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Do any exist? That person or person would be a great role model for us pear shaped women. Most of the women I see appear to be athletic or hourglass bodyshapes. Does that me that only those body types can achieve the symmetry necessary to achieve a balanced physique? If anyone knows of any fitness competitors or bodybuilders who have made the grade and won awards for it reply here with their links or names! Thanks!
[QUOTE=manipool;431230271]Do any exist? That person or person would be a great role model for us pear shaped women. Most of the women I see appear to be athletic or hourglass bodyshapes. Does that me that only those body types can achieve the symmetry necessary to achieve a balanced physique? If anyone knows of any fitness competitors or bodybuilders who have made the grade and won awards for it reply here with their links or names! Thanks![/QUOTE]
Hi,
truth to be told,being a BB and win awards means you have to have perfect phisique.That is if you want to compete.That is why there are not so many champions,champs are unique.You have to have a certain amount of luck with that....
But it shouldn't stop you training and dieting hard to see,how far you could take it for yourself.It is a great way of living.
I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most women who are "pear-shaped" shaped that way because they are holding more fat on their lower body than on their upper body? I know there are women who just naturally have wider hips but I don't think that makes much of a difference if you are lean with a significant amount of muscle. I think most of the bodybuilding women are sooooooo lean that they hardly carry any excess fat around their hips or thighs so even if they were pear shaped there's no way to tell. ?? Plus they also have bigger lats and shoulders and that also creates the illusion of a smaller lower body and slimmer hips.
[QUOTE=IronCitGrl;431380671]I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most women who are "pear-shaped" shaped that way because they are holding more fat on their lower body than on their upper body? I know there are women who just naturally have wider hips but I don't think that makes much of a difference if you are lean with a significant amount of muscle. I think most of the bodybuilding women are sooooooo lean that they hardly carry any excess fat around their hips or thighs so even if they were pear shaped there's no way to tell. ?? Plus they also have bigger lats and shoulders and that also creates the illusion of a smaller lower body and slimmer hips.[/QUOTE]
That is exactly what I was thinking, I agree.
Maybe the op is looking for someone who is pear-shaped, naturally - as in that's where they hold fat, when they have fat.
I'm sure there are BB's out there who have "naturally" pear shaped bodies. Pear shaped women, such as I, just tend to carry all of their extra fat in their lower bodies. For competitions, women have to get down to a very low body fat percentage, so you might not be able to tell that they are pear shaped during the comps b/c this extra fat is gone for the time being. Also, pear shaped women who want to compete work on building up their upper bodies (delts, lats, traps) to get themselves a more balanced look. If no female bodybuilder is naturally a pear shape that would be weird b/c "most" women tend ot carry their fat in the lower body.
[QUOTE=IronCitGrl;431380671]I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most women who are "pear-shaped" shaped that way because they are holding more fat on their lower body than on their upper body? I know there are women who just naturally have wider hips but I don't think that makes much of a difference if you are lean with a significant amount of muscle. I think most of the bodybuilding women are sooooooo lean that they hardly carry any excess fat around their hips or thighs so even if they were pear shaped there's no way to tell. ?? Plus they also have bigger lats and shoulders and that also creates the illusion of a smaller lower body and slimmer hips.[/QUOTE]
That seems to be the best explanation I can think of.
[QUOTE=IronCitGrl;431380671]I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most women who are "pear-shaped" shaped that way because they are holding more fat on their lower body than on their upper body? I know there are women who just naturally have wider hips but I don't think that makes much of a difference if you are lean with a significant amount of muscle. I think most of the bodybuilding women are sooooooo lean that they hardly carry any excess fat around their hips or thighs so even if they were pear shaped there's no way to tell. ?? Plus they also have bigger lats and shoulders and that also creates the illusion of a smaller lower body and slimmer hips.[/QUOTE]
That's what I thought as well. If you look at a line up of figure competitors on stage, speaking for myself I find it difficult to distinguish body types between the women cuz at that point they are so lean.
[QUOTE=IronCitGrl;431380671]I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most women who are "pear-shaped" shaped that way because they are holding more fat on their lower body than on their upper body? I know there are women who just naturally have wider hips but I don't think that makes much of a difference if you are lean with a significant amount of muscle. I think most of the bodybuilding women are sooooooo lean that they hardly carry any excess fat around their hips or thighs so even if they were pear shaped there's no way to tell. ?? Plus they also have bigger lats and shoulders and that also creates the illusion of a smaller lower body and slimmer hips.[/QUOTE]
Add my name to the list of those who agree. :)
Bodybuilding generally changes/enhances a woman's silhouette by bringing more balance to the upper body--creating more of a an 'X' or even a 'V' shape, as opposed to the classic pear, or Coke bottle silhouette.
Training for BB will change the shape of the body as well. That is why some train specific areas more than others. I, for example, am training shoulders heavier than for my last competition because I want a more balanced, wider shoulder look. At this point my shoulders are exactly as wide as my hips 36x36, so I guess I would be hourglass. But without that extra focus I may have gone more towards pear.
Really though, once you get to that leanness point all that matters is muscle mass.
I guess the question would be is figure-shape determined by bone structure or tissue?
IMHO all the best female bbers are pear shaped ones. They are the ones with the best muscle development in the legs and the nice X frames. Apples lose that last little bit of fat a bit faster BUT have a hard time with growing legs and never get a nice small waist (AKA natural X frame) so have to build up their lats to compensate.
Celebrate it if you are a pear. You will ultimately have a fantastic body dieted down.
What about Nicole Wilkins-Lee, Ms Figure Olympia? There is a cover story in the current Hers Muscle and Fitness. Her body is great (Hers calls her the world's best figure). She doesn't really look pear shaped, but in the interview, she says the following......
"My legs use to be too big for my upper body. Most of the changes I made this year were geared toward leaning out my lower half."
[QUOTE=PattyU;431507291]What about Nicole Wilkins-Lee, Ms Figure Olympia? There is a cover story in the current Hers Muscle and Fitness. Her body is great (Hers calls her the world's best figure). She doesn't really look pear shaped, but in the interview, she says the following......
"My legs use to be too big for my upper body. Most of the changes I made this year were geared toward leaning out my lower half."[/QUOTE]
Like I said.... Nearly ALL the "pro" women (the top ones) are pear shaped women with the "legs too big" issue. The OP should be inspired that she is one of them. The downside is that this area is deadly hard to lose the stubborn fat. The UP sides are many.
[QUOTE=kfisherx;431588971]Like I said.... Nearly ALL the "pro" women (the top ones) are pear shaped women with the "legs too big" issue. The OP should be inspired that she is one of them. The downside is that this area is deadly hard to lose the stubborn fat. The UP sides are many.[/QUOTE]
Oh, I totally agree with you. I was offering OP a specific name because I had just read the article where the reigning Figure Olympia indicated that she was a natural pear shape. I'm sure you're right that most of the other top competitors are also natural pears.
[QUOTE=kfisherx;431488671]. Apples lose that last little bit of fat a bit faster BUT have a hard time with growing legs and never get a nice small waist (AKA natural X frame) so have to build up their lats to compensate.
.[/QUOTE]
Why is this? Because they have small hips? My girlfriend is an apple and is deadly detirmined to end up with an itty bitty waist and abs. I know it all comes down to diet in reagrds to abs, but I'm curious about the waist.
Also even if the bodybuilder is a natural pear most pictures you see of them will be when they are at their leanest and dried out for competition. You will almost never see pictures of them when they are at the end of a bulk and look more like a natural pear shape.
[QUOTE=thegoat1;431323321]Hi,
truth to be told,being a BB and win awards means you have to have perfect phisique.That is if you want to compete.That is why there are not so many champions,champs are unique.You have to have a certain amount of luck with that....
But it shouldn't stop you training and dieting hard to see,how far you could take it for yourself.It is a great way of living.[/QUOTE]
This.
Structure is part of your bodybuilding potential. I believe the human body is more "plastic" than many (especially on this site) give it credit for...
But a pear shape (or endomorph) is not going to be the structure that wins bodybuilding contests. And results are a combination of genetics and environment. Not just one or the other.
Narrow shoulders, wide hips, shorter limbs, higher bodyfat as a base will make being a competitive bodybuilder more difficult, unless Boticelli is one of the judges. :D
Just as being 5 feet tall will make it difficult to be a pro-basketball player, being 6 feet tall will make it more difficult to be a gymnast, being terrible at math will make it hard to be an engineer etc.
I would suggest picking someone with a similar body type that looks how you want as a goal.
The above being said, making HUGE improvements is possible.
[QUOTE=PattyU;431507291]What about Nicole Wilkins-Lee, Ms Figure Olympia? There is a cover story in the current Hers Muscle and Fitness. Her body is great (Hers calls her the world's best figure). She doesn't really look pear shaped, but in the interview, she says the following......
"My legs use to be too big for my upper body. Most of the changes I made this year were geared toward leaning out my lower half."[/QUOTE]
Great Patty, that's more what I'm looking for, real life examples of possible "pear shaped" women. Of course some get "boobs" to fill out breasts that have deflated from all the fat loss and some just muscularize and tighten that area somehow (which is what I'd probably do, since I'm not partial to have foreign bodies put in me and probably couldn't because of keloids/scarring that might occur) but I'm just looking for women who have resolved the issue of being bottom heavy and skinny up top. I'm already aware of the solutions to balancing upper and lower body parts by focusing on the upper body more.
[QUOTE=kfisherx;431588971]Like I said.... Nearly ALL the "pro" women (the top ones) are pear shaped women with the "legs too big" issue. The OP should be inspired that she is one of them. The downside is that this area is deadly hard to lose the stubborn fat. The UP sides are many.[/QUOTE]
That's good to know because to me most of them look like hourglass shapes. I guess they either have professional trainers to help them work on their bodies in the proper way or they've experimented on their own to find out what works for them and that makes all the difference.
[QUOTE=Defiant1;432350871]This.
Structure is part of your bodybuilding potential. I believe the human body is more "plastic" than many (especially on this site) give it credit for...
But a pear shape (or endomorph) is not going to be the structure that wins bodybuilding contests. And results are a combination of genetics and environment. Not just one or the other.
Narrow shoulders, wide hips, shorter limbs, higher bodyfat as a base will make being a competitive bodybuilder more difficult, unless Boticelli is one of the judges. :D
Just as being 5 feet tall will make it difficult to be a pro-basketball player, being 6 feet tall will make it more difficult to be a gymnast, being terrible at math will make it hard to be an engineer etc.
I would suggest picking someone with a similar body type that looks how you want as a goal.
The above being said, making HUGE improvements is possible.[/QUOTE]
Basically I am not interested in being a competitor, I just wanted to know if it could be done or if I'm trying to do something with my natural shape that is impossible. If I can at best get close to balancing my top with my bottom then that would make me very happy, but that would be for my own personal satisfaction, not to please any judges. For motivation it would be nice to see others who have succeeded in this goal whether pros or not.
[QUOTE=Rozlyn27;431949541]Why is this? Because they have small hips? My girlfriend is an apple and is deadly detirmined to end up with an itty bitty waist and abs. I know it all comes down to diet in reagrds to abs, but I'm curious about the waist.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the hourglass shaped girls have a much nicer natural X frame when the fat does come off. Oh the coveted X frame. Us apples can only get that shape by greatly increasing our lats and quads and hoping the judges do not notice that our waists are not tiny. :D :D :D Like I said before though... NOTHING is harder to loss (fat wise) than that stubborn thigh fat, so we apples at least can diet down a bit easier.
[QUOTE=manipool;442299861]Basically I am not interested in being a competitor, I just wanted to know if it could be done or if I'm trying to do something with my natural shape that is impossible. If I can at best get close to balancing my top with my bottom then that would make me very happy, but that would be for my own personal satisfaction, not to please any judges. For motivation it would be nice to see others who have succeeded in this goal whether pros or not.[/QUOTE]
You have to take off enough fat to know what is underneath in the first place. You can find TONS and TONS of pictures of people who have competed that were once fairly significantly overweight. Just start browsing the competition folder on this site for instance. You'll find that the most pleasing figure competitor is almost always a pear shape woman to start with.
Most apples just do bbing because they know they won't be competitive with the hourglass girls. :D :D :D
This is a really interesting read, thank you OP for starting and all the contributions.
I'm a pear shape too manipool and have been advised to strengthen my top half to even out the bottom. Kfisherx is right when she says it's more natural to get the lovely X frame for us as I was told the same, because the tiny waist helps so much. Studies have shown that symmetry is what we find attractive at a subconscious level, so I guess that's what the X has. Although Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce have done very well with their bootylicious figures!
[QUOTE=hopingtobehot;442890851]This is a really interesting read, thank you OP for starting and all the contributions.
I'm a pear shape too manipool and have been advised to strengthen my top half to even out the bottom. Kfisherx is right when she says it's more natural to get the lovely X frame for us as I was told the same, because the tiny waist helps so much. Studies have shown that symmetry is what we find attractive at a subconscious level, so I guess that's what the X has. Although Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce have done very well with their bootylicious figures![/QUOTE]
No problem hopingtobehot. It just seems like it's really difficult to build up the upper body and at the same time lean out the lower. Maybe I need to find a really affordable but good trainer/nutrition planner in my area. I don't want to use the ones at my gym. Any recommendations in L.A. would be helpful.