Which sport/exercise do you think gives the most pleasing physique?

[Womnaleplus]

For women, I'm thinking ballet or whatever that hula hoop one is. Men - swimming?

Yes I agree with that.

I lurve big rugby playing men - cor, you can't beat their stonking thighs.

For women, ladies who do track sports look pretty good.

Pilates if done properly is not relaxing at all, it's an amazing workout that gets you sweaty and your muscles kill the next day. There are lots of press ups and variations of planks, as well as tons of ab work in my class. It will tone you up gently, as long as there's not much fat on top of the muscles, obv. Diet and aerobic exercise is needed for that.

I'm extremely admiring of Jessica Ennis's 6 pack and awesome strength but it's not the kind of figure I'd choose, personally. I'd rather just be reasonably slim and toned.

If we're talking about what looks good in clothes...running for sure. Gets rid of lumps and bumps.

Dancing and yoga. You can't beat the lean skinny look with curves in all the right places.

I'm not sure any one discipline does it all - I think a mix of cardio, weights and resistance and yoga/pilates gives the best all round results.
Another factor that noone else seems to have mentioned is sadly age, personally I think as you get older, you can't get away with skipping the weights/resistance work. A young woman can look fabulous just by being slim and doesn't necessarily need as much muscle tone to look good as a woman past 40 when the same degree of slimness can cross over into the unattractively scrawny/gaunt category quite quickly.
I used to think lean skinny was the aim, now I'm 40 I'm much more into strong skinny and more defined muscles.

True esher, I read we lose something like 1% muscle tone every year after 30. I'm not sure what that means but it sounds bad and probably means resistance training is required!

It means - unfortunately for all of us that if you stay slim past about 40 you end up with a flat bum, skinny legs (your biggest muscles diminish most) and a thicker waist..and you begin to shrink height wise...and your metabolism reduces because of said drop in muscle tissue....good news huh! Yes, resistance training is required to combat this

Gosh it all sounds so appealing.

Although I don't mind the bum flattening / reduction bit. For now.

Ballet gives you terrible feet though.

Rock climbing.

Off to stroke DH's six-pack

Rock climbing.

Off to stroke DH's six-pack

Marsha as you know I'm all for the heavy weights low rep approach but I get that it's not for everyone. Body weight resistance can work well too. As someone said upthread, yoga and Pilates can provide a great workout to build strength, you just have to choose the right classes.

Sadsqueaker did you get bit overexcited and post twice then ?...

And Marsha, as I've seen it in RL I can definitely say you really really don't have to aim for a smaller bottom .

Just realised my last post maybe came across wrong ...for the avoidance of doubt, Marsha's bottom has always been fully clothed when I've seen it

Haha Sleep

I think it happened a bit. I used to marvel at my friends' flat bottoms as mine was resolutely round. Then when I swam three days a week pg with ds2 and my shape altered.

Now I have to manage the tummy instead. Darn

Whereas I marvel at high, pert bottoms not flat ones - don't they look like old lady butts?...my glutes are long - I need short, pert ones. But I'm battling with age and genetics.

So why do waists get thicker as we get older, even when you're not very fat?

It's the hormonal changes that occur around menopause Elizabeth, more oestrogen, less testosterone. Means less muscle generally and a change from storing fat around hips to on the belly. Stress can have the same effect on belly even when younger, the production of cortisol in particular. This can be any sort of stress but for some people endurance exercise will do it, so you could be a marathon runner and get skinny all over but retain the tummy fat...

Snowdon - squats and deadlifts, with heavy weights (heavy for you, not just 100kg off the bat ) best thing for building strong pert bum. Stairclimber for cardio.

Sleep I do plenty of squats in my bootcamp classes but none with weights and I'm too set in my ways I suppose to start going to a gym and lifting weights, my muscle tone has improved though so now it looks like my bum is perkier in jeans but in a swimsuit...it would help if I lost a few pounds, all the muscle in the world still doesn't look great with a big layer of fat over the top of it.

Snowdown I think if you are fit and healthy and happy with how your bum looks in your jeans you are doing pretty damn well . Not many of us are confident in our swimsuits.

Thanks Isleep. Are weights essential or can you build muscle tone enough with proper press ups, planks, side planks etc?

Well I would go as far as to say I'm happy with my butt in jeans but it does look better at aged 42 than it did when I was 35! I agree that weights are the best thing for toning and high intensity intervals are fantastic for fitness but what I think is more important in the long run is finding an exercise routine you can enjoy/stick to, trying not to set your goals too high to begin with because you can always add to them as you progress.

Exercise is tough to begin with but then it creeps under your skin and you start to need it to feel normal.