Best way to lean out butt and thighs?

L

lora-kate1

Cathlete
Hi Cathe!

What is the best way to lean out the butt and thigh area? Should I do legs for an hour once a week, or do two 30 minute leg workouts a week or break it down to three 20 minutes leg workouts per week plus a circuit workout?

I am 5'8" and roughly 140 lbs and am desperately trying to lose 5 pounds with little success. I have just changed my routine to doing 30 minutes of step or intervals 4 times a week, 30 minutes run once a week and one day I do a 60 min circuit video. I do one body part per day for 15-20 minutes and abs twice a week for 10 minutes. In the last few years I have very gradually gained 5 pounds so that all my skirts and pants are very tight. It is so frustrating! I am being much more careful with my food and have had no results, nothing, nada.

Do you have any suggestions?


P.S. Those new clips are amazing! I cannot believe how creative you are!
 
Not Cathe, but I have had good results with Cathe's Butts and Guts DVD. It's really helped me lose in my butt and has helped my quad area SOOOO much.
 
I too would love to know the answer to this. My thighs (especially the saddlebag region) are my biggest problem area. I'm in pretty good shape, and I am close to my ideal body weight. My thighs refuse to budge no matter what I do. I've tried heavy lifting for the lower body, lots of cardio, alternate type things for the legs like floorwork, ballet-type stuff, pilates. I do a lot of yoga too. They fluctuate up and down in a 1-2" range, but that's it. I have yet to find that magic bullet. It's like my body is telling me that do what I might, it's going to hang on to that bit of fat right there on each thigh just for insurance purposes. If I try losing some weight, my upper body gets really thin (too thin, IMO), but my thighs stay just the way the are! Frustrating!!! I'm beginning to think I'm just destined to have these saddlebags, and maybe I should just be proud of my legs as they are - strong, healthy, firm, cellulite free -- and forget about a couple of extra inches.
 
Butts and Gutts leg blast premix!!! It is AWESOME and I actually consider it cardio as well as a great leg shaper and burner. Give it a try:)

Susan
 
Just wanted to know is the saddle bad just beneath your cheek? Cause I have a pouch there that ust won't go away... Wonder if that is what that is?
 
I once had a back injury that kept me from running, so I began taking spin classes. It was amazing how spinning trimmed down my thighs and butt - which have always been my trouble areas. If all else fails, try spinning. I run, step, kickbox and weight train. Only spinning gave me results in the lower body. Of course, now that my body has adjusted to spinning, the results arent as drastic.
 
>Just wanted to know is the saddle bad just beneath your
>cheek? Cause I have a pouch there that ust won't go away...
>Wonder if that is what that is?
Yes! I have this extra bit of fat too...I have also wondered what its called and how to get rid of it LOL
 
Hi there;

Not Cathe, but I recently ran across several threads in the forums about Freestyle training. Freestyle is touted as a women-specific weight training method that helps to lean out the lower body. Basically you reduce the weight you use, up the repetitions, and do LOTS of lunges. You also work legs on consecutive days. It's hard at first but it gets easier FAST.
I just started this training method about a week and a half ago and I'm already seeing some results-- I'm posting links to two threads in the forums:


http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?..._id=195807&mesg_id=195807&listing_type=search

http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?..._id=243752&mesg_id=243752&listing_type=search


The second one is super-informative! I ordered the Freestyle book and didn't find it very useful-- I had already read everything from the book on the Cathe forums or at Sherry Gideons' website on Bodybuilding.com.

Best of luck!

D
 
I got my best results (dramatic results!)from mixture of pilates, yoga & ballet exercises. No weights at all - used bands, gliders, stability ball and a pilates ring. I get good exercises from Shape & Fitness magazines.
 
This isn't exercise related, but I leaned up over several months when I cut out added sugar (for other reasons so this was a pleasant side effect!) I'm the same height as you and was about the same weight. I never thought my lower body would be this lean as that is where I tend to store fat.
 
Try some kickboxing.

I've been doig TaeBo for years, and that is one of the areas that is whittled down due to all of the kicking and the muscle focus.

It may not be a magic pill, but it doesn't sound like you've tried that yet. Your body may respond better to that than to step. Mine does.
 
Hi Everyone...I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to share something that has been working for me.

I, too, love spinning. And I got great results from it in my butt/thighs. coming "out of the saddle" (spinning while standing somewhat) really burns and a lot of the fat started melting away. I could hear it melt away! ;-)

I also ordered a book that I read about on one of the forums called SuperVixen. Its a book from the 80s and many of the exercises that she does are dated...for example, we know when we squat we shouldn't let our knees pass our toes. See is a for real bodybuilder too...so I would try not to look at the pictures :) Nonethless, there are some great tips in it. She addresses every problem known to women...saddlebags, soft upper hamstrings (the pooch under the booty cheek), skinny calves...etc. She modifies every-day exercises for each problem. For saddlebags, for example, she advises squating with feet 6 inches apart. It feels kind of awkward at first, but I got used to it. I started doing this in the gym and in my Cathe workouts and low and behold...my saddlebags REALLY slimmed up. Not like I lost fat slimmed up, but like the line and shape of my thigh started to change! I took a 6 month hiatis from working out due to an injury...and the "bags" came back...but I recently started up again and the exercises are working again! I highly recommend the book. Its written for women, but men can benefit from some of it too. You can buy a used copy on Amazon.
 
I don't have the problem with saddlebags. My problem is inner thighs. I have started to do more kickboxing. Any other thoughts?

Marcy
 
I was reading a similar question to this on the Precision Nutrition site run by John Berardi. People on that site recommended doing leg work with single legs and lighter/no weights depending on your level, ie one legged squats, lunges etc. I was interested in this because it fits in well with many of the exercises in Butts and Gutts, in particular the Leg Blast premix which several people are saying gave them good results. John Berardi even gave an example of triangular lunges stepping forward side and back as comes up three times in the Leg Blast premix. So might be worth a try! I haven't done that particular premix that often myself to say whether it worked for me since I find I need at least a month to recover:p

Ruth
 
>Hi Everyone...I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to
>share something that has been working for me.
>
>I, too, love spinning. And I got great results from it in my
>butt/thighs. coming "out of the saddle" (spinning while
>standing somewhat) really burns and a lot of the fat started
>melting away. I could hear it melt away! ;-)
>
>I also ordered a book that I read about on one of the forums
>called SuperVixen. Its a book from the 80s and many of the
>exercises that she does are dated...for example, we know when
>we squat we shouldn't let our knees pass our toes. See is a
>for real bodybuilder too...so I would try not to look at the
>pictures :) Nonethless, there are some great tips in it. She
>addresses every problem known to women...saddlebags, soft
>upper hamstrings (the pooch under the booty cheek), skinny
>calves...etc. She modifies every-day exercises for each
>problem. For saddlebags, for example, she advises squating
>with feet 6 inches apart. It feels kind of awkward at first,
>but I got used to it. I started doing this in the gym and in
>my Cathe workouts and low and behold...my saddlebags REALLY
>slimmed up. Not like I lost fat slimmed up, but like the line
>and shape of my thigh started to change! I took a 6 month
>hiatis from working out due to an injury...and the "bags" came
>back...but I recently started up again and the exercises are
>working again! I highly recommend the book. Its written for
>women, but men can benefit from some of it too. You can buy a
>used copy on Amazon.

That sounds interesting...what does she advise for the soft upper hamstring thingie? TIA
 
How much time is required per day to do freestyle training? How heavy should you be using for handweights or a barbell? Do you still use Cathe's leg tapes and just change the weight, increase the reps and do a bit each day?

I will definitely try the squats with a 6 inch width and I have already drastically reduced the sugar and refined products in my diet.

Thanks everyone!
 
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