Many trainees seek to lose body fat from trouble areas like the butt and thighs. Unfortunately, these seem to be the last places the body is willing to utilize, when burning fat for energy. Trouble areas exist for this reason because the body preserves these fatty acid stores for an emergency. With these easy tips, you can force your body to tap into these fatty acid reserves and burn unwanted fat from your butt and thighs fast.
Interval Training
This is a form of cardiovascular training that combines higher-intensity work with more sustainable low to medium intensity. For example, you could jog on the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes total, doing 30 to 120 second runs or sprints every couple of minutes. If you choose to sprint, you would aim for the shorter end of this range, or 20 to 30 seconds. This workout burns a lot of calories fast, but it also has an after-burn effect that elevates your metabolic rate for hours, according to "The Abs Diet." Try doing interval training two or three times at most per week for fast results.
Double Cardio
Steady state cardio is another excellent way to target your body fat in trouble areas like the butt and thighs. "Combat the Fat" author Jeff Anderson recommends that you do your cardio immediately after resistance training, which further targets body fat. Anderson explains that new research suggests that your body is more likely to use fat from the area of the body you have just trained against resistance, which amounts to spot reduction of body fat. Try doing one cardio session immediately after a resistance workout and another either upon waking or before bed.
Circuit Training
This form of resistance training combines several exercises, done back to back with very little rest, into a cycle or circuit. For example, your circuit may include squats, leg extensions, leg curls, lat pull-downs, bench presses, machine chest flys, shoulder presses, tricep pushdowns and bicep machine curls. Do one set of each, resting no more than 30 to 60 seconds between them, and repeat the cycle two to three times. To make this even more effective, do some cardio activity between your sets for 30 to 40 seconds rather than resting. Examples include jumping rope, bench jumps, stair runs or walking lunges.
Squats
Squats are a powerful exercise for the butt and thighs, according to "The Best Muscle-Building Moves of All Time" by Chris Logan. They build muscle for shapely legs and hips, while burning fat and releasing the natural fat burner growth hormone. To do these, start with a barbell on your upper back, gripping the bar at about shoulder-width, and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Press the weight back up to return to the standing position. Repeat for eight to 20 reps per set. You can make this even more powerful by lowering the weight to a slow six-second count on one set. According to "Xtreme Lean" authors Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman, this elevates fat-burning for up to 72 hours afterward.
Walking Lunges
This versatile exercise is very challenging with even the lightest of resistance. Walking lunges can be done with a barbell on your back, dumbbells in your hands or with body weight. Find an open area of the gym and lunge forward with one leg at a time until you reach the other side of the open space. Take a brief rest and return to the starting point. For an even more profound fat burning effect, hold the bar straight above your head with your arms fully extended. According to strength and fitness expert Elliot Hulse of LeanHybridMuscle.com, this causes blood shunting as your body rushes to make your muscles work at both extremities.
References
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko; 2004
- "Combat the Fat"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- "Xtreme Lean"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2005
- "Muscle Explosion"; Nick Nilsson; 2008
- Muscle & Performance; "The Best Muscle-Building Moves of All Time"; Chris Logan, May 2010
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