Monday, July 4, 2011
by Alex Chaple
Over the last few months I have been working with several females wanting to (basically) look better from the belly button down; lose the bulge over the sides of the jeans, build sexy lifted glutes and lean out their legs! These have become very common asks recently so I thought I would write this article dedicated to female lower body issues and how to sculpt a great lower body!
The reason finding a great lower body on females has become such a problem these days is complicated and far too much info for this short article. However, the main point you should know is that body fat below the waist is getting worse amongst the female population and training the lower body properly is becoming a forgotten art. I'm sure you can think for yourself the number of products and exercise classes dedicated to these target areas that offer very little in the way of results. Often the trainers themselves seem to suffer the very issues they are there to correct - excess body fat and very little in the way of shape and definition.
Here are some simple points to get you started on your way to a lean and shapely lower body!
1 The legs and glutes are large powerful muscles best developed through "big" exercises lifting relatively heavy weights through a great range of movement. In my opinion mini-squats, thigh squeezing machines, held squats on vibrating platforms and any variation of isolated leg raises do very little for the aesthetics of the lower body. I know, I have tried them all and didn't find them worth repeating for any length of time. If you want a C-shaped butt and longer, leaner legs you should head for the deadlift platform as opposed to the Swiss Ball tree every time. When it comes to loads and exercises for the lower body, bigger definitely is better!
2 If you want to work your legs, work your legs and nothing more. A common mistake is to bring in an implement or movement to an existing leg exercise (such as adding a torso rotation to a lunge) to make it more "interesting" or "functional". The problem is that this extra addition often decreases the demand imposed on the lower body while you concentrate on the twist or object you are now holding in your arms. If you want to improve your legs then focus on them! Ensure that all concentration and effort is being imposed on your target muscle group and very little else. The greater the stress you can place on the lower body the more results you will see at the end of the training program!
3 The legs, maybe more than any other area in the body, require serious nutritional manipulation to produce significant drops in body fat. This is the primary reason why many trainers fail to get the results they need in this area. Without a good understanding of nutrition you will never lean out your lower body effectively. I repeat, NEVER. The best thing you can do is to go and speak to someone who knows this area well and save yourself a lot of time and frustration! I have seen people who were training very hard and very well but never saw change simply because their nutrition was no-where near specific enough.
Leaning out the lower body is hard. The effort you must apply to your training and nutrition is significant but the results can be literally jaw dropping!