This is directed to females and anyone who works with or trains them. As we all know females carry that extra poundage around the hips and thighs.
Some women can be very bottom heavy and it’s the last and most stubborn place to get rid of that excess body fat.
My question is what exercises do you as trainers or exercise specialists/conditioning coaches find to be the most effective for these areas. I know that nutrition plays the biggest role. But with training alone, what do you consider to be your “staple” exercises that are performed most frequently???
Thanks to all for your time/reply.
Keith
READ “MELTDOWN TRAINING” A GREAT ARTICLE DEALING WITH LOWER BODYFAT LOSS AND WHY AEROBICS SUCK.
The women I’ve trained get good results from using exercises that really hit the posterior chain. (hips, glutes, hamstrings). Lunges, squats, romanian deadlifts, glute-ham raises, reverse hypers, total hip machine, hip abduction and adduction, twisting lunges stairclimber, and treadmill on an incline. They usually respond and start to firm up really quick in this area when using moderate weight and rep exercises such as these. There is some evidence that suggests women have more slow twitch muscle fiber and respond better to higher reps and can actually stimulate muscle growth from exercises such as incline treadmill walking and stairclimbing etc. You have to explain to them just how important the diet really is and what the goal of the weight training should be.
Yohimbe or yohimbine may also help to lose fat in this area
to get rid of any and all fat i would say proper nutrition at a sufficient intake and C A R D I O. i can’t think of any exercise that is superior to any other concerning fat loss. kevo
Kelly: As always, excellent advice. Question though: how in the WORLD do you get the ladies to overcome the “fear” of doing squats and deads, when every Yahoo from “Shape” magazine to half-assed trainers in the gym are telling them that both will “thicken their hips” (or some such foolishness). (I have these great pics of I THINK Kathy Priest and Amy “glutes-too-cute-to-be-real” Fadhali doing squats that I hope to get enlarged and get okayed to hang in the gym).
Hey good question!
I was going to address that in my original post but thought it might be a waste of time. It seems the women don’t fear these exercises as much if they’re not using a lot of weight. I start them off really light usually just the bar if that but make sure they use a very slow tempo with isometric stops and 1 1/3 reps thrown in to really get the burn going. I’ve noticed women seem to like the burn as if it’s burning fat or something and using this technique on compound movements such as these is one thing I’ve found to cure their fears.
Yohimbine HCL was mentioned. My question is wouldn’t the fact that yhcl targets recpetors for estrogenic fat deposits also result in a reduction in a women’s breast size? Have any women tried products with yo in it (MD6) and has it reduced breast fat as well as hips and thighs?
Hey Kevo, what type of C A R D I O are you talking about. I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you, I’m just curious on your thoughts. I do have my own thoughts, but I like to find out what other people think. Its good to know where people are coming from and if it can shed some light, let us know.
I’m just starting out again after a 3-year layoff from exercise. I agree with Kelly’s reply for training that region. As a female AND pear-shaped (A-frame), I found doing squats, romanian deadlifts, lunges (all types, especially reverse), abductor/adductor machines really worked well for me anywhere in the 10-20 rep range. I have a tendency to put mass easily on my legs and glutes, and with being an A-frame build, more mass would (and did) exaggerate that look. So I kept the reps higher and weights moderate, though I did cycle in heavy workouts occasionally. However, at the same time, I really focused on my upper body to add more mass in my attempts at somewhat lessening the effect of my body type. Anyway, hope this helps from a female perspective.