It may look silly, but you'll be the one smiling when you slip back into your favorite pair of jeans. The platypus targets the butt and upper thighs, burns calories and requires no equipment....

1) While standing upright, spread your legs just beyond your shoulders and squat down as if sitting in a chair...

2) Keep your shoulders back, place your hands lightly behind your head. Try to keep your knees over your ankles and your back straight as you walk forward. Take 20 steps.

3) Stand up straight and rest for 30 to 45 seconds. Repeat twice. Work up to 50 steps before resting...this works!!

Do you do this in addition to marching during commercials? You go girl!

I'm sitting here with my hands on my head, a straight back and trying to figure out if I could even keep my balance. I don't think I could.

I have been struggling with my weight forever. I roller blade do spinng classes, and to to follow weight watchers. Does weight watchers really work? Any other ideas?

I have been struggling with my weight forever. I roller blade do spinng classes, and to to follow weight watchers. Does weight watchers really work? Any other ideas?

Welcome Romeo2. I'll assume you're female? Why don't you go to the Welcome section and tell us all about yourself?

WW does work. But like anything else, if you don't change your eating habits, you regain the weight since most people go right back to eating the way they did before they dieted.

Eating sensibly and exercising is the key, in my opinion. But that a 50 cents will get you a senior coffee at MacDonalds.....

JJ

Sounds like a great exercise, chatty lady - it's a variant of squatting which is classical weight-training exercise. Those, in suitable variations, as well as various lunges, leg extensions and leg curls are THE exercises for thighs and butt, as well as Ashtanga yoga. If you do either recreational(for health and fitness, not necessarily competitive)bodybuilding or Ashtanga yoga consistently and in good form, and have a pretty clean diet, you WILL get results - speaking from experience here!

cara, please tell us more about Ashtanga yoga.

Ashtanga yoga is a very powerful, intense, and strengthening form of yoga - it has about 6 series of asanas, but I assure you, if you make it to 3rd series, you ARE in shape, big-time. And no, you don't hang out in one pose forever - that kind, the regular hatha yoga type lost its appeal for me for that reason - it was just too slow and meditative - I like movement, which Ashtanga offers hugely. I am just your very humble beginner here because I don't have access to a teacher, so I have had to practice intermittently on my own(not ready to give up weight-training yet, which is what would be virtually required if I took up Ashtanga practice for the recommended 6 days per week). But for beginners, if you can at least master the standing asanas in the 1st series, and a few of the floor exercises, you will definitely get some benefit. If I were where there was easy access to classes I'd go once a week to get instruction to be able to continue a home practice.
In the meantime, google "Ashtanga yoga" - there's tons about it on the web!

Polates is the new way to really tighten up that back side. It works wonders on all of the body making the muscles longer and leaner.