//Body Sculpting – changing your body shape

Body Sculpting – changing your body shape

Can you change your body shape ?

The answer is most definitely yes … and no!

You can’t change the frame you were born with, so before you start, you should check out your body frame size using our calculator. But you can change your shape or silhouette. Work out your current body shape before you start. Here’s our womens body shape calculator and here’s our male body type calculator.

Next, decide what shape you’d really like to be. Do you want smaller waist and hips to be a V-shape or are you after the classic hour glass figure? What needs to change? If you have too much fat, that has to be your initial focus. Get your overall body fat percentage at least within the acceptable range before you begin body sculpting.

Still need to sculpt your body? Whether you’re male or female, you can sculpt your body naturally or with surgical devices & techniques.

Natural Body Sculpting

changing your body shape

Changing your body shape the natural way means putting in some hard work, but often the results can be far better and longer lasting than the surgical methods.

You’ll need to focus on burning excess fat through exercise and diet before you begin to see the results of your efforts to sculpt your body.

Lose Fat

This is really important when you want to change your body shape, for two reasons. Firstly, any excess fat you are carrying may be disguing your true body shape and so you could be focussing on the wrong areas. Secondly, when you have excess fat, it can be really difficult to see the results of your efforts to change your body shape. Think of it like switching on the windscreen wipers in your car on a rainy day!

Exercise to Build Muscle where you need it

Here’s a few examples of what we mean by this:

  • If you have a flat, small or droopy bottom you’ll need to concentrate your muscle building exercises on the glutes. Squats and stairclimbing are great for this. And, if performed long enough and hard enough, can go a long way toward changing your body shape.
  • Shoulders can become more defined with a layer of shapley muscle over them. If you’re female, high reps and low resistance/weights and rowing are great for this with the added advantage of helping to flatten the belly! If you’re a man, you can build bulk by adding resistance and weight and doing less reps.
  • Now, if you want a bigger chest, and you’re a fella, you can concentrate your gym exercises on your pecs. But if you’re female, and not prepared to take steps surgically you may have to learn to love your Twiggy silhouette or buy a clever bra.

Stretches and exercises to lengthen muscles & create the right shape

If you don’t want your new shape to look bulky or make you appear stocky, it’s reallly important to stretch out the muscles you’ve been working. Also adding pilates to your exercise routine will help to develop length, tone and elegance.

Tighten and tone

A straight waist can be corrected with waist toning exercises. Pilates and hoola hoops are good for this, but don’t overlook your abs. Always use hula hoops in conjunction with crunches, straight and diagonal, to keep that tummy flat and to be sure you’re changing your body shape in the right way.

Non invasive & surgical body sculptingbody sculpting

Now this isn’t for the faint hearted, or for those who still have a body fat percentage outside of the ideal range. If you’re serious about changing your body shape, you’ll also need to be prepared to spend some money – and it can be a lot! £2,000 is about the average cost depending on what you have done.

That said, if you have some really stubborn areas of fat, this could be a way for you to reshape your body or change it’s shape in a partincular area.

We’ve all heard of liposuction and that is certainly one proven surgical method of getting rid of unwanted fat and reshaping your body, but, it’s costly, carries the high risks of surgey and requires a period of painful downtime.

Nowadays, there are newer non-invasive methods of bodysculpting that take around 12-16 weeks to see results. These methods work best for those whose body mass index is between 18.5 and 24.9

Cold treatments (e.g. CoolSculpting)

These body sculpting devices use temperatures cold enough to kill fat cells but not damage your skin. A device pulls portions of skin in by suction, then cools it to destroy the fat underneath for a set amount of time. You can use this procedure on many body parts including the chin, arms, abdomen, love handles and thighs.

Heat treatments (e.g. SculpSure)

The devices use laser energy to damage the structure of fat cells and change your body shape. The body then eliminates the dead cells. It doesn’t work as well on body areas with curves. Heat treatments work best for the stomach and thighs.

Ultrasound energy (e.g. UltraShape, Ultracel and Ultherapy)

This type of treatment uses ultrasound energy to break down fat. It is the most time-intensive of the four types, taking approximately one hour per treatment session. Instead of hooking you up to a machine, a technician will move the device around manually.

Radiofrequency energy (truSculpt, Vanquish)

Radiofrequency devices deliver energy to create heat and destroy fat cells. They target water in the cells, so it’s important to hydrate your body well beforehand. The treatment is not as effective for changing your body shape if you’re dehydrated.

2018-08-26T13:28:56+00:00Aug 26, 2018|Categories: Exercise and working out|0 Comments

About the Author:

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Editor in Chief - Nutrition and weight loss writer and veteran. Specialising in real life applications and reviews. Anni, has lost over 55lbs in weight and admits it’s been a life long struggle. Now at 50 +, she's sharing what she's learnt along the way.

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