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Workouts - Bums and Thighs

By Paul Stephen Lubicz – The Wellbeing Manager

“I really want to get my bum and thighs in shape! But between work and my family I just can’t find time.”

Unfortunately, women often put everyone in their lives first and don’t leave enough time for them selves so you end up fitting exercise in when you can or even missing it out altogether. Exercise not only is great for your health, but great for your mental health and self confidence. So before you run down the gym and join up to get in shape for your summer holiday or to fit into that tiny outfit, think about how you are going to realistically fit in a workout with your time schedule?

“It’s all in the Attitude”

Your attitude towards a health and fitness plan can and will, in most cases, decide your chances of reaching the results you want. It's your choice to make your program fun or a chore and whether you're going to succeed at your goals or not. Be honest with yourself and challenge your original thoughts of what is involved in getting into shape. Working intelligently and most of all realistically will help in reaching your goals and receiving the benefits of an exercise program.

“The answer doesn’t always have to be the gym”

The answer doesn’t always have to be the gym, working out at home the park or at the office can still give you the toned bum and thighs that you are after. By moving your body more throughout the day, you can increase your overall caloric expenditure, e.g. taking stairs versus the elevator, parking your car further away from the entrance, hand washing your car, and carrying your food shopping. And just because you don’t have any machines or a dumbbell around it doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on any weight training.

Break the Weight Loss Plateau

Resistance training is an essential component of a weight management program and sometimes may be the answer to breaking a weight loss plateau. Resistance training tones muscle strengthens bone and increases lean body tissue, which provides contour and definition to the body.

Here are some Nutrition tips for success

• Calories in = calories out!
• If you take in the same number of calories that you burn, you will maintain your weight effortlessly.
• Choose lower calorie versions of your favourite foods
• Eat less food more frequently.
• This will help you feel satiated throughout the day and keep the metabolic fire burning.
• Drink a glass of water before your meal.
• This will help you feel fuller so you won’t overeat!
• Never go to a grocery store hungry and always use a shopping list.
• These techniques help control impulsive buys and keep your cart from being filled with foods you don’t need.
• If ordering salads, ask for the dressing on the side.
• Dressing has hidden calories and one tablespoon too many may put you over your calorie limit for the day.
• Don’t eat while watching television, driving, reading, etc.
• When you eat while you are doing other activities, calories have a nasty way of sneaking into your diet!
• Never skip a meal.
• Skipping meals leads to bad food decisions. By the time you choose to eat, you might be so hungry that in one meal you consume a whole day full of calories!
• Remember, it isn’t the number of meals you have during the day, it’s the overall calories!

With exercise and nutrition we do all have ups and downs there's nothing new about that - so there is no need to torture ourselves when moderation and consistency is the key to results.

A Note on Spot Reduction and Fat Burning

Let’s put the notion of “spot reduction” to rest once and for all! There is no evidence, has never been any evidence, nor will there likely ever be any evidence to support the notion that if one trains thigh muscles, the thigh fat is specifically targeted to be burned. (The same can be said for the abdominals, butt, etc.!) Fat does not turn into muscle, or vice-versa!

Burning fat can only be accomplished by increasing (or normalising in many cases) the metabolism. The metabolism can be defined simply as: the rate at which the body consumes fuel, or burns calories. To increase one’s metabolism, there is an increasing volume of research that suggests “supportive eating” Combined with regular resistance training (to give priority to building lean muscle tissue, which is ultimately what drives the metabolism, consumes calories, and burns fat in the first place), along with regular cardiovascular exercise, and one can build an awesome fat-burning furnace within.

Flexibility

A good flexibility routine is essential to stay injury free during exercise, it also helps us function better, so stretching some key muscle groups before exercise will help us target the desired muscles like the gluts (Butt) more effectively, ultimately allowing us to get a more effective workout. Warm up for 5 minutes with moderate intensity movement, i.e. jogging on the trampoline, cycling or walking then Practice these stretches before attempting the leg workout. Hold each stretch 30-90 seconds, 2 x each side.

The ultimate five moves for a firm bum and flab free thighs

Five top moves to shape, strengthen and tone bum and thighs

This Butt and Thigh workout will not only work the desire body parts but help your whole lower body prepare to deal with the imposed demands of normal daily activities i.e. (walking stairs, bending over, working out, playing sports, etc.) Training your glutes first is a great way to get them working more effectively in the later exercises. Complete this workout three times a week on its own with a warm up and cool down or coupled with a cardio vascular workout.

Glute Bridges Exercise 1

• Aim: Train the muscles of the butt and core
• Lying on your back feet bent shoulder width apart hands by your side palms facing the sky
• Draw your abdomen in as if to pull your belly button closer to your spine
• Using your Glutes raising your hips up aligned with shoulders and knees, return to start position
• Progress, Lift opposite one leg off the ground and complete same movement
• Sets 3, Reps 15, Tempo 4-2-2

Resistance band Walking Exercise 2

• Aim: use your glutes in a multi direction
• Attach resistance band under the arches of your feet holding each end in your opposite hand
• Stand with feet shoulder width apart and parallel.
• Keep feet flat on floor pointing forward with knees bent slightly and hips back
• Shoulders down and back Draw abdominals in
• Step across sideways using your butt dragging your feet meeting back together in the middle
• Complete exercise in both directions
• Sets 2, 15 steps each direction, Tempo 4-2-2

Single Leg Squats Exercise 3

• Aim: to challenge your balance as well as using your lower body
• Stand in a shoulder width stance with the feet facing forward.
• Draw your abdominals in and lift one leg off the ground keeping your hips level
• Slowly lower your body downwards into a squat only going as deep as you can control
• Keeping the knee and the 2^nd toe in alignment
• Return to start position and repeat
• Sets 2, Reps 15 each side, Tempo 3-2-1

Exercise Ball Lunges Exercise 4

• Aim: strengthening your lower body
• Stand in a shoulder width stance with the feet facing forward.
• Choose the appropriate size exercise ball resting in the small of the back against a wall
• Draw your abdominals in and squat down as deep as you can control the knee alignment (Knee and 2^nd toe in line)
• Return to start position and repeat
• Progress by removing the exercise ball / adding dumbbells
• Sets 2, Reps 15 each side, Tempo 3-2-1

45 Degree Lunges Exercise 5

• Aim: to challenge your lower body in a multi direction
• Stand with the feet facing forward.
• Draw your abdominals in and step 45degres in front
• Slowly lower your body downwards into a lunge position only going as deep as you can control
• Keeping the front knee and the 2^nd toe in alignment
• Return to start position and repeat
• Progression add dumbbells as addition resistance
• Sets 2, Reps 15 each side, Tempo 3-2-1

Questions and Answers

‘My bottom’s got saddlebags that just won’t shift’

You may be having trouble activating your glutes (butt) during exercise because there in a muscular imbalance that reduces the neural drive to your glutes (How effectively your body can recruit the glute muscle).Try stretching the hip / groin before you workout (See ultimate 5 moves workout) which will help release the tightness. Or the case may be that you store your body fat there and need to change your eating and exercise regime to shift the stubborn weight.

‘I can’t get rid of my cellulite’

The cellulite question always pops up, and although this pain in the butt & thigh problem cannot be cured, there are a few remedies used by top models to smooth out the bumps and dimples and make them less noticeable.

Bladderwrack is one of the main ingredients in those pricey cellulite pills. It's a form of seaweed that's high in iodine and seems to be effective as a supplement.

Spas offer seaweed wraps to combat cellulite. You can purchase dried seaweed at health food stores. Reconstitute it and do your own wrap for a lot less money!

Beauty contestants apply haemorrhoid cream to their cellulite.

Endermologie used with ultrasound therapy has proved to be an effective, but pricey cellulite treatment.

Detox

Modern lifestyles lead to a dramatic build-up of chemical toxicity in the body. The source of these damaging chemicals is the food, air, water and drugs that we take in as part of our daily routine. This build-up can eventually lead to ill-health, with symptoms ranging from general lethargy and sleeplessness through to more serious bowel and skin conditions (like cellulite).

Regular Detox, healthy eating and exercise allows you to balance out modern day living.

Using a combination of nutritious Detox cuisine and juice recipes you can hope to achieve deep cellular cleansing and rejuvenation try things like drinking organic lemon juice in warm water first thing in the morning to help cleanse the liver also eat organic and avoid toxins like caffeine and cigarettes.

Motivation & healthy habits

Developing healthy habits not only will fast track you to results be it toned thighs and tight buttocks, but also help maintain an enhanced state of wellbeing. Fitness training alone is not enough. Backing up a program with sensible lifestyle and nutritional principles will make for an extensive and complete approach to a Wellbeing regime.

Here are some weekly Motivational tips and Healthy Habits that will give you a boost when you need it the most

• Week 1 - Develop a social network that supports you. Positive remarks and encouragement from family, friends and co-workers help keep you focused and on track with your progress.

• Week 2 - Practice mindful eating. Overeating is a result of eating more than our body needs, for a variety of reasons: stress, unconscious eating, and dealing with emotions. To curb overeating, we need to deal with emotions and our life directly and constructively.

• Week 3 - Accept, admire and appreciate the body you have. Create a healthy body image by focusing on what you like about your body.

• Week 4 - Seek out fun ways to move your body. Tedious exercise will not become a life-long activity. Dance, hike, walk your pet, garden, skip, bike, and play, it doesn’t have to be boring. Challenge yourself to accomplish new goals and welcome new experiences.

• Week 5 - Committing to challenging yet reachable goals helps keep you motivated and focused on maintaining your healthy lifestyle on a daily basis.

Create a lifestyle that allows you to balance life's daily responsibilities while taking care of our physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual needs.