Guide to Developing the Ideal Female Body

99.9% of women are working out incorrectly. That’s because 99.9% of people—personal trainers included—believe that a woman’s workout is the same as a man’s workout, except performed at lower intensity. So if a man sprints then a woman should jog; if a man bench-presses 200 lbs. then a woman should bench 50 lbs. The cold, hard truth is that after years of the typical woman’s exercise routine, the woman will have burned off much of the fat from her chest and butt and be left with a man’s body—a flat chest and a flat butt. Breasts and booty are quintessential to the female body, so here is my guide for retaining—or even developing—breasts and booty while working out.

This guide is based on my fundamental principle that each and every body part can be trained to have any amount of fat and any amount of muscle desired. For example, a person can train their body to have a chest with a 10:1 fat-to-muscle ratio, abs with a 1:10 ratio, and arms with a 1:1 ratio. It’s like dragging sliders in a video game’s “custom character creator.”

It’s not easy that, though. It’s accomplished through cognizance and control over the number of reps performed and amount of weight lifted for each and every body part. That is, you have to constantly question whether your movement should be classified as low-repetition or high-repetition, and whether it is low-intensity or high-intensity.

Imagine this T-bone steak as a cross-section of a single body part. Every body part has a certain amount of muscle plus a certain amount of fat, and therefore can be plotted somewhere on this chart. The four corners represent the four extreme states: A—high fat + low muscle, B—high fat + high muscle, C—low fat + low muscle, and D—low fat + high muscle. The x-axis shows that as intensity (a.k.a. resistance or weight) increases in a training routine, so does the amount of muscle gained. The y-axis shows that as the number of repetitions increases in a training routine, so does the amount of fat lost.

It is widely accepted that weight-training a single body part can lead to muscle gain. It isn’t so accepted that high-repetition training of a single body part can lead to fat loss. “Spot reduction” is considered to be a myth. They say that cardio is the way to lose fat. Well, isn’t cardio essentially high-repetition exercise of many body parts simultaneously? I believe it is possible for a single body part to lose fat through high-rep exercise but it’s never attempted, because the human body is simply capable of doing a lot more work simultaneously. For example, nobody in their right mind is going to do bicep curls with 0.1 kg dumbbells for 2 hours to lose arm fat. People will, however, perform similar routines at work. A clothing shop employee may spend 2 hours folding t-shirts every day. I guarantee you that this would result both arms losing fat. You can pick and choose where to keep fat and where to lose fat.

The four extreme fat-to-muscle ratios for the gluteal muscles. A is high fat + low muscle, B is high fat + high muscle, C is low fat + low muscle, and D is low fat + high muscle.

For women, the most sought-after booty would be B, then A, then C or D (tie). B has a high amount of fat and a high amount of underlying muscle. Fortunately for women, B and A do not require the greatest amount of time and effort. Ordered from least to most work required: A, then B or C, then D. So, “booty D” (low fat + high muscle) is the least desired and requires the most time and effort. There are many women who put a lot of time and effort into working out in hopes of achieving “B” but end up at “D.” Years later, unsatisfied with this outcome, they may elect for butt implants. The same scenario plays out with breasts: the women who put in the most time and effort into working out do not achieve their ideal body and eventually elect for implants. This is a tragedy and a big reason why I’m writing on this topic for the third time. (“Energy Expenditure,” and “Why Women Should Avoid Doing Pushups and Squats.”). I sincerely feel sorry for these women and I’m trying to help with guidance.

Workouts to Avoid

Jogging should be avoided—the lighter the pace or the longer the jog, the more problematic it is. This is because the glutes are used to push off of the ground with every stride. The pecs are also used to drive the arms forward. Doing these motions for 30+ minutes is what I would consider low-intensity/high-rep. Fat will melt off your chest and butt with each session. Avoid. Sprinting, on the other hand, is worth considering because it is high-intensity/low-rep.

Boxing is also a “no.” In a 30-minute boxing session, you’re throwing an uncountable number of punches or you’re holding pads up and receiving them. These motions engage the pectoral muscles with light-to-medium intensity and high repetition. Months of this routine will result in total fat loss at the chest. Surprisingly, most kicks in kickboxing are okay because most do not engage the glutes the same way that punches engage the pecs. FYI, a donkey kick is the leg equivalent of a straight punch.

Bicycling also has negative long-term effects for women. Obviously, the legs are receiving a work out. This medium-intensity/high-rep workout is quite evenly distributed from glute to calf muscle. What isn’t so obvious is that the chest also gets a workout as the rider steers and stabilizes the bike through rough terrain. These conditions work out the chest at low-intensity/high-rep, which should be avoided to retain breast fat. The same phenomenon occurs when steering and stabilizing a motorbike or motorcycle. Under ideal conditions the effect on the chest is negligible but with a heavy motorbike, a backseat passenger, bumpy or curvy roads, a long commute, etc. the chest muscles are used lightly and often to keep the bike upright. Low-intensity/high-rep—avoid.

Is yoga okay? Yoga is great for flexibility but certain yoga poses also burn fat from the chest and butt and thus should be avoided. For example, holding the pushup/plank position for long periods of time should be avoided because this is engaging the chest with high repetition. Technically there are no reps performed because there is no repeated movement but it’s reasonable to assume that static holds or “isometric exercises” have a similar effect on the body as reps. That is, going down for a pushup and holding it there for one minute should have a similar effect to doing pushups for one minute. This means women should also avoid “the cobra,” “the crow,” and “the scorpion.” The same is true for the “warrior pose”—it should be avoided because holding this position for 3 minutes should have the same effect on the glutes as 3 minutes of alternating lunges. High reps = fat loss.

Workout Guide: Supermodel Body Type

Let’s say your current body is “type A” (high fat + low muscle) and you want to look like a Victoria’s Secret model: the limbs and core are “type C” (low fat + low muscle); the breasts and butt are “type A” (high fat + low muscle). This can be accomplished by targeting the limbs and core with low-intensity/high-rep exercises to burn fat, while avoiding the chest and butt. Here’s a short list of acceptable body-weight exercises: jumping jacks, sit-ups, crunches, assisted dips, flutter kicks, front kicks, roundhouse kicks, calf raises, etc. With access to weights or resistance bands, these exercises, (performed at low-intensity/high-rep) also work: leg extensions, leg curls, assisted pull-ups, bicep curls, triceps extensions, shoulder press, shoulder fly, etc. Any exercise that strongly depends on the pecs or glutes should be avoided. This means “no” to: pushups, bench press, punching, wide squats, hip thrusts, burpees, etc. The overall goal is to get a cardio workout while leaving the chest and butt alone to ensure that fat develops there and remains there. Total body cardio should be avoided because it burns fat indiscriminately.

Workout Guide: Increasing Breast/Booty Size

Let’s say you want to retain chest fat and develop chest muscle for “structural support.” This is “type B”—high fat + high muscle. The process for developing any “type B” body part is low repetition to ensure that fat isn’t lost and high intensity to build muscle. For a “type B” chest, you should bench press (or any chest exercise) near your max weight for the few reps that you can perform them—just as a powerlifter would do. Although this is just a few minutes of actual exercise, it should be a grueling few minutes. Here’s a pro-tip: be sure not to choose a weight too light (i.e. too far from your max); if you’re capable of doing many reps then it’s too light and you will end up burning fat. I like to think of sweat as an indicator of fat loss. So if your chest is sweating, you’re losing chest fat. Mind you, this kind of high-intensity/low-rep chest workout is the exact opposite of how 99.9% of people tell women to work out. Typically, women get on their knees to do “girl pushups.” I purport that this is not enough weight and thus capable of being performed for too long—a low-intensity/high-rep chest exercise. Fat will be lost and a flat chest will result. Other women may have dumbbells or gym access but still commit the same mistake. They will target the chest with a low weight/resistance because they’re “not trying to look too manly.” They end up doing hundreds of reps due to its low weight and ultimately lose chest fat.

The same strategy applies for achieving a “type B” booty. You should do weighted squats (or any glute exercise) at nearly max weight for the few reps that you can perform them. Again, this is the opposite of how women today actually train. In order to “not look too manly,” women restrict themselves to low-weight/high-rep exercises (read: fat burning exercises). An example of this would be wide-stance squats with no additional weight. This is quite easy to do, which leads to doing many reps. Doggedly performing this high-rep regimen for months would eventually burn off all gluteal fat and leave the glutes somewhere between state C and D: very low fat + some muscle. How about a Stairmaster? Best to avoid. I would classify that as a medium-intensity exercise on the glutes, which would put it in the middle column of my fat + muscle chart. Now, depending on how long you are on the machine (i.e. number of reps performed), your glutes can vary from the top row to the bottom row. When it comes to targeting the chest and butt, a woman must think like a powerlifter. Low rep + high intensity is the ticket.

As a side note, if you are starting from an entire body with no fat + no muscle (“type C”) then it may be impossible to follow this guide without first increasing calorie intake. When working out with no muscle, you cannot choose whether to lift heavy weight for low reps or light weight for high reps. You can only lift the lightest weight. Gaining weight should be the top priority.

The Pitfall of the Typical Workout

Let’s take a detailed look into the journey of a typical modern-day woman trying to develop a bigger booty. Let’s call her Suzy. Suzy is currently at “booty A” (high fat + no muscle) and her goal is simply increase her butt size as much as possible (B—high fat + high muscle). Suzy goes onto YouTube and subscribes to the most popular female fitness trainers posting workout routines to follow along to. Suzy’s been duped. Many female fitness instructors have breast/glute implants, or use padded bras and padded panties. “Her body, her choice,” though, so why does it matter? Because if said fitness trainer is demonstrating the exact workout regimen she used to sculpt her body then copying this regimen exactly should yield the same results, minus the breast/butt implants/visual aids. My intent is not to slander but rather warn women getting into fitness. If your instructor is employing “visual aids,” perhaps it’s not a good idea to follow their footsteps on your fitness journey.

Suzy ignores my advice. She begins following along to booty-isolating exercise videos that don’t require additional weights. She is immediately pleased with her results after Day 1. Her glute muscles “got a pump” so her booty already looks bigger. Suzy continues to do these bodyweight butt workouts almost every day. At Day 90 she notices that her booty has lost some fat and doesn’t seem to getting any bigger. The “pump” is still noticeable immediately after the workout though, which has her believe she’s doing the right thing and just needs to do more of it. (Suzy has just committed a “logical” fallacy.) Suzy tacks on additional reps to all of the online trainer’s exercises. She is determined to reach her goal.

By Day 180 the workout routine has gotten too easy as her body has adapted so Suzy begins doing two workouts a day. This is an increase in frequency, essentially doubling the number of reps. By Day 360, her booty is nearly fat-free plus a bit of muscle. She’s disappointed. Another possible avenue for her would have been to continually increase the amount of weight/resistance pushed by her glutes. E.g. squatting while holding heavy dumbbells. This is known as progressive overload, a basic concept taught to bodybuilders looking to gain muscle. Because Suzy simply added reps over time, fat was continually lost and the muscle gains ceased. On the chart, the fat + muscle composition of her booty went up over time instead of right.

Now you see why I believe 99.9% of women are exercising incorrectly. Today’s popular chest and butt exercises for women are what I call low-intensity/high-rep exercises, which burn fat from the chest and butt. This guide is for the majority of women that want to retain, or even develop, their femininity. For the record, I’m not saying that all women should follow this workout plan. I’m saying that flat breasts and a flat butt are not an inevitable consequence of working out. And women who are serious about fitness do not have resort to getting breast or butt implants.