Body wise- what is realistic

[MistyTrains]

I know that cosmetic reasons are only a tiny part of lifting weights....for me I love the investment in building strength and muscle for the future, the effort it takes etc. However! I like to see short term progress. I like the incremental gains in adding more weight etc. Body wise I am seeing growth.

I didn't really have any body goals but I was hoping for a reduction in cellulite and I massively pleased that a small amount I had has gone on my arms and I am seeing less water retention and cellulite on the fronts of my legs. A lot of this will also be walking and nutrition. I'm not aiming for perfection.

I'm 43 and kind of embarrassed to ask this question but heck it would be useful to know- is a sculpted behind possible/realistic? Or is that more of a younger 20s/30s thing? Radical honesty please!

I’m in my 50’s and have a good bum, I think, from lunges and squats.

If you google, there are plenty of women in their 50's who have done body transformation stories on you tube, TT etc
You have plenty of time yet but obviously you have to be focused on your diet (protein), consistency etc and it's not a fast process
Good luck 😀

It definitely is, though how easy it will be will depend partly on genetics, as some are more gifted in that dept than others! But building up hamstrings and glutes (via weights, calorie surplus and heavy lifting) is certainly possible for most people. Takes more effort with age but it's not limited to the young. I'm in my forties and I'm not sculpted but I've made a difference - previously I was skinnier but I prefer the shape I've got now, though it did take some mental adjustment to accept wearing bigger clothes sizes (alas growing up in the nineties conditioned me to value being small)

One thing I'm still working out though is whether it's realistic to reduce my waist size - I'm happy with everything else but my waist is disproportionately large (eg when it comes to clothing measurements) plus I worry about that not being healthy. I suspect it's only going to get worse with age though :(

NB I should add - I know it's not possible to spot reduce fat. I mean it more in the sense of not being sure if I'll ever get lean enough that I lose fat off my waist without a) ruining my gains elsewhere and b) having to be overly restrictive, to the detriment of other aspects of my life. I'd love to know what is realistically obtainable!

These are encouraging thanks. I'm defo flat in that department and it's genetics but happy to aim for somewhere in the middle I think!

@Proteinpudding I know what you mean about the 90s! I've recently mentally binned the 'just need to lose that last few pounds' mentality and it was liberating. And also crazy as I could then see how healthy this background belief was.

@MistyTrains I don't know if you've carried a pregnancy, but if you have that often does contribute to a flat behind - it's due to postural changes during pregnancy and the glutes naturally being used less. Regardless of the cause though, it's a fun thing to focus on in training.
And yes, the nineties have a lot to answer for. Oddly enough I was in a bar recently where they had the Sir Mixalot video playing on a screen - 'i like big butts and I cannot lie'. I remember that being played a lot when I was at uni, and at the time I know I thought the women in it were really curvy, and how mad it seemed to have a song celebrating fat backsides. Now the women in the video look small to my eyes! Having any curves (apart from page 3 style big boobs on a tiny frame) just wasn't celebrated or really visible in the media at all.

For many people cosmetic reasons are a big part of why people lift and that's ok. Lots of people lift for hypertrophy rather than strength.

My body is pretty sculpted. My muscles are visible. I don't cut enough to not also have body fat though and I have a middle aged belly.

I think my bum is pretty pert and certainly changed from lifting. I don't train for hypertrophy though and don't target my bum (other than indirectly through using it in lots of heavy lifting). So I'm sure if I did I could make it even more so. So I'm sure you can make change.

The gym girls who are growing their 🍑 do lots of Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats, hip thrusts and KAS bridges. And plenty of protein.

Interesting, will need to look up difference between KAS bridge and hip thrust!

I'm no expert but I think the KAS bridge has a smaller ROM and greater time under tension.

Ooh interesting will try that. I got a PB in my hip thrust today and hate it slightly less now my form is better.

Absolutely one can build one's derrière, it's the biggest muscle in the body innit (I think?) YouTube is full of inspiration, personally I like hip thrusts also dumbbell straight leg deadlifts.