Full-body workout regimens often concentrate on fitness for your entire body. However, if you only wish to strengthen or trim specific portions of your body because of uneven weight gain, you may want to choose a fitness program better suited for your body shape. Remember to implement plenty of aerobic exercise into your fitness regimen to rid your entire body of excess fat.
Apple Shape
An apple-shaped body gets rounder toward the middle, yet is still moderately heavy at the top and bottom. If you have this body shape, you should concentrate on strengthening your abdomen, hips and buttocks, but not neglect your arms or legs either. Try a more intense workout for your problem areas, then devote a second day of more moderate strength training for your biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Perform variations of crunches, including reverse crunches and side crunches, fire hydrants and mule kicks. Fire hydrants and mule kicks are both performed on your hands and knees by either bringing your bent leg out to your side or straight up behind your body.
Pear Shape
A pear-shaped body is moderately small at the top, but graduates to a large mid-section and heavier buttocks and upper legs. If this is your body type, concentrate on strengthening your abdominal muscles, hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. Several types of squats exist to specifically strengthen this area. Try wall squats with an exercise ball placed between your lower back and the wall. Weighted squats, performed with a barbell across your shoulders or while holding dumbbells, create more resistance for a more beneficial strength-training session. Use quadriceps- and hamstring-strengthening machines, such as leg extension machines and hamstring curl machines. Also concentrate on abdomen-strengthening exercises, such as crunches and Roman chair leg lifts.
Heavy Upper Body
If you have a heavy upper body, you should concentrate on strength training your arms, chest, shoulders, back and abdomen. Try working with free weights and perform a variety of upper body strengthening exercises, such as dumbbell curls, hammer curls, military presses, chest flies, bent-over rows, triceps kickbacks and triceps extensions. Then concentrate on your abdomen, performing weighted crunches, in which you hold a dumbbell to your chest throughout the exercise, weighted vertical crunches, holding a dumbbell between your feet as you push your straightened legs into the air perpendicular to the ground, and side bends, bending to each side while holding dumbbells.
All-Over Weight Gain
If you gain weight evenly all over your body, you will benefit the most from a full-body workout several times a week. During each workout, perform a variety of exercises to strengthen multiple muscle groups. Begin with bench presses, inclined chest presses and declined chest presses performed with a barbell. Then move to biceps curls, hammer curls, military presses, bent-over rows, dumbbell deadlifts, triceps extensions and triceps kickbacks, all completed with dumbbells. Concentrate on your lower body with weighted squats; sumo squats, in which you spread your legs for a wider stance; walking lunges and calf raises. Don't forget to train your abdomen with variations of crunches, such as traditional or weighted crunches, vertical crunches, side crunches and reverse crunches.
Aerobic Activity
If you have trouble with gaining fat on any section of your body, you should strive to implement an aerobic exercise routine along with your strength-training regimen. Strive to perform at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day for maximum fat burning. However, if time is limited that you can devote to physical activity, try to perform at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of intense aerobic activity every week.
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