If you’re sick of fluffy weight loss workouts that aren’t giving you any results, then you will love this interview where Hardcore Strength Coach Zach Even-Esh grills me on advanced Turbulence Training for Fat Loss methods.

Zach Even-Esh: Craig, thanks for taking the time out of your insane schedule to talk with us. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your clientele and your overall training philosophy.

CB: Zach, I’m a Strength & Conditioning coach in Toronto and I write for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazine.

I work extensively with clients on advanced fat loss for busy people. I’m also the training director at grrlathlete.com where we provide advanced female exercise info.

ZEE: We have a growing number of hard core men and women leading busy lives but still love to train hard. How do you train individuals like this and still get kick butt results?

CB:
I use supersets, moderately heavy weights (allowing 6-10 reps per set), limited rest interval periods, advanced bodyweight exercises, and interval training. These efficient and effective principles are the foundation of my Turbulence Training philosophy.

Turbulence Training workouts are designed to crank up the body’s metabolism because of the intense demands imposed during the workouts.

After the workout, your body has to work hard (i.e. burn calories and repair muscle) to fully recover and return to a normal, resting state (that is why I compare my Turbulence Training workouts to the Turbulence encountered in an airplane – a neat little analogy that people really like and find easy to understand).

I tend to stick with traditional weight training exercises, however, it is easy to adapt the Turbulence Training principles when using strongman implements and advanced bodyweight exercises.

For intervals, I tend to stick with 30 seconds of work and 90 seconds of active recovery, although it will vary between workout phases and for athletes of different sports.

The great thing about heavy weights and intervals is efficiency. You don’t have to do either for more than 20 minutes to get a great response. So if you are a busy executive looking to get lean, build muscle, and lose fat, you can get a great workout and shower in less than 30 minutes per day.

Combine Turbulence Training with the right nutrition, and you are well on your way to success.

By the way, we’ve got a secret bonus for everyone that invests in Turbulence Training – although I guess it’s not so secret anymore!

Anyways, you’ll see what it is when you start your Turbulence Training journey with the fat loss program.

ZEE: If you were limited to a 20 minute fat loss workout, what would that work out look like?

CB:
Providing the individual is injury free, we will move through a
general warm-up circuit of bodyweight exercises (3 minutes), and then into specific warm-up sets for the first superset of exercises (2 minutes).

Then we will spend 5 minutes on the first superset pair of exercises, and then 4-5 minutes on another superset pair. We might finish with a third superset pair or some ab work, and a 2 minute cool-down if it is necessary based on the individual’s fitness level.

On non-weight training days, we would do intervals. It would look like this:

5-minute warmup
12-minutes on intervals
3-minute cooldown

The point is, you can get a lot done in a short amount of time.

ZEE: What nutrition approach do you use?

CB:
I had Dr. Chris Mohr, Ph.D., put together the Turbulence Training Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.

I strongly agree with Dr. Mohr’s common sense, easy to follow principles. There is nothing extreme about his plan. It is very healthy and effective for fat loss.

I don’t think that people need to exclude fruit from their eating (in fact we should aim to eat at least 3 servings, and preferably berries, grapefruits, apples, and oranges), but instead we should avoid white, processed carbohydrates from a bag or a box.

Foods that should be in every healthy person’s nutrition plan:
Green Tea
Almonds
Broccoli
Berries
A variety of lean protein sources

Basically, for nutrition, just choose healthy, whole natural food.

ZEE: Last question Craig. What is the greatest misconception that you find people to have when it comes to performing better and looking better when they come to you. In other words, they tell you everything they have been doing in hopes of getting results but the results simply aren’t there. Are there any common mistakes going on here?

CB:
Most of the time I try and get people to be honest with themselves and realize they have to change things if they want to improve.

A lot of people really just want me to approve their current workout (when it is clearly not working). But in reality, they have to change their workouts drastically to finally get results.

And most people think they are eating better and using a better program than they really are.

Even when most people they list out their food intake (as I have them all do on fitday.com), some people (including some trainers that I train) still don’t see the obvious problems in their diet.

I suppose it is human nature not to see our own shortcomings, so it is helpful to have a professional review your training and nutrition or even an honest, knowledgeable friend.

ZEE: Craig, I can’t thank you enough for letting me grill you with questions.

Always happy to help,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS. Who else wants to burn pounds of fat and finally see their abs in less workout time than ever before?

“I was a high school athlete, wrestling, football, baseball. Never once did I see my abs. My waist was almost two inches smaller than it is now but I still had a covering over my abdominals. This morning two horizontal divisions appeared in the mirror for the first time. Considering how hard I have worked in the past, it is amazing that TT is able to consume fat the way it does.”

Paul Kazim

PPS. Who else wants to spend less time working out?

“All I can say is WOW. As a former heavy exerciser who has had to cut back due to the demands of career and family, I never thought I’d be able to lose fat and build muscle as effectively as before. However, with Craig’s help, I was able to spend less time working out and exceed my expectations. I basically lost more fat and built muscle in half the time I used to work out. I feel like I have gotten my confidence and life back – thanks for all of your help!”

Tracey Fackler

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Raised by his grandma, the irrepressible wrestling fan was hit by a car when he was twelve years old and told he’d never play contact sports again. Page was never one to listen to bad news and went on to enjoy a stellar run as high school and collegiate basketball champ.

But to describe his 14 year wrestling career as successful is a massive understatement. Everyone knows the story: the charismatic nightclub owner and motor-mouthed fight promoter became the oldest rookie in history at 36, taking on kings of the mat like Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg and Randy Savage. Celebrity matches with Denis Rodman, tag-teaming with Jay Leno and hanging out in Hollywood was all just part of the territory, and DDP took it all in his fun-loving stride.

Three world championships, two torn rotator cuffs, a ripped meniscus and two ruptured discs later, the forty-something DDP faced some tough choices. Ever positive and forever young, DDP went back to the mat, the yoga mat this time. But being a disciple wasn’t enough for this tough guy. It was Guru or Go Home.

Page was so convinced that Yoga was The Way, that he developed YRG—Yoga for Regular Guys. Presented as a book-DVD combo, YRG is a blast in 20, 30, or 45 minute workouts.

The 51 year old Page swears YRG has not only put his humpty dumpty back together again, but it is also the fountain of youth. To prove it, on a recent visit to Iraq, he wiped the floor with a soldier half his age in a push-up contest.

And DDP’s film career isn’t looking too shabby either. Starting small with a support role in The First Daughter (1999), his hulking physical presence has recently earned him notable lead roles in Rob Zombie’s Devil’s Rejects (2005), and Driftwood (Tim Sullivan, 2006), a supernatural thriller set in a teenage rehab facility. DDP is also slated to star in Joe Estevez’s upcoming spoof, Horrorween and Gallowwalker (Andrew Goth), with Wesley Snipes.

DDP doesn’t go anywhere without his YRG. When he’s not performing, he’s standing on his head or training his co-stars. Driftwood director Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs) swears by it, but the real test was Rob Zombie. If it worked for that stress junkie, it’ll work for anyone.

http://www.yrgworkout.com/

http://www.diamonddallaspage.com/index.html

Wrong! Push-ups engage the muscles that stabilise the scapulae, those big bones under your lats, like no other.

“So what?” you say. Well according to Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson in a recent t-nation article:

Crappy scapular position leads to crappy scapular stability which leads to crappy rotator cuff function!

“Push-ups are boring,” you say, but have you tried

T push-ups

Close grip push-ups

One foot elevated push-ups

Grass hopper push-ups

Spiderman push-ups

Swiss ball push-ups

Then there are

Push-ups with bands

Push-ups with chains

And Medball push-ups

As demonstrated in Hartmans’ and Robertsons’ article

Or

One handed push-ups

Clapping push-ups

Diamond push-ups

….

Come on, give me twenty!

Mr LaLanne is the father of the modern fitness movement, still preaching the gospel of diet and exercise, still pulling stunts.

Everyone knows the story. Jack was a 15 year old sugar fiend, and his mother had the good sense to know something was wrong.

“I was a sugarholic and a junk food junkie! It made me weak and it made me mean. It made me so sick I had boils, pimples and suffered from nearsightedness. Little girls used to beat me up.”

Legend has it that Jack chased his brother with an ax and tried to burn down the house in a sugar rage. Luckily, Jack’s desperate mum took him to hear pioneer nutritionist Paul Bragg speak and the kid was hooked.

He swore off all processed foods, and built himself a gym in his backyard. At the age of 21, he opened up the first modern health club in Oakland, California in 1936, in an upstairs room in an old office building. He developed the first leg extension machine and the first pulley machines using cables, all staples of today’s weight training. He actively encouraged women to train with weights.

“People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” Jack says. “The doctors were against me – they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive. Women would look like men and even varsity coaches predicted that their athletes would get muscle bound and banned them from lifting weights. I had to give these athletes keys so they could come in at night and work out in my gym.”

The gym soon had a juice bar and health food star, and LaLanne replicated these all over the country, selling supplements and health food bars he produced himself.

Beginning in 1951, LaLanne hosted TV’s first work-out programm, The Jack LaLanne Show. At first Jack had to buy San Francisco air time, because producers had no confidence in a show featuring this crazy guy doing exercises and exhorting his audience to “Get up, work out and Feel Better!”

By 1959, the show was syndicated nationwide and millions tuned in to LaLanne’s cheerful no nonsense approach every day until 1985. These days, Joe’s still on TV, promoting his Power Juicers.

LaLanne is almost as famous for his promotional stunts as he is for his physical fitness.

The most famous ones include performing 1000 push-ups and 1000 sit-ups in 86 minutes at the age of 45; in 1955 he swam handcuffed from Alcatraz to San Francisco; when he was 70, LaLanna had himself shackled and handcuffed and towed 70 boats over two kilometres in Long Beach habour.

He hasn’t missed a workout—one hour in the gym, one hour in the pool—since 1930. He eats ten raw vegetables a day, eight egg whites, fish, fruit and brown rice. No sugar, no fat, no white flour.

“I don’t care how long I live, ” says Jack. “I just want to be living while I’m living.”

LINKS

http://www.jacklalanne.com/

http://www.jacklalanne.com/biograph.html

http://www.powerjuicer.com/

According to the dozens of VS models, sports illustrated pin-ups and actresses, Dowdell’s take on Body Composition training produces the best results possible for their time-starved schedule of the rich and famous.

For Dowdell, it’s simple.

The biggest mistake most people make, especially women, is overdoing the cardio, he says. Strength training, particularly interval training, will achieve the sleek results most women want without unsightly muscle mass or the dangers of building fat stores in the thighs, buttocks and calves proportionate to the amount of long duration cardio they do.

So if you want a body like a model, the secret lies in Dowdell’s body-composition program – basically weight training combined with interval training. It looks a little like this:

[...] with models, I do not get much time. In most cases they are preparing for a show or a big shoot and will come in for 6 weeks to prepare. I have models that I train regularly too, but for various reasons I will have short term arrangements. The client will come in 3 times per week and we will do a total body workout and the off days will be energy system work (cardio). The strength program may consist of back squats with short rest before a pull up. This cycle would be repeated a predetermined number of times. The next pair could be bench press and hip extensions. Rest can be anywhere from 45-75 seconds rest between sets depending on their condition. I will determine the rest during the first couple of workouts and I will refine it from there as we go along.

“First phase could be 3 sets, 10-15 reps and the speed of movement will determine the number of reps. The goal is to make the set last between 60-70 seconds. More is not better in this situation. I try to educate clients and I make them aware that it is not necessary to do 12 sets for chest. My clients are very busy and we have a limited amount of time to get things done. The three hours I spend with them is more than likely all of the time they will spend in the gym.”

The cardio program never lasts for more than thirty minutes.

“Forget reading a magazine and spending 45-60 minutes on the Stairmaster doing cardio, perform at least 2 high intensity interval training sessions of cardio each week in conjunction with your weight training routine. They may run for 45 seconds at a perceived exertion level of between 75-90%. A rest period of 120 seconds will follow done at 50-60%. I like doing a 5 minute warm down as well.”

LINKS:

http://www.infinityfitness.com/articles/dowdell1.html

http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/1992/97/

http://www.peakperformancenyc.com/about.html

http://www.peakperformancenyc.com/

“Two years ago Pistorius ran the 200 in 21.34 seconds, matching the women’s world record time set by Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 and missing the qualifying time for the 2008 Olympics by just three-quarters of a second.”

The 21 year old South African was born with two toes on each foot and missing his fibulas on both legs. Faced with the unimaginable choice of amputating his lower legs or consigning him to a wheelchair, his parents chose the former.

Oscar was still a child when he told his Dad he’d be a Rugby star, but his enthusiastic participation in both water polo and Rugby ended at 17 with a shattered knee. He turned to athletics at the University of Pretoria, a premier sport and academic facility—and the rest is history.

Team Ossur—the Icelandic firm that makes both Pistorius’s street prosthetics and his Cheetahs—report that in his first year of competition, and after training for only two months, Oscar ran the 100m in an open competition at the Pilditch stadium in his hometown of Pretoria in only 11.51 seconds, the world record standing at 12.22 seconds. Legs or no legs, this was a kid who could compete and win pretty much anything he set his mind to.

Eight months later he was racing alongside Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure at the Athens Paralympics. After falling flat on his face at the starting blocks, he took the bronze medal behind Shirley and Frasure in the 100m. Fall or no fall, admits that the 100m will never be his event. It takes him longer than the top single amputee sprinters to get his rhythm going.

While the world gasped, Pistorius took gold that year in the 200m, breaking the world record with a time of 21.97 seconds and becoming the first amputee ever to run the 200m in under 22 seconds. Pistorius went home that day with four world records and the bug had bit.
So, what’s his secret?

Three things: talent, attitude and Cheetahs, a carbon fibre prosthetic that is both amazing and controversial. Amazing because the engineering swoop and high energy return of these hyper-engineered, autoclave-forged, epoxy-impregnated, elastic blades —essentially pegs in the shape of an animal’s hind leg—essentially spring a natural, if legless athlete like Pistorius to his next step and past the finish line. Wired’s Josh McGugh reports that they are difficult to walk slow in, difficult to control.

And at between $15,000 and $18,000 for each blade, the question that officialdom—suggested by single amputees like superstars Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure—must consider is whether they may actually confer an advantage.
Equally controversial is whether able-bodied athletes also need protection from The Blade?

Pistorius’ handlers—his manager Lizl Shutte, his strength trainer Stephen Ball and running coach Ampie Louw — have an answer: “If you think having carbon-fiber legs will make you a faster sprinter, have the operation and we’ll see you at the track.”

He is still working on becoming the fastest sprinter in the world, but will never stop running at the Paralympics, which will always have a special place in his heart.
.
“Running in the Olympics would be amazing but in many ways the Paralympics are even more special. Why? The passion the athletes have for their sport in unbelievable. The cerebral palsy runners know their condition can’t get any better, but I defy anyone to watch them and not see them as fully dedicated athletes who train as hard as any Olympian. Before I was exposed to the Paralympics, like most people I thought they were second best in some way. How wrong can you be? In the Olympics of 2016, I firmly believe each and every finalist in each and every Paralympic event will have an Olympic qualifying time.”

So, what’s next? Defending his 200m Paralympic title in Beijing 2008 and competing in the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing and the Olympic Games 2012 in London.

None of his coaches or managers intend on cutting the wunder-kid any slack. Both Ball and Louw are tough taskmasters. Ball has him on a hardcore weight training program, but is worried that Pistorius only started a year ago. Too much partying. The blond Adonis is a national celebrity and has to beat the babes off with a stick. Or at least his texting hand, while the other is on the wheel of his zippy Ibiza hatchback—manual of course.

Pistorius’s determination to be considered as an athlete, who just so happens to run on Flex-Foot carbon-fiber blades from the knee down not only compels him to take part in the Olympics alongside able-bodied athletes, if officialdom agrees, but infuses every aspect of his lifestyle and personality.

Ampie Louw, Pistorius’ running coach since 2003, says the biggest thing standing between the sprinter and the two seconds he needs to cut from his time in the 400 meters to make the Olympics may be his hectic social life.

As for being disabled, Pistorius refuses to park his ride in the disabled space, simply because he does not regard himself as physically impaired.

“I’m not disabled, ” he says. “I just don’t have any legs.”

Now that’s what we mean by attitude.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/blade.html?pg=4&topic=blade&topic_set=

http://www.ossur.com/?pageid=3364

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/04/27/sophil27.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/04/27/ixothspt.html

Muscle.com.au

The DCC is not the oldest cheerleading squad in the US, but since their inception in 1972, they’ve revolutionised the sport. Unlike previous cheer-squads (originally male) they were the first choreographed group of accomplished dancers whose function would not be so much to lead the crowd in a cheer (Tah Rah Rah, Princeton, Princeton, Princeton and all that), but to augment the team itself with their unique brand of showmanship and All-American sexiness. This was famously caught on camera during the 1976 Superbowl X, when in a break in the play, one of the cheerleaders casually winked at a cameraman. 75 million TV viewers were spellbound, and from that moment a new era in cheerleading was born.

The star-spangled uniform and innovative approach to jazz dancing were a stroke of genius, brainchild of then Dallas Cowboys Manager Ted Schramm and Dallas Cowbelles and Beaux cheer team manager Dee Brock. Introduced to the world in 1972, over the next four decades the look, attitude and athleticism of the squad would go global (including Australia). Their first USO engagement was in 1979, starting a troop moral-boosting tradition that is enthusiastically received—often with tears—wherever US troops are stationed.

Famously, the gals have their meals in the mess halls, and chat freely with the troops. But winks to cameramen aside, don’t get any ideas. In spite of their sexy calenders, skimpy uniforms and shiny, shiny hair, these girls are the most highly protected and well-chaperoned sisters in the world. And it’s not just their honour and reputation that’s on the line. Sure they represent the Cowboys, and even to a large degree the US itself. But in addition, DCC trade secrets are in the vault forever. Every stitch on their uniform is under copywrite. Every dance move a state secret. Every aspect of their personal life, etiquette and diet is scrutinized, regimented and of course, endorsed. More importantly, Every cheerleader must be a high school graduate, must be at college or have a full-time job (motherhood qualifies—many of the girls are in their 30s), and live in the Dallas/Fort Worth region during the season.

The squad has earned the most gold medals of any other cheerleading squad, and is associated in minds everywhere with good teeth, high kicks and abs of steel. No wonder. Under the supervision of their managers, and the tight regime of Jay Johnson, they train four hours every night. Rehearsals are mandatory. One missed rehearsal eliminates a member from cheering at that game. Two get you kicked out of the squad. No drinking, smoking, drugs. No dating players, coaches or staff. No interviews.

600 girls from around the country descend on the Texas Stadium every year in pursuit of their dream of joining this elite squad of fifty athletes. Even after the squad of 40-50 is chosen, the girls begin their training program with and Army PT test. There are three parts:
2 minute of military style sit-ups
2 mnutes of pushups
2 mile run

The cheerleaders earn points depending on their age and the number of reps. The goal is to reach 300 points. 100 points for each category of the test. Anyone who gets 280 points joins the power squad. The rest no where they stand.

So here are some more ab tips from the Power Squad. Each should be done for one minute without stopping. Do the circuit twice. Use a light weight.

• Ab twists with weights
Sit on the floor with with knees bent. Slowly lean body back into a 45-degree angle and use abdominal muscles to bring feet off the ground. Hold a dumbbell with both hands in front of your chest.

Twist at the waist, bringing dumbbell to the left of bent knees. Smoothly twist back to the left, hands rotating weight to the opposite side.

Keep legs up off the ground throughout the exercise.

• 7-ups
Lie on back, cross hands behind head, extend right leg long and cross left foot over right knee.

Simultaneously bring right knee (with left foot still crossed over knee) toward chest and raise head and shoulders up and forward to meet bent knee. Contract abdominal muscles. Next, simultaneously lower the leg (left one is still crossed), and lower head and shoulders, keeping them an inch off ground. Repeat without resting, alternating sides
• Sky crunches with dumbbell
Lie on back, extend arms above head, holding a dumbbell with both hands. Place legs up in the air.

Reach arms straight up, while lifting shoulder and head approximately 3 inches off the ground, exhale as you contract abdominal muscles. Relax shoulders down, keep arms with weight still reaching upward. Head is still off the ground with abdominal muscles engaged. Repeat without resting.

Jen’s story is pretty amazing.

Some highlights:
Always athletic, Jen was confined to her bed during a difficult pregnancy and weighed in at 89 kgs prior to the premature birth of twins in 2004.

A physically and emotionally grueling year followed, but by 2005, Jen bounced back and in September 2006, she landed her NGA Pro Card at her first competition.

And the rest, as they say is herstory.

These days, Jen runs a successful website involved with some of the top names in the industry such as Charles Staley, Lonnie Lowry and Craig Ballantyne; develops fitness products and training programs, sells e-books, is a hardworking fitness and photo model, as well as running a family of four.

How does she do it?

It all comes down to what Jen calls 5 Effective Habits for Highly Successful Physique Transformation. Muscle.com.au recommends that everyone read this article, which details the five rules that will change your body and mind, whether you’re a working mum or a single guy.
1) Commitment to yourself,
2) Keeping a record of your training
3) Keeping a record of your nutrition
4) Smart grocery shopping
5) Preparing specific foods and supplements ahead of time.

So if you want to look like Jen, or meet someone who does, set aside fifteen minutes to read this article. It impressed Olympic trainer and bodybuilding coach, Alwyn Cosgrove, which makes it worth a look.

Virtual exercise with real weight loss? Sounds like a couch potato’s wet dream.

Perhaps the latest in game console technology, the new Wii Nentendo, could make this dream come true. One intrepid gamer decided to take one small step off the couch to test this possibility.

Was it one giant step for couch potato-kind?

The Wii game console uses a pair of motion tracking devices as controls. So if you want to play Wii tennis you’ve got to get off the couch and make like you’re playing tennis. Almost like walking out onto centre court at Melbourne Park. Well maybe not quite.

As you can see from this video the couch is at least a meter or two away and the gamers are actually moving around.

Our intrepid experimenter, let’s call him Wii Boy, decided to find out if playing with his Wii could improve his body composition.

Wii Boy had been a stable 82kg for the last 2 years and maintained his normal eating and excercise habits during the test. The only major change to his daily routine was 30 minitues of Wii sport evey day.

At first look the results are impressive for someone who stayed within a hamburger’s throw of his couch. His weight dropped from 82kg to 78kg, 3 and a half inches came off his 34 and a half inch waist, BMI went from 25.2 to 24, resting heart rate from 82 to 68.

Wii Boy also tried to gauge the number of calories burned by various Wii sports and boxing came out on top at 500 cals per hour. If that’s accurate it comes pretty close to sparring in the real world.

And it’s not without real world pain either! Keep some ice on hand, if not for your kid brother’s nose, for your elbows and wrists which are bound to suffer some grief.

Now before you rush out and cancel your gym membership or trade in your bowflex for a Wii, let’s look a little more closely at some of Wii Boys other numbers.

Body fat dropped by a measily 2.8% which meant our virtual sportsman lost nearly as much muscle as he did fat. Ouch, not what we want at all.

Still Wii Boy is probably in better shape now than when he started.

However, it would be really interesting to compare the Wii Weight Loss program with a real world program using weight training and cardio under similar conditions.

Any volunteers?

Full details can be found at the Wii Sports Experiment

The Body embodies the mark of attractive women throughout history, as a new study published in the Royal Society, has shown.

Or does she?

Dr Devendra Sing studied references to female beauty from modern times back to early Indian Literature. Slimness was the most common form of praise for the female form.

According to the study, this adds to evidence that highlights the role of the hourglass figure — WHR, or waist to hip ratio — in attracting a mate. The study, which examines hundreds of fictional texts throughout history and across cultures, finds that after large breasts, waistlines were “a core feature of feminine beauty that transcends ethnic differences and cultures.”

So what is the science behind The Body?

Is there, as another study suggests, a biological basis to the Barbie doll?

 

 

These studies argue that women with large breasts or low WHR were shown to have higher oestrogen levels, which are linked to fertility.

So, what if the evolutionary psychologists are correct, and the prime directive for males is to pass on their genetic material. Do they really need a Goddess, or a Body to do it?

Dr Martin Tovee of the University of Newcastle says no. His numerous studies of female attractiveness have shown that when images of real women are examined, whether their figure is in proportion was considered more important than curves.

 

 

Unfailingly, the men opted for women with a BMI of 18-21, regardless of shape. Health-wise this category is at the light end of normal weight. The most attractive BMI was found to be 20, which the men awarded five points on average.

As soon as women’s weights dropped below 18 their attractiveness started to plunge rapidly. According to another of Tovee’s studies on attractiveness, well-proportioned women who were more straight up and down scored much higher among both men and women than their curvaceous counterparts.

Which ever way you look at it, health is sexy. And a strong, trim waist is usually a sign of good health.

So get crunching, or better yet, try working up a sweat, Venuto-style.