[quote]Knoxout wrote:
First off I wanted to say that from a female perspective I think you look amazing I’ve got similar aesthetic goals, with an aim of increasing hip/glute measurement and decreasing my waist size. So far I’ve only managed to take an inch off my waist and put an inch on my hips, but the fact that your starting measurements were extremely close to my own has definitely given me some encouragement.
Thank you for posting, because I don’t know if I would have believed your results were even possible without having seen them! If you have any tips on diet or exercise for someone looking to achieve similar results, I’d be extremely grateful if you’d message me
As far as the suggestion for ab work goes, it seems like you hit your core with the front squats. I’m curious, have you incorporated deadlifts into your program at all? They would similarly engage your core while still focusing on the posterior chain. Simple planks would be a good addition, and maybe weighted v ups since they focus more on the lower abs?
I would definitely place you in the 15-17% category; you’re very lean with some separation between muscles, and I noticed some vascularity in your forearms and obliques. Obviously the part about the hips, buttocks, and thighs having less shape doesn’t really apply in your case, though
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I actually stopped front squatting. :o Haha. I don’t really mention this a lot (I guess I don’t really think about it often) but the one thing that I have always done for abs is a constant stomach vacuum. Tnation has a pretty good article on it- The Best Exercise for a Smaller Waist …I’ve basically done this all my life, so I’m sure my tva is in pretty good condition. I don’t like to work my core because it just adds inches to my midsection, and I’m pretty happy with my current ab standing. About 6 years ago I used to do martial arts and would do ab work just about every day. My waist measurement was about 26, and I was probably a bit leaner back then. Since avoiding direct ab work, I’ve found that my waist has shrunk down. It’s up to you if you want the extra ab work. If your main goal is a pronounced hip-waist ratio, avoid it. If you’re okay with substituting a few inches on your waist for some better ab development, do so. Up to you.
I don’t deadlift at all. I’ve tried just about every variation of deads, and I feel it in my lumbar with all of them (I have really long legs and a short torso, and it’s hard for me to get into the neutral position so I don’t lift with a rounded lumbar). I find that I hit my glutes and hammies a lot better with my other lift, so there’s no need for me to waste time and energy on a lift that’s semi-effective when I could be focusing on what I find to be the extremely effective lifts (like hip thrusts, ppt back extensions, kick backs).
As far as diet is concerned, I try to eat organic when I can. The less processed, the better. My main staples are organic peanut butter, raw honey, eggs, meat (chicken, beef sometimes), central markets organic cinnamon raisin bread, non-homogenized milk (for coffee only) organic coconut sugar (for coffee only, as well), fruits, veggies (get creative here, potatoes, kale, spinach, tomatoes, zuccini, etc.) and crushed up hemp seed. Of course I didnt list everything, but you get the idea. I don’t take any supplements or protein powder (that crap is so processed, and you’re getting a nice dose of estrogen with every scoop of soy protein isolate you take, and estrogen is bad news for hypertrophy, and just about every whey and creatine blend is also mixed with some awesome chemicals [check the ‘other ingredients’ list]).
Check out Bret Contreras for some good glute articles and info. He has a few articles on T-Nation but it would be best to go to his main site.