Accumulated fat near the hip often provides an outward extended look to the hips. Consequently, when you wear tight clothes, they look more exposed. When working on different solutions how to reduce hip fat, it is essential to know the causes.
What Causes Hip Fat?
Before we jump into the solutions for reducing hip fat, let's check out what causes fat accumulation in the hip area in women:
1. Lack of Physical Activity
Remaining inactive for the most time the day or sitting in a place for maximum hours of a day might lead to fat accumulation. The fat from the food gets accumulated. The fat fails to transform into energy due to a lack of physical movement or exercise.
2. Inappropriate Thyroid Functioning
Thyroid hormones help regulate the metabolic rate in the human body. Its improper functioning lowers body metabolism, due to which one suffers from low energy and leads to more fat accumulation.
3. Medical Ailments
People suffering from knee, back, or ankle pain often lack physical movement. It prompts them to sit in one place for a longer duration, likely facing the issue of fat accumulation.
4. Menopause
Weight gain is natural for women who had menopause or are experiencing it. The body undergoes several hormonal changes during menopause that cause fat accumulation near the hip. Hence, a woman must exercise to reduce hip fat while experiencing menopause.
How To Reduce Hip Fat?
Working on solutions of how to reduce thigh and hip fat is not magic that would spell in a day. It is a complete and disciplined procedure involving changes in lifestyle, diet, exercise, and many more. Let's get into different solutions of how to reduce hip fat:
1. Exercise and Workouts
Incorporate different exercises that target the hip muscles and thighs. For instance, deadlifts, squats, and lunges target the lower body, providing a toned shape to the legs. Research even recommends doing 150-300 minutes of physical activity with moderate intensity.
Similarly, one should focus on muscle-strengthening activities two days a week. Doing an exercise or indulging in quality physical activity for a given time helps transform the accumulated fat in the hip into energy.
2. Include High-intensity Interval Training (Hiit) in Your Routine
Research shows that HIIT is an effective exercise to reduce hip fat. It is one of the types of cardio workouts. It includes short durations of intense exercise, followed by a short rest duration. The training form spikes up the heart rate, prompting the body to burn more fat in less time. It may include 20-30 minutes of intense sprinting or exercise, followed by 10-15 seconds of rest. Again return to other intense exercises like squats and then rest for a few seconds.
3. Focus on Your Diet
No matter how well you indulge in physical activity, an improper diet would fail to show effective results. Proper nutrition plays a vital role in reducing hip fat. When it comes to lower hip fat, people often prefer these diets:
- ketogenic
- low carb food
- restrictive caloric food
- paleo
Research shows that different diet types have almost similar effects. Each diet type has different pros and cons. One can either consult a dietician or maintain a healthy diet by:
- Limiting the alcohol intake
- Eating major plant-based foods
- Avoiding processed foods
- Reducing the sugar and sweetened foods and drinks, etc.
4. Include Electrolytes in Your Diet
One might witness the electrolyte content like magnesium, calcium, and potassium in a sports drink. Moreover, these electrolytes are enough in healthy foods. Potassium competes with salt, which helps retain the fluid balance in the body. One can include bananas, green leafy vegetables, or yoghurt in their diet. These are rich sources of electrolytes. Hence, servings of fruits and veggies would help maintain a healthy weight, inhibiting the fat accumulation in the hip.
5. Reduce the Liquid Calorie Consumption
People often consume liquid calories such as fruit juices, soda, alcohol, aerated drinks, full-fat milk, sweetened coffee and tea, hot chocolate, etc. It is the major reason we often put on weight with heavy fat accumulation in the hip. Although marketers claim these drinks to be energetic and healthy, it rapidly increases the fat around the stomach, hip, and thighs.
6. Consider Apple Cider Vinegar
Consuming apple cider vinegar is also an effective way to reduce hip fat. ACV contains essential enzymes and minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It helps break down the accumulated fat in the hip, eliminates body toxins, and prevents water retention.
Also Read: Apple Cider Vinegar for PCOS
Exercise To Reduce Hip Fat
Are you searching for solutions to 'how to reduce thighs and hips in 7 days?' If yes, try these exercises:
1. Squats
It is a versatile exercise that focuses on the lower body muscles.
- Start with standing straight.
- The feet should be wider than the shoulder width.
- Stretch the hands forward and lower yourself until the thighs are parallel to the ground.
- Pause over with the knees rather than focusing on the toes.
- Exhale and return to a normal standing position.
- Repeat this 10-15 times. Once you master this, transform it into high intensity for effective results.
Also Read: 11 Benefits of Squats for Women
2. Side Lunges
It focuses on the hip area and thigh, helping reduce the fat and enhance body flexibility.
- Stand with the feet wider than the hip-width.
- Keep the body tall and engage the core while facing forward.
- Take a wide step towards the right and squat down. In other words, lower the body until the right thigh is parallel to the ground.
- Pause for 4-5 seconds and return to the centre. Try 12-16 sides on alternating sides.
3. Side-lying Leg Raise
It is an isolation exercise that provides strength and toning to the hips.
- Lie on the yoga mat sideways on your right side.
- Raise the top leg as high as you can.
- Make sure the toes remain pointed towards the forward. Pause for a while and lower your leg.
- Make sure to keep the core engaged and pelvic steady for a better result. Repeat this ten times on both sides.
Standing Exercises To Reduce Belly Fat
Take a look at some standing exercises to reduce belly fat and how it works:
1. High Knee Run
It is one of the cardio exercises that help boost metabolism. Improved metabolism activates burning calories and improving strength and endurance. A high knee run makes the abs strong, enhances momentum, flexibility, coordination, and activates the core muscles. It allows burning belly fat quickly while increasing the heart rate.
2. Windmill
Using a dumbbell or kettlebell while doing the windmill helps burn extra calories and improve stability and core strength. It helps benefit the hips and hamstrings while improving flexibility.
3. Standing Core Stabiliser
It helps target belly fat and enhance the core muscles. It even supports the spine and helps reduce back pain. It promotes abdominal strength as it targets the core muscles. Practising a standing core stabiliser regularly would help shape the midsection and reduce belly fat.
How To Lose Hip Fat Without Exercise?
Injuries and breakouts are common while exercising. Does it mean that you should stop focusing on reducing belly fat? Is it possible to reduce hip fat without exercise? Of course, yes, take a look at these tips:
1. Stay Hydrated
Water retention also impacts weight gain. If you fail to keep the body hydrated, it causes water retention in different areas, especially the belly and hip areas. Drinking enough water helps alleviate the water retention issues and flush out the toxins from the body.
2. Work on Balancing Hormones
The two essential women hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, are highly responsible for weight distribution. Pregnancy, genetics, and lifestyle choices often interfere with hormonal balance. One can restore this balance while focusing on a healthy lifestyle.
3. Include Cayenne Pepper in Your Diet
It contains a capsaicin compound that helps dissolve the fat tissues while creating heat within the body. It even decreases calorie intake. Consume 1-2 pinches of cayenne pepper with a cup of water or add it to your foods.
Yoga To Reduce Hip And Thigh Fat
Yoga is a holistic approach to burning excess body fat and providing strength. Some popular yoga to reduce hip and thigh fat is:
- Bhadrasana or Cobbler Pose
- Utkatasana or Chair Pose
- Salabhasana or Locust Pose
- Naukasana or Boat Pose
- Ustrasana or Camel Pose
- Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation
These yoga asanas target the hip and thigh areas, burning the accumulated fat and helping provide flexibility and strength.
How to Get Slim Hips and Thighs in 2 Weeks?
It is only possible to reduce hip and thigh fat in two weeks if one is strict towards disciplined exercise and a healthy diet. Some exercises women must try to reduce fat in two weeks are:
- Seated leg raise
- Seated Bridge
- Seated hand push
Apart from exercising, pay attention to a low-carb diet as it helps cut down the fat. However, it is not good to cut down the carbohydrates entirely from the diet. It would fail to provide ample energy for body functioning.
Other Factors That Can Affect Weight
A study shows that chronic stress increases cortisol hormones that cause weight gain. Research shows a direct link between sleep duration and obesity. Even menopause contributes to mood swings, changes in food intake, and activity levels. All such factors affect fat distribution.
Summing Up on How to Reduce Hip Fat
These were some tips and tricks to reduce overall body weight, especially hip and thighs. It is better to know what causes hip fat in you and incorporate essential exercises and diet into your routine.
FAQs
Does Climbing Stairs Help Lose Belly Fat?
Yes, climbing stairs help lose belly fat. It comes with the pure fat burn that challenges the body. However, it provides strength, stamina, and endurance only when done at a fast rate.
Does Jogging Reduce Thigh Fat?
Yes, jogging helps shed fat, providing a lean appearance. A person weighing approx 140 pounds can burn 223 calories while jogging for 30 minutes.
Why Do Girls Have Big Thighs?
Women produce oestrogen hormones that prompt increasing fat cells. The fat gets accumulated in the thighs and buttocks. Moreover, the onset of puberty increases hormonal production. Consequently, it spikes the rate of increasing fat cells.
References
- Patrice L. Capers, June 2015; A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of the Impact of Sleep Duration on Adiposity and Components of Energy Balance - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4532553/
- M. Heydari, June 2012; The Effect of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise on Body Composition of Overweight Young Males - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3375095/
- President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition - https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/presidents-council
