It happens to all of us, we look down and notice dimply-looking skin around our derrieres and thighs. But don’t worry, you aren’t alone. Up to 90% of all women have cellulite, and all genders get it! Women just happen to be more cellulite prone.
Cellulite occurs when fatty tissue pushes up the fibrous connective tissues that are just underneath the surface of the skin. Age, family history, hormones, weight gain, inactivity, and poor circulation all play a role in getting cellulite.
While there is no way to prevent cellulite, there are options to limit and reduce its appearance without having to change your lifestyle (too much).
- Hit The Weight Room
- Stop Smoking
- Get Massages
- Use Topical Creams
- Drink More Water
Develop An Exercise Routine
Daily cardio exercises like running, cycling, and swimming, with two to three strength-training sessions a week, reduces the appearance of cellulite. The reduction of cellulite happens because the dimples caused by fat are replaced with muscle. And muscle smooths your skin reducing the appearance of cellulite.
Strength training exercises (ones that use weights or products like resistance bands) also build and tone your muscles. It’s just one of the benefits of adding strength training to your cardio routines (and vice versa).
Pro-tip: By doing squats or using a squat machine like ours during the commercial breaks of your favorite shows, you won’t have to make any modifications to your daily schedule!
Stop Smoking
Stopping smoking increases the oxygen and nutrients that reach your skin which will perk up its blood flow. This improves your skin's elasticity and helps reduce cellulite.
When you smoke, your body’s ability to break down and get rid of toxins slows down. These toxins then build up in your fat cells causing them to enlarge which creates the dimpled appearance. When you stop smoking, these fat cells shrink back down which reduces cellulite.
When you are ready to stop smoking, there are many programs that can help like hypnosis, classes, medications, etc.
Get More Massages
Massages are a US FDA-approved treatment for cellulite reduction, because it improves your circulation, breaks up fat deposits, stimulates your lymphatic flow, and tightens and tones your skin. An example of a type of massage that reduces cellulite is endermologie massage.
This technique uses a mechanical device with rollers and suction to manipulate your skin and underlying tissue breaking up the fibrous bands that cause cellulite. Hot stone and sports massages also boost your circulation and lymphatic drainage to improve your skin health and reduce the appearance of cellulite.
And while prenatal massage can help with a variety of pregnancy-related discomforts, it’s not designed for cellulite reduction.
Use Topical Creams
Topical creams typically contain a combination of ingredients that reduce inflammation, improve circulation, and break down fat deposits.
Ingredients to look for include:
- Caffeine, because it improves your circulation, reduces inflammation, and since it dehydrates your cells, the appearance of any cellulite is reduced.
- Retinoids since it improves collagen production and skin elasticity but it should have at least 0.3% of Retinol to work.
- Aminophylline to break down fat deposits.
How often you should use these topical creams can vary depending on the product, so it's important to read the instructions and follow them carefully. Usually, topical creams for cellulite reduction should be massaged into the skin (until it is fully absorbed) at the affected areas twice daily (once in the morning and once at night).
Drink More Water
Drinking more water (at least 9 glasses of water every day) improves your circulation, flushes out toxins, and reduces the appearance of cellulite by improving the elasticity of your skin. When your body is dehydrated, toxins build up in the fatty tissues which helps cause cellulite to form.
Skin that’s hydrated becomes plumper and smoother which makes cellulite less visible and your body then releases those toxins. Drinking enough water on a daily basis is important for your overall health and appearance of your skin.
While you can’t cure cellulite, you can reduce its appearance using these five solutions whenever and wherever it shows up.
