Best sport for toning bottom and thighs?

[hippospot]

I do some pilates and swimming and walking, and am quite slim, but oh the view in the mirror the other day showed a distinct amount of sagging and cellulite. I realise this is probably age-related (41) but I'm keen to try a new form of exercise if it could tone things up a bit.

Was wondering about body pump or some other class - any tips? I can't run unfortunately - always get injured running.

[RJnomore1]

Squatting. Body pump will help probably, I don't know the programmes but I'd guess it's got a fair bit of squats in it.

[IJustLostTheGame]

Marking place.
I work with dancers, i hate the rehearsal room. The sight of my backside compared to theirs in the many many mirrors brought a tear to my eye
I asked for and got a bike for Christmas, I hope that does the job.

[burnishedsilver]

Squats and lunges - lots of them.

[Clarabell33]

Definitely try Body Pump. Lots and lots of squats Makes a big difference quite quickly compared to other classes I've tried. Used to just do aerobic classes and swimming and I felt fit, but it wasn't til I started doing Pump once a week (later upped to 2 or 3 times) that I also felt toned.

[Dobinette]

I teach Bodypump classes regularly. I also have cellulite. This has recently got worse as I put on a little too much weight in pregnancy.

In my personal opinion I think cellulite is largely down to genetics. However, regularly doing classes like Bodypump - a barbell workout for the whole body - will help to shape muscles, will improve your metabolic rate, will help to increase bone density and is great fun, so is well worth doing.

I have noticed when I'm a little slimmer my cellulite is less noticeable, but I don't think there's a magic cure to get rid of it I'm afraid. I have seen many very slim women with cellulite and many very large women without.

[tb]

Apparently a hula hoop will do the trick. Have just ordered for myself, so am crossing my fingers.

[hippospot]

Thanks Dobinette, I agree cellulite is unavoidable pretty much (last summer on holiday I didn't see a woman without some, and it wasn't the slimmest who necessarily had less).

I think I'll try Body Pump, it looks like fun, and it might help tone things up. I need to accept I'm not 25 any more!

[specialsubject]

no way to get rid of cellulite, and it is beauty-'industry' babble for 'normal skin texture'. Forget about it.

otherwise: squat, lunge, repeat x a million...

[vanillabeauty]

I found dry body brushing helped slightly. Twice a day. Not enough for me to have the motivation to do it during the winter though!

[KoalaDownUnder]

Body Pump is bloody amazing.
I do it 2-3x per week, with high weights (by Pump standards - eg 30 kg squat weight).

I love it, and it has completely reshaped my bum and thighs (and most other bits!)

[Believeitornot]

Play squash.... I also did lunges and squats which helped but squash is awesome.

[schmalex]

Kettlebells are also great for bum & thighs.

[Ridingthegravytrain]

Hill walking or lots of stairs

[OhWotIsItThisTime]

Horse riding. Bloody brilliant for thighs and bum.

[Toffeelatteplease]

Can you start from zero with body pump or do you need to be quite fit first?

[Toffeelatteplease]

Sorry minor hijack

[Choughed]

Weighted squats and low carb diet. I have definitely got less cellulite since exercising more and eating less bread/potatoes

[Poppy7]

Crossfit - which involves lots of squats, deadlifts and other exercises with weights. Has a bit of a bad rep (grunting preening men) but actually the classes are very inclusive and an amazing work-out. I started 6 months after a c-section when I was very unfit and overweight and haven't looked back.

[krisskross]

Hijacking toffeelatte question.... Can unfit beginners like me to body pump or is it just for fit people? And would one a week make a difference? Thanks

[Sirona]

Kettlebells has really toned me up all over, including my thighs.

Bridge with a weight makes me really feel my butt muscles when I'm working out and the next day.

I think if you're really looking to get that c-shape on the bum you need to build muscle with some sort of weights. As an aside I have weak glutes. For instance, I tend to feel squats more in my quads as obviously that muscle has learned to take over so I do glute activation exercises before I exercise.

[KatharinaRosalie]

I'm a bodypumpo instructor. You can start from an absolute 0.

The fun part with body pump is that if you're new to exercise, you can do the exercises with the smallest weights, or an empty bar, or some even without any weight. And when you get stronger, you just add weights and it will still be challenging.

But go tell the instructor that you're new, they will then help to set up and know to pay more attention to you during the class.

[KatharinaRosalie]

Body pump instructor, of course, no idea what that random 'o' is doing there.

[2016Candles]

Weighted squats and lunges.

Loads of tutorials online.

Invest in your own weights if you can't face a gym

[DingbatsFur]

You can't escape cellulite. I used to be concerned about it and then noticed my very active toddler had it. It's part of being human.

[outtheothersidefinally]

Squatting. Done properly. Google Katy Bowman on how to do them properly.

And/or treat yourself to Mutu.