Ever wonder why you spend hours in the gym, year after year and still can’t change your body shape? That’s the dilemma of many an exercise enthusiast and the frustration of many of us who can’t seem to make the changes we want.

Luckily, there’s a leading fitness expert who has an interesting theory on why we get stuck in our workouts and fail to make the progress we desire.

You CAN escape your shape, says Dr. Edward Jackowski Ph.D., founder of Exude, the nation’s largest motivational and one-one-one fitness company. Jackowski says that most of us are eating and exercising the wrong way for our body type.

“I’ve been in the business for over 17 years, “he says. “I cringe when I visit gyms across the country and see so-called professional trainers make women do lunges and squats (with heavy weight) when their thighs are already huge.”

According to Jackowski, there are four body types: Hourglass, Ruler, Cone and Spoon.

THE HOURGLASS

The most common for women is the Hourglass, he says. There’s a noticeable difference between the size of the chest and waist and between the waist and the hips. Kate Winslet, Monica Lewinsky, Catherine Zeta Jones and Cuba Gooding Jr. are examples of Hourglass figures.

The best exercise for this type is rope jumping, riding a stationary bike with moderate tension, walking or ski machine. Avoid step classes, lunges, squats, walking or running on steep hills. These exercises bulk you up instead of trimming you down. To lose weight keep calories low and reduce your intake of starchy foods. Stock up on lots of fruits and veggies.

THE RULER

This body type has somewhat equal body proportions and tends to gain weight in the mid-section. Some Hollywood examples are Renee Zellweger, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kate Hudson and David Letterman.

The Ruler should try cross training, combining walking or running with weight training to bulk up muscles so there are no exercises to avoid unless you’re very overweight. To lose weight, the Ruler should simply cut calories and increase her exercise.

THE CONE

THE SPOON

In this body type, the lower body is larger than the upper body. Generously endowed Jennifer Lopez who has embraced her big butt is a great example of the very feminine spoon. Hillary Clinton, Ellen Degeneres and Jay Leno are three more Spoons.

Jumping rope is a great way to slenderize the lower body along with leg kicks, biking or walking. Doing pushups helps build muscles in the upper body to help balance the appearance.

A high protein, low carb diet like the Zone is ideal to help you trim down.

This common sense approach to exercise may help us open new doors. As a corollary to Jackowski’s theory, you may want to select your activity to develop the body you want.

For example, if you want a long, lean body you may want to try yoga which emphasizes correct posture and alignment. If you want to bulk up you may want to add more body sculpting classes to your schedule.

Let’s face it, looking around our own gym you can just about match the trainers with the activities they choose. Michael Frank and Ron Rhodes just don’t LOOK like a marathon runners…and Fotis, Bob and Brett’s physiques reflect their cross training philosophies.