Oh great and lofty butt, how do I lessen thee?
June 14, 2011 6:53 AM Subscribe
Baby got butt. What cardio/ strength training can I do to burn fat/ work my legs and thighs that will not make my ass any loftier than it is?
My mama gave me a booty that's worthy of a Mix-A-Lot tribute. It's quite firm, not at all saggy, and is in no need of any more lifting. The problem, though, is that I naturally tend to accumulate - like most women - fat on my butt, hips, thighs and belly. In fact, I have disproportionately fat thighs, and working out so far (heavy on the cardio) has caused fat loss on my hips and belly, but my thighs are being stubborn.
I understand that a combination of cardio and strength training is necessary to burn overall fat. Where strength training is concerned (and I do work opposite sets of muscles on any given day to avoid bulking up), weighted or Smith machine squats and lunges come well-recommended for working glutes, so I went with it. A few weeks after I started doing squats and lunges and variations of it on Bosu, etc., I noticed my waist getting smaller, but my skirts were tighter - around my butt. I REALLY don't want my butt to stick out a mile. Treadmill and elliptical interval training is all well and good, but it gets boring, and I'd like to spin/ use a Stepmill from time to time.
Would using a Stepmill/ spinning make my butt bigger? Or should I say, lift it higher? There are some killer interval workouts on these machines that I'd love to try but am hesitant to. I'm 5'5 and weigh around 130, and could stand to lose about 15-20 lbs, mostly in the belly/ hips/ thighs area, but also overall. I'd love some suggestions as to how to work out so that I retain curves, but do not end up disporportionately large in the derriere since I already have quite the booty. Beyonce and J-Lo are obvious examples of the kind of body I'd like to have, I just am not sure if I'm doing it right. Are there stretches or exercises for that area that would counteract the effects of a stepmill routine or a squat/ lunge/ kickback strength circuit? Like pilates, maybe?
Secondary question: Breaking my ankle a couple years ago had me pretty much not working out for a couple years. Having gained 20 lbs, I've been easing my way into cardio, but find that my thigh muscles 'feel the burn' and get fatigued very easily. Interval cardio with longer recovery intervals work well for me, but as an example, I am unable to keep up with a cardio class (includes some plyo and core exercises) for more than 10-15 minutes. Outside of building up to a regular cardio activity, is there anything else I can do to delay/ lessen muscle fatigue in my thighs, such as strengthening my legs? I also know that I may need to revisit my diet to give myself more carbs - I limit myself to about a cup of whole-grain pasta/ brown rice a day.
Thanks for your help, Mefites. :)
My mama gave me a booty that's worthy of a Mix-A-Lot tribute. It's quite firm, not at all saggy, and is in no need of any more lifting. The problem, though, is that I naturally tend to accumulate - like most women - fat on my butt, hips, thighs and belly. In fact, I have disproportionately fat thighs, and working out so far (heavy on the cardio) has caused fat loss on my hips and belly, but my thighs are being stubborn.
I understand that a combination of cardio and strength training is necessary to burn overall fat. Where strength training is concerned (and I do work opposite sets of muscles on any given day to avoid bulking up), weighted or Smith machine squats and lunges come well-recommended for working glutes, so I went with it. A few weeks after I started doing squats and lunges and variations of it on Bosu, etc., I noticed my waist getting smaller, but my skirts were tighter - around my butt. I REALLY don't want my butt to stick out a mile. Treadmill and elliptical interval training is all well and good, but it gets boring, and I'd like to spin/ use a Stepmill from time to time.
Would using a Stepmill/ spinning make my butt bigger? Or should I say, lift it higher? There are some killer interval workouts on these machines that I'd love to try but am hesitant to. I'm 5'5 and weigh around 130, and could stand to lose about 15-20 lbs, mostly in the belly/ hips/ thighs area, but also overall. I'd love some suggestions as to how to work out so that I retain curves, but do not end up disporportionately large in the derriere since I already have quite the booty. Beyonce and J-Lo are obvious examples of the kind of body I'd like to have, I just am not sure if I'm doing it right. Are there stretches or exercises for that area that would counteract the effects of a stepmill routine or a squat/ lunge/ kickback strength circuit? Like pilates, maybe?
Secondary question: Breaking my ankle a couple years ago had me pretty much not working out for a couple years. Having gained 20 lbs, I've been easing my way into cardio, but find that my thigh muscles 'feel the burn' and get fatigued very easily. Interval cardio with longer recovery intervals work well for me, but as an example, I am unable to keep up with a cardio class (includes some plyo and core exercises) for more than 10-15 minutes. Outside of building up to a regular cardio activity, is there anything else I can do to delay/ lessen muscle fatigue in my thighs, such as strengthening my legs? I also know that I may need to revisit my diet to give myself more carbs - I limit myself to about a cup of whole-grain pasta/ brown rice a day.
Thanks for your help, Mefites. :)
Both J-Lo and Beyonce have lots of muscles and bodacious booties, so why do you say that you don't want your 'butt to stick out a mile'? Anyways, I hate long bouts of cardio except for biking and interval jump rope. Please try both--jumping will hit your body in ways you never imagined possible. I'd alternate 30 seconds-2 minutes of jumping with 1 minute of rest. You're going to build up to being hardco' wit it. On the days you just wanna sit and pedal, bike for 15-20 minutes with a little bit of warm up. You should also throw in some yoga/ballet and weights for good measure. The weights are important for making your body fit, lean, and gawgheous. Lift heavy, and don't neglect your upper half. If you build your arms and shoulders, you will look more proportionate overall.
If you are on any kind of female hormone, losing your fat and building muscle will be more difficult.
posted by 200burritos at 7:13 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you are on any kind of female hormone, losing your fat and building muscle will be more difficult.
posted by 200burritos at 7:13 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: What you're going to want to do are sprint intervals: 60 second sprint, 90 second walk for a total of 20 minutes (excluding a 5 minute low-intensity warmup). Do this in the morning before eating anything, or waiting at least 4 hours since your previous meal. This'll help you lose some of that stubborn or "deep" fat. And when I say "sprint", I don't mean a sort-of-hard jog; it's an all-out 100% effort sprint (for example: in my case, it's around ~10mph, then I walk at ~3.5mph).
A noteworthy aspect of these intervals is that it'll help you retain what "booty" you do have, and simultaneously not bulk it up to a ridiculous size. It'll look proportionate. And as always, diet is far more important than exercise in terms of weight loss.
posted by Evernix at 7:42 AM on June 14, 2011
A noteworthy aspect of these intervals is that it'll help you retain what "booty" you do have, and simultaneously not bulk it up to a ridiculous size. It'll look proportionate. And as always, diet is far more important than exercise in terms of weight loss.
posted by Evernix at 7:42 AM on June 14, 2011
Nuke the carbs. Go way low with a modified Atkins approach. You can loose the 15/20 lbs of fat in 2 weeks if you go low enough to go into ketosis. I just dropped 35 lbs in 5 weeks this way. I'd just had back surgery so I could not lean on cardio for the loss. The science is sound. If there is no glycogen or glucose you will burn fat stored on your body for food. it really works....
That, plus the sprint intervals mentioned above and Serena Williams has some competition.
posted by Studiogeek at 8:10 AM on June 14, 2011
That, plus the sprint intervals mentioned above and Serena Williams has some competition.
posted by Studiogeek at 8:10 AM on June 14, 2011
You cannot do spot fat reduction without stupid painful surgery. Just keep up the cardio, and maintain good habits when it comes to food. This is a long term process, and you will occasionally plateau, but just stick with it.
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:16 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:16 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You can't spot train to lose fat in a specific region. You are losing fat everywhere, but because you're doing heavy lifting with the legs you are gaining muscle there. If you want to do strength training for exercise and don't want to build muscle on your glutes then do more upper body exercises (chest/arms/shoulders/back) you will still lose the fat on your legs (eventually) but won't get the muscle growth. Stick with whatever cardio you enjoy. Leg focused cardio won't build bulky muscle.
Thighs (on women, belly on men) seem to usually be the last places you lose fat on your body.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:58 AM on June 14, 2011
Thighs (on women, belly on men) seem to usually be the last places you lose fat on your body.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:58 AM on June 14, 2011
Best answer: Your body type stores excess fat around your hips and thighs and butt. That's a good thing (it reflects a healthy hormonal balance, among other Good Things), but it also means that as you lean out you're going to see a flat stomach and tinier waist long before your hips and thighs get smaller. I have the same body type so I'm speaking from experience.
You know the saying "Abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen"? For people like us that applies doubly to your butt and thighs. Heck, I have visible abs and I still have well padded hips and thighs.
As discussed above I recommend going low carb -- personally I eat low carb paleo because that's the diet that works best for me. Not to be dismissive but none of the exercises you're doing are going to have an appreciable effect on your body in terms of "bulking up" or spot reducing fat on your lower body. I'd even go so far as to say, do whatever workout you enjoy most, and recognize that decreasing your body fat % is going to be 90% strict clean diet and 10% building muscle through heavy weight training.
Feel free to mefi-mail me if you want more specific advice.
posted by telegraph at 9:35 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
You know the saying "Abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen"? For people like us that applies doubly to your butt and thighs. Heck, I have visible abs and I still have well padded hips and thighs.
As discussed above I recommend going low carb -- personally I eat low carb paleo because that's the diet that works best for me. Not to be dismissive but none of the exercises you're doing are going to have an appreciable effect on your body in terms of "bulking up" or spot reducing fat on your lower body. I'd even go so far as to say, do whatever workout you enjoy most, and recognize that decreasing your body fat % is going to be 90% strict clean diet and 10% building muscle through heavy weight training.
Feel free to mefi-mail me if you want more specific advice.
posted by telegraph at 9:35 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all for your responses. I believe I have the low-carb, high-protein diet down - although it may be possible I'm not getting enough carbs to sustain the amount of cardio I would like to do, hence the leg fatigue.
"Best" answers marked because I like the workouts suggested - will definitely give those a shot, as my current cardio is boring the crap outta me. Running on my concrete sidewalk is also killing my ankle, which is why the stepmill/ spinnig came to mind as a way to change things up a bit.
Thanks again folks!
posted by Everydayville at 10:19 AM on June 14, 2011
"Best" answers marked because I like the workouts suggested - will definitely give those a shot, as my current cardio is boring the crap outta me. Running on my concrete sidewalk is also killing my ankle, which is why the stepmill/ spinnig came to mind as a way to change things up a bit.
Thanks again folks!
posted by Everydayville at 10:19 AM on June 14, 2011
As someone who is also heavy in the thighs and butt, thanks for this thread.
posted by matrushka at 11:00 PM on June 14, 2011
posted by matrushka at 11:00 PM on June 14, 2011
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(But, actually, based on the measurements and weight you gave, you are just right. I'm 1-inch shorter than you, 30 pounds heavier and would be thrilled to be 130. I think looking at overall body fat percentage is probably a better way to approach your goals.)
posted by gsh at 7:01 AM on June 14, 2011 [1 favorite]