I am currently working out to balance my body- I am an hourglass with a little bit of extra sand on the bottom, as Maggie called it.

I am doing well so far with the weights-my shoulders are broader and stronger, my arms a little bigger and more cut, and I am generally happy with my results up there. Plus I have managed to not lose any breast size which is a relief!

I am trying to lose a little bit of muscle mass in my legs as they are really the only bulky part of my body. I have a big booty but I am ok with that and my hips are not wide. My legs are my only complaint.

Currently I skip rope a few times a week, do some long distance running-3 45 min runs and 1 75 min run per week- and a lot of leg lifts. The only results I have are harder, not leaner, legs. While actual fat has never been the problem I feel that excess muscle has. I really don't know what to do about this.

I feel very frustrated as I still measure the same in my legs and I have gained about 10 lbs. I know it is common to gain weight when you lift but even on my tall frame, I feel that 10 lbs is a little much.

I don't want to start drastically reducing my calories and seriously upping my cardio because then I will only look bulkier on the bottom and super skinny on top. I have weighed as little as 145 before-this is when I am super skinny on top and a little bulky on the bottom-and I have weighed as much as 190-this is just all bad. Currently I am 163 and 5'9". When I started I was about 154.

Someone please help!

I don't quite understand what you're trying to achieve with your current work out. You're not cutting and don't want to lose fat, you're working your legs, and yet it's surprising that you're making muscle gains rather than slimming down?... Are you trying to spot reduce somehow? Spot reducing is impossible, and doing all of those leg lifts is only going to increase your leg muscle size while your body fat pretty much maintains itself, ergo making your legs bigger.

If you're happy with your current level of body fat, then fine, but that leaves only muscle to lose, which means that you should be cutting down on the exercises you do that work your leg muscles. Be forewarned, though, that that nice firmness in the legs will become more fleeting as body fat becomes more dominant.

Speaking from experience as a person with the same body type (although I weigh much more than you do right now), I can tell you that you can still gain muscle while on a cutting diet... provided that you have the right macros and are eating the appropriate things pre and post workout. Depending on the muscles, I have gone anywhere from lifting/pushing/pulling 1.5x to nearly 3x the weight I originally used 8 months ago. There is a window of time in a negative calorie diet where one can still gain muscle. I've heard that it ranges from about 6-12 months. For me, things seem to be settling in to maintenance, now.

I am trying to make my legs slimmer. I was a runner in high school-400, 800, Mile and cross country and between training for competition and dancing for 8 years before, I have some serious leg muscle. I have had it for as long as I can remember. I am trying to lose that mass-even though it is a arguably good to have muscle down there-without losing any upper body size. In the past when I have slimmed down my legs have only gotten marginally slimmer while my upper body looks emaciated. I don't want to gain body fat-I am in the mid 20s now-but I don't want to look like a body builder. I think leg lifts with no weight are supposed to be good for lengthening the look of your legs-I think things like squats and the machines are what people have said to shy away from. BUt I am open to any suggestions to anyone who has had some luck!


I don't quite understand what you're trying to achieve with your current work out. You're not cutting and don't want to lose fat, you're working your legs, and yet it's surprising that you're making muscle gains rather than slimming down?... Are you trying to spot reduce somehow? Spot reducing is impossible, and doing all of those leg lifts is only going to increase your leg muscle size while your body fat pretty much maintains itself, ergo making your legs bigger.

If you're happy with your current level of body fat, then fine, but that leaves only muscle to lose, which means that you should be cutting down on the exercises you do that work your leg muscles. Be forewarned, though, that that nice firmness in the legs will become more fleeting as body fat becomes more dominant.

Speaking from experience as a person with the same body type (although I weigh much more than you do right now), I can tell you that you can still gain muscle while on a cutting diet... provided that you have the right macros and are eating the appropriate things pre and post workout. Depending on the muscles, I have gone anywhere from lifting/pushing/pulling 1.5x to nearly 3x the weight I originally used 8 months ago. There is a window of time in a negative calorie diet where one can still gain muscle. I've heard that it ranges from about 6-12 months. For me, things seem to be settling in to maintenance, now.

And by the way-great progress!! Keep up the good work!


I don't quite understand what you're trying to achieve with your current work out. You're not cutting and don't want to lose fat, you're working your legs, and yet it's surprising that you're making muscle gains rather than slimming down?... Are you trying to spot reduce somehow? Spot reducing is impossible, and doing all of those leg lifts is only going to increase your leg muscle size while your body fat pretty much maintains itself, ergo making your legs bigger.

If you're happy with your current level of body fat, then fine, but that leaves only muscle to lose, which means that you should be cutting down on the exercises you do that work your leg muscles. Be forewarned, though, that that nice firmness in the legs will become more fleeting as body fat becomes more dominant.

Speaking from experience as a person with the same body type (although I weigh much more than you do right now), I can tell you that you can still gain muscle while on a cutting diet... provided that you have the right macros and are eating the appropriate things pre and post workout. Depending on the muscles, I have gone anywhere from lifting/pushing/pulling 1.5x to nearly 3x the weight I originally used 8 months ago. There is a window of time in a negative calorie diet where one can still gain muscle. I've heard that it ranges from about 6-12 months. For me, things seem to be settling in to maintenance, now.

I think leg lifts with no weight are supposed to be good for lengthening the look of your legs-I think things like squats and the machines are what people have said to shy away from. BUt I am open to any suggestions to anyone who has had some luck!

There's no way to make your muscles longer and leaner (which, and I say this just for good measure in case you or anyone else doesn't know, is a common promise made in women's fitness circles), if that's what you mean. Either your muscles get bigger or get smaller depending on what you do to them and how hard you work at it, but there's no way to change the way they form. It's genetic. To put it into basic terms: think of a circle, and then think of it getting bigger and smaller... then keep in mind that nothing can turn that circle into, say, a rectangle.

All I can suggest is that you cease weight and resistance training on your leg muscles and just focus on building your upper body. Don't forget that "upper body" doesn't just mean your arms, it also means your core muscles: everything in your torso. Building these muscles will help get rid of the "Stretch Armstrong" torso (as I like to call it :lol: I only look like that when I actually stretch). Work your way back into lower body training once you feel your muscles have decrease to their desired size.

With your body fat in the mid 20's, I know that you can cut it down a few percent without looking like one of those female bodybuilders (believe me, I don't want to look like that, either). Here's an example of a woman with a similar body type (before and after pictures). you can see that, at 18.5% BF, she definitely doesn't look like a bodybuilder. I've had her pics posted as my desktop for months, for inspiration:

http://www.bodychangers.com/krainey_inter.shtml

Also, it might be easier to troubleshoot for you if you post photos of yourself. Like me, you can keep your face out of the picture ;) ... And if you've lurked around these forums enough you'll know that everyone is very nice about people's "unflattering" shots. It's what the site's all about, so naturally we don't single anyone out for any cruelty.

you can get a leaner/longer look to your muscles by adding in pilates and yoga. But you won't make them any "smaller". Everything that was said to you already is correct :tu:

Sometimes you just have to accept your body type and work within those parameters.

-Wow-she looks great! I am sort of shaped like her but my legs are little bigger. Plus she is leaner than me in terms of having overall body fat.

What is the best way to reduce BF? Just lots of cardio and reduced calorie intake? Any posts you can point me to?

I do some core exercise now-a lot with a medicine ball and one of those big balls. Those are tough!

Thanks so much for the advice. [

QUOTE=Human Clay]There's no way to make your muscles longer and leaner (which, and I say this just for good measure in case you or anyone else doesn't know, is a common promise made in women's fitness circles), if that's what you mean. Either your muscles get bigger or get smaller depending on what you do to them and how hard you work at it, but there's no way to change the way they form. It's genetic. To put it into basic terms: think of a circle, and then think of it getting bigger and smaller... then keep in mind that nothing can turn that circle into, say, a rectangle.

All I can suggest is that you cease weight and resistance training on your leg muscles and just focus on building your upper body. Don't forget that "upper body" doesn't just mean your arms, it also means your core muscles: everything in your torso. Building these muscles will help get rid of the "Stretch Armstrong" torso (as I like to call it :lol: I only look like that when I actually stretch). Work your way back into lower body training once you feel your muscles have decrease to their desired size.

With your body fat in the mid 20's, I know that you can cut it down a few percent without looking like one of those female bodybuilders (believe me, I don't want to look like that, either). Here's an example of a woman with a similar body type (before and after pictures). you can see that, at 18.5% BF, she definitely doesn't look like a bodybuilder. I've had her pics posted as my desktop for months, for inspiration:

http://www.bodychangers.com/krainey_inter.shtml

Also, it might be easier to troubleshoot for you if you post photos of yourself. Like me, you can keep your face out of the picture ;) ... And if you've lurked around these forums enough you'll know that everyone is very nice about people's "unflattering" shots. It's what the site's all about, so naturally we don't single anyone out for any cruelty.[/QUOTE]

If you go to the Fat Loss forum, you'll find all you need there. There's a thread or two there that are stuck at the top of the forum to make them readily available.

(PS: You don't need to quote back entire posts. If there are replies from more than one person, try quoting the most important sentences, or address the person by their screen name in your post. It just gets too confusing to have so much redundant text).

OK thanks-I wasn't sure if that would appear or not-I am still new to this!

I sympathize with your problem. I too am bottom heavy and have a small upper body and waist. I am a small in tops- sometimes xtra small!! I am 5' 7.5" currently weigh 135lbs and size 6/8- I probably could fit into a 4 if it weren't for my butt!!! I have to wear belts with all my pants. About a year ago I weighed 150 and was a size 12 ---so I have come a long way.

For the past month I have taken a sculpt class at my gym and have been using light weights- (no more than 10lbs) when doing lower body. This actually seems to be helping me and I am noticing a small change. We do a lot of walking lunges, squats, reverse lunges, and several versions of leg lifts with no weights. The Exercise Ball is also used for lifts.
How is your diet? You say you don't want to drastically reduce calories. What do you eat in a day?

It is not so much that I don't want to reduce calories, it is more that I don't want to just get as skinny as possible-as I have said, when I weigh around 140, I look almost worse-too out of proportion or something-and I also don't want to look like a female body builder. I eat around 1800-2000 kcal a day-sometimes less, sometimes more-I am in law school so my schedule is a bit of a mess with that.

I actually think the leg lifts may help me-like your sculpting class helps you. Do you find that the lunges make your legs larger? Are you actually getting smaller or more toned?

I did work very hard on making my shoulders wider and stronger and that seems to balance out the big booty. I think a big butt can be very sexy though-so long as it is strong and round-not wide and flat!

I think one of the ladies in here may be right about just accepting my body type. I would like to, but I don't want to just give into it either. I want to try everything first! There is a woman in this forum who has done very well-Maggie-"caustic muse"-and I have been using her pics as my latest motivation.

I hear you on the clothes too-I am learning to embrace the booty though! It seems to help ;)

Keep me posted on your class and your results! If it works for you it may help me as well!

Thanks

No- my legs aren't getting bigger. Since I starting taking these classes, my legs are actually looking more toned/defined. I think the spin classes I take 2x/week are helping also. This is a total fat burner!


My butt is definetely round- I have the j-lo look going on!! Of course my husband does not want me to lose it!! I highly think I will NEver lose it, just tone it more.
Good Luck!!

My boyfriend loves it too-maybe it IS a good thing :)

Our trainer has been working with me and training partner on our lower bodies. We both have a good amount of muscle on our legs so we are not wanting to build it up any, just make them slimmer/leaner looking. He has been using a lot of polymetic type training were we do high rep sets with lower/no weights, supersets, Jumpsquats OUCH! . There are times we have done 150 yards of walking lunges, with no weights other times with 5lbs ankle weghts.

Tom Venuto says if you dont want the muscle, dont work it so much. It would probably help to bring down your body fat some without losing much weight for you legs to look leaner.

Thanks for mentioning me. :o

Thought I would share this Q&A from fitness model/competitor Monica Brant's site:

9) In one article I read you said you quit training your legs due to them being overpowering your upper body. I am interested to know if this helped you become more proportioned and if ceasing leg training will cause muscle atrophy or make the leg muscles susceptible to fat deposits.

I believe when you totally stop training any body part the stimulus for muscle tone is no longer available. So ceasing leg training altogether would cause muscle atrophy and possibly fat deposits too. YUCK! So with that in mind, I need to clarify that even though I tried the route of not training my legs with weights I was still running in soft sand for cardio, running stairs, and doing gymnastic training which involves the entire leg. I believe it was good for me to see that I maintained my genetic muscle development with proper diet of 1 gram of protein per body weight. I did focus on upper body and feel that it has "caught up" to my lower half! I only did this for about 9 months - I started weight training again but did have to be very careful not to overtrain while I was preparing for shows. Having a knowledgeable trainer helped loads! Now that I am no longer competing I still weight train legs very high rep and low weights, sometimes with no weight at all. Lunges, squats, sissy squats, leg kicks, jumps can all be done with no weight and work miracles! Don't forget the running!! One of my favs for staying fit!


I'm currently starting a program that uses only bodyweight and plyometrics for training legs while focusing a lot more on upper body. I might incorporate some sprints later on, but for now it's just plyo and lots of lunges and isometric moves without weight. My goal at this point is to just maintain my muscle mass in my legs while leaning out all over. Of course, I'm also hoping that the routine will prevent my upper body from wasting away like it did last fall, but I expect some muscle loss no matter what I do as I cut down to ~125-128 lbs and 15% body fat.

awesome thread and it helps a lot :)

i'm in the same boat -- 5'9" and around 170lbs. i was an athlete just like you and find that when i weigh less (i was around 145-160 in college) i look so skinny in the face and upper body, but my butt and thighs are still huge.

i recently started doing pilates 3 times a week and found that it helps a lot. i've become so much more flexible and my legs look a lot nicer. maybe it's all in my head, but i think you should give it a try :) good luck!

Are you still doing cardio? If so how much? Any weight loss yet?

I see you rowing in your pic-I rowed for a semester in college-what a crazy life that is!