When we think of the word Goddess, what kind of images do you see in your mind? Most likely, you see an ancient Greek Goddess, holding a spear or shield. She’s not masculine like the male statues, but she has muscles, tone, definition, and yet she’s still slender. The image of this type of woman has been passed down from generation to generation. This is why so many women have turned to the ‘curvy-fit’ figure in the past few years. It’s not all just about cardio and trimming your waist down once you’ve been on holiday. It’s also about having a physique that compliments your natural curves. So many women forget that their bodies are naturally curvy, with many different lines, angles, and proportions. You can begin your journey to owning the body of a Goddess if you start with these following actions.
The hourglass figure
Let’s first explore the hourglass figure. Women have wider hips than men because we bear children. This inherently means that we will have thicker thighs and store a lot of our fat cells around this area of our bodies. We are inherently more balanced than men because our center of gravity is at our glutes, thighs, calves, and hips. This is why women’s gymnastics is so much more impressive than male gymnastics because the balance beam is truly the mark of a strong cat-like human being.
The hourglass figure comes naturally to some women, but you have to give it a little push for it to truly come out of your skin. Reducing your waist size is the major part of achieving this figure because you want the lines of your hips to go inward and thus, accentuate your curvy hips. So here are some workouts to try.
- Yoga – abdominal stretches and glute stretches are the best ways to decrease your waist size. The bridge pose is very good for tightening your buttocks and giving your hips a workout. Downward dog is another good example. The bow pose is perhaps the best of all.
- Pilates – an intense cardio workout, mixed with stretches and powerful quick movements. Pilates is a good way to isolate and focus on your hip area, making sure that you’re burning calories around your glutes, hamstrings, and abdominals.
- Cycling – as you’re working out just the lower half of your body, cycling is a great way to lose weight in key areas, such as the hips.
Focusing on the legs
The Greek Goddesses all had thicker thighs than what most women are used to seeing. Don’t look at any model magazine for the body of a Goddess. Women don’t naturally look thin or slim, we have curves which are natural. Rather than trying to hide them, we should be elevating them.
The legs can be toned, sculpted, and made curvier through a set of key exercises.
- Squats – the mother of all leg workouts. Squats are why so many people dread ‘leg day’ because it’s a very tough exercise to do. But you can do bodyweight deep squats, which has you squat down until your bottom touches the floor and then rise back up with considerable speed and explosive power. This helps you achieve the curve on top and below your thighs.
- Lunges – this type of exercise works your calves and your quads. The muscles that are on top of your thigh, will be worked the hardest as they will be forced to contract while half your body weight is supposed on one leg.
- Calf raises – this one is so simple, you can do it at home. Get to the edge of your steps and hold onto the rail with both hands. Then get on your tiptoes with a bit of force. Repeat this action to give your calfs a seriously good workout.
- Tension band – there are all sorts of tension band exercises you can do for your legs. Placing the band around your ankles and performing lateral side lunges is a superb way of improving the curves around the outside of your thighs. The IT band will be isolated and your outer and inner thighs get a good workout.
Jogging for general trimming
If you have a general amount of extra weight around your body, jogging is a great way to shift it. The reason for this is, almost every muscle in your body is given a workout. But as mentioned, most women have the majority of their weight, in their lower body. Thus, when you’re running, your legs, hips, waist, and abs are naturally getting a great workout.
You’re also isolating these areas, which allows you to pinpoint where you lose weight. You don’t want to do full-body workouts because instead of your body using the fat cells around your waist for energy, your arms or back could be slimming instead.
But there are different types of runs which you can do to suit your needs.
- Progression runs – This is when you’re just starting out. You should run between 1-3 miles only. It’s okay to take breaks after every few minutes of running. Try to manage 400 meters of running before walking and starting again.
- Base runs – This is what most people who are generally fit, will do. These runs are short to moderate, with the maximum distance being 3-5 miles.
- Interval runs – Short, sharp, intense bursts of speed that last for 200-400 meters, done in repetition. The aim is to train your power and speed as a runner. The distance is usually around 1-2 miles.
- Recovery runs – You’re coming back after a break or you’re running with an injury. Take it slow and steady, keeping your runs no more than 1-2 miles. On the other hand, some recovery runners like to set a time limit instead. So this should be between 4-6 minutes only.
- Hill repeat runs – Find a hill that is a couple of hundred meters. Run up it as fast as you can. Do this several times and you’ll be giving your hamstrings and quads a great workout. It’s kind of like lunging but done at speed and using your momentum.
Shoulder sculpting
You’ve seen men with ‘boulder shoulders’ right? They have put in some serious hard work to achieve their large rounded shoulders. Women don’t have as much muscle mass or the potential to grow their muscles as large, but we can still do the same kind of workouts.
For example, these amazing Rear Delt Exercises work wonders for giving your body a curvy shape that starts off at the shoulder. This complete guide on what the rear deltoid is, where it’s located, why it should be given a workout, and how you can do it, is filled with amazing detail. Try grabbing a 10-20kg plate and swirling it around your head. The back of your shoulder will get an intense burn from this exercise. You can also do sitting dumbbell reverse flies by bringing the weight in front of your shins, leaning forward, and laterally moving the weights outward. Make sure that your palms are facing each other.
If you cannot handle free weights, don’t worry, you can always use the machines at your local gym. They have been designed to control your movements, prevent injury, and give you extra support in your posture and technique.
Toning your arms
So many women think they need to start lifting heavy weights to tone their arms, but this is simply counterproductive. Heavyweights, create more mass, not tone or definition. Women can use plastic weights and use high repetition sets to tone their biceps, forearms, and triceps.
The high repetition is also a great way to trim down any loose skin. The high number of reps and repeated motion will isolate muscle groups in your arms, and direct calorie burning in the area. With fewer fat cells, the skin begins to mold around the muscle might tighter.
- Tricep kickback – You can do one arm or both at a time. Bend over as much as you can, preferably to a 90-degree angle. The dumbbells should be thrust backward, simply by straightening your arm. You can also do these with tension bands if you’re more comfortable that way.
- Bicep curls – it’s important to do these at a lightweight level. You can use tension bands for this but plastic dumbbells would be good too. In a circular motion bring your hands from your waist up to chest height. Your biceps will get a nice curve while not creating a peak when they are contracted, which allows you to retain the feminine shape.
- Side to front raise – this gives your upper pecs some nice shape but gives the outer head of your triceps and your front shoulder a nice workout too. It’s best to do these while sitting in the beginning and then standing as you become more experienced and fitter.
Women can and should have the body of a Greek Goddess. It starts by slimming your waist so you bring out your natural hourglass shape. Then begin to slowly tone your body while jogging to trim weight around your legs and waist.
