How To Get Rid Of Saddlebags

Saddlebags are hideous. It doesn’t even matter whether you call them saddlebags, love handles or muffin tops, they all demonstrate something that should not be present on our body. Saddlebags belong in the stable or on the back of a beautiful stallion. Unfortunately, we seem unable to avoid them. Worst of all, they no long appear just on our waistline, but also on our butt, our hops and our thighs. We all know that the cure for saddlebags (and other unsightly fat deposits for that matter) is a healthy diet and a good exercise program, but should we just randomly hit the gym or are there any exercises that are particularly good to fight those bags? You will be happy to know that there are. Let’s take a look at the best moves that will help you get rid of those saddlebags once and for all.

1 – Side Lying Leg Raises

Side lying leg raises are great. They are not overly difficult to do and they have fantastic effects. Furthermore, they target a huge range of muscles, meaning that these should be part of your regular workout anyway.

“Start by lying down on your side, with your head propped up on your bottom arm. Slowly raise your upper leg straight up, being careful to keep your hips aligned. Lower your leg and repeat. Aim for 3 sets of 15 for each leg.” – skinnyms.com

Make this workout more difficult by putting weights around your ankles. It is always better to make a single repetition harder to do, rather than aiming for more repetitions. Hence, as you get stronger, you don’t have to worry about spending more and more time on your workout, rather that they become more intense.

2 – Dirty Dogs

Any move that is called Dirty Dogs has to be fun to do. This move specifically targets your hip abductors and glutes. You kneel down in a doggy position. You then raise one of your legs out to the side, making sure you always keep the 90 degree angle with your knee. You then return the leg to floor and repeat this move 12 to 15 times on each leg. Try to do three sets.

3 – The Clamshell Bridge

This is another one of those moves that sounds fun just by its name. The opening position of the move is reasonably easy to achieve.

“Lie on your back with your knees bent, one pointing towards the ceiling and feet touching (sole of the left foot against the side of the right foot) with hands pointed towards the ceiling (top).” – fitsugar.com

From that position, you lift your hips upwards, squeezing your buttocks and opening your knees. When doing so, you push through your feet, which should be planted on the ground. Then return to the starting position. Repeat this 10 to 15 times on both sides and try to do three sets.

What Is Really Going On?

It is often very easy to blame aging on all our bodily mishaps. It is indeed true that, as we age, it becomes more and more difficult to actually lose weight and it becomes easier to put it on. However, that doesn’t mean you have to just accept that. There are plenty of things you can do to stop this process of aging (including the exercises mentioned above). However, you do have to make sure that there aren’t any other issue at the root of your weight gain. Certain illnesses and medications can be at the heart of it, but it can also be due to a hormonal imbalance.

“We end up estrogen dominant by skewing the balance between estrogen and progesterone. This happens as a result of other hormonal imbalances, a low protein diet, being overweight and stress, as well as from medications and our modern environment that’s rife with endocrine disruptors.” – thatsfit.com

This can be cause by various things, including such things as our environment and diet, but also biological issues such as thyroid problems. Again, however, you should not self-diagnose yourself and blame weight gain on any of these problems. You should look into them and make changes to your lifestyle and diet if you feel the issue is indeed at the root of your weight problems, but you do need to make real efforts yourself to change things.

If you do have a gym subscription, there are various exercise you can do with the machines on offer there. However, remember that your diet also plays a very important part. Particularly if you think your weight gain is caused by hormones, you need to really watch what you eat.