Skinny Legs/Spare Tire

Sharon_C

Just a bit of background: I've been weight lifting for 4+ years and follow my macros pretty consistently. I'm losing weight but the weight keeps coming off in my legs. I now have skinny legs, but a spare tire that I really want to get rid of.

I know I can't spot reduce.

So my dilemma: I want to build my legs up, but that requires a caloric surplus. However, I also want that spare tire to go away, which requires a caloric deficit. I fear if I stay in a deficit the legs will only get smaller.

Anyone have any ideas of a plan of action?

L1zardQueen

Have you read this?

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

quiksylver296

How are you lifting? Are you on a progress lifting program that incorporates squats?

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Sharon_C

quiksylver296 wrote: »

How are you lifting? Are you on a progress lifting program that incorporates squats?

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Yes

Sharon_C

L1zardQueen wrote: »

Have you read this?

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Yes

sardelsa

What are your stats? Unfortunately you cannot control where fat comes off, and if you are following proper programming, eating in a reasonable deficit with adequate programming then you are doing your best to maintain muscle in your legs. Depending on your stats you can look into recomp as mentioned, or you can continue to lose while lifting and accept that your legs might just look a lot leaner than you want them to (I feel the same about my upper body), then when you are lean enough you can eat in a surplus.

urloved33

to build your legs,....high weight. low reps. to minimize your middle build up your chest shoulders back while doing waist reducing exercises. it really is possible to sculpt your body regardless of what all these other people say.

hesn92

I agree with that ^ If you want your "spare tire" to get smaller you probably should eat in a deficit and continue strength training your legs to preserve as much muscle as possible. Then when you're satisfied with your stomach you could switch to a surplus to try and get your legs bigger.

sardelsa

urloved33 wrote: »

to build your legs,....high weight. low reps. to minimize your middle build up your chest shoulders back while doing waist reducing exercises. it really is possible to sculpt your body regardless of what all these other people say.

No one said it isn't possible to sculpt your body. But to build up areas requires building muscle. Building muscle doesn't just happen overnight, and while not impossible, usually not very significant in a deficit.

AnnPT77

How is your posture? Either a bit of excess convexity in the low back (pushing the booty out, basically) or non-erect upper back (slumping the shoulders forward) or both can accentuate central fat stores. If that's part of the issue, core exercise can help improve that, and along with it, appearance. (Modern life with desk/computer jobs seem to make this a more common thing, to the point where a slightly off posture looks pretty normal to us, unfortunately.)

Sharon_C

Thank you everyone for your input. I follow my macros so I’m getting enough protein and am maintaining my muscle. My core is strong so posture is good. Recomp seems like a good alternative

DopeItUp

urloved33 wrote: »

to build your legs,....high weight. low reps. to minimize your middle build up your chest shoulders back while doing waist reducing exercises. it really is possible to sculpt your body regardless of what all these other people say.

Everything you have said is incorrect (other than the last sentence which is obvious). Please, no one follow this advice.

Carry_That_Weight

HIIT preferentially burns fat from your midsection.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2991639/

(There are more but I'm sure you can find them). I've been seeing this in myself the past few months. My protocol has been to eat at maintenance, keep up my lifting to maintain leg muscle (an area I don't have much trouble with to begin with), and run sprints twice a week. I've definitely seen more success with this than when I was doing casual running in addition to lifting.

Carry_That_Weight

You can woo me all you like but I can go on.

https://www.nature.com/articles/0803781
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0026049594902593
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/h08-097#.W6khMqOZNBw
https://journals.lww.com/ajpmr/fulltext/2012/11000/Long_term_Lifestyle_Intervention_with_Optimized.4.aspx

Of course don't be looking for anything too dramatic, your genetics still largely modulate your fat distribution. But the mechanism that has been proposed (more research needed to be definitive) is that high intensity exercise targets a type of receptor that's in greater abundance in abdominal fat, increasing regional oxidation:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC548904/

climberbry

I second, and third, and fourth, and...THE SQUATS. Amen amen amen.

blobby10

I have substantially reduced the spare tyre around my middle by cutting out bread, pasta and rice on a daily basis and when I do have those items (maybe once or twice a week), I only have a handful rather than three handsful! Mind you, I am a lady of 'a certain age' who will naturally gain around the middle anyway so anything I can do to minimise it is fab.