Leaning out big legs?

[MsBeverlyHills]

I think your lower bod looks great.. if your looking for better symmetry-- work your delts... and get a boob job-- Just kidding

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Purposely overtraining my legs by distance running/walking has never made them leaner, only smaller. (Dramatically smaller, at that - I am astounded at how quickly I can shrink with a few miles of jogging 5 days a week.) Good for fitting into pants, not good for looking better naked. Look at your diet.

Exactly what I was thinking Ceebs, you read my mind.

When i was training for a marathon years ago, my legs were dramatically smaller, but no more leaner. I have naturally muscular legs, and even when running well over 25 miles a week with one long run of 15 miles, my legs were not lean, defined and muscular. They were smaller though, but not shapely. Lean legs came with weights (and diet).

Oh, and I still have the hamstring tear that came with the marathon training......

 

[velvett]

Get a pair of rollerblades and and carbon tip cross country ski poles.

..and get movin'

May not be the prefered way but it worked for me. My upper legs had always been over-developed in comparision to the rest of my body from figure skating and I couldn't (still can't) run long distance to save me life.




BTW - I think you're way over critical of yourself but how you feel about yourself is how you feel.



HAPPY BLADING!

 

[GymGirl3]

I think your lower bod looks great.. if your looking for better symmetry-- work your delts... and get a boob job-- Just kidding

i used to have boobies. They disappeared


Thanks again everyone for all your help

 

[Gladiola]

Of course, everytime I've thought my legs were TOO big, they were also TOO fat. Even a thin layer of fat over a substantial amount of muscle can make the whole thing look like lard.

Good point. Unfortunately, in order to get that last 'thin layer of fat' off the legs, a lady probably has to be 12% bf, maybe? Is it possible to get the thin layer of fat off the legs at a %bf that is *maintainable*?

GG - I agree the legs look great! Are you having trouble fitting into clothes?

The problem with the over training is that, even if it *might* be effective:
1. Many of us don't have the time for all the extra cardio
2. Overtraining in terms of whole body (elevated resting HR, fatigue, lack of drive & motivation)
3. JOINT PROBLEMS from overtraining.

I personally simply can not run too much & even too much aerobics irritates my knees.

RE: Biking. I've started taking cycling classes to get back into my jeans even though I HATE to bike. Since classes are HIIT Cardio with standing climbs in addition to low-slong distance & sprints, I wondered if it might lead to further hypertrophy. So far, so good -but I posted the Q on the cycling board at my aerobics instructor board. Several cycling instructors said they experienced hypertrophy from teaching cycling (of course, it's possible they never lifted before too).

 

[JJFigure]

I was wondering if HIIT biking would add to hypertrophy too. It sounds like Corn's biking was done outdoors (hills/mountains maybe?), which wouldn't necessarily be HIIT but probably intense for the full ride. Can you confirm/deny Corn?

If you were to use biking for atrophy, I think you'd want to keep pedaling at a high intensity without break, or slow down periods like you would use with HIIT.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

RE: Biking. I've started taking cycling classes to get back into my jeans even though I HATE to bike. Since classes are HIIT Cardio with standing climbs in addition to low-slong distance & sprints, I wondered if it might lead to further hypertrophy. So far, so good -but I posted the Q on the cycling board at my aerobics instructor board. Several cycling instructors said they experienced hypertrophy from teaching cycling (of course, it's possible they never lifted before too).

I used to teach indoor cycling classes (aka spinning) 3 times a week - total of almost 3 hours a week. I never experienced ANY hypertrophy in my legs, or any other body part due to spinning. And, as I have mentioned before, I tend to gain muscle in my lower body easily.

Granted, the other couple days of cardio I did was running (usually 3-5 miles 2-3x/wk) so maybe that helped keep hypertrophy down.

 

[SouthernBell]

Spatts, In answer to your question, I did do the overtrain thing and it worked to make my legs smaller, But I also lost everwhere else which I mentioned. I noticed a difference in the amount of fat on my legs but I found that I was still unproportional. When I was doing this I was also following a very clean diet and strength training.

I have just started back jogging but only because I enjoy it and only two or three times a week but shorter distances.



love

 

[The Shadow]

I was wondering if HIIT biking would add to hypertrophy too. It sounds like Corn's biking was done outdoors (hills/mountains maybe?), which wouldn't necessarily be HIIT but probably intense for the full ride. Can you confirm/deny Corn?

If you were to use biking for atrophy, I think you'd want to keep pedaling at a high intensity without break, or slow down periods like you would use with HIIT.

Yep....periods of tough peddling followed by downhill or flat riding...very intense though...my legs literally felt like balloons when I was finished

 

[circusgirl]

haha i dont think im fat, i just want sexyyyy lean legs/hips

edited to remove duplicate post