need advice on thighs

[Rosii]

Hi, I'm new to these forums. I had a bit of a look but haven't seen anything that helps with my specific question. Is there a search feature? sorry, i couldn't find it.

anyway.
I'm very big on cardio, I love doing it. However, I think its been working against me and my goals. My thighs are getting rather large, jeans that used to fit are now too small. I think part of the problem was that I was doing too much work on the stepper and stairclimber = muscle bulk
Apart for not moving at all for the next 6 months. What can I do to slim down this area. yes, I know you can't spot reduce. but thats talking about fat isn't it? not muscle. I mean, if you can spot train to build muscle in a certain area, there must be a way to do the opposite?
Any help appreciated. ta

 

[spatts]

You could lose that fat on top of that muscle, which will uncover the lovely thigh muscles you have developed.

Seriously, excessive cardio wastes muscle, and is pretty crappy at burning fat, compared to diet.

Do you KNOW your bodyfat %?

...oh, and welcome!

 

[FitFossil]

...I'm very big on cardio, I love doing it. However, I think its been working against me and my goals...

Welcome to EF! Too much cardio WILL work against you. Here's an article that explains why:

Chunky Syndrome
By Paul Chek, M.S.S., H.H.P., N.M.T
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever gone to the gym and noticed that the same people seem to be exercising on the same machines, week after week? Have you noticed that these same people's physique never seems to change despite their dedication? The million-dollar question is WHY? Quite simply, the body is a very conservative machine. During human evolution, food supplies were unreliable and to survive in a feast or famine environment our physiology learned to become very efficient. This efficiency carries over to modern life particularly whenever you participate in an exercise regime based upon cyclical motions (rowing, swimming, cycling, running, or using a step machine). The body quickly becomes calorie conscious, progressively accomplishing the same amount of work with less energy expenditure.

Charles Poliquin and colleagues have identified The Chunky Aerobic Instructor Syndrome. Poliquin found that aerobics instructors quickly adapted to the workload of teaching classes, often performing three hours of exercise a day. Despite the fact that this is the equivalent training level of a professional athlete, the instructors still maintained disproportionately high body fat levels. You can verify Poliquin's findings by simply observing the bodies of people who perform a lot of cyclical cardiovascular activity; there is no question many of them are pudgier than you would expect!

Resistance training is the key to breaking away from the Chunky Aerobics Instructor Syndrome. First of all, lifting weights in the intensity zone of 8-12 reps coupled with short rest periods has been shown beneficial for releasing the androgenic hormone testosterone and growth hormone. These important hormones encourage development of lean muscle mass, which is a metabolically active tissue consuming calories 24 hours a day. Fat, on the other hand is just along for the ride! Aerobic exercise has been linked with the release of the catabolic hormone cortisol, which is antagonistic to the development of lean muscle mass. Cortisol also promotes conservation of glucose and encourages the use of fat. This might sound good on the surface, but you also become as efficient as a Honda Civic running for 80 kilometers on one gallon of gas. Then you are just like those people going for hours at a time on machines, only to utilize miniscule amounts of fat!

The Formula for Changes

Alternate between cardiovascular exercise and resistance training. Use resistance exercises requiring multiple muscles; squats, lunges, rows, lat pull downs, and Swiss Ball weight lifting exercises. Swiss Ball weight lifting exercises consume large amounts of calories because staying on top of the ball requires activation of hundreds of muscles as stabilizers, plus the prime movers of the exercise you have chosen. My video program Strong or Stable gives you about 60 exercise options. Keep loads between 8-12 reps per set and perform five exercises in a row without rest (mini circuit).

Keep your rest periods between circuits under 1:30 minute, reducing to 1 minute as your body adapts to the development of lactic acid. Just two days of resistance training and two days of cardiovascular exercise a week will do a lot more for your shape than camping out on the stepper. After all, the leanest bodies in the world belong to sprinters, who despise the thought of aerobic exercise!

Paul Chek, MSS, HHP, NMT has over 14 years experience in the fields of corrective and high performance exercise. Author of 12 correspondence courses, two books and over 40 videos, Paul is sought after as a consultant and lecturer around the world. He has developed the Corrective and High-performance Exercise Kinesiology Certification Program for elite level exercise and health care-professionals and is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in San Diego, CA. For more information on any of Paul's courses, videos, seminars, books go to: http://www.paulchekseminars.com

http://home.eol.ca/~philla/bodyessence/Pages/Articles/aerobicvstrength/chunkysyndrome.html

 

[wilson6]

Need to know what your thigh skinfold is. If it is more than 15 mm, your problem isn't muscle.

W6

 

[Rosii]

that chunky syndrome article makes me want to cry

I don't know what my bf is, and I don't know how to measure skin fold. I'm told that I look like slim. Just out of proportion.
i did strength training for a few months, and I gained an inch on my thighs so I promptly gave that up. I told my trainer that I didn't want to work on my legs but he pretty much told me that they allways do total body workouts. So, I just went back to cardio.
I have a swiss ball, maybe I'll look into doing more resistance with that.

 

[ArtsyChic]

Never, ever, ever give up strength training. It is what will build lean body mass to burn that fat up in the long run. Cardio isn't what it's cracked up to be. I lost over 185 pounds doing only 2 x week for 30 minutes of cardio and weight lifting twice that at least. Weight lifting was the center of my weight loss exercise routine. Plus diet of course. It still is my major focus and I've managed to keep all my weight off for three years plus now.

 

[flexygrl]

Hey,

No need to get upset!! Really. BF is Body Fat. Maybe you can ask your trainer at the gym to figure it out for you.

I did cardio straight, no weight training for 3 months. I lost 20 pounds, but that was a lot of water and muscle. Since weight training my BF has gone down substantially. According to my really cheap calipers, I am still in the high 30's but it's going down. Weight Training will not make you get bigger. That is a myth. It will however, reshape your body. One thing that I did read that turned out to be a myth was that if you have fat and you weight train the muscle pushes the fat up, so your legs appear to be heavier. Well according to one of the stickies that was up on the board about a month ago, that's a myth. When I first started training about 6 years ago my legs got bigger and I atributed it to that "myth".

Well it was a myth. My diet was screwed up and although I was gaining muscle I was also still putting on fat. Once I got everything straightened out, then the results came. I now train my whole body, but I also train my legs 2X a week. One day, light legs, one day heavy. It's working.

Don't get discouraged. You will see results if you do the right things. The ladies here will help you. Put your faith in them and you will see amazing things!!! I have!!

 

[Scarlett33]

Need to know what your thigh skinfold is. If it is more than 15 mm, your problem isn't muscle.

W6

Would that apply to other parts of the body?

 

[FitFossil]

Another common myth is that "muscle weighs more than fat". Actually muscle is denser than fat, meaning a pound of muscle takes up LESS SPACE than a pound of fat. Many women shy away from weight training because they think it makes them gain weight. Scale weight doesn't matter. Body composition (%fat versus % lean) is what matters. The more lean mass you have, the higher your metabolism, which helps get/keep the fat % down.

Using myself as an example - I used to shy away from heavy leg training because I thought my legs were genetically "big". One day I decided if my legs were meant to be big, then I'd make them into the biggest baddest most muscular legs ever, because even 20 years ago when I was an 88 lb anorexic, I still thought my legs were big and fat.

I started doing heavy squats, deadlifts, sprints, etc. - all those exercises women traditionally avoid. I gained 10 pounds but dropped 2 pant sizes! I didn't even recognize my legs, and for the first time in 38 years, I actually liked what I saw. Moral of the story is you can change the shape of your body, but it takes significant resistance/weight to do it. Do NOT fear the weights

 

[smoknjilly]

amen fit fossil....