What Kind of Exercises Can You Do to Slim Big Legs, Hips & Butt?

To attack extra fat stored in your legs, hips and butt, you need to do several different kinds of exercises combined with following a healthy diet. The only real way to slim down is by properly balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories you burn. Choosing the appropriate kinds of exercises that will target your legs, hips and butt will maximize your weight-loss results. Check with your doctor before trying any of these exercises.

Perform Aerobic Exercise

Exercise that works your heart and lungs is the type of exercise that will burn off excess fat from your legs, hips and butt. Running, walking, and biking are all aerobic activities that recruit your heart and lungs, building endurance and burning fat. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults need to get 150 to 300 minutes of this cardiovascular, fat-burning exercise every week. Do aerobic exercise in bouts as small as 10 minutes, as long as your weekly total meets the goal.

Incorporate Strength Training

Muscle strengthening helps improve the appearance of your legs, hips, and butt in two ways. First of all, strengthening these muscles helps sculpt those body parts. But increased muscle mass also burns more calories, making your body into a more efficient fat-burning machine and getting rid of extra fat stored in your body. Incorporate at least two sessions of strength training per week into your fitness plan. Make sure to give your legs, hips and butt at least two days of rest between muscle strengthening workouts.

Give Pilates a Try

Pilates is a system of exercise that was developed by Joseph Pilates to rehabilitate injured ballerinas. Slow, controlled motion combined with concentrated breathing produces results in just 10 to 15 sessions. Pilates focuses on the core muscles of your abdomen, legs, hips and butt. Do an entire Pilates workout two or three times per week or add a few Pilates moves that target your thighs, hips and butt to your daily workout routine. Consider adding the side leg series, in which you perform many different kicks, lifts and circles with your legs while lying on one side.

Use Body-weight Exercises

Exercises that use the weight of your own body are not only effective in strength training your legs, hips and butt, they are convenient, too. Because your body weight adds the resistance needed to the workout, these types of exercises can be done anywhere, making it easier for you to be consistent with them. Make sure you perform body-weight exercises with correct form and that you do repetitions slowly to make them more effective. Once you have built up a base of strength, you can add free weights to your body-weight exercises to make them more difficult.