method below.

Step 1

• Measure your shoulders, bust, waist and hips all around.
• Measure the smallest part of your waist and the smallest part around your shoulders, bust and hips ( below the hip bone).

Step 2

 Look at your measurements. Your waist should be at least 25% smaller than your hips. Also, your shoulders and hips should be within 5% of each other to have an hourglass shape.

• If your hips are 5% bigger than your shoulders, you have a pear shape. If your waist is 25% smaller than your shoulders, you have a rectangle shape. If your shoulder measurements are more than 5% bigger than your hip measurements, you are an inverted triangle.

CREATE A FITNESS PLAN.

Create a fitness plan according to your body to get the hourglass figure you want.

Do cardio exercises like cycling, Plyometrics and the elliptical 2 to 3 times a week to burn excess fat on your hips, butt, thighs and belly.

You can also do cardio exercises like running on an incline or uphill, step-up class or Stairmaster 2 times a week to burn excess belly fat. Do twisting waist exercises to slim and shape your waist.

• For cone-shaped women, you need to do a lot of lower body exercises with heavy weights four times a week to balance out your wider upper body. 

    These exercises are the same as those for the rectangle but do body weight for your upper body to tone it up. Do cardio exercises thrice a week to burn any excess fat. 

    These exercises are step-up classes, running uphill or on an incline, using a steeper or stair master.

• Other exercise routines like Iyengar or Bikram yoga, Gyrokensis and Gyrotonics are all great for reducing the waist. Avoid the elliptical machine and bicycle because they slim the legs too much.
• For apple-shaped women, you need to do exercises to reduce your heavy middle and upper body while you build up your lower body to develop curves.

     Do high-intensity interval training(HIIT) three times a week to burn excess fat from your waist, belly, back and arms. 

    Then do upper body exercises with light weights to tone your upper body and lower body exercises with heavy weights to increase your hips, thighs and glutes.

Avoid these exercises if you want an hourglass figure:

1. Planks and side planks
2. Pilates
3. Turbo fire beach workouts
4. Weighted sit-ups and side bends.
5. Cross fit
6. Insanity workouts
7. Astanga and Vinyasa yoga

These exercises will give you flat washboard abs but can build up the oblique muscles and make your waist look thicker. Do waist-twisting exercises, Gyrotonics, Gyrokensis and hatha yoga instead.

Also, take these supplements to help boost your metabolism, help you relax and shed belly fat. Add Waist training to this routine but it will only be effective if your diet is clean and you exercise. Also, use a steel-boned corset, not a waist trainer.

Patience is key. You will begin to see results from 4 months into your fitness journey.

I wish you the best.