Hide Your Cellulite with Muscle
Q & A with Trainer Chris Powell
Barb of Glendale doesn't like the lumpy look of cellulite.
Dear Chris,
I wanted to find out if there is any hope in getting rid of cellulite with exercise and good nutrition? My hope is as I lose weight and exercise it will go away, however, I wonder if I am stuck with it unless I "go under the knife" (which isn't something I want to to do)!
Well Barb, I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that cellulite is caused by irreparable damage to the connective tissue in the skin. However, the good news is that you can significantly and permanently reduce the ‘cellulite look/orange peel’ appearance to the skin buy simply developing the muscles underneath the skin (the glutes and hamstrings), and reducing the layer of fat that sits between the muscle and the skin!
For exercise, I always train in the morning so that I can control my meals for muscle shaping earlier in the day, and then transition my meals over to fat loss later in the day. You want to focus on larger compound movements like squat and lunges for the glutes and hamstrings. To develop the muscle, you want to make sure that the intensity of the exercises is high enough so that you will find that you can only do about 8-12 repetitions of the exercise. If you can do more than 12 repetitions, I recommend grabbing some weights and carrying them with you during the exercise, so that you can only do about 10 reps. After each set of 8-12 reps, it is very important that you let the muscle rest JUST 60 seconds, then do another set. Repeat for 6-8 sets of 8-12 repetitions, and you’ve done a great workout to stimulate those glutes, quads, and hamstrings for shape and size.
The next step is to feed the muscle for growth. Remember, during the workout you are actually breaking down the muscle – it is not growing, but getting smaller!! To make a muscle grow, you gotta feed it!! Before and after the workout I recommend a combination of proteins and carbohydrates with very low fat (I prefer fruit protein shakes: 1-2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder, ½ bag of my favorite frozen berries – blend and serve). 90 minutes after the workout, we will transition from sugary carbs (fruits, etc) to more starchy carbs for the meals, like brown rice, potatoes, yams, and whole grain pasta. Always eat some kind of protein with each meal and keep your fats low during the day. For the last two meals of the day, we are going to do something I call the ‘crossover meal’. Essentially, we cut out starchy carbohydrates altogether, and eat protein, veggies, and fats for the last two meals of the day. During this time the body wants more carbohydrates for fuel – if it can’t get them, it looks to its own body for fuel and starts to burn the stored body fat for energy!!
This is the best combination of exercise and nutrition that you can use to diminish the layers of fat under the skin and develop the muscle to reduce the appearance of cellulite! Keep in mind that the body moves in slow motion, so it takes this kind of lifestyle day after day for at least two weeks before you start to see a significant difference, but trust me…it will happen! Keep up the good work 
~Chris
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