how to improve body proportions
[This Issue's Q&A Coach]
[This Issue's Questions Overview]
Q1: My waist is thin but my legs are thick, making my overall figure unbalanced. How should I exercise?
Q2: Which has a higher exercise intensity and less impact on the knees: running on a treadmill at 8.5 km/h or running at a 15-degree incline at 5 km/h?
Q3: My body fat percentage is too high, and I have a protruding belly. What kind of training should I do?
Q4: I have pain on the inside of my knee and have been running recently. How can I alleviate the pain?
Q:My waist is very thin, but my legs are thick, making my overall figure unbalanced. I've been exercising but haven't seen ideal results. What should I do?
A:First,the issue of a thin waist. A slender waist is generally due to genetics. Whether male or female, a small waist is aesthetically pleasing. I believe most people prefer a V-shaped body over a barrel-shaped waist! If your waist is very thin but lacks definition, thento create a firm and toned waist, you need to do some core-specific training.
Here arecore exercises:6 exercises, 2 sets of each, 10-12 reps per set, 3-5 times a week. After a period of core training, your waist and abdominal muscles will become firmer and stronger, making your waist look less frail.
Next,the issue of thick legs. There are generally two reasons for thick legs.
1. Excess fat accumulation in the legs and buttocks.
In this case, you need toincrease leg strength training. Don't worry about making your legs bulkier because muscle growth requires many conditions, such as heavy weight stimulation, high-protein diet, and high levels of male hormones. The legs contain the largest muscle groups in the body, and leg exercises burn a lot of calories, helping to quickly burn off excess fat.
However, there are two points to note during exercise:
1. Use light weights and high repetitions, with each set recommended to be over 20 reps.
2. Do not consume too much protein in your diet.
PS: Initially, when doing leg exercises, your muscles will become firmer, and the fat reduction may not be as fast, so your leg circumference might increase at first. But if you persist, the fat will eventually be burned off, and your leg circumference will naturally decrease.
Here areleg exercises:4 exercises, 2 sets of each, 20 reps per set, 3-5 times a week.
2. Muscle-type obesity, meaning the leg muscles are too developed, leading to large leg circumference.
You can try reducing leg strength training and switch to long-duration aerobic exercises. Additionally, reduce protein intake and carbohydrate intake before exercise to make the body break down protein for energy. With long-term persistence, muscle size may decrease.
In summary, by training your waist and abdomen to make them firmer and stronger, and combining leg exercises to reduce leg fat or muscle, your figure will become more balanced and coordinated.
Q:Which has a higher exercise intensity and less impact on the knees: running on a treadmill at 8.5 km/h or running at a 15-degree incline at 5 km/h?
A:Directly comparing these two exercises, running at a 15-degree incline at 5 km/h has a higher exercise intensity. As for the impact on the knees, it's hard to compare precisely because both exercises involve running, which includes impact actions like jumping and landing.
If it's incline walking, then incline walking definitely has the least impact on the knees. I also recommend incline walking because it reduces the impact on the knees when landing and increases the exercise intensity by stimulating the gluteal and leg muscles.
Q:My body fat percentage is too high, and I have a protruding belly. What kind of training should I do?
A:This question is simple, it's all aboutfat loss.
There are many ways to achieve fat loss. Basketball, soccer, swimming, and fitness can all lower your body fat percentage as long ascalories burned > calories consumed, your fat will naturally be burned off. However, everyone's exercise preferences, goals, and body shape requirements are different (men may want to turn a beer belly into six-pack abs, women may want a flat stomach), so the exercise methods will vary. Therefore, there are many ways to train for fat loss, but controlling your diet is key to lowering body fat percentage.
Additionally, many people have a misconception during fat loss—train a specific area to lose fat in that area!
This is not true; localized exercise does not achieve localized fat loss.
Fat storage is determined by genetics, and the main areas for fat storage in humans are the abdomen, legs, and buttocks. Generally, no matter where you train, abdominal, waist, and buttock fat are the last to be burned. Therefore,use exercises that involve large muscle groups, such as squats, pull-ups, and push-ups, to burn more calories and speed up fat loss. Once overall fat decreases, your belly will naturally flatten.
Q:I have pain on the inside of my knee and have been running recently. How can I alleviate the pain?
A:The knee joint is complex, and there are many causes of knee pain: cruciate ligament injury, iliotibial band syndrome, meniscus wear, patellar chondromalacia, etc., can all cause knee discomfort. So, if exercise causes any knee discomfort, it's recommended torest first and avoid knee exercises. During this time, you can do upper body training. If the symptoms do not improve after a period of rest, you should go to the hospital for a check-up and resume exercise only after full recovery.
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