Fat loss isn’t fair. You often want the fat loss to show up in your tummy first. But your body loves to start somewhere else that makes you drop a cup size or two. I can’t help increase your bust size, but I can help you balance things out with a great butt and thighs workout.
Thighs and glutes quite literally go side by side on this journey. If you want firmer thighs and glutes, perhaps even add an inch or two and fill out your jeans better, you’re in luck. Leg day is my favorite and one of the fastest places you can see results.
The Triple T Workout: Love your thighs!
Shaping thighs and getting a better back side starts with your workout. I love squats but endless heavy squats won’t give you the results you want. Some endomorphs might actually grow bigger thighs than intended from extremely heavy lifts. (Although this is NOT an issue for most of us so please don’t be afraid of a heavy weight).
Personally, I want to add inches to my booty. (Not an easy thing to do, by the way.) If that’s you too, you should do squats with a challenging weight. However, to change the shape of your butt and thighs you also need to vary weights, reps and angles. Here’s the recipe for a butt and thighs workout that will give you curves in all the right places.
- Start with two or three compound exercises with heavy weight and low reps. Goblet squats, walking lungs, deadlifts and barbell hip thrusts are great with heaver weights to begin your workout. If you have access to a squat rack, back squats and front squats are also an option. Do three to four sets of eight to 10 reps.
- Then add band, cable or body weight exercises to challenge the muscles with higher reps and different angles. If you’ve lifted heavy for the first two exercises, you won’t need much resistance to challenge your jelly legs. This is the time for higher reps of things like banded Romanian deadlifts, banded glute bridges, stability ball hamstring curls and lateral walking squats. If you have access to a cable machine, isolation exercises like cable kickbacks and leg abductions can also be highly effective. Pick three to four exercises to do a tri-set or two super sets.
- If you want to take it up a notch, finish with plyometrics. Adding intervals of pop squats, split jumps or jumping rope will leave you holding the rail as you walk out of the gym. This is for advanced exercisers only!
I want to throw in a word of caution for runners. Running is great exercise! It’s wonderful to pursue goals that make you happy and I don’t want to dissuade you from running. However, running is NOT the way to build your booty. Long distance running (think marathon training) can leave little fuel behind for muscle building, Plus, you don’t want to lift heavy the day before an 18 mile run. If your primary goal is a curvy butt AND muscular legs, focus on cardio workouts and runs that take less than an hour. Interval training is a super-efficient way to boost your burn, make you a faster runner and engage the powerful muscles of the glutes for great development of your backside.
Remember how I say there is a time and a place for everything? If you’re goal is to build a strong and shapely lower body then eat a little pasta after a heavy leg day. While I am not a big fan of carb cycling due to the time and energy it takes, you can take advantage of the body’s desire to refuel post workout. Not only does your body need material to help repair the muscle, your insulin receptors will be more sensitive after a workout and allow your body to process smart carbs more efficiently.
Hormones are at play here too. If you find your excess fat likes to hang out in your thighs, please consider following the strategy I mentioned in last’s weeks post about triceps to naturally battle esterogen imbalance. If you are indeed losing weight from your tummy (and chest) but it won’t come off your thighs that could also be a sign of estrogen inbalance.
Finally let’s talk about cellulite. Here’s the real deal. Statistics say cellulite affects 80-90% of women of all shapes and sizes. If you have it, it will probably never completely go away. However, you can minimize the appearance with an overall plan to reduce body fat and strength training to pump up the muscle under the skin. You can also try a couple of other safe and natural cellulite minimizing strategies.
How to change the appearance of cellulite
- Sugar and the collagen/elastin effect. Sugar isn’t the devil but there is some evidence that excess sugar consumption impairs the building and repair of collagen and elastin in the body. It will only make you feel better to keep sweets to treats and get your needed carbohydrates from vegetables and fiber filled smart carbs like blueberries, oats and beans.
- Stay hydrated. The body is 55-60% water. Not only does every reaction (including the burning of fat) require water, dehydration causes cosmetic changes as well. Dehydrated skin is irritated, itchy and tight. If you want plump and glowing skin keep drinking H2O all day long.
- Take your caffeine habit to a new level. A coffee scrub is easy to do at home. Why coffee (or tea)? The caffeine helps stimulate blood flow and pump up the skin, thus improving the appearance cellulite. Simply mix a scrub of coffee grounds, sea salt and coconut oil to use in the shower. Keep in mind these results are temporary however your skin will look and feel amazing after you do it.
You’ve got a master plan for a highly effect butt and thighs workout workout. You’ve got the tricks to change your diet for thighs, tris and tummy too. Are you ready for the advanced class or do you still need help with the basics? Talk to me! Leave a comment, join the email list (your free meal planning guide comes with that!) or join the conversation on Facebook.
