Hello all! Does anyone have any good exercises/stretches to help tone and slim the hips and buttocks? Thanks!<P>Sincerly,<BR>Jan<P>------------------<BR>Teaching Today Touches Tomorrow!<BR>

HI Miss Jan..you mentioned "stretch, tone and slim"? You know, of course, that "spot reducing" is a myth, put forth by all kinds of snake oil type product salesmen. When you lose weight, you lose it all over, when you gain weight you gain it all over. We all start out with a body that has certain proportions which are not really going to change. Like, long torso, short arms, narrow hips, wide shoulders, whatever.You can tone the muscles in a certain area. But toning a specific muscle will NOT get rid of fat tissue in that area. YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW ALL THIS JAZZ! For outer thighs and buttocks, I would do: aerobics and specifically step aerobics, forward lunges in parallel going no lower than 90 degree bend in the knees, leg scissors (lie down on your side, legs in parallel, do scissoring lifts in parallel no higher than 45 degrees, one leg up, one leg on the floor). All these exercises should be done to fatigue; making sure that you're not feeling any pain in your joints, especially knees. Hope this helps!!!---I gotta go teach a class of little munchkins now!!!<p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited May 04, 2001).]

Good ballet classes - and I am sure other forms of dance also - will do it. If you use and engage the muscles, this will tone these places for you.<P>You need to give it time - it doesn't change overnight. Some have said if you take a ballet class 2-3 times a week for 90 minutes each class - it takes about a year to see a difference.

Thanks Trina and Basheva for your advice! I will try these exercises you meation Trina, and see if this can help, Hope you have fun teaching the lil kiddies! <P>Sincerly,<BR>Jan<P>------------------<BR>Teaching Today Touches Tomorrow!<BR>