Sit Still While We Vacuum Your Rump
So what doesn’t work? First off, we have topical creams and bum vibrators. These range from largely ineffective to a complete waste of time. Simple math, if these provided long-term results, no one would have cellulite. We can argue over what constitutes results, but we all know we’re not going to rub the cottage cheese off our buns.
Weight Loss, That’ll Do the Trick
The basic concept is sound — lose weight, lose the downtown dimples. You’re on the right track — losing weight is a piece of the puzzle — but it’s not indiscriminate weight loss you’re after. What you’re really looking for is your skin to press more tightly against the underlying muscle, creating enough pressure to smooth out the dimpling effect caused by any adipose tissue (fat) between the two. That’s why the appearance of cellulite is reduced while the underlying muscle is contracted or you’re bending over: Muscle tissue presses up against the layer of fat, temporarily ironing out your dimples. It’s when the muscles under the area affected by dimpling are under-developed that cellulite rears its curdy head.
You may be working the right muscle groups but the wrong muscle fibers. Muscles have different fiber types for different jobs. Slow-twitch fibers are for endurance: You use these when you walk, jog, or peddle for any extended amount of time. Training them doesn’t result in much, if any, growth and may even cause your muscles to shrink. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are for your heavy lifting and high-effort activities like sprinting. These are the fibers with the potential for the kind of growth you want. You primarily use them when the load is heavy and your effort level is high.
You can determine which type of muscle fiber you’re working by how long it takes to reach muscular fatigue. A safe bet is to select exercises that bring you to muscular fatigue in 30 seconds or less — then you know you’re hitting your fast-twitch fibers. If you’re doing hundreds of kickbacks and step ups in an hour-long aerobics class, you’re training the wrong fibers.
If you’re doing deep squats, heavy kick-backs, leg curls, and walking lunges with weights that become challenging after 8-12 repetitions, then you’re on the right track. These are some of the staples I use with my clients.