I’ve been taking kick-boxing lessons for six months and riding an exercise bike for one month and am finally seeing results. However, my hips seem to be getting bigger and not smaller. Their curviness prevents me from fitting into smaller clothing sizes. What can I do to make them smaller?

answer

Do upper body exercises. It sounds strange, but weight training exercises for your upper body will help you increase your overall lean body mass, and you’re already giving your legs a thorough workout. Lifting weights will help you burn more calories throughout the day by raising your resting metabolism. This in turn will help you lose overall body fat, especially from your hips, where you seem to be storing the most fat. Weight training for your upper body will also help you pack a bigger punch. Just keep in mind that the punching in kick-boxing helps tone your arms, but the only thing that is going to develop your muscles is weight training.

Try bench presses, lat pull downs to strengthen your back, overhead dumbbell presses and flies with dumbbells for your shoulders. All these exercises will help tone and sculpt your upper body and balance it with your lower body, taking the focus off your hips.

As far as cardiovascular activity goes, alternate your kick-boxing and cycling days. If you're not spending at least 30 minutes cycling, then increase your time by at least 15 minutes. Steady exercise at a moderate level, like walking or cycling, has greater fat-burning potential than kick-boxing, which is an anaerobic sport. This means you’re exercising for shorter spurts at a high intensity and you probably can’t keep up this pace for a long amount of time.

Finally, give yourself time to see a change in your body. Don’t be discouraged by hitting a plateau in your progress — just keep looking forwards.

Why not chat to other iVillagers about exercise on the Shaping Up message board. Take a look at some of the LIVE discussions happening now on the board:

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Help for heavy hips