Saturday, January 30, 2010

Treat The Cellulite On Your Body Through Bodybuilding

Over 10 years ago, I was a competitive bodybuilder. Needless to say, I could not have any cellulite when I was in those competitions. There were a number of things that I did to achieve that body. Weight training and using my secret weapon, the power of the mind (mind/body connection) played a huge role in getting me into competitive shape. I'm very happy to say that I won some of those competitions. Below is a short explanation on weight training for cellulite and the mind/body connection.

1- Weight Training: This is obvious but a very important point to make to many women out there that are afraid to lift weight for fear of bulking up. If you are a women that really has a tendency to add muscle weight easily, then you may want to keep the weights that you use for your lower body on the lighter side and increase the repetitions. I want to emphasize that most women do not add muscle easily due to hormones. The advantage to having muscle weight in your cellulite prone areas is that the additional muscle will press up against your skin so that it isn't loose. Also, muscle is more metabolically demanding which means you burn more muscle even at rest when you have additional muscle weight.

If you are new to weight training, be sure to start out slowly. There are many methods and techniques, but basically, you choose a body part and focus on working the muscles in that area. An example of that would be your hamstrings. Your hamstrings are located on the back of your upper leg, which is an area where many women have cellulite. If you were working the hamstrings in a gym setting, here is an example (one of many) of how you would work this body part.

Hamstring Curls: Most gyms have a machine or 2 for this. Usually, you lay on your stomach and hook the back of your ankles onto a rolled pad. Taking great care to keep your buttocks down on the machine, you slowly lift the pad up with your ankles and then slowly lower them. When you get to the bottom, don't let the weight stack touch and then slowly lift up again as far as your range of motion will let you. Breath out as you lift up and inhale on the way down.

If you are at home you can simulate this exercise by doing this movement with ankle weights on and laying on the floor on your stomach or over an exercise ball.

Depending on your level, do 1-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions. You should feel a burn but not pain on the last 2 repetitions.

Weighted Lunges: Hold dumbbells at your sides near your hips. Pick a weight that you can handle for 8-12 repetitions. Slowly step forward keeping your shoulders back. When that forward foot touches ground, let both knees bend keeping your weight evenly distributed over both feet. Take care that you let your knees bend very gently. Next, step that forward foot back into place as you straighten your legs up. Alternate your legs for 8-12 repetitions for each leg. Do 1-3 sets. Breath out as you step forward.

2- My Secret Weapon: I used my secret weapon, the power of my mind the entire time that I trained for my competitions. While I was exercising I would picture my muscles and body forming exactly the way I wanted them to be. At night, before I went to sleep, I would picture myself on stage looking the way I wanted to and winning. You too can have a beautiful body by using the power of meditation and visualization.

Renee Feldman MA, founder of http://www.cellulitetips.com is an Exercise Physiologist and Certified Personal Trainer. One of the first personal trainers in the United States, Renee is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine which is the Gold Standard in fitness. Her vast experience ranges from competitve bodybuilding, where she won state wide championships to professional dancing. She has used her education and experience working in Corporate fitness centers, Health Clubs, Y.M.C.A.'s and J.C.C.'s. Renee has an incredibly well developed and diverse background in Meditation and Guided Visualization which she has used to coach her clients for the last 12 years. She also lectures and presents information on fitness, wellness and the mind/body connection. She successfully demonstrated her cellulite reduction methods on television. Her widely popular Cellulite Tip website has been helping women worldwide change their bodies. She is most excited about her new line of videos that can be accessed at http://www.thenotimefitnessvideos.com

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