For a long time I was a little perplexed at the barrage of different advice you could find out there about getting in shape. While a lot of it was rubbish of course there was much good advice out there yet there was great inconsistency about who it was sensible to say it towards. I felt that without a frame of reference most advice was a lottery of whether it would be beneficial to that person.
For example, is talking the finer details of organic vegetables vs local veg vs frozen veg really applicable to someone eating take-out meals every night and binge drinking on weekends? Does the cardio is bad brigade ethos really serve an office worker averaging 1 exercise session every two months? What about the high fat vs low fat debate, how does that apply to a professional athlete who cycles 120km a day?
These subjective issues get even crazier when you start discussing people’s body shape. One person deems someone to be too thin while another says they need to lose weight. I think every trainer gets asked many times a year “Do you think I need to lose fat?” …my response is always compared to who or what? If you are comparing yourself to a fitness model competitor then you can almost guarantee that the person before me is overweight. Yet if they are comparing themselves to an obese person then no, but about normal?? Well, normal has changed greatly from 25 years ago, so again depends on the frame of reference.
To get around this debate I came up with the 7 Levels of Body shape
Sleeper – Has no real interest or shows no signs of action towards getting in shape.
Struggler – Tries to get into shape but always is failing and never gets things progressing with their body.
Achiever – Has achieved a level of results to take them away from the majority of the population and in good shape (relatively).
Star Performer – Has gained some great results with their body to separate themselves significantly from the general population.
Elite – General or sports specialist – Achieved a high level of performance with their body. Some people may be generally be in good shape or have specialised into a particular sport.
Elite – Body Specialised – A certain percentage of the population look to specialise in creating a great physique. Usually focused on adding muscle / muscle tone while at low body fat levels. This look begins to go away from the desires of the average person but requires more time and dedication to obtain and thus needs you to specialise on the task at hand and not spread your attention into sports/general fitness etc.
Body Professional – The best of the level below will rise to achieve a body professional look, as seen in fitness models and body building competitions. This level is the highest in the pyramid because it takes the most time, skill and dedication to achieve. It is not the most sought after look however with it being more specialised or niche look. Either way, it takes the most time and dedication and thus could be said to be the “highest” level of body shape. These people make money of the results of their work.
Your Current Level and Goal shape
You should look to identify your current level and then see where your goal body shape lies. For most people their goal lies 1 to 2 levels above where they are currently are at. To achieve a certain standard it is necessary to do a certain amount of tasks. You can therefore work backwards to see what you are missing.For example, if you want to be a star performer yet are currently a struggler, you can use the knowledge that every star performer exercises 1-4 times a week. So if you current regime is inconsistent you can start studying star performers to see how they get results and achieve exercise consistency etc. The protocols that they use will of course not apply to say a body specialist who must train probably at least 5-6 times a week to achieve their desired goal using different methods.
The Problem of Changing Levels
Most people spend their life going up and down within the same level. They are unable to jump to the level above. This is because to do so requires a significant change in behaviour or thinking or both. While one person cycles from 28% to 32% of body fat it is still within the same level. It takes a significant change to jump to 16-20% body fat range.
For more on the 7 Levels of Body shape watch out for future articles, join the newsletter list by downloading your free body transformation guide.
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