Cankles, and Bra Bulge, and Muffin Tops…Oh My!!
May 6th, 2008 | by Lisa |…and saddlebags, and back fat, and teacher’s elbow (one I take personal offense to), and all those other awful things!
In case you are not sure what one of these terms means, let’s review.
1. Cankles: I think Seinfeld coined this phrase. Cankle is a term for fat ankles. Specifically, when the ankle is so fat, that you cannot distinguish it from the calf; calf + ankle= cankle. After the Seinfeld episode aired there seemed to be a rush of women wanting to find out how to get rid of their cankles.
2. Bra bulge: This is a tough one, because even slim girls tend to have a little bra bulge. This is where the back of your bra digs in, and you can see the distictive outline of your bra. Unfortunately this outline is made by your flab. The bra creates three little (or big) rolls. One above the bra, one below, and that lovely one that pops through the middle of the top and bottom elastic bands.
3. Muffin Top: This is a relatively new addtion to the body part jargon, due to the popularity of low-waisted jeans and the lack of popularity for diet and exercise. A muffin top is when your fat rolls over the top of your jeans, forming what looks like the puffy top of a muffin popping out over the wrapper. There two contributors to the muffin top phenomenon –the fat and the jeans. Obviously, the fatter you are, the larger the top of your muffin is. Just like other body parts, not all muffin tops are created equal. But, the pants are equally as guilty in creating the muffin top. Unless you have the physique of a fitness model, if you wear them too tight or too low for your body you are in danger of baking muffins.
4. Saddlebags: This one is a classic. Saddlebags have been around forever it seems. Our mothers used to complain about saddlebags. In case you have been living under a rock and have never heard this term, saddlebags are those lovely fat pouches on the sides of your hips and thighs.
5. Back Fat: Back fat is that area of the low-back comprised of two fat pouches hanging over the back of a girl’s low-slung jeans. Think: the part of the muffin top that rolls around to the back. Again, the tighter and lower the jeans, usually the more pronounced the back fat is.
6. Teacher’s Elbow: Probably my least favorite term of all. I mean, come on, why does it have to be teacher’s elbow? I am sure there are other professions where women have flabby arms. How about nurses, or lawyers, or even doctors? With the hours they work, many of them are unhealthy and probably just as flabby as teachers. But, no… it has to be the fat, jiggly, teacher elbow!! Teacher’s elbow isn’t really even on the elbow. It’s that flab of skin and fat on the back of the upper arm, where the tricep is. Teacher’s elbow is particularly hard to get rid of, especially with women who have recently lost a lot of weight. Most women tend to have at least a little bit of teacher’s elbow, unless they are extremely fit. You can thank good ol’ estrogen for that one.
Now that we have been educated on some of the awful side effects of bad diet and a sedentary lifestyle, what can we do to get rid of them? I hear women all the time say, “I am okay with my body, except for my saddlebags.” Or, “I wish I could just get rid of this muffin top belly.” The problem — if it really is a problem– is that you can’t spot reduce. You can’t go to your trainer and have him give you the magic workout to shred through that back fat. He can’t wave his wand and make your cankles shrink.
So how does one get rid of these bodily burdens? Through good old fashioned nutrition and exercise. Like I said, you can’t spot reduce. All of these areas are a result of an excess accumulation of fat, it’s just that we all tend to accumulate fat in different places. So in order to get rid of saddlebags or cankles, get yourself on a good fat loss program. And to be honest, hardly any of us suffer from just one of these ailments, we tend to have a few that we would like to see diminished. I know I would love to see my bra bulge go away and also completely eradicate my teacher’s elbow forever. So I personally think it’s a good thing that you can’t spot reduce. That way I can kill two birds with one stone!
And remember, these troublesome areas are accumulations of fat and we simply must lose fat to get rid of them, there is no magic muffin top exercise. Nothing drives me more crazy than seeing women do leg abductors and adductors, thinking it will shrink their saddlebags. Or hearing them talk about doing a hundred sit ups to lose their belly fat. Working your core is necessary, but until you shred that fat over your abs, you will never see them!
So ladies, if you want to rid yourselves of these ascetically displeasing ailments for good, get yourself on a good nutrition plan and fat burning program today! If you aren’t sure where to start, Turbulence Training is an excellent, proven program that you can do at home!
By the way, summer (and bikinis) are only seven weeks away! Yikes! You really don’t want a muffin top in a bikini! Get to work!
Happy training,
Lisa
