I carry the majority of my weight in my lower half, (hips, thighs, ect...) and am looking for some good exercises that target those areas. Right now I'm hitting the gym at least three times a week, cycling and walking on the treadmil, but any other suggestions would be great for those problem spots.
Thanks
I got to an Abs-Butt-Thighs workout at my gym, which focuses on the lower body. We do a quick warm-up and then exercises for those 3 areas, followed by stretching. You could design a routine for yourself by taking together some exercise ideas from About.com. Just remember to work out the "opposite" areas!
Do you have good instructors at your gym? I try and book in a personal training session once ever eight weeks, the instructors are free and very good. I use the same one all the time. They can give you some good exercises and help with weights. You can't spot reduce as such, but you can start toning your muscles and give better definition to the areas. My calves and thighs, hips and bum are my troublesome areas, but with weight training and cardio they are reducing nicely (I get my measurements done every six weeks too). Previously when I have lost weight just with diet, the weight has come off the top half first, this time it's the other way around!!!
And that goes for every other area of our bodies - much as we'd like to, we can't spot reduce. So - for example - inner and outer thigh exercises are great for building big/strong thigh muscles, but aren't going to do much to get rid of the fat on top of the muscle.
She also goes on to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meg
The only way to get rid of the fat that's on top of your abs (or any other part of your body) is through good old diet and exercise that creates a calorie deficit. That way your body is forced to burn the fat that's on your abs as fuel.
Having posted the above, what do you do at the gym? Do you work out with weights and with intensity? Do you do your cardio with intensity or just walk along the treadmill (or whatever exercise you choose) leasurely? I find that for me I must lift as heavy as I can and do cardio with intensity or the weight just doesn't move.
Also the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism is therefore you are burning more calories than a person with less muscle...
Oh, and I wanted to add that some of my favorite exercises are: squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, squats and lunges, step ups, squats and lunges, did I mention squats and lunges.... Seriously they rock for legs and thighs, and there are so many different variations that you can do different ones every week for fun...
Since I have been running my legs are much leaner than when I did regular cardio such as walking and biking or aerobics...
Pear shaped
I wanted to add that some of my favorite exercises are: squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, squats and lunges, step ups, squats and lunges, did I mention squats and lunges.... Seriously they rock for legs and thighs, and there are so many different variations that you can do different ones every week for fun...