After pregnancy, a poor diet or a hormonal imbalance, fat can accumulate around the hips or pelvis, forming what is commonly known as saddlebags.
This issue, familiar to many women, can be addressed — particularly with targeted exercises to get rid of saddlebags!
Lying lateral leg raise
This saddlebag-busting exercise involves lying on your side and bending the leg resting on the floor. Your bottom hand should be placed near your ear, while your top hand rests flat on the floor in front of you.
- Exhale, then slowly raise your top leg upward until you reach a 60° angle — keeping your back straight throughout for a proper lateral raise.
- Swing your top leg in a controlled vertical movement, making sure to inhale each time you return to the starting position!
- Aim for up to 20 reps, then switch to the other leg!
These movements engage your gluteal muscles, hips and obliques, helping to strengthen primarily the gluteus medius and minimus.
In doing so, you target the fat stored around the pelvis and hips.
The bridge
Feel free to choose a variation of this move to strengthen your glutes and quickly reduce your saddlebags.
Also known as the bridge, this exercise comes in many forms: the classic or short bridge, the single-leg bridge, the weighted bridge, the elevated single-leg bridge, the narrow-stance bridge…
The list goes on. But whatever version you choose, the results will be felt around your hips.
The bridge helps you strengthen and effectively tone your glute muscles, targeting in particular the gluteus maximus — the largest and most powerful of the group.
The result: a shapelier, firmer, more toned backside with less localised subcutaneous fat.
This exercise is suitable for beginners. The more you increase the difficulty, the more visible the results.
And beyond beautifully rounded glutes, the bridge can also help you work towards a flatter stomach, as it engages the abdominal muscles too.
Forward lunges
Among the best moves for firming up your glutes, the forward lunge stands out.
How to perform the exercise:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, back straight and hands resting on your hips.
- Step forward, making sure to plant your entire foot flat on the floor. Then bend your front knee to a 90° angle on a vertical axis. Your back leg should be parallel to the floor, with only the ball of your foot touching the ground.
- Finally, push back up to the starting position using your leg. You can then switch legs or repeat on the same side.
There are several lunge variations to explore: stationary forward lunges; walking lunges with support; jump lunges; guided lunges; and more.
Lunges work your adductors, quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Beyond a lifted backside, you’ll also achieve beautifully toned legs.
The side plank
For this move, you need to be on your side, lying on the floor.
- Rest on your forearm so that your elbow forms a 90° angle. The outer edge of your foot (at the ankle), which is on the floor, acts as your lower support point.
- From there, lift your hips off the floor. Your ankles, knees, hips and shoulders should be perfectly aligned — in other words, your spine must remain straight.
- Engage your core and breathe normally throughout. When you’re ready to switch sides, don’t let your hips drop to the floor.
- Simply rotate into a front plank position and transition to the opposite side, then repeat the same movement.
The side plank is primarily known for strengthening the abdominal muscles.
But it also delivers significant benefits for your hips, which are heavily engaged throughout the exercise.
Fire Hydrant
This exercise helps sculpt the glutes and ease lower back discomfort.
The main muscle groups targeted are the hips, glutes, thighs and core. Best of all, no equipment is needed.
- Start on all fours, with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees hip-width apart.
- Keep one knee bent on the floor, then lift the other leg upward and out to the side until it is level with your hip.
- Lower your leg back to the starting position to complete one rep.
This move helps open the hip away from the thigh, lift and strengthen the hip, and firm the glutes and thighs.
Rainbow
The Rainbow is one of the most effective moves for shaping the glutes and reducing saddlebags.
Here’s how to perform this straightforward exercise:
- Start on all fours, then extend your left leg straight back, reaching your toes as far as possible.
- Lift the leg and hold, then lower it to tap the floor with your toes.
- Raise the leg again and arc it across to the opposite side in a sweeping motion, as if drawing a rainbow. Hold for one minute per leg.
Ultimately, to rediscover your ideal silhouette, choose the saddlebag exercise that suits you best — or take on all six.