Toning inner/outer thighs

ToBeLoved said:

I am not saying that you have cellulite, but I know that I had cellulite (with extra fat stored there) on my outer thighs. Now I'm not saying this is your answer, but one thing that is known to get more circulation in that area (or an area of the body) is used coffee grounds. I believe that this is because of the caffine. So, there are several things that I've heard people do.

One of them is for the back of the thighs/buttocks is to put plastic wrap on the the side of the bathtub, take used coffee grounds and put them on the plastic wrap, sit butt on the plastic wrap & used coffee grounds. (or I imagine you could do the same thing sitting inside an empty bathtub). When you are finished (like 10 minutes or so), get up, wrap the coffee grounds in the plastic wrap (put aside to throw away). Take a shower or quick bath washing coffee ground area with a loofa or bath brush or mitt to further stimulate circulation. This step is optional, but you can give that area, now stimulated with circulation a hard tissue massage which to my understanding over time can break up the layers of cellulite skin.

So the two free things are used coffee grounds and med/hard tissue massage.

Side note: Because used coffee grounds can also be considered an 'exfoliant' some people (I swear this is true) get into the bathtub, scrub their entire body with used coffee grounds (I imagine if you could grind your own coffee to be very little chunkages (or very thin) wait a few minutes, massage with a loofah and take a shower. Now I would imagine that courser coffee grounds might clog a drain, I don't know, which is why I did the 'spot area' only area with the plastic wrap.

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bhsmte said:

How exactly do used coffee grounds cause one to spot reduce fat in certain areas?

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ToBeLoved said:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/style/diy-beauty-trick-do-this-with-coffee-say-goodbye-to-cellulite
http://www.elle.com/beauty/news/a14975/diy-coffee-cellulite-scrub/
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/20/do-this-with-coffee-say-goodbye-to-cellulite/

This one is a Youtube video about tissue massage.

I got these for you to do research, couldn't explain it any better than I did in the first post. Happy reading/viewing.

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bhsmte said:

I hate to break it to you, but the people that wrote what is below, don't know what they are talking about. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, not a vasodilator. Also, their quote mentions, it does nothing to get rid of the fat, it simply temporarily changes appearance.

There are no known methods to rid the body of fat in selective areas.

http://www.udel.edu/chem/C465/senior/fall00/Caffeine/Physiological.htm

How it works: The caffeine and antioxidants in coffee are moderately effective to mitigate the appearance of cellulite in the short term. As a stimulant, the caffeine in coffee dilates blood vessels, which temporarily tones and tightens tissue. Plus it increases circulation and reduces water retention, both of which may also help smooth the rumpled look of cellulite. The antioxidants in coffee may help to release toxins, which is not only helpful for cellulite, but for healthy skin in general.

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E. Mortimer said:

I've seen some really great suggestions here and they should all help you out. Someone else has mentioned squats and I second that approach. I always hear jokes in the gym about skipping leg day and how working out the legs can be among the most grueling (and for some the most boring) part of working out, but it is also one of the most important. I am by no means an expert and lack knowledge of most technical terms, but I do know that the muscles in our legs are among the largest and can be the most difficult to tone.

Especially for women as men have the advantage of testosterone. It often holds true that when it comes to physical fitness, women have to work twice as hard as men and often only see half of the results. But when you consider what sort of physical stress a woman's body is capable of going through (childbirth, think about it...) and their generally higher tolerance for pain, then it could be argued that their potential is actually far greater.

However, what I think is most important, even more so than working out your legs, is to make sure that you are working out your heart. A strong heart will allow you to work out even harder and even longer and so if you are not already doing it, make sure to look up endurance training and the benefits of getting on and off the treadmill (or the track or wherever you choose to run) and monitoring how long it takes for your heart rate to go back to normal.

I saw you mentioned that you do long-distance running and so you are likely already doing this. Just keep up the hard work and the results will show. My last suggestion is not to measure your progress by weight. Even when I was working out for weight loss, my weight would jump up and down.

Try instead using a tape measure to measure your thighs and waist. That is where the most noticeable results come from.

Good luck and keep running.

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dhornace said:

Best response ever. So so so so so true. Weight training with your legs is most definitely going to help you, Granted you won't see any "toning" until the muscle mass/fat ratio is different, but definitely use the mirror as your guide. The mentioning of taking measurements is paramount when looking for differences.

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