Hourglass Workout Plan

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Hourglass figure workout plan is perfect for any woman who want to transform their body to achieve hourglass figure. This 12 week (3 month) workout program will help you to tone your body with curves in all the right places. The exercises in the hourglass body workout will flatten your stomach, shrink your waist to provide a small waistline, tone your thighs, make your butt rounder and hips wider. 

What is Hourglass Figure?

According to fashion designers Hourglass figure is a classic evergreen body shape. An hourglass figure is very similar to real hourglass. Woman with this body shape will have a wide bust, a narrow waist, and wide hips. The shoulder width and hips width measurements will be very close while the middle section is narrow in circumference.

Why Men Like Women With an Hourglass Figure?

An experiment conducted in Georgia Gwinett College found that looking at a woman’s hourglass figure rewards man the same high as taking drugs. The study indicated that looking at a curvy lady will induce some brain signals in men which is also associated with alcohol and other drugs. In a social study conducted in 2012 to determine the most desirable female body measurements found that perfect female body had a waist-to-hip ratio of .70, a waist-to-chest ration of .67 and a BMI of 18.82.

According to science big breasts and large hips determine your fertility. Hips size shows the potential a lady to conceive babies easily and the big breasts indicate that she can store more milk for the baby. A research conducted in UC Santa Barbara found that women with thick butts and thighs have higher reproductive potential. The fat stored in these areas contain omega-3 fatty acids which help moms and baby’s brain during pregnancy.

What is Hourglass Figure Measurements?

In fashion industry the ideal body measurement is 36 24 36. Which means 36 inch for bust, 24 inch for waist and 36 inch for hips. But only 8.4% of women have this body measurements in real. You have hourglass body shape if your waist is at least 25% smaller than your shoulder or bust and your shoulder hips measurements are very closer.

Different countries, cultures, races either prefer an extreme limits or the average of these qualities.  There are a tons researches done to find out the ideal female body shape and every study concluded that ideal shape is an hourglass with a small waist to hip ratio.

Training Principles of Hourglass Figure Workout 

This is not a traditional body split (one muscle/day) type workout. According to science the growing effect training lasts only up to 48 hrs (2 days) after training. So if you are training in a traditional way (only one muscle group per day), you are wasting 5 useful days. Here you will train each body part 3 times per week with optimum rest time in between training days. Here we spread the total training volume throughout a week, so you are not compensating the definite target training volume to achieve higher frequency training routine.

Hourglass figure training program combines hypertrophy training principles with linear progression scheme. So after every workout you will increase load. Training reps will be frequently changed to prevent muscle adaptation.  After every 2 week you will change the reps. Hourglass figure workout plan is a higher frequency workout plan.

To make all these things possible you should do a full body workout. By doing full boy workouts you can keep the growth effect of training at an elevated level throughout the week because full body training enables you to hit all target muscle groups after every 48 hrs.

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Hourglass Workout Overview

The Hourglass workout program is a 3 day workout routine. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are workout days. You can do high intensity or moderate intensity cardio exercises on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. You should take complete rest on Sunday.
 

Weight selection

In hourglass workout sets and reps will be changed after every 2 week period. This will helps you to prevent muscle adaptation. Before you begin training determine your 10 rep max and 15 rep max for main lifts (compound movements). After each workout you will add 5 pounds to upper body movements and 10 pounds to lower body movements. To make this easier assign your rep maxes to the final day of each 2 week block. Now start assigning weights in a decreasing order (5 to 10 pound) starting from the last training day to the first day.
 

Ab workouts:

In hourglass workout you will get 3 days for ab training. Intense circuit ab workout will help you to remove fat around your stomach. Repeat the circuit 7 times with very less interval for rest or no rest. Abs workouts are performed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Here we are using circuit training method for abs training.
 

Cardio:

Here you will get 3 cardio sessions per week. Based on your body fat percentage you can do 20-40 minutes HIIT/medium/low intensity cardio workouts after ab training session. Treadmill running, stationary bike, stair climber, elliptical trainer, jumping rope etc. are the preferred cardio exercises. 
 
Note: If you are a person with low body fat, then it is better to avoid or reduce cardio sessions. 
 

Diet and Nutrition for Hourglass Figure Workout Plan

 
Nutrition is also very important as training. Even if you give your 100% to training, without a proper diet you won’t achieve anything. You should give equal importance to diet and nutrition. Eat more clean foods and stay away from sugary/fat foods. Drink more water than usual because you need more hydration when you train.
 

Clean Bulking Diet:

If you are thin and you want to add some more mass to your frame, then your diet should be like this-
 
  • Calorie intake: Multiply your body weight (lbs) by 17.5
  • Protein intake: Take one gram per pound of body weight
  • Fat intake: Multiply your body weight (lbs) by .4 or .5 gms
  • Calories from carbohydrates: Calorie intake – ((Protein intake x 4) + (Fat intake x 9))
  • Carbohydrate intake: Divide carbohydrate calorie by 4.

Cutting (Fat loss) Diet

If you want to lose body fat and tone your muscle then your diet should be like described below. Calculating macros for cutting is little bit tricky.
 
  • Determine your maintenance calories using our daily calorie intake calculator.
  • Calorie intake: Subtract 500 from your daily maintenance calories 
  • Protein required: Take one gram per pound of body weight.
  • Fat required: Take 0.3 gram per pound of body weight.
  • Carbohydrate calories: Calorie intake – ((Protein required x 4) + (Fat required x 9))
  • Carbohydrate required: Divide carbohydrate calorie by 4.

When to Take Cheat Meals?

When you follow a low calorie diet for one or more weeks the production of hormones like leptin, ghrelin etc. will get reduced. As a result your metabolism slows down to compete with low calorie diet. This is an adaptation technique of your body to cope with starving. So calorie cutting won’t work for more than 2 week.  In order to overcome this problem you must consider a cheat meal at least once every two weeks. The cheat meal should have high amount of calories and carbs. Cheat meal will bring hunger hormones to normal level, which will also increase your metabolism. A cheat meal will work very effectively if you do it once every week.
 

Hourglass Figure Workout Routine

Hourglass Workout Plan

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Warm-up:

Warm-up very well before you begin hourglass workout. Warm-up will increase your body temperature and improve blood flow to muscles. This will make your muscles and joints more flexible. A good warm-up will also help you to prevent joint and ligament injuries. It is also recommended to do warm-up for each exercises.

Resting time: You can rest anywhere from 60 – 90 seconds between working sets.

Sets and Reps:

  • A1, B1 and C1: 3 x15
  • A2, B2 and C3: 4 x 10

Abs Circuits:

  • Circuit Repetition  7 times
  • Workstation: 8-12 reps

How to Execute Abs Circuit Workout?

  1. Begin with a good warm up, start the first exercise and complete the target reps.
  2. Complete all the remaining exercises to complete one circuit. Complete all workstations with no rest or minimum rest in between them. Keep the resting time very short. 
  3. After completion of one circuit you can take a short rest and start from the beginning. 
  4. Repeat the circuit 7 times.

Hourglass Workout Schedule

Week: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10

  1. Monday: A1
  2. Tuesday: Abs circuit 1 + Cardio
  3. Wednesday: B1
  4. Thursday: Abs circuit 1 + Cardio
  5. Friday: C1
  6. Saturday: Abs circuit 1 + Cardio
  7. Sunday: Rest

Week: 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12

  1. Monday: A2
  2. Tuesday: Abs circuit 2 + Cardio
  3. Wednesday: B2
  4. Thursday: Abs circuit 2 + Cardio
  5. Friday: C2
  6. Saturday: Abs circuit 2 + Cardio
  7. Sunday: Rest
Note: “+” indicates last set is AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) set and “D” indicates last set is Drop set.
 

Hourglass Workout Plan

Hourglass Workout Plan

Hourglass Workout
A1B1C1
Sets & Reps: 3 x 15
Barbell Squat (+)Goblet Squat (+)Sumo Squat (+)
Barbell Hip Thrust
(+)		Cable Standing
Hip Abduction
(D)		Walking Lunges
(+)
Barbell Bench PressFlat Bench
Dumbbell Press		Incline barbell
Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell
Press		Barbell Decline
Bench Press		Decline Dumbbell
Bench Press
Wide Grip Lat Pull
Down (+)		Standing Straight
Arm Lat Pull
Down (+)		V Bar Pulldown
(+)
Dumbbell Row (D)Shotgun Row
(D)		Wide Grip
Cable Row (D)
Preacher Curl-
Heavy Weight
Negatives		Cable Triceps
Pushdown		Dumbbell Curls
Dumbbell Lateral
Raises (D)		One Arm Cable
Lateral Raises
(D)		Face Pulls
(D)
Abs Circuit 1
Circuit Repetition: 7 times Workstation Reps: 8-12
Bicycle Crunches, Tuck Crunch, Kneeling Cable Crunch, Knee Hugs, Lying Leg Raise, Ab Wheel Rollout/Barbell Rollout, Decline Crunch
A2B2C2
Sets & Reps: 4 x 10
Box Squat (+)Front Squat (+)Dumbbell Squat
(+)
Bulgarian Split
Squat (+)		Cable Pull
Through (D)		One Legged
Cable Kickback
(D)
Flat Bench
Dumbbell Press		Seated Machine
Chest Press		Incline Barbell
Bench Press
Incline Bench
Cable Fly		Incline Dumbbell
Bench Press		Decline Barbell
Bench Press
Single Arm Lat
Pulldown (D)		Cable Row (D)Barbell Row (+)
Reverse Grip
Barbell Row
(+)		Reverse Grip
Lat Pull Down
(D)

 

Dumbbell
Pullover (+)
Cable Rope
Overhead Triceps
Extension		Spider CurlsSkullcrusher
Arnold Press (D)Barbell Upright
Row (+)		Cable Lateral
Raise (D)
 Abs Circuit 2
Circuit Repetition: 7 times Workstation Reps: 8-12
Hanging Knee Raises, Crunch, Jackknife Sit Up, Russian Twists, Medicinal Ball Seated Knee Tuck, Cable Wood Chopper, Arms-High Partial Sit Up

Hourglass Workout PDF

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