Hi Stephani!
You need to BUILD (notice, I did not say "tone") your gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and your tensor fasciae latae muscles. Additionally, to get that curvy hip look you are going for, you will need to lose some fat off of your hip bone (aka love handles!).
Ok, I will touch on the second point first. The best way to do this is to do interval training. See: http://voices.yahoo.com/guide-hiit-cardi...at=50#true. This is the best way to target burning off fat and avoid burning off nice muscle. I have no idea what your diet is like, so I will not say anything on caloric intake, as you will need to take less to lose fat and take more to gain muscle. But I WILL say that it is important to avoid processed and refined foods that are high in sugar, sugar derivatives and preservatives. CLA is the one healthy fat that has been reported to decrease SPECIFICALLY fat around the midsection, and it can be found in softgel pills as well as naturally in meats and dairy products (see: http://www.nowloss.com/good-fats-that-bu...weight.htm ). If you choose to also take a form of GLA with your CLA, take the black currant seed oil because borgae oil can potentially be harmful to your liver, and between evening primrose oil and black currant seed oil, the latter has the most GLA in it per miligram. There is a lot of other information about tightening up the midsection with TVA exercises (aka stomach vacuum) and spot reduction with cardio (please use HIIT here), contracting the abdominal muscles, and warming the stomach area during your cardio, that appears on my waist-is-small-and-curves-are-kickin' thread. Please take a look and after reading, send questions my way!
So, now that we are chiseling away at the top of your hip, it is time to build up the part beneath it that you want to round out. That would be your gluteus minimus and medius muscles, as mentioned above, as well as the tensor fasciae latae muscles. If you have access to a gym, these muscles are targeted on the Abductor Machine. You can also get an ankle strap connected to the cables and do side kicks (kicking your leg like a scissor to the side). You can also lay on your side on the floor and raise your upper leg while resting a dumbell on your hip or having an ankle weight on your ankle (but I suggest the other exercises because this one makes it more difficult to lift heavy weights). Well, here they are, I am going to do less talking and let you look at these websites: http://voices.yahoo.com/top-4-leg-abduct...html?cat=5. What is CRUCIAL to remember is that you will need to lift HEAVY weights--as heavy as you can do while effectively (meaning with a full range of motion and with proper form) executing 8-12 reps. Try 3-4 sets with a minute long break in between each set. Do this no more than twice a week (since you will be doing it only twice a week, this should motivate you to workout that much harder when you are lifting!). This will allow for an adequate amount of recovery time for your muscles to grow. You will also need to increase your protein intake. If this is the only weight lifting you will plan on doing, I would take a little under the amount of grams of protein as the amount of pounds you weigh. I do a lot of weight lifting for my lower body and light weight lifting for my upper body, and I (when NOT on my break) consume AT LEAST 140 grams of protein a day in both my foods and protein shakes. While I am on my breaks, I consume about 100-120 grams of protein a day just for muscle maintenance. Check out my thread (mentioned above) again for information on diet for muscle building.
I hope this helped and was not overwhelming!
You need to BUILD (notice, I did not say "tone") your gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and your tensor fasciae latae muscles. Additionally, to get that curvy hip look you are going for, you will need to lose some fat off of your hip bone (aka love handles!).
Ok, I will touch on the second point first. The best way to do this is to do interval training. See: http://voices.yahoo.com/guide-hiit-cardi...at=50#true. This is the best way to target burning off fat and avoid burning off nice muscle. I have no idea what your diet is like, so I will not say anything on caloric intake, as you will need to take less to lose fat and take more to gain muscle. But I WILL say that it is important to avoid processed and refined foods that are high in sugar, sugar derivatives and preservatives. CLA is the one healthy fat that has been reported to decrease SPECIFICALLY fat around the midsection, and it can be found in softgel pills as well as naturally in meats and dairy products (see: http://www.nowloss.com/good-fats-that-bu...weight.htm ). If you choose to also take a form of GLA with your CLA, take the black currant seed oil because borgae oil can potentially be harmful to your liver, and between evening primrose oil and black currant seed oil, the latter has the most GLA in it per miligram. There is a lot of other information about tightening up the midsection with TVA exercises (aka stomach vacuum) and spot reduction with cardio (please use HIIT here), contracting the abdominal muscles, and warming the stomach area during your cardio, that appears on my waist-is-small-and-curves-are-kickin' thread. Please take a look and after reading, send questions my way!
So, now that we are chiseling away at the top of your hip, it is time to build up the part beneath it that you want to round out. That would be your gluteus minimus and medius muscles, as mentioned above, as well as the tensor fasciae latae muscles. If you have access to a gym, these muscles are targeted on the Abductor Machine. You can also get an ankle strap connected to the cables and do side kicks (kicking your leg like a scissor to the side). You can also lay on your side on the floor and raise your upper leg while resting a dumbell on your hip or having an ankle weight on your ankle (but I suggest the other exercises because this one makes it more difficult to lift heavy weights). Well, here they are, I am going to do less talking and let you look at these websites: http://voices.yahoo.com/top-4-leg-abduct...html?cat=5. What is CRUCIAL to remember is that you will need to lift HEAVY weights--as heavy as you can do while effectively (meaning with a full range of motion and with proper form) executing 8-12 reps. Try 3-4 sets with a minute long break in between each set. Do this no more than twice a week (since you will be doing it only twice a week, this should motivate you to workout that much harder when you are lifting!). This will allow for an adequate amount of recovery time for your muscles to grow. You will also need to increase your protein intake. If this is the only weight lifting you will plan on doing, I would take a little under the amount of grams of protein as the amount of pounds you weigh. I do a lot of weight lifting for my lower body and light weight lifting for my upper body, and I (when NOT on my break) consume AT LEAST 140 grams of protein a day in both my foods and protein shakes. While I am on my breaks, I consume about 100-120 grams of protein a day just for muscle maintenance. Check out my thread (mentioned above) again for information on diet for muscle building.
I hope this helped and was not overwhelming!