These four body shapes hold the key to woman's weight loss

ARE YOU more Barrymore than Beyonce? These four celebrity body shapes hold the key to weight loss, and it's "crucial" to know yours.

Drew Barrymore is an apple shape.

YOU'VE eaten too many mince pies, drunk more than enough mulled wine and may have turned your thoughts towards working off the Christmas pounds.

But before signing up for a gym membership, perhaps you should decide which of these body shapes you are.

Because that is the key to successfully achieving your goals, according to celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts. Yesterday Mr Roberts, whose clients include David and Samantha Cameron, said women's bodies fall into four categories - apple, pear, hourglass and tubular.

And as he gave his New Year's fitness tips, which include swearing off alcohol for at least a month and cutting out all dairy except for milk in tea, Mr Roberts said it was "crucial" to work with your shape.

Hourglass shapes
Embodied by Myleene Klass, Kate Winslet or Nigella Lawson - should focus on their abdominals and go for long jogs or bike rides to help make themselves appear leaner.

Kate Winslet.

What: Known for their curves, hourglass women have shapely chests and bottoms, but slimmer waists.

Who: Kate Winslet, Myleene Klass and Nigella Lawson.

What to do: Running and long-duration cardiovascular work. Try exercise that works the whole body such as circuit training.

What not to do: Don't try to get rid of your curves, work with them to create tone and definition. Avoid letting your diet slip as hourglasses have a tendency to put on weight easily.

Matt Roberts said: "You've probably got a great waistline, shape in your backside and a bit of a bust. It's about keeping the waistline ultra-thin with torso work and long-duration cardio work as the danger for an hourglass is that you put on weight and it goes on everywhere."

Tubular shapes
Women with body shapes such as Cara Delevingne or Keira Knightley, are advised to cut out cardiovascular work, avoid losing weight and instead do strength-based work to build muscle.

Keira Knightly.

What: A small chest and bottom and little definition at the waistline.

Who: Cara Delevingne and Keira Knightley.

What to do: Increase calorie intake to build up muscle and help develop some curves. Split routines are the best forms of exercise as it means you focus on different parts of the body on different days.

What not to do: Try to limit the amount of cardiovascular work you do. Instead go for heavy loading strength work to help with toning.

Matt Roberts said: "You're trying to create some butt and some bust. Creating enough size where you want it means building up muscle mass."

Pear shapes
Women like Beyonce and Rihanna, meanwhile, should work on building arm muscle and try out high-intensity interval training such as hill sprints.

Beyonce.

What: Most weight on their bottoms and thighs.

Who: Beyonce and Rihanna.

What to do: High-intensity interval training, as it helps raise your metabolism and burn fat. Upper body weights will help build arm and shoulder definition to even the body out.

What not to do: Lower body weightlifting will increase the areas you are trying to reduce. Instead try toning by doing dynamic lunges and squats.

Matt Roberts said: "Go to the park, find a nice big hill, sprint up the hill and walk down again several times. Or go for a run where you do a faster pace for 85 seconds, maximum speed for a minute, then walk for two. In the pool go fast for a length then slow for two. This burns away vast amounts of energy and vast amounts of fat."

Apple shapes
And if like Melanie Griffith you are an apple, you can reduce your waistline with core work, long-duration cardio and leg weights to even out your shape.

Catherine Zeta-Jones.

What: An apple-shaped woman's best assets are her legs. She will have a small bottom and have more fat around her torso and arms.

Who: Catherine Zeta Jones, Melanie Griffith and Drew Barrymore.

What to do: Interval training and longer-distance cardio will offer a balance of fat-burning and toning. Focus on the abdominals and building up the lower body using weights.

What not to do: Avoid particularly heavy upper body weights or you will bulk up areas which are already the largest.

Matt Roberts said: "All the time it's about leanness and working with what you've got. Apple shapes have great legs and small backsides. You can work on the legs really hard as they won't build size up and it's all about trying to reduce the size of the waistline where you can, so work on your core."

Mr Roberts suggested visualising how you would like your body to look. "Think, what's the best version of you?" he said. "What do you actually want to look like in a year's time? And have that as your reference point."

But he added: "You need to be realistic about what your shape can become. If you look at Kate Moss and say, 'I want to look like her, she looks great', well she does. But if you're an hourglass shape you are an hourglass shape so choose the role model for your shape that's appropriate.

"If you get that right you can aspire to be the person you want to look like. Otherwise it is just never going to happen, even with the best will in the world. You've got to tweak around your edges, not someone else's."

Mr Roberts went on to give his January weight loss tips, which include giving up alcohol and limiting dairy and sugar intake for a few weeks.

"There's three things to do in January that would get you guaranteed results," Mr Roberts said. "Stop drinking for four weeks because alcohol is a suppressant and it means we need other things to pick us up again.

"Also reduce your dairy levels down to being just milk in tea but nothing else. And then look at your sugar levels."

"It's only a small amount of time - spend January and February looking after yourself and you can look great, feel great and build towards looking fantastic in the summer."

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