what body shape are you?

A survey by the men’s fashion retailer Jacamo claims to have identified seven typical male body shapes.
It also discovered that men are most confident about their physiques at the age of 28, with confidence declining steadily after that. Overall almost three-quarters of the 1,500 men surveyed disliked their bodies.
“Men are changing and so is masculinity. In our younger years, we are still struggling to find our identity and who we are,” said Professor Brendan Gough, a psychologist at Leeds Metropolitan University.
“But when we get into our late 20s and reach 28 we become more comfortable with our bodies and assured about ourselves.”
“When we get into our 30s our metabolism decreases and we start to put on weight.”
So whether you’re body confident or not, which body shape best describes you? Here are the categories, from string beans to snowmen.

Apparently a lot of us want to be this body shape, probably because we think it’s popular with women.
It’s a classical triangular shape, featuring broad shoulders that taper to a slim (but often toned) waist. We may admire this shape, but only one in 20 of us see ourselves as nachos.
One famous nacho is Olympic diver Tom Daley.

 Far more of us identified ourselves as pears, who are pretty average in every sense but carrying a bit of extra weight round the middle. Among celebs, comedian Michael McIntyre is, apparently, a pear, as is Ricky Gervais (maybe it’s a comedian thing?).


More of us want to be a cucumber than any other shape. It’s the sort of lean (but not skinny) physique boasted by sportsmen such as Andrew Flintoff, the former captain of the England cricket team, and David Beckham, the former captain of the England football team. It’s toned and taut without being pumped up or overly muscle-bound.
According to the survey, 45% of us aspire to this sleek, straight-up-and-down shape - but only 15% of us actually have it.

 This one’s pretty self-explanatory. If you’re built like a brick then you’re naturally broad all over. Just over 9% of us identify ourselves as bricks, and it’s not a bad physique to have. Celebrity bricks include housewife's favourite Robbie Williams.

 We’re not talking about cherry tomatoes here. Nearly one in 10 of respondents identified themselves as tomato shape, which is slightly chubby all over. Tomatoes aren’t obese - nicely rounded might be a better way of putting it - but they could probably do with losing a bit of weight. You don’t find many natural tomatoes. The TV presenter Eamonn Holmes is a classic of the category.

The happy, jolly and - most of all - fat snowman is a shape fewer than 5% us are prepared to admit to being, according to the survey. The snowman is round in both belly and chest, creating a figure-of-eight body shape. Robbie Coltrane typifies the look, as does fellow thespian James Corden.

 
At the other extreme comes the string bean, a lean and slender shape that sails dangerously close to skinny. It doesn’t have to though. Sir Bradley Wiggins is considered a string bean and his cycling competitors know just how much power his lean limbs can generate. Apparently only 4.3% of us describe ourselves as having a string bean shape.
So, which category best describes you? Let us know in the comments below. If you’re the typical British male, it’s probably the pear. If you’re a cucumber, count yourself lucky. And the good news is that the lean, straight-up-and-down look most of us aspire to is not out of anyone’s reach. A good diet and plenty of exercise are all many of us need to attain it.