Realistically, how quickly can I tone up lower body?

wokeupnew

I have awful cellulite on my bum and thighs. I weigh 137 and am 5'5. It has reduced slightly since I started at 154 but I would like to feel more confident in shorts and I'm going on holiday mid August.

Please don't tell me it's probably not that bad, it's bad. Worse than I've seen on 95% of pics of people my weight and height.
I don't expect to rid myself of it completely in a few weeks, but I would like to tone the muscle underneath the fat to improve the look of it.

What can I do at home, without the gym?
Any suggestions welcome.

MsDrJuris

First, there's no such thing as "toning." (You'll hear this again and again--it's a buzzword put out there by the media to sell products.) You can lose fat and you can build muscle, but you need to know which of the two you want to do (or both). Building muscle while reducing fat is a tough order and many people have a tough time with it, and (I know you don't want to hear this) it can take YEARS to change the shape and musculature in your legs, because you use them every single day (anytime you walk, etc). As far as reducing fat, it's going to depend on where your body likes to hold to to fat. Personally, legs are my last place to lose fat, while I lose backfat first. You cannot spot reduce, and even if you lose fat, it may not reduce the appearance of the cellulite. I'd suggest you implement a tough leg training regimen that consists of squats and lunges with a moderately heavy barbell on your back, some leg press (heavy weights, again), and some other free-weight exercises consisting of moderate to heavy weights. Be sure to take adequate rest days--legs can take several days to recover after tough workouts like these.

As far as doing stuff at home without the gym, it'd take a crapton of air squats and walking lunges to build the muscles. I'd try to get a short-term membership to the gym or some type of discount. To strip fat at home, consider some sort of routine like BodyRock that focuses on HIIT.

hilaryhill

Start lifting weights.