Want To Gain Muscles In Thighs

ninerbuff

I'll disagree with cycling because the duration of exercise with little lactic acid build up hits slow twitch muscles (endurance) more than fast twitch muscles (power and size). Unless they are riding up hill as fast as they can and have to stop because of lactic acid build up, it's more muscle endurance than muscle building.
Note that I didn't say it couldn't make your legs look great, but for muscle hypertrophy (sarcoplasmic) to happen, you do need progressive overload, volume training and some high intensity.

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arabianhorselover

Thank you all for trying to help. I don't think I'll be doing the dancing. All along this journey I have tried to concentrate on getting enough protein and fiber every day. It doesn't always happen, but I do better than I ever used to. Also, I did weight training the entire time I was losing weight. I don't know if that helped me retain muscle or not. I had hoped to not end up with a lot of loose skin. However, I do have some. Just wanting to do what I can about it.

AllanMisner

Eating well, lifting weights, and losing the fat slowly will all help with loose skin to some extent. But if you gained a lot of weight, especially if it was gained quickly, you may not get the skin to pull all the way back to where you are now (lack of elasticity). In extreme cases, surgery is the only way to resolve the loose skin problem.

wilsonctenney

Download the 5x5 app. I am doing that now + the supplemental and it is great. I am going for functional strength but I am putting mass on as well.

Christine_72

What would be achieved if you did loads of spin and/or walking but ate in a deficit? Skinny spindly legs??

McKittyJane

Dance is very good for leg muscles. Not just thighs, dance gives you killer calf muscles too (my calves are rock hard from dance). But doing beginner ballet uses a ton of thigh support and strengthens core muscles as well. Since you are busy you may be able to find a local class for ballet, if not there are some good excersise videos out there. Doing high kicks firms up the back of your thigh muscle; if you aren't adjusted to the flexibility of it starting with high knees/knee-ups is good. Squat reps are good but may be more focused to butt area and some overall but dance improves thigh strength by using them to balance your upper body.

arabianhorselover

AllanMisner wrote: »

Eating well, lifting weights, and losing the fat slowly will all help with loose skin to some extent. But if you gained a lot of weight, especially if it was gained quickly, you may not get the skin to pull all the way back to where you are now (lack of elasticity). In extreme cases, surgery is the only way to resolve the loose skin problem.

I had gained about 50 pounds, and unfortunately kept it on for 16 years. I'm 54 now, so considering all of this, I doubt I'll get rid of it. The areas that bother me the most are the stomach and thighs.

arabianhorselover

wilsonctenney wrote: »

Download the 5x5 app. I am doing that now + the supplemental and it is great. I am going for functional strength but I am putting mass on as well.

I'm afraid I don't have a smartphone.

ndj1979

back squats, front squats, leg extensions, dumbbell lunges, etc..

although you really cannot "spot increase" just like you cannot "spot reduce"

you can target the area but no guarantee you will see an increase in that spot.

sijomial

arabianhorselover wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote: »

Eating well, lifting weights, and losing the fat slowly will all help with loose skin to some extent. But if you gained a lot of weight, especially if it was gained quickly, you may not get the skin to pull all the way back to where you are now (lack of elasticity). In extreme cases, surgery is the only way to resolve the loose skin problem.

I had gained about 50 pounds, and unfortunately kept it on for 16 years. I'm 54 now, so considering all of this, I doubt I'll get rid of it. The areas that bother me the most are the stomach and thighs.

In our 50's changes happen slowly. It can take time for your skin to recover from the weight loss and depending on genetics it probably won't ever fully recover.

It also takes time to build muscle so patience is required. Keep lifting, switching your cardio to a form of cardio that works the quads more can only help (cycling, rowing, stepper...) but it's the lifting that will have the major benefit - make sure you are lifting enough to stress your muscles.

Will disagree with people saying to switch to a surplus - IMHO I doubt if you would gain much from a surplus apart from regaining mostly fat. A female in her 50's can't benefit from a surplus in the same way a younger male can for example.

arabianhorselover

sijomial wrote: »

arabianhorselover wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote: »

Eating well, lifting weights, and losing the fat slowly will all help with loose skin to some extent. But if you gained a lot of weight, especially if it was gained quickly, you may not get the skin to pull all the way back to where you are now (lack of elasticity). In extreme cases, surgery is the only way to resolve the loose skin problem.

I had gained about 50 pounds, and unfortunately kept it on for 16 years. I'm 54 now, so considering all of this, I doubt I'll get rid of it. The areas that bother me the most are the stomach and thighs.

In our 50's changes happen slowly. It can take time for your skin to recover from the weight loss and depending on genetics it probably won't ever fully recover.

It also takes time to build muscle so patience is required. Keep lifting, switching your cardio to a form of cardio that works the quads more can only help (cycling, rowing, stepper...) but it's the lifting that will have the major benefit - make sure you are lifting enough to stress your muscles.

Will disagree with people saying to switch to a surplus - IMHO I doubt if you would gain much from a surplus apart from regaining mostly fat. A female in her 50's can't benefit from a surplus in the same way a younger male can for example.

Thank you. I agree with you. I have been afraid to start eating at a surplus. As it is, I have regained a little, and don't know if any of that is muscle. I also don't think getting into bulking and cutting is the thing for me to do. I'm not really wanting to be a bodybuilder anyway.

I got down to my goal weight by the beginning of July 2014, so it's been a while. I do work my muscles hard at the gym, but have been doing mostly walking for cardio because it is the easiest thing for me to fit into my schedule.

Christine_72

ndj1979 wrote: »

back squats, front squats, leg extensions, dumbbell lunges, etc..

although you really cannot "spot increase" just like you cannot "spot reduce"

you can target the area but no guarantee you will see an increase in that spot.

I've been doing sumo squats to help target my inner thighs..

arabianhorselover

christinev297 wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

back squats, front squats, leg extensions, dumbbell lunges, etc..

although you really cannot "spot increase" just like you cannot "spot reduce"

you can target the area but no guarantee you will see an increase in that spot.

I've been doing sumo squats to help target my inner thighs..

Yes. I should probably do more of those.

arabianhorselover

Wondering at this point if I should be doing less walking, and saving that energy for weight lifting. I don't want to lose the fitness level for walking that I have now, though. If I want to go on a 5 mile hike, I want to be able to do that.