Sunday Morning News

Special Exercises Target Cellulite

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, here's a story for you. Cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, no matter what you call it, there's really no nice way to describe the appearance of cellulite. But there may be a way to get rid of it.

CNN medical correspondent Linda Ciampa has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA CIAMPA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sick of cellulite? So are these women and they found a way to smooth out those rippling layers of fat, a weight lifting program so hot it made the cover of "Shape" magazine.

UNIDENTIFIED DIETER: So I toned up quite a bit and lost inches.

UNIDENTIFIED DIETER: I think I had an overall loss of 10 pounds and almost four inches off my hips.

CIAMPA: Experts say cellulite is really just fat. Wayne Wescott, the man behind the anti-cellulite workout, says it appears with muscle loss and increasing age.

WAYNE WESCOTT, SOUTH SHORE YMCA, BOSTON: Women lose about five pounds of muscle every decade. If that underlying foundation isn't firm and strong, the fat takes kind of an irregular, clumpy appearance like mashed potatoes or cottage cheese and it gives that funny look.

CIAMPA: Nothing funny about the anti-cellulite workout. It's three times a week of no nonsense iron pumping.

BARBARA HARRIS, "SHAPE" MAGAZINE: Here's the key, if you want the maximum results on reducing cellulite on the lower body, what you have to focus on is developing the muscles of the lower body.

CIAMPA: Harris says another key is to use enough weight, something most women who work out don't do.

HARRIS: When you reach repetition number 10, you're really, really tired and you certainly can't go past 15.

CIAMPA: One example of the cellulite busting exercises, the leg press.

HARRIS: It works the muscles of the butt.

CIAMPA: Four other exercise make up the basic workout. In a small study, researchers found that even in the absence of dieting, an eight week course of the anti-cellulite workout, just 20 minutes a session, had an effect.

WESCOTT: Seventy percent found it made a major difference in their appearance. The other 30 percent thought it made some difference. So I think we're in the right direction.

CIAMPA: A direction leading to better health, not to mention better looking thighs.

Linda Ciampa, CNN, Quincy, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com