The Top Knee Fat Exercises To Add To Your Workout Program
Like we have talked about on other articles, knee fat exercises alone won’t do the trick in slimming the fat around your knee area… but they do help indirectly by building muscle around your knees which makes any subcutaneous adipose tissue (the fat just below your skin) you have in that area less noticeable.
So there is no reason to throw your hands up in frustration thinking there is absolutely no way to make your fat knees less noticeable. There is something you can do to help.
Start doing more exercises that focus on your upper and lower legs.
If you are already on a workout program then you should consider incorporating more of these into it in order to target this problem area. The same principle applies to other problem areas you may have such as fat on the back of your arms, “cankle” fat, fat on your glutes, back fat, and any other problem area.
Although many people will say that spot fat reduction is impossible don’t listen to them. There is an element of truth to what they say… the human body does lose fat systemically. Meaning your body burns excess fat from your entire body when in a caloric deficit.
Working out your abdominals over and over is not necessarily going to burn your belly fat away. However, what it will do is build more muscle in this area. As you gain muscle in some of these nagging areas you will create better shape and overall tone which makes that same amount of fat (assuming you don’t lose any) less noticeable.
Also there has been some theorizing amongst bodybuilders and fitness models that when a certain body part is focused on during the course of a workout that it causes more blood flow to that area (this is what causes the “pump”) which can help flush more nutrients into that area. This could possibly cause some “spot fat reduction” although it may be minimal.
Nutrition is the king of fat loss so ensure you do not focus excessively on exercise to the neglect of proper nutrition and supplementation.
So keep all that in mind when knocking out more of the following exercises. You may not experience results overnight but you will gradually. Remember rapid weight loss usually does not last very long. Take pictures ahead of time and as you progress. When you can see your progress it is incredibly motivating!
The 6 Essential Knee Fat Exercises You Must Do To Get Skirt or Short-Worth Knees
- Squats : Do weighted squats if you can but if you need to start with body weight squats. Throw some variations in there to keep it interesting. Try the squat jumps and squat and holds to really pick it up a notch.
- Lunges : Do front, back, and side lunges. Again use weight if possible and keep increasing the difficulty. For a variation try lunge jumps.
- Stair Steppers : A quad and calf burner (all the muscles around your fat knees). If you don’t have access to a machine then use some real stairs. For added stress on your quads go up do this backwards. No stairs? Try the next exercise!
- Walking Hills : A great alternative or addition to the stair stepper. Same concept, works your thighs and calfs especially when you walk up a hill backwards. As an added bonus when walking or jogging up a hill you put less stress on your joints.
- Cycling (Machine or Bicycle) : Biking or Cycling is a great fat knee exercise if you do this little trick. Do not sit down on the bike for as long at you can handle. Turn the resistance up or the gear so that it is pretty difficult to pedal. Then just go as long as you can while standing. Your thighs should really start to burn, when you can’t take it any more sit down and pedal slowly to recover until you can hit it hard again.
- Sprinting : Ever seen a sprinters legs? There’s a reason they are never chubby. Sprinting is a weight loss exercise hands down. It exerts a lot out of those who put forth and honest effort and even releases some Human Growth Hormone which helps burn fat for energy and has many other benefits. Try starting with several 50 meter sprints and keep working up in distance to 400 meter sprints. They seem to be a nice sweet spot for fat burning.
Most likely you have heard of and done many if not all the above fat burning exercises before. They are nothing mind boggling or unusual but the problem is that many people simply just neglect these efficient muscle building and fat shredding exercises because they are difficult. But nothing worth having in life comes easy and that includes sexy knees.
Anyone who has seriously incorporated a leg regiment into their exercise program will tell you that these exercises get your heart rate up the fastest and will make you the most sore… but they will also boast about the killer results they bring.
The simple fact is, your legs are the largest muscle groups in your body and if you are neglecting them you are missing out on some serious health benefits; both aesthetic and functional benefits.
Aesthetically your legs will become more attractive from performing more squats and lunges as well as incorporating leg intensive cardio. As you begin to do this consistently your legs and hips will grow more shapely (in a good way).
As your muscles grow your legs will develop a more attractive shape (and don’t worry you won’t become a hulk just because you start squatting and lunging more weight and more frequently).
Additionally since these are the largest muscles in your body as you work them your body will also enjoy fat burning benefits from having exerted more energy than if you were to focus on only your upper body.
And let’s not forget the functional benefits of stronger legs! Your legs are what get you from point A to point B. They are what allow you to bend down and pick up a child. They are where your power comes from in sports. Your legs sure do a lot for you so it is wise to take care of them from a functional standpoint even if your main focus is on improving the beauty of your legs.
Now you know the top 6 so go out there and start doing them. If you do not know the proper form then check on YouTube for some good demonstrations. Add these knee fat exercises to your workout program and you should start to notice some nice results within a month or less.
Click Here to find out the best exercises to get rid of fat on the sides of your knees.
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I am 78 and don’t like my fat knees. Obviously I am a bit past running and find it difficult to do lunges as have screws in my toe joints. Are there any exercises I can do to reduce the fat around my knees and thighs.
Hi, I am menopausal and have knee osteoarthritis. My knees and thighs are very flabby. What exercises would you recommend I do to tone my entire leg?
Hi my knee fat is on the inside of my knees would liposuction help this problem?
Jane, it may help but make sure you understand the potential side effects of liposuction. It is getting more safe as time goes on but it is not without risk. I would check with a Doctor about this, I’m always a fan of trying more natural routes first but I understand that not everyone gets the results they want from natural methods of fat loss.
Hi,
I have recently started resistance running because i don’t want to build my leg muscles yet, I want to lose the fat around them first. But my biggest problem is my knee fat.. I’m afraid if i start doing squats and stepping and incline walking, it will start building my leg muscles immediately.. inturn making them look bigger. Do you think running 20minutes a day can target the knee fat overtime? My fat tends to collect only around my butt and thighs and ends at my knees. I’m pretty skinny otherwise. Please help
Iman,
I wouldn’t worry about building leg muscles in order to lose fat first. Building muscles and reducing fat are too connected to try to accomplish separately. When you build muscle, the fat that you may have will appear less because you will gain more definition. Running 20 minutes a day every day may not get you as good of results as if you were to alternate one day of 20 minute run with another day of interval leg workouts (hill sprints, lunges, air squats, jump rope, rowing, or any other leg workout that you can do high intensity). This should keep your body burning fat better than only doing moderate to low intensity long distance running. Google some photos of Olympic sprinters and Olympic marathoners or 1-mile runners. You will see the difference in their physiques and keep in mind this is partially due to the type of physical activities that they do over and over. Although people of certain body types tend to gravitate toward different sports I still think you can deduce something about the type of physique your body will take on if you implement more of these high-intensity type of workouts by taking a look at different types of athletes. It’s just a rule of thumb, but something to consider!
I am also struggling with knee and calf fat. And for the last 1 month , i am doing incline treadmill for half hour daily but even after 1 month i do not notice any difference . Plz help.
Neha, the incline treadmill is a great start! I’m sure you are making some progress, maybe not as fast as you like but keep in mind that if you are looking at your calves and knees every day to check the change, you will not see any! Fat loss takes time and is gradual. The best thing to do is take a picture, then keep taking pictures every two weeks or so you can actually see the changes. Also, if you are on the treadmill a half an hour a day you may be doing more low-intensity exercise. What you could try to do, is alternate one day with 30 minutes on the treadmill and one day with hill sprints. Find a hill near your home and do sprints up the hill as fast as you can. After one sprint, take some time and catch your breath and recover a bit. When you are ready, do another sprint. How many you do will depend on how big the hill is and what your current level of fitness is. You want to do 1 to 2 more sprints every time you go back and do the hill sprints. This is likely something you will only do 10 minutes to start with because it is very difficult and high intensity. The good thing is, these High-Intensity Training (HIT) type of workout is great for burning fat, and saves you some time. The longer endurance type of workout you are already doing is great too, but if you do long low-intensity workouts only you will rarely get your heart rate up high enough and will also rarely execute anaerobic exercise states which help utilize glucose for energy.
Please email me the exercises you have listed.
I too have been fighting fat around my knees for many years I was even told by one Dr. it was menopause fat. I have never heard of such a thing. I do water aerobics and elliptical training, stopped eating sugar and carbs, stopped drinking sodas and now I’m beginning to wonder if it is true, what the doctor said. Is there such a thing? I just can’t seem to lose fat so is there menopause fat?
Yup it is possible! When women get to menopause, the body stops cleansing itself as efficiently, so it can lead to weight gain because our bodies store toxins in adipose tissue. But that kind of fat and weight seems to affect some areas like knees, thighs, arms, belly. These seem to be problem areas that many women deal with, I hope we can all share some tips to help each other out. I agree with this article, localized fat loss may not be possible, since the body is an entire system, it will not operate as individual parts. But I also agree that if we focus exercise in a certain area, like the quadriceps and hamstrings, those specific muscles will grow stronger and therefore burn more calories and typically increase blood flow to the surrounding areas, which may indirectly increase fat loss in one area of the body to some degree anyway.
I have so much knee fat on the cap nd above. I don’t have money to join a gym which makes me very depressed.I had an obsession with going:( it made me feel complete. What exercises do you recommend?
Giulia, can you do air squats and lunges at home? Those will work wonders for you to build some definition. If you can then add sprints to the mix (I found 400 meter sprints worked great) for burning some fat. Sprint 400 meters, then walk 400 meters, then sprint another 400. Try that every other day and the squats and lunges on the days you are not sprinting. Then start to watch your nutrition, try to eat a majority of whole raw foods. Lots of veggies and fruits and very little processed food. I think you will see some considerable results if you start down this path.
I had knee surgery on my right knee in 2008 and my knee still bothers me. I have the fat on the inside of my knee. I try to work out squats hurt, lunges hurt and running is definitely out.
Sarah,
Maybe you could try some type of leg exercises with bands since you feel pain quite easily.
I have done all these exercises and have always had beautiful muscular legs. The two last year’s I have done hula hoop exercise and neglected my knees. I will be 66 this year and I’m noticing one knee is fat.
Juanita, welcome to kneefat.com Thanks for sharing your experience, and glad to hear you are staying so healthy by exercising. Are you only noticing the one knee getting a little fat? Also, is the fat above or below the knee cap or right over the knee cap? Since it is only one, it makes me wonder if you may have some inflammation of the protective sac that covers our knees (under the skin). If you bump a knee pretty hard that sac can fill up with fluid. Other injuries can cause this as well. Typically it goes away over time but Doctors can drain the fluid too, although I think that is only if it is causing significant pressure.
Juanita,
Also one knee could be fat because of your hulla hoop exercise. Usually one knee is exercising as u hulla. So that could’ve been burning fat and the other knee wasn’t being used.
Malaika, thanks for the tip! I never thought of using the hula hoop, but you are right! This is very low impact and an exercise that most of us can easily do at home, it also has the added benefit of working out our core (abdominals and lower back muscles) very well. Thanks a lot for sharing!