Cellulite... we all know what it looks like, but misconceptions prevail. The first thing you should know is that, in the true medical sense, cellulite is simply plain old fat. Yet it does have one defining characteristic — a dimpled, cottage-cheese, orange-peel look. Here’s why...

The problem

Everybody has connective tissue that separates fat cells into compartments. While men tend to have horizontal or crisscross patterns to those compartments, women’s compartments have a honeycomb appearance, giving fat a greater chance to protrude or bulge, hence the cottage-cheese effect.

As a result, women are more likely to develop cellulite than men, mainly around the hips and thighs. However, men can develop the condition, too. Although cellulite becomes more noticeable with age, largely because the skin gets thinner over time, it generally strikes individuals in their 30s.

Of course, not everybody will develop cellulite in their lifetime. That’s because genetics determine where your fat cells are and how many fat cells you have.

Activity level is another crucial factor associated with cellulite. If you exercise regularly, you’ll decrease your odds of developing cellulite, or if you do, the dimpled look won’t be quite as pronounced. Beware of the Quick Fix.

Unfortunately, too many people still hang on to the idea of quick and easy fixes. Beware of cellulite cream makers, medical procedures like liposuction or cosmetic treatments like body wraps.

They don’t work. No cream applied to the skin can penetrate the skin and rearrange the fat cells beneath the surface. Liposuction is designed to remove excess deposits of fat, but it won’t change the appearance of fat.

As for body wraps, the effect is only temporary. Fat is compressible, so when you do the wrap, it will smooth your skin, but by the next day, your skin will be back to normal. Another misconception is that dieting alone can zap fat.

Although there are diets that make you lose weight, at least one quarter of the weight lost is muscle, which lowers your metabolism. If you return to your usual eating habits, you’ll likely regain more weight than you lost because your metabolism is slower.

The Solution

So what can you do to diminish the appearance of cellulite? I recommend daily cardio exercise combined with two to three strength-training sessions a week and a healthy diet.

The good news is that there’s actual proof that this approach works. Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Mass., designed a cellulite-reduction program that includes 20 minutes of strength training with five exercises for the upper body and five for the lower body, and 20 minutes of treadmill walking or jogging, staying at about 70 percent to 80 percent of maximal heart rate.

This program is followed three days per week, although participants can always do more cardio. Participants in an eight-week study of Westcott’s program lost about 0.5 kilograms per week. When participants combined the exercise program with good eating habits, they doubled the fat loss, losing 3.9 kilograms of fat (compared to 1.9 kilograms without the nutritional component).

How to Get Started

An exercise program doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. For strength-training exercises, any tool is fine, including dumbbells, elastic bands, body weight and machines. If you prefer machines, leg presses, seated leg curls, hip adduction and abduction, and overhead presses are recommended. And effective free-weight exercises include the dumbbell squat, band hip adduction and abduction, bodyweight trunk extension and trunk curl.

There are ways in which you can reduce or even eliminate cellulite. However, to rid your body of this condition will take discipline to exercise. Below is a fitness program to get you on your way to better looking skin.

As with any exercise program, a warm-up is required to reduce the threat of strain or injury on your muscles. A good warm-up exercise could be 15 minutes of aerobic dance, and some general stretching.

After you have done your warm up, you are ready to begin your exercise regiment. The first exercise should be strength exercises or weight training. Start out with light weights and then as your program progresses, raise the weights to a higher level.

Recommendations for exercise are to do at least 15 minutes of strength exercises. In addition, you should do 10 repetitions of each exercise for the targeted area. After completion of 10 repetitions, you should do a few stretching exercise for about 20 seconds. Stretching out the targeted muscle will increase flexibility and increase strength. Increasing strength will build muscle thus eliminating cellulite.

For example, if your thighs are the problem area, use exercises that are designed for the thighs. These could be leg lefts or side leg lifts. In addition, there is exercise equipment exclusively made for thighs. If cellulite is on the buttocks, there are a number of ways to eliminate it. Doing lunges or squat exercises would be one way. Moreover, to increase the effects of your exercises, consider adding weights to you ankles or holding weights at your side. Exercise machines are another possibility to get you on your way to reducing or eliminating cellulite.

There is no easy cure for cellulite. Reducing its appearance or eliminating it altogether takes some work and dedication. A good exercise regimen will not only improve your cellulite, it will promote a sense of well being and improved health all around.

Still not sure where to start? A session or two with a certified personal trainer can help get you started on the right track. And while results won’t happen overnight, a consistent program of regular exercise combined with a sensible diet can go a long way toward not only improving your appearance, but your overall health as well.

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