Hi Bhanu:
I am your height and a year ago weighed only 120 pounds.
I now weigh around 130 pounds and I have been seriously including weight training in my weekly fitness regime.
I have been accused of looking androgynous in my life, because I have a more athletic build, narrow hips, shoulders slightly wider than my hips, I go pretty much straight down from rib cage to hips, little indentation at the "waist", add that to the short hair and loss of chest after two babies, and I was keen to get a more shapely figure!!!
I have toned up all over and added muscle definition and a more shapely figure all over. In so doing, I have gained 10 pounds, hopefully due to increased muscle mass. I have actually gone down a little in dress size to more of a size 6 all over, rather than the 8/10 of before. I don't think I look like a stick anymore. I am getting waist definition, the new Intensity Series is giving me obliques and abs definition like I never had before. I can now work squats and lunges with 40-45 pounds on the barbell (versus just 24 pounds that I could manage a year ago) and that is giving me nice shape in the quads, hams, glutes and hips.
The key to avoiding looking like a stick is to get balance between the upper and lower body. So I am working hard with the Pyramid Upper Body to build muscle on upper body and it is slowly getting there. My husband now notices my biceps and back muscles. He says when we next move house, I'll be bringing the washing machine out of the basement!
Many experts recommend slow and heavy weight training for people like you and me who are hard gainers (i.e. find it tough to build muscle). Cathe has a series with exactly these objectives called Slow & Heavy. Why not give it a try?
It is within your genetic make-up to be slim. But that does not mean you cannot add muscle to your frame and in so doing, add shape and definition. But if you are a hard gainer, it will take some concentrated work. Muscle and Fitness Hers have an article on just this issue, with tips and strategies, in their November 2002 edition. See if you can get hold of it. Very informative.
Be warned, however, that as you increase muscle mass, you increase also your body's ability to burn fuel and you will find yourself getting hungry more quickly. You are going to have to eat more. Protein will be important to you to build muscle and keep it there. And, you have licence to eat more and exactly what your body needs!
Hope some of this helps, and check out the "Ectochicks" posts here at the forums for tips from ladies in exactly the same situation as you.
Clare
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