All of a sudden I see that my thighs are getting kind of bumpy. What can I do to smooth them out again? I’m in my late 30’s and never thought I’d get cellulite so young!
Cellulite doesn’t discriminate. It can show up on girls in their teens—or younger. That’s because, despite what you’ve heard about cellulite being some mysterious condition linked to “trapped toxins” or poor circulation, cellulite is simply old-fashioned fat. It just looks different because of how it’s arranged.
Everyone has strands of connective tissue that separate fat cells into compartments and connect fat to skin. In women, these fibers form a honeycomb-shaped pattern, so any increase of fat tends to bulge out like stuffing in a mattress. You see less cellulite in men because their fibers run horizontally, forming a criss-cross pattern that prevents bulging or dimpling.
Though cellulite can pop up any time, it is true that cellulite does seem to appear out of nowhere and get worse with age. That’s because our tissues change. Those strands of connective tissue thicken with age, and our skin gets thinner, making cellulite more noticeable. More importantly, we gain fat with age
With the right leg workout plan, you can reduce your cellulite and make your lower body look smoother and firmer, says Westcott. "When we put 16 women ages 26 to 66 on our program for 8 weeks, all of them reported less cellulite in their lower bodies. Seventy percent reported a lot less.