Spoon Shapes Discussion

[Kyndle]

I just found out I'm a spoon shape. Well I always knew I what shape I was, but never the official title.

"Typically, if a Spoon is not overweight, the lower part of the leg, from the knee down is her best asset( in my case it's from my waist down). Although it is rare, there are some male Spoons. Another distinctive feature of Spoons is that, unlike Hourglasses, they look heavier than their actual scale weight. Because most of their weight is concentrated in their lower half, others' eyes focus and fix primarily on this part of their bodies. It is important to note that as a Spoon, you bulk the fastest of all the body types from the hips down, so it's vital that each and every time you exercise you do so with absolutely no resistance or weights."

This is true for me. But should I really stop lifting with my lower body?

Right now I'm doing a 4 day split w/ a circut on the last day w/ 20 min cardio 3 X week. I'm doing enough weight that it burns at the end of each set.

My main goal is tone up overall a keep losing fat. I just want to see how low in body fat I can go w/ out supplemtents, w/ out losing muscle, and still enjoying my weekend social life. But I primarily want to make my calve muscles pop out so my lower half doesn't give other's the false impression of being chunky. More quad tone would be nice too. And I also want to lose that little bit of fat b/w my chest and my arm pits.--Idk if this is a characteristic of big breats, but there has to be a way to lose this annoying bit! I also want better shoulders, maybe these 2 go hand in hand..?

I'm also close to my goal. I'm 5'2'', 120lbs. and my guess is my bf% is between 15-20%

Any tips or suggestions for my body type or for toning my trouble spots ?

And please feel free to post additional info about spoon shapes

[katz7479]

found this on a website




Best Exercises for Escaping Your Spoon Shape

Jumping rope with a speed rope

Stationary biking with light resistance only and high RPMs (90 to 120)

Jumping jacks

Ski machines with light resistance for lower body and high resistance for upper body

Standing knee to opposite chest, L-kicks, leg-outs, one-legged leg lifts, and vertical scissors

Side leg lifts

Marching in place on toes

All variations of push-ups

Chin-ups, pull-ups

Dips

If overweight, fast walking or slow jogging with no incline or hills

If not overweight, all or any upper-body exercises with moderate to heavy weights and dead lifts with no weight

[Kyndle]

Same website lol. A trainer just came into my work and told me to do a burn out of my muscles bottom to top ( legs to upperbody) 2 sets of each, 3 X week and reps should be 8-15 till exaustion. And he told me to do 30-45 mins cardio every day at a high intensity. On lift days he said I'd be at the gym 1.5-2 hours. He said to cardio for 15 mins. when I first get there then go through the burnout circuit and then cardio for 30 more mins. Sounds not too fun...but I'll do what i have to do... What do you think of this routine for me? Anyone know one thats more fun?

[JarheadRI]

What website did you find this on?

[Kyndle]

IDK it was a google of spoon shape. I think it was about.com. And then I also found it whjen I googled body type quiz in the "what do you results mean" section

[Italianangel]

Those are all excellent additions to work into your routine but I would not outright change your routine now........unless you do it for a month and get no results.........
Linda

[chuckg]

I posted the same thing for my wife. She's pretty mcuh in the same boat you are. And she found the same article on the internet as you. My only concern is that for a month she's stopping lifting altogether in order to drop some weight through cardio. Powerwalking 7 days a week until mid June. Then she'll see how she looks before getting back into a weight lifting routine again. She's right now at 5'2" and 125lbs. Unfortunately she doesn't have the time to spend 1.5 to 2 hours for exercise with her current schedule. A few years ago she got into the best shape she's ever been in doing only powerwalking. So she wants to go back to that. I guess we'll see what happens.
Do us a favor, please, and let us know what your plans are as far as a routine and what your progress is.

Thanks!

[Kyndle]

Originally Posted by chuckg

I posted the same thing for my wife. She's pretty mcuh in the same boat you are. And she found the same article on the internet as you. My only concern is that for a month she's stopping lifting altogether in order to drop some weight through cardio. Powerwalking 7 days a week until mid June. Then she'll see how she looks before getting back into a weight lifting routine again. She's right now at 5'2" and 125lbs. Unfortunately she doesn't have the time to spend 1.5 to 2 hours for exercise with her current schedule. A few years ago she got into the best shape she's ever been in doing only powerwalking. So she wants to go back to that. I guess we'll see what happens.
Do us a favor, please, and let us know what your plans are as far as a routine and what your progress is.

Thanks!

Chuck G,

I went with Italian Angel's advice from thsi thread.
Athletic 21/F needs advice
and I posted my progress in Athletic 21/F Update thread.

I did a 5-15 min warm up before weight training, and kept my HR around or above 140 the whole workout. Then on days where I had time or felt like had extra energy I finished w/ 20 mins of cardio. And occassionally I did an extra 10 min. of interval training on the treadmill ( sometimes sprint 1/4 mile, walk 1/4 and sometimes power walk steep incline, not as steep) And at least one day a week I did my cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. And I tried to get at least 100g of protein/day

I finished this routine and I trained "problem areas" and did differnt excercises that I don't normally do for 1 week. This week, I'm taking the week off for rest and Memorial Day parties. Then I'm starting a new workout routine. I'm still going to do the same cardio routine I'm not sure what lifting routine I'm going to do yet. I just know I'm going to put alot of emphasis on my lower body.

I'm not sure if I did everything right, but it worked for me. I'd be interested to know how the powerwalking works for your wife.

[chuckg]

Hi Kyndle,

She is powerwalking and it has increased her endurance, but she also went with the majority of advice on here and picked up a routine for weight lifting as well. She just couldn't get used to the fact of no weights. Didn't feel right. But I've always been a fan of Dave Draper and am currently following one of his routines on his website. Seeing as I've made some really good gains myself, she decided to also follow them as well. She just started this week with a routine for prioritizing legs.

Basically looks like this:

WEEK 2 -
MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY

Front Squats (5x15, 12, 10, 10, 10)

Stiff Legged Deadlifts (3x12)
tri-setted with
Leg Curls (3x12)
and
Calf Raises (3x20)

Incline Dumbbell Press (4x10)
supersetted with
Wide Grip Pulldowns (4x10)

Optional, if time and energy permits, no rest between supersets:
Dumbbell Pullovers (4x12)
supersetted with
Crunches (4x25)


WEEK 2 -
MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY

Wide Stance Squat (Sumo Squats) on Smith Press (5x10)

Raised Lunges on block or step (3x10)
supersetted with
Leg Curls (3x10)

Dumbbell Pullovers (3x12)
supersetted with
Seated Lat Rows (3x12)

Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (3x12)
tri-setted with
Dumbbell Curls (3x12)
and
Triceps Pushdowns (3x12)

Optional, if time and energy permits, no rest between supersets:
Crunches (3x15)
supersetted with
Calf Raises (3xMax)

This is a 6 week routine, because there's not much upper body to it. Just maintenance. So it's suggested to only do this for about 6-8 weeks.

I'll keep you posted on her progress, if you'd like. We also broke the NordicTrack out of storage for her to use as well. Best of luck to you and let us know your progress.

[shannondey]

Hey All! I have to agree...the mixture of weights and cardio is the key for ANY body type!!