In order to get rid of cellulite you need to do some form of weight training and not just the same weight training day in, day out - there needs to be an increase in the heaviness of the weight. This means that in order to reduce and get rid of cellulite you need to not only lift weights, but increase the weight and lift heavy. This will be the focus of my topic today.
So what is cellulite? And how can weight training get rid of it? Also what type of weight training should I be doing in order to target this dimply look on my legs?
Well cellulite is fat that is trapped underneath the top layer of skin. When having a great diet and exercise plan, this is usually the last bit of fat to go. This means that weight management and cellulite are two separate issues. So you can be quite a petite woman and still have cellulite!
I remember when I first started exercising I did all the weights in the gym in order to target the areas that I really wanted to focus on. I really thought that in order to have definition in my arms and legs I had to exercise each muscle group individually. I also believed that heavy weight training was for bodybuilding girls and I really didn't want to look like them! So I did the same weights each time I went to the gym and tried to target every possible muscle group individually - isolated exercises, trying to 'tone up' my arms, back and front, my legs back and front, my stomach and so forth! I also believed that the more I exercise the better my body will look so the time I spent there was never enough! I've come a long way since those days!
As I exercised many hours at the gym 6-8 hours a week, I did notice considerable change in my legs, yet I still had cellulite. I also seemed to find it difficult to find a machine that specifically targeted the back of my thighs. I knew that doing leg presses (a machine you sit on in a 45° angle and push against the weight) and squats were good for the legs so I did those and I still noticed that things were not changing. I knew I had to do something else, yet the same exercises seemed to be all I knew and so I continued doing the same! Yet if you continue to do the same thing, you will continue to get the same result. So I wanted to change something...
Now as I read my Strength Anatomy book (by Frederic Delavier) and I recall my days at the gym, it seems that squats and leg presses seem to target the quads and glutes but not the hamstrings! Damn! So what exercise should I have been doing at the gym? Well there was only one exercise that I recall I used to do and it was the leg curl. As I continue reading this book, it seems like this may be the only exercise that targets that area specifically. I mean seriously? How 'normal' of a movement is it for me to lie down on my stomach and have a weight resting on the back of my ankles and lift up and down? As much as it felt unnatural and strange I believed I had to do this exercise to target that area and so I continued to do it. Only I never increased my weights or my sets and reps and just continued to do the same exercise each time I was there 3-4 times a week. I always believed I wasn't doing enough (still) after all that training because although I was seeing results, I wasn't seeing any definition on my body and I still had cellulite!
In my research, the first myth that I busted was that lifting weights - unless you take anabolic steroids - is not going to make a woman look bulky. Men can have far quicker gains in muscle mass than women because of their testosterone levels. Testosterone is the hormone that fuels muscle growth. So unless you're a man, it's unlikely you will be 'bulky'. In fact, the heavier you lift the trimmer and leaner your body becomes. Also as an added bonus you become physically stronger, lifting things you could never lift before! There is also a requirement here of understanding the need for a good nutritional diet. I know for myself that if I eat poorly and I have a high intensity weight training regime, I can look 'bulky' or what I would define bulky "really big girl with lots of muscles". Lifting heavy weights and having a great healthy diet plan will get rid of unwanted fat and make your body look trim and lean (not bulky).
So what has this got to do with cellulite? Well the heavier you lift the stronger your muscles become. The great thing about that is that muscle uses fat stores for energy. It feeds off fat! This means that the more muscle mass you have the more fat you burn when you are doing nothing at all and more fat burn leads to a reduction in cellulite.
When I discovered kettlebells, one of the first exercises I learnt was the 2-handed and 1-handed swing. This movement called the swing was fluent and it felt like I was throwing a ball. It felt natural. My first session was approximately 45 minutes and I did the entire workout with an 8kg kettlebell. I woke up the next day after my first exercise session and I could barely walk! When I sat down, I couldn't stand up. It was a good muscle pain - yet it did hurt. And guess where I had the most soreness? My hamstrings! An area I had almost never felt pain from any exercise regime in the past! I knew there was something in these 'kettlebells'. As I researched, I found ladies doing exercises with 20kg, 24kg and some even heavier. When I looked at their bodies they were trim and lean. Some even had babies! I was very impressed and knew I had to find out more about them.
So I began my journey of exercising with and learning how to use kettlebells. I started some group and individual training to improve my technique as I found that I couldn't learn the movements correctly and efficiently on my own. When I first started, my husband had bought himself the 16kg kettlebell and I could barely pick it up. Within 6-12months I was using the 12kg for the majority of my workouts and the 16kg for some of them. The great part was that I was exercising a lot less time and seeing far greater results on my body than I ever had before.
So why was I seeing such fantastic results? I was increasing my muscle strength. So cellulite is fat deposits underneath the top layer of skin. In order to reduce cellulite you need to increase your muscle strength. This in turn will burn more fat. And this is the exciting bit - the more fat you burn, the more likely it is that you will see a reduction if not a complete elimination of your cellulite!
In my next article I will discuss why kettlebells are different to conventional weight training and how the shape and the kettlebell makes a significant difference in muscle growth. Again remember that you cannot get bulky by having stronger muscles, you can only get leaner and trimmer!
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento