Which Is Better for Losing Butt Fat: Squat & Leg Press or Cardio?
This article explains which works better for losing butt fat, cardio exercise or squats and leg presses, and why.
Do you think you have a lot of fat in your butt and are wondering if you should do cardio exercise or try strength training like squats and leg presses?
If you had to choose between cardio exercise and squats plus leg presses for taking off fat in your butt, go with the strength training.
Fact is, cardio will do very little to slash excess fat in your butt.
Cardio is commonly done steady-state style. This means a constant pace is maintained, though there may be fluctuations here and there.
Nevertheless, it’s a continuous pace that enables you to maintain it, and some people maintain pacing for up to an hour on cardio machines.
Another form of cardio is an aerobics class, or walking or jogging outdoors. These too, fall under the style of steady state.
The reason these are not very effective at busting butt fat is because they recruit slow twitch muscle fiber.
Intense strength training recruits fast twitch fiber, which requires more fat for fuel than slow twitch.
Shutterstock/Aleksey Boyko
Furthermore, steady state cardio does not trigger the hormonal response that intense strength training does.
The superiority of squats and leg presses for losing butt fat:
Performing sets with heavy weights that make 8 to 12 repetitions extremely challenging can trigger a significant hormonal response.
When you lift weights that push you to your limit within this rep range, your body undergoes intense physical stress.
This stress signals the release of various hormones, such as testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol, which are involved in muscle repair, growth and fat metabolism.
The hormonal response is particularly pronounced when you engage large muscle groups or multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
For example, compound exercises like squats and leg presses involve multiple large muscles, leading to a greater overall hormonal release.
This heightened hormonal response facilitates muscle recovery and growth while enhancing fat metabolism.
The fat-burning effect is substantial, as these hormones continue to circulate in elevated levels for several hours after your workout.
This phenomenon, known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), means that your body remains in a heightened state of calorie burning even after the exercise session is complete.
Shutterstock/Reshetnikov_art
Yes: In the hours following an intense squatting and leg press session, your body will be burning fat at an accelerated rate. This includes the fat in your buttocks.
Leg presses can be done after barbell squats or before; it’s personal preference.
A 45 minute session of the leg press, the squat and the deadlift will burn far more fat than 45 minutes jogging on a treadmill or taking a Zumba class, and this fat burn will occur all over the body, including your butt.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Kokhanchikov
How to Get Strong Enough to Do Pushups for Repetitions
Here are four routines that will get you strong enough to do pushups.
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Should You Hold Onto a Treadmill at High Incline?
If you’re part of the hold-on-for-dear-life high treadmill incline camp, find out why you’re wasting your time, big-time.
Holding on at a high incline is so very wrong, on so many levels, I don’t even know where to begin.
Let’s begin this way: Next time you’re at the gym, look at people from the side as they walk a high incline and hold onto their treadmill. Do you notice anything peculiar?
If not, close your eyes and imagine viewing someone from the side, walking up a hill.
Source: Freepik.com, tirachard
Now compare that person’s profile to the treadmill user’s profile. Do you notice anything strange?
The outdoor hill walker’s body is vertical, forming a much less-than 90-degree angle with the hill in front of her.
Look again at the very top image of the woman holding onto an inclined treadmill.
The walker’s body is 15 degrees tilted back — 15 degrees because she’s using a 15 percent incline and leaning all the way back with it.
Her body is tilted back at the same angle as the incline because her hands are gripping the bar, arms straight.
She’s essentially walking on a flat surface because she’s reproducing the same angular relationship to the walking surface as someone who’s walking on a flat tread. This is a pseudo-incline walk.
To simulate an uphill walk, remove your hands, which will force your body to be vertical, reducing the angle between your body and the tread before you.
This will require increased hip, knee and ankle flexion, which is why uphill walking is more taxing than flat movement.
Can’t sustain this? Solution: REDUCE THE SPEED.
If you keep yourself pulled forward with bent arms, this is still cheating because your hands, arms and shoulders are keeping your body vertical, rather than any power from your lower body.
This absolutely is NOT the same as walking hands free. It does NOT “all even out.”
Now if you hold onto the side of the treadmill at a high incline, your body won’t lean back so much. However, the rails are still supporting you.
When I was a personal trainer I’d periodically get a client who was used to walking a high incline at 3.5, even 4 mph, and of course, clinging onto the front or side of the machine.
The metrics — high incline and fast waking speed — made them think they were in great shape.
However, I’d get them on a treadmill and set the speed at only 2 mph, then raise the incline to 15 percent.
Initially they’d think that 2 mph was way too slow, even though I’d instruct them to keep their hands off the treadmill. They’d look at me like, “What? This is way too easy, TWO miles an hour!”
And at first, 2 mph even hands free at the highest incline will seem like very easy work.
But quite predictably, these clients began visibly struggling and breathing heavily within several minutes.
Pretending that it was as easy as they’d first thought became increasingly difficult.
Within several minutes they’d grab the machine, panting, unable to walk any more at 2 mph without holding on.
I’d point out that 2 mph OR SLOWER is about the same speed they’d walk on an actual outdoor hill; it’s not slow at all when it’s done on a high incline!
If you’ve been holding onto a treadmill at high inclines and setting the speed at 4 mph, try this experiment: Set it at 2 mph at 15 percent.
Without any holding on whatsoever, see how long you can sustain this. Don’t be surprised if very soon, your calves begin burning and/or your lower back begins aching.
That’s because when you hold on, the calves and core do VERY LITTLE work. Because they’re not used to the workload of hands-free incline walking, they quickly burn and ache when you finally do let go.
Holding onto the treadmill also promotes an unnatural gait and burns far fewer calories than what the console displays.
Solution: Use the incline, hands OFF, at 1 to 2 mph, for short periods, alternating with hands-free walking on a flat setting.
Over the next several weeks (depending on how often you follow these instructions) those dormant muscles will become more efficient and no longer ache or burn. You’ll also notice an improvement in aerobic ability.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Why Women Love the Hip Abductor Machine
So why do women love the hip abductor machine, and men don’t care for it so much?
The hip abduction machine targets two buttocks muscles: the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus.
However, if you’ve ever used the hip abduction machine, it feels as though the outer thighs are being worked more than the butt.
The diagram on the hip abduction machine shows the area of the lower body that gets worked, and the outer sides of the thighs are highlighted.
Women see this and believe that hip abduction exercise will shave inches off their outer thighs.
Women, so much more than men, are concerned about excess fat in the thighs, particularly the outer thighs.
This is a hot button for throngs of women, and that’s why they gravitate towards the hip abduction machine.
However, another group of women uses the hip abduction machine to tone the buttocks.
Remember, this equipment targets the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which are buttocks muscles.
These muscles, though, are responsible for the joint action of hip abduction.
This joint action, against resistance, either with equipment, tension tubing, calisthenics or inline skating (especially up hill), will tone and strengthen these buttocks muscles.
But working these muscles will not – absolutely will not – take inches off the outer thighs!
These are small, relatively weak muscles. They do very little to power the legs during running, strenuous walking, hiking, and exercises like squats, deadlifts and leg presses.
To shave inches off the outer thighs, a woman must increase her body’s energy demands.
There is no better way to do this than to do exercises that target large muscle groups:
- the quadriceps (front thigh muscles
- hamstrings (back thigh muscles)
- gluteus maximus (main buttocks muscle; it’s bigger than you think)
- and large upper body muscles (back and chest).
Targeting these muscles with very challenging resistance loads — as shown in the following images — will force the body to use stored fat – including fat stored in the outer thighs — for recuperative energy!
Shutterstock/Tyler Olson
Shutterstock/Robert Taylor
Combine this with high intensity type of cardio and sensible eating habits, and voila, a woman will experience inches lost in her outer thighs.
As for that hip abduction machine, it’s a good piece of equipment to tone and strengthen the smaller butt muscles.
It’s also great to keep these muscles in shape for inline skating if you haven’t been inline skating for a while due to injury, lack of time or cold weather.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/lunamarina
Top Six Ways Men Can Be Rude at the Gym
Men can be very rude at the gym in ways that you just don’t see with the gals.
You’ve read about how people, in general, can be rude at the gym, breaching gym etiquette left and right. (more…)
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Dealing with Rude Gym Behavior: Solutions that Work
Rude gym behaviors require clever, effective ways of dealing with them that will not only cease the rudeness, but may even net an apology.
At a minimum, if you practice these witty ways of dealing with rude gym behavior, you’ll walk away feeling good and empowered, rather than miffed and upset for the rest of the day.
Do any of the following rude behaviors at the gym ever happen to you?
Sweat on the Equipment
Say, “Excuse me, but do you have a towel I can use to wipe up your sweat?”
I’ve done this several times, and in every single case, the offender apologized.
Water All Over a Locker Room Bench
If you know who the offender is, point to the puddles and say, “Oh, make sure you don’t sit here; someone left water all over the bench.”
(This ploy got me a confession and apology.)
Loud Grunting
When this gets pretty loud and frequent, it qualifies as inconsiderate. I myself have grunted — but I kept the volume controlled.
Sometimes you just can’t help it when you’re straining for the last repetition of a giant lift such as the deadlift, squat or bench press. But isolation moves?
Now remember, I’m talking about excessive grunting — and loud. I once said to a man, “You sound like you’re in a lot of pain.”
The man responded to me, “That’s the way it’s done,” but then wasn’t as loud afterwards.
Sitting on a Machine for a Long Time Doing Nothing
People who do this are short-sighted. They should know that by getting off the equipment for a long rest, this signals a nearby person that they can get in a set.
Stand near the equipment so that nobody actually takes it from you while you’re resting, but do expect someone to come over and ask if they can “work in.” And let them if it won’t interfere with your rest time.
As for that nearby person who’s wondering when someone who’s still sitting on the equipment is going to do another set, simply ask if you could “work in.” Often they’ll hop off the seat as though they have ants in their pants.
You can add humor to dealing with rude gym members.
Blocking a Mirror
This happens often to me, but it’s nothing that a passionate, “Excuse me, can you move so I can watch myself?” can’t cure.
About half the time, the offender appears annoyed, but they comply nevertheless.
Please, people, before you begin that set on your feet…make sure you’re not standing between the mirror and someone on equipment (which they cannot move) who’s facing the mirror. Step out of their line of sight.
Child Running Loose in Locker Room
Say, “Did you know that the daycare is open now?” If daycare is closed, say, “Excuse me, but there’s water on the floor and your child might slip and fall if she continues running all over the place in the locker room.”
If the offender gets sassy, point out that they should not let their child run loose in the locker room. It IS your business, even if the floors are bone dry.
One time when I was in a locker room, a few young kids were playing “I’m hiding in the lockers!”
When members opened lockers, the kids popped out at them. This is what happens when their mothers are not called on letting their kids use the locker room as a playground.
Toddler Wandering on Gym Floor
Does anyone NOT realize how risky this is? Never ignore this; say something to the parent! This goes beyond rude; it’s reckless.
One time a man — presumably a potential new member checking out the gym — was permitting this; toddler began exploring around a few stools that I had begun setting up.
There was no sales rep nearby, so I don’t know what the man was doing there.
I turned my back one second, then discovered the toddler under the stool I was about to use; father did nothing.
‘I said, “It’s against club policy to let your child in this area; it’s dangerous.”
He replied, “It’s not for YOU to worry about.”
I responded. “That’s right; it’s for YOU to worry about.”
I then marched to the front desk and reported the problem. Staff wasted no time following up on my report.
Locker Room Bench Cluttered with Belongings
A passive response to this inconsiderate behavior is to nonchalantly begin nudging aside their belongings to make room for yours or your body.
In my case, 100 percent of the time, the offender promptly gathers or moves their belongings and usually apologizes; never any hostility.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/UfaBizPhoto
Can Headache Be the Only Symptom of Sphenoid Sinusitis?
If you have an annoying headache but no sinus symptoms like nasal congestion or an aching or runny nose, can this solitary symptom be caused by sphenoid sinusitis?
“Headache can be the only symptom of sphenoid sinusitis,” says Dr. Stacey Silvers, MD, of Madison ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery in NYC, who is board certified in otolaryngology.
There are four sinus groups: sphenoid, ethmoid, frontal and maxillary. They are hollow cavities within the skull and can become infected or inflamed, causing a headache.
What is the function of the sinuses? Dr. Silvers explains that they produce a liter of mucous a day, “which helps us warm, filter, moisten the air and help digest our food.”
The next function is that they “aerate the skull (imagine if sinuses were solid bone or full of soft tissue). The head would weigh more and be exhausting to carry around.”
Finally, says Dr. Silvers, “They act as airbags to the brain: If an unfortunate trauma occurs to the face, the sinuses collapse, protecting the posterior vital structures.”
Headaches arising from specific sinus groups can have distinguishing characteristics, such as location.
A headache can definitely be the only symptom of this common condition that can go undiagnosed for a period of time before finally being correctly identified.
Dr. Silvers continues, “This (sphenoid) can occasionally be the only sinus involved. Patients may have no fever, congestion, or cough. The headache will present on the top of the head.”
Sometimes the sphenoid headache is felt in the upper back of the head, or between the top and the upper back.
“As it is not a classic location for sinus headaches, the sinuses may be overlooked as a cause,” says Dr. Silvers.
“A primary care physician does not have the tools to look into the back of the nose. Even an ENT (ear, nose and throat doctor) can have some trouble visualizing the sphenoid sinus opening depending on variations in patient’s nasal anatomy.”
So what would be a clue, then? Dr. Silvers explains, “Suspicion should arise based on the location of the patient’s pain which is typically on the top of the head.
“If a physical exam does not reveal the cause, then a CT scan of the sinus may be justified. With a sphenoid sinus infection the CT scan will show an air fluid level in one or both of the sphenoid sinuses.
“This may be found with or without congestion and swelling in the other sinuses.
“A proper treatment plan with decongestants, sinus washes, antibiotics and occasionally a steroid taper will quickly relieve the patient’s symptoms.”
How would the physical exam be conducted? A physician uses a lighted viewer to peer inside the nose, where swelling can be visible.
The doctor will also tap or press on the patient’s face to see if this brings on pain.
If you’re concerned about the radiation from a CT scan, ask your doctor about testing via MRI, endoscopy or sinus cultures to test for the presence of an infection or inflammation.
An NYC expert in ear, nose and throat care, Dr. Silvers has been named among America’s Top Physicians and Surgeons in facial plastic surgery and otolaryngology numerous times since 2003.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Source: webmd.com/allergies/picture-of-the-sinuses
HIIT Q & A: High Intensity Interval Training All Questions Answered
Common Questions About HIIT Answered … for the already-fit to the very out-of-shape, overweight or older.
Is HIIT safe?
Yes, even for a person with a BMI in the obese range. If you have (or think you may have) a medical or orthopedic condition, explain HIIT to your physician to make sure it’s not contraindicated.
It’s unlikely that your doctor will warn you not do to HIIT on a stationary bike. I once had a client with peripheral vascular disease who performed HIIT on a bike.
Besides torching off fat, what are other HIIT benefits?
HIIT makes time go faster, offers an inviting change from the same ‘ol steady-state, improves sports performance, bumps up release of growth hormone and testosterone, tones and tightens, encourages lean tissue growth, and saves an abundance of time.
What is the definition of “sprint,” as applied to HIIT?
This doesn’t mean take off like a bullet.
“Sprint” means your very best effort, your fastest movement, your giving-it-all-you’ve-got…even if it’s just 5 mph.
At the end of the interval, you should be drained.
Is it okay to do HIIT and weights on the same day?
No. If you do HIIT first, you’ll be too sapped to attack the weights.
If you do weights first, your HIIT won’t really be HIIT.
You’ll be functioning at sub-intense capacity. Do HIIT on separate days.
Will HIIT make me a faster runner?
Of course, if your HIIT sessions involve your fastest sprints.
Can HIIT improve my endurance?
Yes. Eight walking or jogging cycles on an inclined treadmill will carry over to an outdoor hike. Eight running cycles will improve your steady-state jogging.
Shutterstock/Phase4Studios
How many cycles should I do?
Ideally do eight, and if you can do more, go for it.
If you can only get through four or six due to lack of conditioning or lack of time, that works too, but make at least eight a habit as much as possible.
Is it okay to do some steady-state after HIIT?
Yes. For example, steady-state walking on an incline or using the revolving staircase, following HIIT, will contribute to fitness needed for long challenging hikes.
It’s also okay to do steady-state sessions (under 20 minutes) before HIIT, as an extended warm-up.
What about work intervals under 15 seconds?
If you can run on a 15 percent treadmill incline at 10 mph for only 10 seconds before having to slow down to a 2 mph recovery walk, then this qualifies as an effective work interval. (Same with outdoor hills or steps)
Shutterstock/DedovStock
A person’s absolute fastest run (relative to an incline) may not be what he or she can do for a 30-second work interval.
For instance, a particular individual needs to jog only 7 mph on a 15 percent incline, to reach complete exhaustion after 30 seconds.
However, what can he or she do, for only 10 seconds at the same incline, before total exhaustion? Perhaps this individual can handle a speed of 12 mph.
Another example is a person who can sustain a 12 mph run at zero incline for barely 30 seconds, yet is actually able to run 15 mph for 10 seconds on the zero incline (some treadmills go up to 15 mph).
Running your absolute fastest, given the medium, will produce superior results, even if you conk out after 10 seconds.
Can walking be done as HIIT?
Cancer.gov
Yes. If you’re fit, your work intervals will require steep hills to bring on exhaustion within 30 seconds.
You can increase intensity also with weighted vests.
If you’re out of shape, you may need only slight inclines or even no inclines, depending on your condition.
Can I be too out of shape to do HIIT?
No. You can be too out-of-shape to run, but not too-out-of shape to put out your best effort.
A 300-pound smoker can pedal hard for 30 seconds on a stationary bike or elliptical machine.
Shutterstock/Creativa Images
If you’re in really poor shape, don’t necessarily limit your intervals to the bike or elliptical.
Do moderate to sub-intense intervals on a track (walking or very slow jogging).
Build up from there, over time. You can also include steady-state sessions as part of your conditioning program to prepare your body for eventual HIIT.
Should I get into HIIT shape by first doing intensity intervals lasting several minutes?
This is a good start, but not a requirement if you’d rather start off with the shorter intervals.
Longer intervals are also an option for the very fit; throwing in a 5-minute intensity interval during a HIIT session is perfectly fine.
How many times a week should I do HIIT?
Two times, though three is doable.
The third session can actually be sub-intense, longer intervals.
Will HIIT bulk up my legs?
A competitive sprinter may have “big” legs, but competitive sprinters also train nearly every day, many hours a week, including with heavy barbell squats.
A couple 30-minute sessions per week on a treadmill or staircase will not duplicate the legs of a sprint competitor who can blitz 100 meters in 10.8 seconds.
Can HIIT be done punching a heavy bag?
Yes. If you have an injured leg/foot, then throw your meanest punches at a bag.
Shutterstock/Dmitry Kalinovsky
But first make sure you learn how to safely throw a skull-shattering blow (hooks, crosses, uppercuts), before going all-out on a heavy bag.
If your legs are fine, each punch can be quickly followed by a kicking technique for extra intensity.
Can HIIT be applied to weightlifting?
Most certainly. Weightlifting routines, done to absolute failure, with rests up to 1-3 minutes (some schools of thought say briefer rests), are a form of HIIT.
Each set is a work interval. Or, stationary scissor lunges, following completion of an 8-12-rep max of leg extensions, would be a HIIT superset.
Squat-jumps for 30 seconds can be a work interval. Be creative!
Hopefully all of your questions about high intensity interval training have been answered in this post!
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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