Guest Post: How to Find the Best Fitness Routine for Your Body

Guess where I am right now.

Hint: The Lonely Island has a song about it entitled “I’m on a Boat.”

For work today, we are going fishing! Sometimes my job is just too much…

We had the opportunity to go fishing with the group or take a day off, but I decided to go on the yearly fishing trip to hang out with the cool people at my work. I’m stoked. Since 5am and through 5pm, I’ll be hanging out in the Pacific, catching fish and trying not to get seasick or fall overboard. Wish me luck!

For today’s post, I have a special guest writer, sharing some cool workout advice. Alicia Lawrence is a freelance writer for an addiction treatment program and blogs in her free time at MarCom Land. Her articles have been published by Her Fitness Hut, Examiner.com, and Ask Miss A. Read on to learn…

How to Find the Best Fitness Routine for Your Body

Fitness is a highly personal concept. Despite what some trainers and so-called experts tout, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all fitness routine. Your fitness regimen should be dictated by your eating habits, your overall level of health and your body type.

Body type is especially important with regard to fitness because some body types demand more cardio, while others need more strength training. If you aren’t sure what you should be doing, read this quick guide to finding the best fitness routine for your body type. As with any exercise program, you should consult your doctor before starting new exercises.

Soft and Curvy

This body type encompasses a large number of women. It’s characterized by a soft body with a curvy physique. People with this body type tend to gain fat easily. Women in this category also have a more difficult time building muscle. For these reasons, daily physical activity is recommended. For best results, alternate cardio with strength training.

For cardio, fat-blasting workouts like Zumba, spinning, running, elliptical training and biking are effective in shedding pounds and slimming down. All-over strength training is recommended through the use of body weight and free weights. Stretching exercises that combine strength training, such as Pilates, are ideal for helping to stretch muscles while building muscle mass.

Muscular

Women with muscular bodies have the unique challenge of needing to exercise in order to stay at a healthy weight while wanting to avoid too much exercise that can lead to bulky-looking muscles. There’s no need to fear bulk, though, if you complete plenty of stretching exercises like Yoga or use a foam roller to lengthen and slim the muscles.

High intensity interval training is the best form of cardio for this body type, so a program like CrossFit is ideal. Strength training using kettlebells or other weights are also a great way to increase muscle mass. Women in this category and the soft and shapely category need to be especially careful with their dietary habits, too, because poor eating can sabotage efforts to become physically fit.

Tall and Slender

Women who are tall and slender are often afraid to work out too much for fear of becoming too skinny. While it’s true that these women shouldn’t focus too much on calorie-burning exercises, physical activity is important. Strength training can add muscle definition for a shapelier, healthier-looking body.

Spinning and CrossFit are good exercises for women with this body type because they combine strength training and cardio in intervals. Pilates and Yoga are both excellent stretching exercises for tall, slender women because both lead to greater muscle definition and a shapelier physique.

While finding the right fitness regime for your body type is important, remember that any exercise is better than none. The first step should be finding an activity that you enjoy!

Questions for you:

Do you do exercises geared towards your body type? I feel like I’m a mix between muscular and soft & curvy, so I run and do some weight lifting which is geared towards them. Looking at your body type seems like an interesting way of choosing workout types though. I suppose my workouts just fell into place.

What is a sport or exercise-type you’ve been wanting to try? I talk about a few in my post Fitness Class Curiosity, including Crossfit, spinning, and yoga.

Do you like fishing? Ever been deep sea fishing before?!