[JerseyGirl]

Hey Pamela,

I just received my first Rachel Cosgrove newsletter--and who should she include as her "letter from readers?" YOU!!! How cool is that?!

Question: I am 32 yo, and I am short; 5/1. Like most women I tend to hold fat in my hips/butt area. I have been working out for the past 8 years. I do cardio 6 days/week, Length varies between 40-60 minutes. I take a spinning class once a week, run 3 days, and then cross train on the others using the elliptical or another cardio piece of equipment. I do HIIT training and use other intervals to mix things up. I weight train my upper body using a split; chest and tris, back and bis, shoulders, or some combination of them. I do legs once a week. I also incorporate yoga into my days when I can. I use this as a stretching/relaxation part of working out.

BUT, I am seeing no improvements at all. My legs are still not firm and toned, and it is frustrating to me. I am not sure what exercises to do for my legs, the frequency/week, sets and reps. I do not know if legs should be done on a separate day away from spinning and interval training. Can I do them later in the day on a light cardio day? Do they need to rest the day after working them? Should I be using weights with them more frequently?

In the past, when I just started working out, I saw great results, and the funny thing is I was doing much less.

Can you help with any advice?

Answer: When you first start to exercise your body responds to the new stimulus and will change dramatically but after a period of time your body will start to adapt and you will have to make a change more frequently in your training to keep your body from adapting. I recommend changing your program once every 4-6 weeks.

Doing all of the cardio you are doing may actually be causing you to store more body fat on your lower body. Cardio or aerobic training can be used in your training but your body will adapt to it quickly and will start becoming very efficient at storing body fat especially on your lower body.

I would recommend taking two weeks off of all aerobic or cardio workouts and changing your resistance training workouts to full body routines where you will get the cardiovascular benefits and you will burn a lot more calories. There is not too much benefit for women to do a split weight training routine such as the one you are doing especially if you are trying to burn body fat. You should train your legs more then once a week because they are the biggest calorie burners. I would reccomend a full body workout with compound movements performed 3-4 days a week with no more then 2 days in a row. After you have taken two weeks off of all cardio workouts you can add back in an HIIT session 2-3 days a week.

Follow these recommendations and you should start to see your legs tone up at last!