Can anyone give me some suggestions on how to work off my mugwumps? You know, that deposit of fat on the inside of my upper thigh? YUCK. I do not belong to a gym, so is there anything I can do at home to get rid of it? I do have 5 lb ankle weights.

Thanks!

Something I used to do was lay on my back, legs start straight up in the air together, perpendicular to the floor. Then you do a scissor action - lower legs toward the floor forming a V. Then bring them up again and repeat. Easy to do during commercials!
It's good for toning the muscle, but you still have to do the cardio to help burn off the fat.

Thanks, I will try that!

You should strength train your legs for a nice shapely appearance - you can do that at home: squats, lunges, single leg squats, leg extensions with an ankle weight etc. and do interval training... if you're stuck and can't leave the house because of kids or something skipping is a great thing!

You basically just have to wait for the fat to come off! But you can help your skin firm up in that area (I have) by doing skin brushin, or dry brushing. Try a search for it in these forums I know there is a few threads in here. Also you can look at the T-tapp website, there should be some info there.

take care,
Meg

Thank you for the great information Meg!

I'm also working hard on shaping up my legs (and whole lower half), inner and outer mugwhumps as you call it.

I workout at a gym as well as home workouts.

At home I use leg weights that are 10 lbs. I work my legs from every angle I can think of. I focus on heavier weight and less reps to try to fatigue the muscles which gives me quickest results. This has helped reduce cellulite, provide tone and defintion. I am starting to see those cuts/lines down the side of my legs and feel more confident in shorts.

This is what I do at home:

(1) Lie flat on back and lift ea leg individually.
(2) Lie on stomach and life ea leg individually.
(3) Alternate sides lying down on your side. Put weight on leg that is touching the floor. Lift this leg up/down (w/ ankle facing upwards) slowly focusing on inner thigh which you are inquiring about. Then go to other side and do the same.
(4) Standing up straight. Put weight on ankle and lift leg out to the side slowly.
(5) Standing up straight, then lift leg behind you.
(6) Standing up straight, bend knee and bring knee up as high to your chest as you can. Go up/down, up/down....
(7) Get down on all fours on the floor (hands/knees) Raise your leg up/down w/ knee bent focusing on pressing foot to the ceiling. Hold for a few counts and repeat.
(8) On all fours on floor w/ knees bent, extend leg out to the side.

With more weight you should feel a burn more quickly.

I absolutely can't recommend Callanetics enough for lower-body exercises! You can probably find the book at your local library (Callanetics Countdown is best for beginners and divides the program up into legs, hips/butt, and stomach, Callanetics 10 Years Younger in 10 Hours has the entire program in it, as well as modifications for people with serious back problems and older people with limited flexibility) and I know it's available used on Amazon for as little as $2. There are videos available online at Amazon as well, if you prefer those. It's kind of a mishmash of ballet and yoga, with the central idea that the best way to work the deep muscles is to hold a pose, then move back and forth very slightly. The leg exercises are taken straight out of ballet and are basically just plies, but they work wonders! And the hips/butt exercises are the best I have ever seen. They really isolate, unlike squats and such where a lot of the exercise involves the leg muscles. I lost five inches off my hips in about four months. And all you need for the whole program is enough room to lie down in and a sturdy chair with a back about waist-height.

In response to your actual question, though, her "inner thigh exercise" is very simple and you can do it just about anywhere -- you sit down on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, and place your ankles on either side of a chair or footstool about a shoulder-width apart. Sit up straight and rest your hands in between your thighs. Then squeeze your ankles together, using your inner thighs. Hold for a steady count of 100. Sometimes it takes a few days before your inner thighs get strong enough to take over from your lower legs, so if you don't feel it there right away, don't panic. You can also do this sitting in a chair, using your knees and another chair. Or grip a foam ball in between your knees while you sit at the computer! If you do it three times a week, you should feel and see results within just a few weeks, and in the meantime, you'll feel it working, trust me :->

Alternatively, you could go take riding lessons, and ask your instructor to let you do a lot of posting with no stirrups ;-> or even better, ask them to let you hold the jump seat at a trot for a few minutes, also with no stirrups!

(And definitely remember to stretch, stretch, stretch!)

Hope that helps!