These exercises will help you 'burn' excess fat on your thighs and butt

Saddlebags can cause cellulite to become more apparent – another reason to get rid of them! — Mayfair

Saddlebags is an ugly word – at least for women.

We don’t want them, but as we age, they cling on to us tightly, refusing to leave.

These pesky fat deposits on your outer hips/thighs and below the butt cause cellulite to become more apparent.

Once extra fat starts to gather in these areas, it “falls” out on the side of your thighs, giving it the appearance of saddlebags.

It looks similar to horse saddlebags, hence its name.

It doesn’t only affect women, but also a small percentage of men.

Diet, sex, age, body fat percentages, skin thickness and genetics all play crucial roles in determining how much cellulite you have and how visible it is.

Having a sedentary lifestyle or sitting in an office all day can have an impact on your saddlebags.

When you sit (especially with bad posture), the lower back and butt muscles are inactive or underused, thus extra fat can collect in the area where your lower butt and upper hamstrings meet.

This fat then “spills out” to the side of the thighs, hence the saddlebags.

If you’re pear-shaped, you tend to carry additional weight in the hip and thigh areas, and the underlying fatty deposits here make the skin dimpled and lumpy.

Ageing also brings with it a lot of physical changes, including loss of skin elasticity, which can then make the appearance of cellulite more evident.

Saddlebags are difficult, but not impossible to shed.

If you’ve got them, first cut back on the extra calories as they (unfortunately) go straight to these areas.

Then do some cardiovascular activity for 30 minutes daily, but stay in the fat-burning zone, i.e. the workout intensity that gets your body to burn primarily fat for fuel.

That means you should be working out at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).

There is a formula to calculate the MHR, which is 220 minus your age.

So, if you are 40 years old, your MHR should be 180.

To burn fat, your heart rate should be 108 (60% x 180) to 126 (70% x 180) beats per minute.

If you work out any harder, you will be utilising your stored glycogen (sugars) as fuel first before using fat.

This, by the way, is how to build cardiovascular endurance (i.e. the cardio zone).

Along with your preferred cardiovascular activity (brisk walking, slow jogging, swimming, etc) five times a week, add some strength or resistance training two or three times a week.

There are many exercises that can tone these areas, but you can start with the four effective moves shown below.

You can easily do them at home, but start without the resistance band first.

As you progress, add the resistance band for increased intensity.

Do each move 12 times, take a breather, then repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

Remember to contract your abdominal muscles (pull your tummy in) and squeeze your gluteal (buttock) muscles while you perform these exercises.

You should feel the burn and see a smaller saddlebag in a month’s time.

Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email [e-mail]. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.