Legs eleven

Sport develops different body parts. Depending on the sport, your developed body shape or parts will turn different heads.

Straight boys will turn to look at a woman’s butt when she saunters past. In a bar, this beer-confident species suddenly stares at every set of tits that approaches — and turns to follow the passage of the female concerned.

My partner’s dance background gives him a critical appreciation of everything below the navel. It is legs then biceps. So my exercise has to keep both in shape.

Teammates look for big shoulders, good chests, strong legs. Powerful calves, no necks, six or eight packs are appreciated. A runner I know loves swimmers’ bodies, yet they generally have no butts.

Don’t ask me what makes us notice different things, but I think having or not having them yourself is part of it. Lean guys love muscle Mary. My ex-dancer (you know the type, the older I get the better I was) loves great legs. At least he admires girls with great legs as much as boys.

For me it’s all about the eyes. I forgot the other bit — dancers waistline. Good if I can reach around the waist at the hips with two hands.

This has developed a wonderful rule in our house. It was his fault of course, as he casually said to his fellow flight crew, “Since I run three times a week to keep a good figure, I would divorce the bitch if he got fat”.

Vicious but true. Of course, the reverse applies. What good is a dancer without a waist?

All forms of activity using our legs — weight-bearing exercise that creates sensationally toned limbs — give us quality of life and enjoyment in our later years.

A recent study suggests the effects of being seated for more than six hours a day cannot be reversed, regardless of how much exercise we undertake. The magnificently toned and defined human body changes shape and loses definition as we age — not because we age, but because it is not being asked to perform.

Being gorgeous — the coathanger fashion designers crave — requires effort, persistence, motivation and holistic balance, including exercise and diet.

Be the toned and glamorous girl or boy the fashion houses require. Strut your toned and shapely legs, bubble butt and perky pecs. Enjoy them staring at your abs and glorious rounded shoulders. Live longer and actively with the social groups you share your exercise sessions with — the Team Sydney sports club members.  Find us at www.teamsydney.org.au