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This is embarrasing but...

reederx5
reederx5 Posts: 76 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I am trying to lose weight and was wondering what exercises would work best for someone with a shelf on their butt. I feel like it has always been there and don't know if I will be able to lose it. I think it is a pad of fat on the back side above my butt. Any advice on the best exercise to target that area?:embarassed:

Replies

  • MissMormie
    MissMormie Posts: 359 Member
    There's no way to spot reduce that area. But burning fat in general will help.

    So, do weight training and bits of cardio and things will improve.
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
    Can't spot reduce. If you start losing fat overall you will lose that "shelf"
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
    I also have the shelf on my butt and it's so irritating. There's not really anything you can do to target a particular area but I would suggest squats and lunges. They need to be your friend now! If it's in your make up that you're gonna have the shelf then that's probably the last place the weight is gonna come off. Just keep doing whatever you're doing and it will go down eventually.
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
    Looks like people beat me to it. Unfortunately you can't spot reduce, it comes from overall weight loss.
    A healthy diet with a good mix of cardio and strength training and you'll be well on your way!
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
    I think you should change the title of this to 'this is embarassing butt' :)

    Sorry I don't believe you can just pick where you lose weight from first - if you lose the weight you want to lose then you can start working on problem areas with toning.
  • Lize11e
    Lize11e Posts: 419
    Unfortunately, what they said ^^ however, I had the shelf-butt-syndrome as well and as I have lost the shelf has morphed into the under-butt. Ha. Just hang in there and it will eventually get better. Best of luck!
  • urfitnesspal2
    urfitnesspal2 Posts: 62 Member
    I have yet to read of any studies that have proven there is such thing as "target" weight loss. When you lose excess body fat, you lose it from all over. I am not exactly sure what your referring to as a shelf, but if it is excess body fat it will come off as you continue to lose weight.
  • ernielaurie
    ernielaurie Posts: 80
    I used to have a china cabinet!!! Now I'm down to a shelf, the only thing I do is walk/jog and zumba. And ski, and curl, and skate....you have to move to move it off you. Trust me if there was an easier way, I'd have done it!
  • youcandooeet
    youcandooeet Posts: 104 Member
    Like everyone else said, you can't spot reduce, HOWEVER. You can reshape your booty with squats and lunges. Seriously, my butt already looks so different after just two months of weight training. It didn't have a shelf, but it was pretty flat. It's got a nice curve to it now. MUSCLES!
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    The best workout ever for women The Venus Index! legs, butt, all over, just the right combinations to make a woman look good. That is the INTENT of the workout. Does not matter what your size, shape. or height. The designer is a genius who knows his stuff.

    This is what it did for me and I had been lifting prior for over 30 years. This program gave me exactly what I needed, exceed my expectations, helped me exceed what I ever thought I was capable of

    --> http://www.venusindex.com/roberta-saums-venus-index-transformation/


    So did all these ladies ---> http://www.venusindex.com/transformation-contest/

    It costs nothing to read and listen to their interviews and its fun because they are real like you and I.
  • Erin0164
    Erin0164 Posts: 64 Member
    walk, walk, walk, walk...then walk again..then some lunges....then some leg lifts. I've lost a few inches off my butt in the last 10 weeks. Exercise is the key I think.
  • robin68562
    robin68562 Posts: 116 Member
    I have the same problem. Lie flat on your stomach on the floor and push yourself straight up on your arms with your chest up off the floor the rest of your body still flat on the floor. Hold that position for like ten seconds, repeating ten times every day. It's not hard to do and it really tightens up those butt muscles. You can lose some of that 'shelf', but you're still going to have a butt --- but thanks to J-lo, there's nothing wrong with that. :wink:
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
    I have a "shelf" too no matter my size. I agree you cannot spot reduce, but if you lose weight and tone up all over, please try to embrace your shelf as sexy rather than a bad thing... think J.Lo or Beyonce!
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    It's a good thing you can't spot reduce. It would look really funny if you lost only your butt weight and nothing else. Just keep plugging away at it and it will go away along with everything else.
  • Onaughmae
    Onaughmae Posts: 873 Member
    I WISH I could spot reduce since I am the undisputed Queen of Backfat! Unfortunately, you cant....but I find that a continued overall fat loss is even reducing the fat there. Keep doing what you are doing and that shelf will eventually whittle away also :)
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    It normally goes the 1st place you put on is the last place to go! :sad:
  • mccbabe1
    mccbabe1 Posts: 737 Member
    Like everyone else said, you can't spot reduce, HOWEVER. You can reshape your booty with squats and lunges. Seriously, my butt already looks so different after just two months of weight training. It didn't have a shelf, but it was pretty flat. It's got a nice curve to it now. MUSCLES!

    BUMP! toning and strength training NOT JUST CARDIO should help the shelf!
  • lifescircle
    lifescircle Posts: 108
    It's a good thing you can't spot reduce. It would look really funny if you lost only your butt weight and nothing else. Just keep plugging away at it and it will go away along with everything else.

    Yep... good thing.

    A while ago, I came to the VIVID realization that I was fat all over. I was fooling myself thinking "if only I could lose that belly"... PLEASE... I was fat all over. Keep exercising and eating well and you will lose the weight, all over.

    After you lose most of the weight, you can do "spot" training, building muscles in areas. My belly went down, then came back up, cause I was building muscle under the fat... not a bad thing as long as I realized that and didn't get discouraged.

    Definitely work on strength training after you lose most of the weight to shape and tone.
  • HelenDootson
    HelenDootson Posts: 443 Member
    I walk and run and my shelf has gone :smile: But everyone is different xx
  • glabens
    glabens Posts: 1 Member
    P90X is the only type of workout that has worked for me in that area. Over the years Ive tried running/jogging/walking, Buns of Steel, Biggest Loser, elliptical trainer machine, spin class, etc. . . and nothing worked to make my butt smaller until I started to do P90X. I was amazed. It's worth a try and give it about 8 weeks before throwing in the towel.
  • Kikilicious84
    Kikilicious84 Posts: 312
    I think you should change the title of this to 'this is embarassing butt' :)

    Sorry I don't believe you can just pick where you lose weight from first - if you lose the weight you want to lose then you can start working on problem areas with toning.

    Hahaha!
  • bikinisuited
    bikinisuited Posts: 881 Member
    Reference workouts for later!
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    I had that issue too - not much of a butt but the high rump of a chariot horse. I lost from the top down and the shelf got in line with the rest of my major fat deposits, after the spare tire and before the belly. I didn't do any targeted exercise to get rid of the fat but did have to grow a butt before I was close to being satisfied with how things looked back there. Running and squats did that for me.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    Am I the only one who doesn't know what a "butt shelf" is? DO you mean a muffin top or love handles but on your back?
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
    http://www.nerdnirvana.org/2011/02/10/reverse-butt/
  • robin68562
    robin68562 Posts: 116 Member
    Am I the only one who doesn't know what a "butt shelf" is? DO you mean a muffin top or love handles but on your back?

    No --- It's a big, ole bubble butt that's kind of up high. I could put a beer can on mine.
This discussion has been closed.

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