Fitness Articles

The Fight Against Cellulite

Cellulite has been called any given number of names, including cottage cheese, orange-peel skin, saddlebags, pruned legs, and even dimples. No matter the name, cellulite is unattractive and in some cases, unhealthy. Most women have some on their body somewhere and are unhappy about it, and would love to rid of it.

Cellulite is another one of those unpleasant facts of life we need to just learn to live with and accept. There have been surgical procedures developed to rid areas of your body riddled with cellulite but it is now thought that when you remove cellulite from one part of your body, it is likely to turn up on another part.

Let's delve into the facts behind cellulite. Cellulite occurs when body fat gets sandwiched into many tiny pockets separated by strong, hair thin threads called septa, which anchors skin to muscle. Most women store fat in the hips, thighs and buttocks where this "tufting" becomes so pronounced that it dimples.

Men have it made when it comes to cellulite. Their septa attach in a crisscross formation instead of the vertical strands that are found in a woman's skin. Also, the thought that only heavy or obese women suffer from cellulite is not true. Women of any weight can have cellulite. There are even super-models that complain they have it.

While we are all aware cellulite is unattractive, it can also have adverse health effects. Accumulation of fluid can occur in the layers of the skin, it can cause impeded blood flow, toxin build-up, nutrient depletion and deterioration of the connective tissue as it loses elasticity and undergoes fibrosis, the development of an organ of excess fibrous connective tissue.

There are a couple ways we can help combat cellulite and its negative effects, but if you're genetically prone to it in a certain area, it is unlikely you will ever be totally rid of it. What you can do is reduce your overall fat intake to lessen the build-up of cellulite. Exercise can help build muscle tone, which in turn can make the contours of your body, including the cellulite, look better. Keep at it - if nothing else, you can prevent it from becoming more pronounced and more importantly, from becoming a health risk.

Here is a recommended exercise to fight cellulite on the upper thigh area:

• Lie on your stomach with hipbones on the floor, legs extended. Rest chin on hands.
• Slowly lift left leg, foot flexed, about six to twelve inches, keeping hips glued to the floor.
  1. Move leg to the left 12 inches, hold for two counts and bring it back to center.
     
  2. Then shift leg 12 inches to the right (or as far as you can without lifting your hips), hold for two counts and return to center. Lower leg to ground and repeat. Do three sets of 15 reps on your left leg, than switch sides

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