Help butt, hips and thighs

jenniferpalm

New Member
I need help, I turned 25 and I gained 18lbs. It all went to my butt, hips and thighs. My upper body is small but I keep gaining on my lower half. No matter what I do I keep gaining weight. I workout and I eat about 5 small meals a day. I am 5'2 and 124lbs, I hate the way I look and feel.
Please help.
Jen:-(
 
Hi i am the same way. i am a pear shape as you could said. i since i been doing lowerbody more everything got smaller. my butt,thighs and hips. i am 5,3 125 right at this moment. i love the way i look i just trying to work on my eating that is a big issue with me. but if you try to do at least 3 to 4 time a week lowerbody that would help a lot. and if you could add a little running that would do great.

hope this help!
Dominican1
 
Hi there! I'm also 5'2 and weigh 125lbs. I am pretty satisfied with how I look. I would like to drop maybe 3 or 4 lbs. My hips and butt are a little bulky, but I think genetics plays a big part in that (at least in my case.) I have added more cardio, specifically interval cardio, like Imax2 and Imax3. I guess it goes to show how different we all are. Even being the same height and weight, I'd bet that we all look different depending of body frame and how much muscle we have. :) :)
 
Hang in there. All my weight is in the same place, and I have a very small top. I've been meaning to do a search of this site to see if I can find any old posts about it, and I'll let you know. I'm 37 and have had about the same amount of stubborn fat/cellulite for years now, and I'm sick of it. I work out pretty hard, but I guess not hard enough to "work my butt off.":)
 
If you want to get rid of fat, the most important thing is eating clean. Eating 5-6 small meals a day is fine, but they absolutely MUST be clean! No processed food, avoid sugar, white flour, white pasta, white bread, frozen meals, excess salt, etc. Your diet should revolve around fresh vegetables and fruits (or frozen, without additives), and whole grains.

I am a pear-shape like you - I carry my extra fat around my hips and butt. It's stubborn, and doesn't want to go away. :p I work my upper body with heavy weights, and my lower body with lighter weights and higher reps, hoping to achieve "balance" between the two halves of my body. It's an ongoing process, but so far I am pleased with my progress. You may want to adopt a similar strategy, but the most important thing is finding what works for you and your body. Eating clean is the #1 most important thing though - start there. :)
 
I am not Cathe - but I have been doing searches on this site and have found lots of threads on "Freestyle" training. I am putting together a rotation that I will start next week. I have posted it in the rotations section to get any feedback on it. From what I have gotten so far........Freestyle training is working the legs 5 to 6 times per week, upper body 2X, and cardio :) It sounds like a lot of work but I am willing to try anything as a pear shape myself :)

I would just do searches on here and on google :)HTH
 
Not Cathe here either of course, but I agree with Reba, you might be interested in giving freestyle a whirl, you can still use cathe's workouts......... Rhonda
 
Hi - please bear with me - this is going to be a fairly long post. I did a search on "cellulite" on this web site and found TONS of stuff! I can't refer you to the exact threads, because I just copied and pasted the info into a Word document for my own use. So I'm going to paste it here, as well. I hope it helps! I am going to give it a try myself, and I have very high hopes!

THIS IS A POST FROM CATHE, TO A MEMBER WHO WANTED TO TONE HER LEGS IN A HURRY:

Hi Ashley! I have to be honest and say that a couple of weeks is really not enough time to find out what you legs will respond too plus see a huge difference in that time. But if a couple of weeks are all you have then I would say if you have never done Leaner Legs before, chances are your legs will react simply because it is something new to shock your system. While it still has squats and lunges (exercises you said have not worked for you) the workout will do them in an order, pace, and rep style that is different from what you are used to...which is a good thing.

Also, try to do about 400 (non-weighted) walking lunges (SHANNON'S NOTE: the thread went on to say that 400 lunges is for short-term, rapid results. It said a more typical number is 100 lunges) and the stability ball portion of Pyramid Lower Body two times per week.

Side Note: Remember that your legs will initially swell slightly after your first few workouts while they heal so really increase your water intake and help promote the healing process.

Try to eat as healthy and clean as possible too. This will make the biggest difference of all in a two week period.

Sample Two Week Workout:
Drink LOTS of water throughout the day, everyday!

Monday: Leaner Legs
Tues: Cardio
Wed: 400 walking lunges plus ball work in Pyramid Lower Body
Thurs: Cardio
Fri: Leaner Legs
Sat: Rest
Sun: Cardio plus 400 walking lunges plus ball work in PLB


Mon: High Intensity Cardio
Tues: Leaner Legs plus PLB ball segment
Wed: High Intensity Cardio
Thurs: Leaner Legs plus 400 walking lunges
Fri: Cardio plus PLB ball segment
Sat: Rest
Sun: Rest

THIS POST IS FROM ANOTHER MEMBER:
The Walking Lunge
This exercise requires a lot of space so you may need to take this outside in your driveway or somewhere that allows you to travel a straight distance of say 40 to 50 feet.

How to do it:
Stand with feet hip width apart, legs straight, abdominals contracted, and core muscles engaged. Keep torso centered between both legs as you take a generous step forward with the right foot, bending both knees to 90 degree angles. The right knee stays in line with the right ankle and rear thigh is perpendicular to the floor. The left (or in this case the rear knee) will point to the floor but never make contact with it. Continue to walk forward alternating lead legs until you have alternated the lead for 16 rep's per side. Do up to three walking sets if possible. Remember that even though you are moving forward in this lunge, you need to keep your stride within the range of a standard forward lunge, therefore keeping the lunging motion vertical and upright. As you step forward, sink down and feel the hips lower down as the quads and hamstrings activate. Then push off the back foot to propel forward to the other lead leg.

I ALSO THOUGHT THIS MIGHT BE USEFUL, SINCE IT WORKS ON THE BACKS OF THE LEGS.IT WAS POSTED BY ANOTHER MEMBER:
For definition in the hamstrings, you may want to bring in supine hamstring bridges with one or both heels placed on a chair or stability ball. I know Cathe has HS bridge exercises on at least one of her later releases (Pyramid lower body? Supersets and/or Push-Pull?).

My own variation is:

1. Lay on your back in front of a sturdy chair; place one heel on the edge of the seat and extend the other (non-working) leg straight up (that leg should be perpendicular to the floor);

2. Press the heel of the foot that's on the edge of the seat down and thereby bridge the lower core up; slowly lower down; repeat 12-16 times on that leg, then perform the same on the other leg

To up the intensity of this, you can place a heavy dumbbell across the pelvis, and/or put ankle weights on the ankles. You can also extend the non-working leg out only 45 degrees rather than 90 degrees.

This exercise isolates the hamstrings to a far greater degree than squats, plie squats and lunges, which are much more multi-joint and thus distribute the workload among all of the anterior and posterior leg muscles.

You may also want to check out the leg curl machine at the club. Since the prime action of hamstrings is to flex the knee, that kind of isolated work will be another good variation for you.

Just make sure not to overtrain the hams so that they become overly strong in relation to the quads. That kind of strength imbalance can have serious consequences on knee stability.
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top