If you want to know how to get rid of saddlebags (the stubborn extra fat on the outer thighs), then here you’ll find everything you need to know so they’ll go away fast.
Many women find it frustrating to try to get rid of saddlebag fat, even if they’ve lost a lot of weight already. You can be decently fit and skinny enough to see your ribs, but nothing seems to work for getting rid of saddlebags.
Wouldn’t it be great to feel confident wearing shorts or a swimsuit without worrying about the dreaded saddlebag fat bulging on the outer thighs? The good news is that you can quickly slim down the excess fat on the outer thigh by using the proven methods below that I’ve found in my 20 years as a personal trainer and nutrition coach.
Below, you’ll find a step-by-step plan designed to target stubborn saddlebags. Keep going to discover the best exercises, diet tips, and simple ways to burn saddlebag fat and tighten your outer thighs.
What Really Causes Saddlebag Fat?
Saddlebags are the extra fat deposits below the side of the hips on the outer thighs. The frustrating part of having saddlebag fat is you can be skinny and still have them, but they won’t go away if you lose weight.
The saddlebag fat on the outer hips is caused by excess fat in the area without enough muscle to tighten it up. It comes down to the amount of body fat that you have and not so much your overall weight.
Many women who lose weight also end up also losing muscle mass. Muscle tones and tightens your body, especially when it comes to stubborn fat stores like saddlebag fat.
You can still have saddlebags if you’re skinny…
This is why it can be nearly impossible to reduce saddlebag fat just by weight loss alone. You’ll need to build your outer thigh muscles with strength training exercises and avoid the bad foods that cause your body to continue to store extra fat deposits.
Women tend to have a higher body fat percentage than men because of higher estrogen levels.1 This causes higher fat storage, reduced muscle mass, and a more difficult time burning fat cells.
The saddlebags body type…
Body fat distribution is largely determined by genetics.2 Many women with genetics for a pear-shaped body type will tend to store fat first in their hips and thighs.3 And for them, it’s also the last place excess fat will leave.
Hormonal issues can cause excess fat to be stored in the outer hips and other stubborn body parts like love handles and belly fat.4 Correcting these hormonal issues can make it easier to tone up the pesky saddlebag fat.
This is why it can be so hard to get rid of saddlebags. But they aren’t permanent! You probably won’t reduce them just by losing more weight, but you can get rid of them if you improve your body composition by burning fat and building your outer thigh muscles.
How It’s Possible to Lose Saddlebag Fat
You may have heard before that spot reduction (losing stubborn fat in certain spots) doesn’t work, but that’s not all true. If your body is carrying too much overall body weight then yes just doing 100 sit-ups a day isn’t going to get rid of belly fat.
But if you only have to lose the last 10 pounds (and it seems to be all saddlebag fat), then you can use some methods to elevate fat burning in the area. This combined with continuing to lower your overall body fat, is the key to smoothing out and tightening the saddlebags.
Walking will be better than nothing for reducing saddlebags as a form of cardio exercise to increase calorie burning. But it’s not a great choice for strength training your leg muscles. Running or sprinting (especially up hills) is a better choice since your muscles will have to work harder with the higher resistance of hills.
You should continue putting your body into a calorie deficit. Burning excess body fat is nearly impossible if you consume more calories than your body burns daily.
Many women do well with a 1200-1500 calorie per day diet.5 But keep in mind this is just a ballpark number and everybody is different so you may need to experiment to see what calorie intake works best for you.
Log and track your food intake (at least for a few days) to measure how many calories you’re consuming. It’s human nature to greatly underestimate how many calories we consume daily.6
The Fastest Way to Get Rid of Saddlebags
Focusing on fat loss instead of weight loss will give you the fastest results in getting rid of saddlebags.
I tell my clients who say they want to “lose weight” that “fat loss” is a better goal, especially when it comes to losing the last 5-10 pounds of stubborn saddlebag fat. Further weight loss will result in becoming “skinny fat” making your body more mushy, saggy, and flabby.
But fat loss will tone, tighten, and shape your body while slimming it down at the same time. To do this you’ll need to burn fat and build muscle. Muscle weighs something too but takes up less space than fat. So don’t get fooled when you step on the scale.
If you were to hire me as your trainer, this is what I’d tell you to do for fastest results:
- High-intensity interval training
- Targeted exercises for saddlebags
- Followed up with cardio exercise
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is very effective for fat loss because it increases heart rate, utilizes strength training, increases blood temperature, improves blood flow, and increases hormone delivery.6
All of these combined create an optimal environment in your body to increase the burning of fat cells. Then, the trick is to combine this high-intensity exercise with targeted exercises for the outer thighs.
While your body burns fat from high-intensity exercise, it’ll also increase fat burning and muscle building in the outer thighs when targeted with the best exercises. Combining the two is the “secret sauce” for maximizing your results the fastest.
Then, add 20-40 minutes of cardio exercise (preferably lower body focused) to further burn the fat mobilized with the HIIT and targeted saddlebag fat exercises.
Now let’s see the best exercises for saddlebag fat…
Side-To-Side Band Walks
- Place a resistance band around your thighs right above your knees.
- Slightly squat down and keep your feet pointed straight ahead.
- Then slowly stepped side to side 10 paces each way to effectively work the outer part of your thighs.
Clamshells
- Lay on your side and place a band around your thighs right above your knees.
- With your knees bent slowly began to lift the top knee up towards this guy like a clam.
- Then slowly bring it back down to the starting position before repeating.
Dirty Dogs
- Start off in the all-fours position on your hands and knees. Make sure you keep your back straight throughout the movement.
- Then slowly bring one leg out to the side while keeping your knee bent. Try to get your knee up so it’s almost the same height as your hip.
- Slightly pause at the top before bringing your knee back down to the starting position.
Horseback Riding
- Start off in the all-fours position on your hands and your knees.
- Then with one knee bent begin to make large circles with it. You will quickly start to feel the burn in your outer thighs while doing this exercise.
- Go 10 repetitions forward before repeating with 10 repetitions going back.
Skater Plyos
- Start off in the standing position with your knees slightly bent and your feet hip-width apart pointing forward.
- Then jump out to one side and land on your outside foot making sure you keep your knee bent.
- Then jump back far out to the other side landing on the other outside foot.
Side Lunges
- Start off with your feet hip-width apart and standing straight up making sure your feet are pointed forward.
- Then make sure you keep your chest out throughout the movement looking straight ahead.
- Take a big step out to your side with one leg and then lower your hips towards your heel. Make sure you keep your heel on the ground throughout the exercise and try not to lean forward on your toes.
Band Squats
- Place a band around your knees right above your thighs. Make sure you keep your feet hip-width apart and your toes pointed forward throughout the movement.
- Then slowly lower your hips towards the floor right behind your knees like you’re taking a seat on a chair. Try to get your thighs at least parallel to the floor.
- Then pause at the bottom for a quick second before bringing yourself back up to the standing position.
1-Legged Romanian Deadlift
- Hold a weight in your left hand and place your right foot firmly on the floor. Slightly bend your left knee and lift it up off the floor.
- Keeping your right knee slightly bent then lean forward at your hip improving the weight towards your big toe.
- Once the weight almost reaches your forward slowly come back up to starting position. Be sure to repeat the exercise on the opposite side after completing the repetitions.
Side-Lying Leg Raises
- Lay on your side on a bench. Bend your bottom leg underneath you.
- Extend your top leg and point your toes towards the floor.
- Then lift your leg up and down off the floor. Be sure to keep your toes pointing down to better target your outer hip and thighs.
Get Rid of Saddlebags Without Exercise
If you want to get rid of saddlebag fat without exercise, then you’ll have to fully focus on your diet. You’ll want to remove inflammation-causing foods while consuming a calorie deficit.
A calorie deficit is required to continue burning fat cells. Since you won’t be exercising, you’ll have to focus especially on putting your body into a caloric deficit through diet.
Intermittent fasting is a simple method that can quickly reduce calories by 550 per day.7 Try starting with a 12-hour fast, and then you can work your way up to 16-18-hour fasts.
If you’re intermittent fasting, try to consume only two meals during your feeding window. Drink black coffee in the morning while fasting, mixed with C8 MCTs to help kickstart ketogenic fat burning.8 This is my favorite 100% C8 MCT powder that mixes great with coffee (tastes just like a coffee creamer):
Delivers 5g of pure C8-MCTs (the most ketogenic MCT) to naturally elevate ketone levels. Supports enhanced energy, mental clarity & appetite control — get the benefits of keto... without having to eat keto!
- Boosts Ketone Production: Supports elevated ketone levels without the need for carb restriction
- Enhances Energy & Focus: Provides quick, clean energy & promotes mental clarity
- Manages Appetite: Helps control cravings & supports healthy weight management
Removing inflammation-causing foods screw with your body’s metabolism and hormones.9 Inflammation increases insulin resistance, releases the stress hormone cortisol, increases hunger by reducing leptin, and slows down your metabolism by worsening mitochondria function.10,11,12
Inflammation-causing foods you should avoid include:
- Refined sugars & high fructose corn syrup
- Processed and fried foods
- Refined carbohydrates
- Excess alcohol
- Bad vegetable oils (aka seed oils)
- Processed meats
- Dairy, wheat, gluten (for some people)
Consuming a higher-protein diet will help your body build outer thigh muscles and burn fat.13 Protein should be prioritized when determining your food intake if you want to improve your body composition.
Research finds that 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily is ideal.14 Find out how much protein you should consume daily, then subtract those calories from the daily calorie limit.
For example, if you weigh 160 pounds then you should consume 128 grams of protein daily. 128 grams of protein is equal to 512 calories (4 calories per gram).
So, if you consume a 1500-calorie-per-day diet, you’ll have 988 calories per day left after accounting for your protein needs.
An easy way to meet your daily protein needs is to use a low-carb protein powder. You can quickly mix up a protein shake and get 1/3 of your daily protein. Just make sure it’s low-carb and not packed with fillers that can do more harm than good.
Drug‑free, natural plant-based GLP‑1 support for lasting appetite control & metabolic balance.
- Boosts GLP‑1 by 50%+ for enhanced satiety and fullness
- Slows GLP‑1 breakdown to extend appetite management
- Regulates ghrelin & leptin to curb cravings and stay satisfied
- Activates AMPK—your master fat‑burning switch
- Inhibits fat & carb enzymes to reduce calorie absorption
- Supports healthy blood sugar for steady energy and metabolic wellness
