HUGE butt & thighs

RoxysMama

No matter what I do I cannot seem to find an exercise to help reduce my IMO huge bottom half.  I recently (3 mos ago) had a broken leg and knee surgery so I can't do anything crazy yet, but, any exercise suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

MyWedding13

What about plie or squat-like moves? Would they put too much strain on your knees? I'm sure you aren't as big as you think, we are our own worst critics. What about swimming? That is a whole-body toner and wouldn't put any stress on your joints.

raynes

Weight loss is about 80% diet, so I'd start with that.  No amount of increased muslce will make up for a high body fat %.

RoxysMama

I have been swimming. it just feels weird. I have very little "kick" right now.  But Yes I have been trying squats.  Thanks for the advice!! I will try plies.

mnidrvr

I had ACL surgery a few months back - bike riding is the only thing i could do for quite a while, since I could have absolutely zero impact.  I was very worried about gaining weight since I couldn't do my video's, but i didn't, and I attribute that to the pure cardio on the bike.  You can do low resistance and go for quite a while.

PeonyPrincesskdd

I swear whenever I run consistently I feel a difference in my rear.  I believe it's all cardio. 

Do cardio videos with weights, run, jog, bike, yoga moves for the butt.. I just read an article in self magazine about yoga moves for the butt.  Lots of good stuff.  It's all diet and cardio like they say. 

You can't spot reduce with moves like squats and lunges.  If you do the cardio and then wanna stretch them out by squating and lunging then ok, but not squats and lunges alone. 

alexis.arnone

Unfortunately, you can't spot reduce. That's what I'm learning. You must tone the entire body in order for one part of it to be trimmer. Good luck, but have you tried pilates? It's supposed to make your muscles leaner which I think you may be looking for.

raynes

I just wanted to clear up the whole "leaner muscle" thing, if I may.

The only way to make a muscle "leaner" is to get rid of the fat.  The only way to get rid of the fat is to take in fewer calories than you burn.  You can't make a muscle longer, it's attached to your bones.  You can make your muscles bigger by stressing them (using heavy weight) and that's a good thing.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue.  Meaning it burns calories while at rest, unlike fat, which just sits there.  Also, bigger muscles = more definition, the look people associate with the word "toned".