Squats and Big Booties

CoderGal

We still talking about this?

Well then, let me get all serious face.

I have a considerable amount of junk in my trunk (Nothing outrageous but your typical moderately sized 'black girl booty') and I've got thick thighs. How thick? Lets say the difference between my waist measurement and my thigh is less than 3 inches.

I am squatting nearly everyday. 3 days a week I squat with 'heavy' weights. (Heavy for me. I'm at 95 pounds now.) and the other 3 days I'm squatting it out with Jillian or something of that manner (cardio squats!). I've lost ten pounds (just about) since May 7th, so about 1.4 pounds a week.

My thighs are not 'bigger'. My booty is not 'bigger', though as I mentioned earlier it's getting perkier and shifting its way into a pleasing position. My thighs look a bit leaner and are touch less jiggly.

For 'lean' 'toned' thighs do your squats. For a perky booty do your squats. Use heavy weights. You are not going to get big unless you are eating above your TDEE. If you eat at a deficit you will not get bigger, unless your body defies the laws of nature.

:flowerforyou: </endthread>

rickyll

I like big boooty b!tche$!
But in all seriousness, doing low squats (ya gotta get lowww) will give you a nice, toned derriere for girls and guys.
I got a nice man-butt thanks to squats, deadlifts and years of soccer.

jonnythan

Is it too late to invoke Sir Mix-a-Lot?

R2Vee2

You're still asking the same question as if the answer will change. You want an effective leg exercise? That means squats. And heavy squats. Bodyweight squats are a waste of time and needlessly hard on your knees. If you're in a calorie deficit you're not going to gain muscle mass and if you're not on a hypertrophy program it's really not a concern anyway. Plus it's not like women easily put on tons of muscle.

If you continue to lose weight (read: calorie deficit) I promise you that your thighs will get smaller. There's plenty of fat to lose in those areas without worrying about how much muscle you're going to build

Question for everyone out there, I have a similar body type, small on top, thick legs & butt. Never a problem until a knee injury two years ago. I can squat but with absolutely no weights. I do use the leg press machines and squat/lunge, but I'm not getting the results I used to.

Right now I'm using two 45 lbs weights on the incline leg press and so 4-6 sets of 12. Should I go lower weight/higher reps?

Thanks in advance for your input.

jofjltncb6

Is it too late to invoke Sir Mix-a-Lot?

I cannot lie.

DavPul

Is it too late to invoke Sir Mix-a-Lot?

never

Spresto2

you're talking about exercise when what you should be talking about is calorie deficit.




and where are the damn photos?

I am currently doing Weight Watchers for food. But still like to come here for the boards. I had tracked with MFP for more than a year and I just didn't get any results. I had trouble staying consistent with tracking, but in spite of trying various ranges of calorie deficits, I just kept losing and gaining the same five pounds over the course of a year +. Now since I have been doing WW and running, the weight is coming off, I am losing inches and feeling great. But I don't want to add something to my routine that will go against my goals.

Mrs...
May I ask.......at risk of sounding super novice...what do you believe the difference is in Your eating and exercise habits with weight watchers compared to the MFP habits you had? I always felt like I ate too much on weight watchers due to unlimited veg and fruit...love that stuff

Is it just that you track better and more consistently with WW than with MFP or is it in the amount and quality of both your eating and fitness??? In other words...what is causing the newfound success in weight loss in your opinion???? Please share! I have a big bootie and thighs tooooooooo compared with up top

bethanytowell

You're still asking the same question as if the answer will change. You want an effective leg exercise? That means squats. And heavy squats. Bodyweight squats are a waste of time and needlessly hard on your knees. If you're in a calorie deficit you're not going to gain muscle mass and if you're not on a hypertrophy program it's really not a concern anyway. Plus it's not like women easily put on tons of muscle.

If you continue to lose weight (read: calorie deficit) I promise you that your thighs will get smaller. There's plenty of fat to lose in those areas without worrying about how much muscle you're going to build

Question for everyone out there, I have a similar body type, small on top, thick legs & butt. Never a problem until a knee injury two years ago. I can squat but with absolutely no weights. I do use the leg press machines and squat/lunge, but I'm not getting the results I used to.

Right now I'm using two 45 lbs weights on the incline leg press and so 4-6 sets of 12. Should I go lower weight/higher reps?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Check out Bret Contreras - The Glute Guy. Low impact on your knees and he is AMAZING! Hip Thrusts and BB GLute Bridges.

R2Vee2

Thank you!

TyFit08

you're talking about exercise when what you should be talking about is calorie deficit.




and where are the damn photos?

I am currently doing Weight Watchers for food. But still like to come here for the boards. I had tracked with MFP for more than a year and I just didn't get any results. I had trouble staying consistent with tracking, but in spite of trying various ranges of calorie deficits, I just kept losing and gaining the same five pounds over the course of a year +. Now since I have been doing WW and running, the weight is coming off, I am losing inches and feeling great. But I don't want to add something to my routine that will go against my goals.

Mrs...
May I ask.......at risk of sounding super novice...what do you believe the difference is in Your eating and exercise habits with weight watchers compared to the MFP habits you had? I always felt like I ate too much on weight watchers due to unlimited veg and fruit...love that stuff

Is it just that you track better and more consistently with WW than with MFP or is it in the amount and quality of both your eating and fitness??? In other words...what is causing the newfound success in weight loss in your opinion???? Please share! I have a big bootie and thighs tooooooooo compared with up top

With MFP I struggled trying to figure out how many calories I should be eating. You always hear terms like BMR and TDEE and it sounds like this is so easy. But online BMR calcualators are just generalizations. I've seen a number of posts here on MFP and other sites where people went and got there RMR checked professionally and found the online calculators to be off by hundreds of calories. I tried 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800 calories, I tried eating my exercise calories back, not eating my exercise calories back or eating some of them back and still not results. I found it incredibly discouraging and that made it difficult for me to stay tracking.

I also hated stressing over every single calorie. Since hitting my calorie goal, sometimes meant I didn't hit my nutrition goal. So on Weight Watchers we don't count calories. Points are based on carbs/fiber/fat/protein so foods that are lower in calories but have less nutritional value have a higher point value than those that might be more nutritious but have more calories. 100 calories of chips and a 100 calorie apple doesn't offer the same nutritional value. I know some people get stuck on the "free" fruits and veggies, but you really only get 5 free servings of fruits and veggies and are suppose to count anything above that. The veggies aren't the issue, but some people overdo it on fruit and don't recognize what a true serving size is. A large banana is two servings, not one. I watch my fruit intake and I like that when I am at my point limit I still have the option of having a fruit guilt free. I have been going to meetings which I also think has been a great support and a good lesson in accountability. I like the recipe builder and the app as a whole for tracking.

Different things work for different people. Some people can just eat at their BMR or create a 500 calorie deficit and get results. I say it can take some trial and error to find what clicks and I am glad that I finally found what clicks for me.

jofjltncb6

Is it too late to invoke Sir Mix-a-Lot?

never

And as directed by that wise old scholar, Sir Mix-a-Lot...

...even *I* have to shout.

DavPul

I'll just leave this here

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1032054-from-pear-to-hourglass-with-heavy-lifting-for-women

F1TCH1K

patience + persistence = progress

Love this!

I squat & dead lift heavy weights (well, for me anyway - I weigh 128lbs, squat 195 & dead lift 205). I have improved my *kitten* significantly with those two exercises w/out "bulking". Lately, I eat about 1500 a day.

maundrelle

I am pretty similar to you. I also have thick thighs, even though I have never lifted heavy in my life.
When I started working out, I lost inches, but gained weight. I think I gained something like 10 pounds of muscle, even though I became smaller. And now, the fat is starting to come off my thighs too.

Have you ever tried BodyRock/Zuzana Light's HIIT workouts?

They are amazing. I did them when Body Rock had Zuzana and now I do ZWOWs as well as regular HIIT cardio on the elliptical and stationary bike. I also do Pilates and Power Yoga for strength training and Dance workouts for steady state cardio.

My legs have become slimmer and I have started to see some muscle definition in my thighs.

I would advise you to track what you're eating, do a lot of different types of Cardio, and start Pilates. :happy: I am not kidding. :happy:

There is this awesome website called Blogilates.com, the instructor has her own free Youtube Pilates workouts that are insanely effective. Again, I am not kidding. Try it out, it will be the best thing you've ever done for your thighs!

That, and track what you're eating. The eating is the easiest part, for sure. :laugh:
Good luck! Here's to Skinny thighs! :drinker:

toutmonpossible

I am pretty similar to you. I also have thick thighs, even though I have never lifted heavy in my life.
When I started working out, I lost inches, but gained weight. I think I gained something like 10 pounds of muscle, even though I became smaller. And now, the fat is starting to come off my thighs too.

Have you ever tried BodyRock/Zuzana Light's HIIT workouts?

They are amazing. I did them when Body Rock had Zuzana and now I do ZWOWs as well as regular HIIT cardio on the elliptical and stationary bike. I also do Pilates and Power Yoga for strength training and Dance workouts for steady state cardio.

My legs have become slimmer and I have started to see some muscle definition in my thighs.

I would advise you to track what you're eating, do a lot of different types of Cardio, and start Pilates. :happy: I am not kidding. :happy:

There is this awesome website called Blogilates.com, the instructor has her own free Youtube Pilates workouts that are insanely effective. Again, I am not kidding. Try it out, it will be the best thing you've ever done for your thighs!

That, and track what you're eating. The eating is the easiest part, for sure. :laugh:
Good luck! Here's to Skinny thighs! :drinker:

The programs you are recommending are in line with what I usually see recommended for women who are extreme pears who don't want to increase in size: HIIT, cardio, no heavy weights directly on the lower-body. They also usually recommend heavy or heavier weights on the upper body to create more balance by building up your shoulders, arms and chest.

LorinaLynn

The programs you are recommending are in line with what I usually see recommended for women who are extreme pears who don't want to increase in size: HIIT, cardio, no heavy weights directly on the lower-body. They also usually recommend heavy or heavier weights on the upper body to create more balance by building up your shoulders, arms and chest.

Yeah, except that what you "see recommended" doesn't fly in the face of what I've "seen happen" to my body and those of my friends.

Strength training has allowed me, and many others, to maintain or even in some cases increase muscle mass, while losing body fat. I understand that you've never had excess body fat, so building muscle could possibly make you bigger. But the majority of the women on this site aren't ~100 pounds. They have excess fat, and they want it gone. They need to lose weight to do that, and when most of that weight lost is fat, the leaner they're going to look. To lose mostly fat, you need to make a concerted effort to KEEP the muscle. That's where strength training comes in and why it's so important.

DavPul

I am pretty similar to you. I also have thick thighs, even though I have never lifted heavy in my life.
When I started working out, I lost inches, but gained weight. I think I gained something like 10 pounds of muscle, even though I became smaller. And now, the fat is starting to come off my thighs too.

Have you ever tried BodyRock/Zuzana Light's HIIT workouts?

They are amazing. I did them when Body Rock had Zuzana and now I do ZWOWs as well as regular HIIT cardio on the elliptical and stationary bike. I also do Pilates and Power Yoga for strength training and Dance workouts for steady state cardio.

My legs have become slimmer and I have started to see some muscle definition in my thighs.

I would advise you to track what you're eating, do a lot of different types of Cardio, and start Pilates. :happy: I am not kidding. :happy:

There is this awesome website called Blogilates.com, the instructor has her own free Youtube Pilates workouts that are insanely effective. Again, I am not kidding. Try it out, it will be the best thing you've ever done for your thighs!

That, and track what you're eating. The eating is the easiest part, for sure. :laugh:
Good luck! Here's to Skinny thighs! :drinker:

The programs you are recommending are in line with what I usually see recommended for women by people that have no clue about what they're talking about

Fixed it for you

DavPul

Repeated for emphasis

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1032054-from-pear-to-hourglass-with-heavy-lifting-for-women

I am 44 years old - and dedicated my fitness to heavy-lifting (free weights) for the last 18 months. Before that, it was 25+ years of cardio, cardio, cardio.

I can say that the improvements that have been made over the last 18 months are, to me, UNBELIEVABLE. A true "pear", I aimed to become as close to an hourglass as I could, recognizing that I have zero boobs and I am unwilling to seek surgery.

I am 5'8.5" tall. I weighed in at 146 lbs, today.

I started taking "photos" and "measurements" on January 1, 2012 - 18 months ago. It's now June 29, 2013 - here are my photos and measurements:





I still have 2" to shave off my hips and 0.5" to shave off my natural waist....I'm still not that "happy" with my lower body - but I do like my upper body.



Remember, all things are possible! I have a full-time job. I have severe asthma. I have a husband and a family to take care of. But, above all else, I believe that I owe it to myself to take care of myself. First.

Here's to the next 18 months!!

hide_yo_cats

Heavy lifting and maintaining a caloric deficit made my thighs and butt smaller. As much as it "doesn't jiggle" trust me, there's plenty of fat there to get rid of.

Respectfully,
Beachpls

DavPul

bumping with a crossfit gif. just cuz