Exercise can help combat cellulite, more

Linda Stollings

By: By Linda Stollings Special to the Herald Courier | TriCities.com
Published: March 17, 2010

Cellulite is a fatty deposit, usually found around the thighs and buttocks.
Yep, that is the Webster definition for cellulite.
Let’s just call it what it is – plain old fat.
Some people might call it cottage cheese or orange peel-looking dimples, but no matter what you prefer to call it, cellulite is simply fat.
Women tend to have more of a problem with cellulite, and there is a good explanation for that.
Everybody has connective tissue that separates fat cells into compartments.
While men tend to have horizontal or crisscross patterns to these compartments, women’s compartments have a honeycomb appearance, giving fat a greater chance to protrude or bulge (information from the American Council on Exercise, ACE).
Ladies, isn’t that just the story of our lives? Gender tends to play dirty tricks on us all the time.
Oh well, that just means that we must work a little harder to get rid of or at least minimize cellulite on our bodies.
Men, you are not totally off the hook. You too can have cellulite deposits, but they are just hidden better.
As we age, our skin becomes thinner, so the appearance of cellulite may become more pronounced.
Of course, not everyone will develop cellulite.
If you are one of the unlucky ones, you can thank genetics for that because that determines where your fat cells are and how many fat cells you have.
Women typically will see it around their hips and thighs, and men may see it in the waist and abdominal region.
I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
Which would you like first? Let’s go with the bad, and finish up with the good.
The bad news is you can’t rub it off, you can’t cream it off, you can’t wrap it off and you can’t liposuction it off.
There are no quick and easy fixes. No cream applied to the skin can penetrate the skin and rearrange the fat cells. You simply cannot rearrange your fat cells.
At most, quick fixes such as body wraps are only temporary. They compress the fat, but after a day or two, it goes back to the way it was.
Liposuction will indeed remove excess fat (and that might be your goal), but it will not change the appearance of the remaining fat.
So what is the good news? There is a way to combat cellulite. Let’s look at some ways to do just that.
Change your body composition: Reduce your body fat and build more muscle.
Daily cardio exercise combined with weight training: This can be as simple as walking or more intense such as jogging.
The weights should target the areas where the cellulite is prevalent.
Exercises such as squats, lunges, leg presses, hip adduction and abduction are highly recommended for the hips, thighs and buttock areas.
Change your eating habits: Eat smaller portion sizes, eat lots of fresh fruit and veggies, and drink water.
It takes a lot of discipline to push away from the table, but that is what it takes to reduce your body fat.
Exercise does not have to be complicated to work.
Being consistent and keeping your workout challenging will get you the desired results.
Now that you know the answer to cellulite reduction maybe I will see you in the gym.