What exactly does it really take to get rid of cellulite? Today we’ll share our best tips for fighting this stubborn fat.
Some experts believe you can’t get rid of cellulite, no matter what you do. Other professionals believe following a strict regimen can help you blast this annoying problem.
So how can professionals, all in the same field and industry, have two totally different opinions on the same subject?
If you can believe it, cellulite was once viewed as an attractive feature. Sounds weird by today’s standards, right? Well, this was because it was seen as a sign of wealth. Having cellulite meant you could afford to have all kinds and food and you didn’t have to do anything labor-intensive to get it.
In today’s ultra image conscious society, cellulite is viewed as anything but attractive.
However, nowadays, just about every single woman and most men have cellulite in one area or another that we’re trying to get rid of. And unfortunately, the image on cellulite isn’t exactly a sign of luxury anymore. Now, if you have cellulite, it’s almost assumed you’re lazy or that you have a pretty unhealthy lifestyle.
This is not necessarily true. And you don’t HAVE to get rid of cellulite to be an amazing human. However, if you are looking for help beating these stubborn fat deposits, we’re here to help.
If you’re not already on one, we recommend you start with a fitness plan that emphasizes building muscle while losing fat.
From thousands of dollars on treatments, including creams, surgeries, and more, to certain exercises, we just can’t seem to nail done a solution. The question remains: how can you get rid of cellulite? Today we’ll explore the most popular methods and weed out what works from what doesn’t.
Is it Possible to Get Rid of Cellulite?
The short answer?
Yes, you can.
And now is the time to do it, with the warm weather finally hitting us. It’s time to wade through all the BS and expensive treatment options and get down to the treatments that actually work.
If you’re here today, you’re already on your way to smooth, sexy hips, butt and legs.
Nice work!
Getting started is half the battle.
It’s likely we all know what cellulite is – from hurtful nicknames, like cottage cheese and dimples – it’s easy to remember what it looks like. It’s those bumpy fat deposits that generally appear in areas like the butt and legs. However, it doesn’t always stop there. Rather, it can rear its dimply head in other places, like the stomach, arms and hips. While sometimes cellulite is only noticed when you pinch your skin, making it less severe, other cases are much more severe than this, as it’s visible at all times.
That dimple-like look is actually fat cells that are swollen and putting some serious pressure on the fibrous tissue that surrounds them. This whole process pulls your skin down, which then creates the “cottage cheese” look.
Lovely, right?
So what do about all this?
Fighting Cellulite for Women
Unfortunately, in most cases, women are more prone to cellulite than men. Like, a lot. And there are 3 big reasons why this is true.
Reason #1: Changes in hormone levels weaken the fibrous tissues that surround the fat cells
As you likely know already, this is going to impact the skin’s support structures negatively. Generally, any efforts of this are seen somewhere between the ages of 25 to 35, which is when women’s estrogen levels tend to start decreasing naturally. Because of this, blood vessel receptors in both the hip and thigh regions start decreasing.
Well, as we all know, less circulation leads to less nutrition in a certain area, which is going to stop collagen from producing naturally. Therefore, your skin is going to be weaker, as well as the connective tissues. Let’s not forget menstrual cycles, either. As if they didn’t stress your body enough, they also release an enzyme during this time that can breakdown any collagen.
Reason #2: Women hold more fat than men
Another unfortunate yet true fact. Women also hold the fat is more “stubborn” areas, like the hips, butts and legs, which are the favored region of cellulite. For this reason, it can be important to select a tailored workout just for women.
Research shows that women also aren’t nearly as good at oxidizing fat as men are, so it is possible that estrogen has a bigger hand in cellulite than we may think.
Reason #3: Women’s fat cells are distributed in vertical columns
Because of this, women are more prone to bulging. On the other hand, men’s fat cells are distributed in an almost net-like pattern, which makes them more resistant to pitting.
Not the greatest news so far. And here’s some more – cellulite gets worse as you continue to age. Because the fibrous connective tissues (also called septae) tend to get stiff and therefore loosen the skin as you age, the whole “cottage cheese” look ends up getting more and more noticeable.
Gym Junkies Dietary Tip for Fighting Cellulite: choose the best protein shake for women and drink one between meals to avoid food cravings and unnecessary carbs.
So yes, when it comes to cellulite, women catch a tough break. So this is all the more reason to understand cellulite development now, so you can fight the problem before it gets ahead of you.
Understanding the Stages of Cellulite Development
Like we said, a lot of women have cellulite, and it’s perfectly normal. That number is somewhere between 85-98% of women, some research reports. But it isn’t just cellulite or no cellulite. There are actually four different stages of this annoying issue.
Stage 0 is, of course, no dimpling
You don’t see it when you stand or when you lay down, or when you pinch your skin. Your skin might furrow and fold during the pinch test, but you don’t see any dimples.
Stage 1 is no dimples while you’re staying up or lying down
However, if you do the pinch test, you’re going to see some dimples appear.
Stage 2 is some dimples while you’re standing, but not when you lay down
Stage 3 is seeing dimples when you’re both standing and lying down
Here’s how the pinch test works.
Take your index finger and thumb. Pinch around your body, like your butt, outer thigh, or even your stomach. Look to see if there are any dimples. If you only see the simples when you do the pinch test, and you want to make sure that they don’t become noticeable all the time, now is the time to take preventative measures.
One way to keep track of fat deposits on various areas of your body is with a super accurate body fat caliper.
In order to really understand where you’re at, and where your goals lay in the future, tracking your progress is key to staying on plan. By now you should also make sure you know how to accurately measure body fat percentage.
Getting Rid of Cellulite: What Works and What Doesn’t?
Before we start with our own methods for how to get rid of cellulite naturally, let’s take a look at all the different methods that don’t work. We will say some of these are pretty crazy, but people try them anyway.
The first fail on our list is cellulite fighting footwear
These are some pretty insane-looking sneaker that somehow manage to make just walking into an exercise. In fact, you might not want to wear them outside, because people will think you’re drunk. Needless to say, these aren’t worth the money. Or the safety hazard. Skip these.
Next are any type of cellulite creams
Most of these products have countless ingredients and substances that all claim to help prevent fat from storing up in the places where cellulite likes to appear. Sounds a little too good to be true? Because it is.
It isn’t as simple as a cream managing to keep fat out. If that were true, we’d all be a lot thinner. Rather, if anything, these creams can just cut back on any swelling that might come about….which means the effects wear off pretty quick.
One of our favorites is the crazy massage-like contraptions that tell you they will “melt” or “break down” the fat cells. As crazy as these are, some of them work at temporarily getting rid of the problem area. However, keyword: temporary. It doesn’t get rid of it. And, at the price these things usually come at, you’re going to want something that lasts a lot longer.
So those are all the treatments that don’t work for cellulite – or at least work long-term. Now let’s look at what does work at cutting back on the appearance of it.
Notice our wording there. Unfortunately, genetics and body type do have a hand in cellulite. If you have it in your genes, it’s likely you aren’t going to be able to get rid of every single problem area with cellulite. However, there are a ton of things you can do to make it less noticeable.
How to Fight Cellulite: Understanding Your Plan of Attack
Here’s where you can start. First, look at the health in both your connective tissues and the collagen found in your skin. Odds are, the stiffer and weaker these tissues are (and the looser your skin is), the more noticeable the cellulite is going to be So if you can work on getting healthier, more elastic tissue, you can cut down on the appearance of cellulite.
Next, your goal must include a commitment to get rid of body fat. If you have a lot of fat in the areas with cellulite, it’s going to really make the cellulite stand out. When you start losing fat, you’re going to relieve some of the pressure on the surrounding tissues. So that alone is going to cut back on the dimple-look.
Gym Junkies Fitness Tip for Burning Fat: fast-track your progress with our Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) plan to blast fat faster than steady cardio.
Thirdly, start increasing both your lymph and blood circulation. Lymph is basically the substance your body calls on to get ride of gross waste. And if you don’t have good lymph drainage or circulation, there’s going to an increase in swelling and inflammation – which is going to make the problem a lot worse.
Getting Rid of Cellulite: Final Steps
So here’s what you can do to make these three things happen, and get rid of the cellulite– and no it doesn’t involve weird lotion, painful procedures, or cellulite-sucking devices.
First, start by lifting weights. Dr. Murad, the author of The Cellulite Solution, points out that the more often you’re able to get blood and lymph moving around the stubborn areas, the more likely it is that you will see a decrease in visibility of cellulite.
The best way to do this? Start weightlifting. And yes, squatting too. If you’re new to training, the good news is you’re definitely in the right place for advice on beginner’s weight lifting.
Plus, the more you lift weights, the more toned your muscles are going to get. That means areas of your body (whatever area you’re focusing on) is going to get a more tighter, smoother appearance naturally.
Want a boost for your workout sessions?
A clean, powerful pre-workout formula will give you more energy to burn fat and build muscle during your workouts.
The second thing you need to do is pretty easy – just start including more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet. The average diet contains a ton more omega-6 fatty acids than necessary. Instead, focus on omega-3. It’s going to help you with more than just cellulite, too. It’ll help cut down your risk of several kinds of diseases, like heart disease, cancers, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The best way to get omega-3 fatty acids?
A clean processed fish oil supplement.
Guess what else omega-3 fatty acids do? They stimulate the production of collagen, and they cut down on inflammation. By now, you probably know that these are two big steps toward getting rid of cellulite. Fish oil should be taken every day too, for your overall health if nothing else.
Now we mentioned cutting back on your body fat percentage earlier. While we do believe that this is a good way to reduce the visibility of cellulite, it isn’t the end-all. Know how you can tell? Because there are still skinny girls with cellulite.
However, if you’re overweight, getting your body fat levels back down to normal is going to help quite a bit. And by reducing this percentage, you will continue to cut back on the appearance of cellulite. You also want to incorporate the weightlifting here too, to keep everything nice and tight.
There are also two supplements that can help with cellulite.
Mind you, they aren’t going to be as effective as getting your body fat percentage down or hitting the weights, but they might just need the push you need.
The first one is Gotu Kola. Tons of impressive research has shown that this supplement can actually boost production for collagen, and it’ll help out your blood circulation, which is going to help you with your cellulite.
The second supplement we’re going to suggestion is Horse Chestnut. We know this one has a little bit of a weird name but hear us out. It comes from the seed from the Aesculus hippocastanum tree and it shows to help improve overall circulation. Added bonus – it also has anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling features, too.
Conclusion
As we’ve said, cellulite is a problem that a lot of women deal with nowadays. But coupled with the right tools, including weightlifting and getting body fat percentages down, and maybe a supplement here and there, you can tackle this and get back to your lean, healthy self.
You can work your way back to the smoother skin in no time, without wasting a ton of money or time on useless techniques.
-Terry Asher
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