Shape

You hear people say it all the time, "I need to get in shape!" "I used to be in shape." So, what exactly determines what shape you are in? Well, the shape you assume (i.e. how you look) is a function of two things: 1) Stress you put on the bone and muscle and 2) The amount of fat you have over that bone and muscle.
First of all, your skeletal and muscular shape is directly determined by what kind of physical stress you are placing on your bones and muscles directly. Have you ever noticed how broad swimmer's shoulders are? Or, how big soccer player's legs are? Coincidence?? Not at all. You see, the muscle and bone develops in proportion to the amount of physical stress placed on that part of the body. Dancers and soccer players are going to have larger and more developed legs than swimmers, for example. As stress (load) is placed on a particular body part, the muscle strengthens and hypertrophies (gets larger). The muscle, in turn, pulls against the bone which reiforces itself by becoming more dense and able to withstand the physical stress placed on it by the muscle. To get technical, the more volume that is placed on a particular muscle, the larger that muscle becomes. (Volume = load x sets x repetitions OR the total amount of stress placed on that muscle, day in, day out). On a somatic level, that particular part of the body gets bigger, which is not always a bad thing (ladies); we're talking muscle, not fat.
The second variable that determines our shape is the amount of fat, or stored energy, that we have overlaying the muscle and bone tissue. To put it in simple terms, the more you eat, and the less you burn, the more fat you will have deposited over your lean tissues. We are particularly concerned over the amount of abdominal fat that is deposited, as these tend to correlate wth diseased states - cardiovasular disease, Type II Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, etc. Your abdomen does not that get big in response to physical stress placed on it in the form of exercise, it gets big because of the amount of fat deposited there. In fact, exercise of large muscle groups, particularly of the legs, helps to diminuate the fat stored in the abdomen.
So, in sum, there are two primary factors that contribute to our shape: the amount of physical stress we place on any part of our body and the fat that is deposited over it. You can use this knowledge to design the body you want. Are your legs too big? Watch your diet, and take up swimming. Have a hard time building leg muscles? Try biking, dancing or heavy weight lifting for the lower body. Life is not just about what you look like, but most of us want to improve on one or more things. Now you have the knowledge to help you achieve your perfect shape! For questions, or more info, visit http://www.notimetowaistfitness.com/.