Exercises to tone bum/thighs pretty please

Melonade

Good morning

I'm having a jeans dilema!!! Just bought a new pair in size 12 and they fit lovely everywere except my bum and thighs (the most important bits lol)

I could buy a bigger size but I've started exercising again have lost a few pounds but I always have trouble toning/losing weight from my bum/hips/thighs.... eventually I'm hoping they fit perfectly.

Anyone got any tips to loose weight/tone those areas? I have no keep fit equipment only my Wii fit plus. I also have a dodgy knee and find lunges a bit painful, possibly willing to go through the pain barrier for a nice toned bottom though

ShAnE

You can't really do anything to spot reduce that area only. Obviously a good diet and exercise are the key, but my suggestion. Would be if you can't do lunges could you go up and down your stairs? Going up 2 steps at a time? The angle would force you to push more with your glutes and hamstring, and doing that a couple of times in a row would get your heart rate up a bit for a mini cardio work out.

Not professional advice, just my experience on my journey so far.

Melonade

Thankyou

I didn't think about using the stairs I'm up and down them all day long so I'll make sure to go 2 at a time from now on.

Dizzy_Ditzy

walking, walking, walking and walking.

Doesnt cost you anything and gets you out in to the fresh air! find some hills and walk up them and down them, and alternate your route a bit for some variety.

To be honest, the Wii could make your knee problems worse as the impact is different there to how it would be in real life

SandC

You can't 'spot' reduce unfortunately (ie lose fat from somewhere specific - your body does that its own way!), but you can tone the muscles that are there. If you could spot reduce my arms would be fab from all the breast stroke swimming I do but unfortunately they are being stubborn!

Anyway, the bum area can be lifted by working on the muscles there, as they are a big group of muscles. Which may or may not help with the jeans if the fat isn't shifting just yet!

I recommend zumba, the moves to the majority of dances are latin based which means shaking your booty and moving your hips! I also recommend swimming breast stroke as the leg movements work your bum quite a lot too.

There is also a floor exercise that I used to find effective, which is the one where you are on all fours, or leaning on your forearms, back straight and raise one leg up to straight and slowly lift up and down whilst keeping the rest of your body still, then swap legs. Another move is then to bend the leg you have raised at the knee and push the leg up towards the ceiling from the heel, then back down again. Hope that's been explained okay! Do in sets of 8, starting with 3 sets each leg each exercise. Always remember to keep your back straight and try to hold your tummy in while you do it.

4nnabella

Another good exercise is to lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor (start with them hip-width apart) and lift your bum/hips up so your body is in a straight line from your knees down to your upper back. I do three sets of 20 reps, lifting your hips and squeezing your bum when you're at the top. Also instead of doing reps you can just lift and hold for as long as you can, just keep squeezing your bum!! To make it harder, put your feet and knees together, you won't be able to lift as high, and it's really difficult to lift and hold it in that position, but works your muscles harder.

As ShAnE says, you can't spot reduce fat loss, but you can tone specific muscles.

murphydog999

If you do lunges correctly it shouldn't effect, or injure, your knees.

You need to make sure that on lunges when you step forward you weight is central rather than forward - so your knee should be in line with your ankle. It is a common mistake on forward lunges that the knee falls forward of the foot, which won't do your knees any good at all.

Its the same technique with squats (squats and lunges are the most effective things you can do, along with kick-boxing moves), but with squats you need to make sure you are pushing your hips/bottom back and down, otherwise just bending your knees will bring them over your toes again.

There are reverse lunges, not just forward.
Side squats - feet together, toes forward, step to the side, squat down, bring the foot back to centre, repeat with the other leg. Hands should be by the side of your head.
Wide squats with a hand weight - feet wide toes pointing out, both hands holding a weight, arms straight down in front of the hips. Bend both knees and sit the hips back, at the same time taking the arms above your head. As you straighten the legs bring the arms back to the starting position. (This also works the arms, shoulders and chest.)

A really effective, but quite tricky, one is kick lunges. You need good balance, so you need to keep upright, and keep you abs in tight.

Stand with one leg behind you, back heel off the floor, toes underneath, not out to the side. Both legs are bent in a semi-lunge, arms are bent in front of you to help your balance. You are going to kick the back leg forward - foot flexed - and back down to the starting position. Now, you won't be 'swinging' your back leg, it needs to bend at the knee, flick out, flick back bending at the knee and then back. This is important, and quite difficult to explain without showing you. Stay on the same leg and repeat. This is a great core exercise as well because of the balance aspect, and if you can get 10 per leg to start with other exercises it will help.

I could go on as there are masses of exercises that will help. I actually would advise not doing 2 steps at a time as the extreme angle may exacerbate your knee problem.

You could try one of the kick-boxing-type DVDs to get more ideas. Hope that gives you a start.

SandC

Yeah, agree re lunges and squats, you just need to really work at technique with them but once you've got it you never go back! Check out some utube of bodybump classes or try to attend one (might be difficult if you aren't a member of a gym), I say bodybump specifically because the moves are likely to be properly executed rather than if it's some random class someone has filmed.

There's a lot you can do with bums!

Gloomendoom

Plenty of routines for the ladies here...

bodyrock.tv

SandC

Bodypump! What's the matter with me? Bodybump indeed. Lol.

ellay864

I know it sounds really daft but I toned up my bum and thighs a lot by doing loads of 'clenches'. Pushing thighs together and then clenching the bum while squeezing thighs - doing that when seated. I'd it to music while driving to work, I'd do it while sat in meetings (it isn't as noticeable as it might sound - honest!). It meant I was doing exercising without exercising