saggy butt and saddlebags, help

[jsf61]

Need help with tightening up butt: saggy and side of thighs, saddle bags, have lost 26lbs, and body fat down to 17%, this area is so tough also just above knee caps, i'm 5'10 and 136lbs, consume about 1800 cal/day, 42yrs old, do weight training and cardio 4 x/wk, high intensity, intervals on treadmill 2days and use stair master, elliptical always at 70-90% max heartrate, am trying to build muscle also, but really want to tighten up those areas, I do occas. cheat, but normally follow decent diet, eat 5-6x/day, 3 protein shakes, 3 meals. not a junker or pop drinker. I work legs 2x/week, lunges, squats, deadlifts, leg presses, extensions.

[atherjen]

hmm it appears as though you seem to be on the right track..
are you doing 4 days each weight lifting and 4 days cardio.. or is that all combined.
what does your lower body weight workout look like? ie, reps, sets, excercises, are you pushing to failure?
also, you could give us an example of your current diet.. we could work on it from there.

[jsf61]

yep both weights then cardio same days, I work the other 3 days 12hrs shifts, I lift as heavy as I can and still use good form, try to keep my leg reps high 15-20, 4 sets, squats with dumbells 25lbs, or 80lbs so I can get parallel, dead lifts with 80-85lbs, walking lunges with 15llb weights 10 up and back 4sets, leg presses heavy as i can go and still bring it all the way down,
Diet, I think I may not be eating enough, i do about 1800 cal/day, was doing 3 shakes 20gm protein, then 3 meals,
6am shake, 9am 1cup oatmeal, hard boiled egg, 12n 3-4oz chicken, pork, fish, 1/2cup some starch, rice or potatoes, 3/4cp veggies, 3p-shake, 6pm, lean cuisine dinner, 9p shake, I do cheat occas. try hard to stick to this though, although on review on this site think i'm not getting right mix of pro, carbs, fats.

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by jsf61
yep both weights then cardio same days, I work the other 3 days 12hrs shifts, I lift as heavy as I can and still use good form, try to keep my leg reps high 15-20, 4 sets, squats with dumbells 25lbs, or 80lbs so I can get parallel, dead lifts with 80-85lbs, walking lunges with 15llb weights 10 up and back 4sets, leg presses heavy as i can go and still bring it all the way down,
Diet, I think I may not be eating enough, i do about 1800 cal/day, was doing 3 shakes 20gm protein, then 3 meals,
6am shake, 9am 1cup oatmeal, hard boiled egg, 12n 3-4oz chicken, pork, fish, 1/2cup some starch, rice or potatoes, 3/4cp veggies, 3p-shake, 6pm, lean cuisine dinner, 9p shake, I do cheat occas. try hard to stick to this though, although on review on this site think i'm not getting right mix of pro, carbs, fats.

Some thoughts:

o you feel you are ready to do squats on a Smith Machine? This may tighten the glutes/butt in a lot shorter period of time than the dumbbells.
:On leg presses, place your feet high on the platform. This will again place more emphasis on the glutes and hamstrings. You will have less leverage this way, so you may have to drop the weigh a bit.
: With amount of cardio and weight training you are doing, I think you need more carbs in your diet, especially on workout days. If you afraid of carbs, then lower them on off days and consume more of your carb intake pre and post workout. The pre workout carbs will be metabolized during the workout and the post workout carbs will go toward preventing muscle catabolism.

[mirror]

what is working for me is
(a) doing longer (45 min) moderate intensity cardio as well as the HIIT (but different days)
(b) getting under the squat bar and getting DOWN, right down so that you feel your bum working, for reps. (I could hardly walk yesterday but today my bum and thighs actually FEEL tighter and I just know it's blasting that fat away, + I can see it happening.) For buns of steel, I say SQUAT!! squat deep, squat heavy, squat for reps. Squat for JOY!!!

[mirror]

oh man I love to squat

[jsf61]

I was doing smith machine squats for 6wks, and then free squats for about 4 weeks, I try to cycle my exercises so that my body doesn't get used to them, so now i'm doing barbell squats, then i'll go back to regular squats after 4-6wks.

[jsf61]

I was doing smith machine squats for 6wks, and then free squats for about 4 weeks, I try to cycle my exercises so that my body doesn't get used to them, so now i'm doing barbell squats, then i'll go back to regular squats after 4-6wks.

[JAmanda]

maybe the occassional cheating with the diet is a bit to frequent for the goals you want to achieve now! I dont know, something to try. Also you could give super setting a go, works a treat formy but and thighs- can hardly walk the next day. eg- leg press followed straight away with walking lunges.

[jsf61]

i have backed down on the cheat days now to once/week and incorporate into daily calorie intake, and careful what i cheat with lol, i have a heavy leg day one week and lighter the next, heavy is barbell squats with 25lb dbll's, then leg presses with 140lbs, then deadlifts with 85lbs, then hack squats with 90lbs, i just have some stubborn tissue from when my hips and thighs were bigger i've lost about 4in. on hips, 3 on thighs and 8 on waist. considering lipo as last resort, if it's not gone by March, lol.

[JAmanda]

OK could someone please tell me what Lol means!!! Is it american lingo? Cheers

[mirror]

laughing a lot? lot of laughs? summat like that. I too have considered, and still consider, lipo. Thing is I have morbid fear of hospitals, virtually pass out if I have to give blood, that kind of thing. Need to be sedated to get a shot. So I would have to be desperate. Funny thing, the fitter I get the less the fat hips seem to matter. Not to say I haven't discounted lipo altogether ... it's certainly annoying when you've made it your goal to lose those blasted hips. And they don't, won't shift.

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by JAmanda
OK could someone please tell me what Lol means!!! Is it american lingo? Cheers

Means " Laugh Out Loud".