help needed: knowledge on weights/muscle

kymmixxx

I love working out and esp using the weights, but my legs(mostly calves) are starting to look a little bulky. i dont want to stop using weights, what do i do? use lower weights? any help appreciated

warmachinejt

what's your secret? My calves are only 14 inches...oh and im bulking

kymmixxx

i honestly have no idea whats going on with them, but ill swap them with you if you like

warmachinejt

if you don't want muscle on one part of the body...don't work out that part of the body

trelm249

Some of that is genetics. As you drop the fat, the underlying muscle is more visible.
You already have somewhat muscular legs due to carrying extra weight and females tend to have most of their strength in the legs anyway.

All that being said, don't drop the weight. Drop any calf specific lifts (e.g. calf raises). If you are doing lunges, squats, leg press or dead lifts then your calves are getting plenty and their is no need for calf raises.

kymmixxx

no calf raises! got it thank u

ukaryote

My family all have large calves and thighs, especially if they get any exercise. It may be your genetics. If I don't want a muscle group to become larger, I work on other areas and put the over-developed parts on maintenance mode.

I try not to make things complicated for myself - there is enough sh- er, stuff in my life

harleigh67

also less weight more reps creates leaner muscle tone, more weight less reps bulks them up more, I have always had larger calves when tone and they always looked nice in a pair of heels because of how tone they were, but the person above is correct about calves getting enough work out doing other exercises watch that the exercises you do are not calve specific. What type of exercises are you doing, weight, cardio etc.

rc630

When I was chubby (I wasn't technically overweight but I was on the very high end of the normal range), I had really muscular calves that still looked defined, but they were big. As I lost the weight, the size of my calves got smaller, but I saw a similar amount of definition.
I'm no expert on building muscle, but from what I've seen on MFP, it takes a long time to actually build inches of muscle, and you can't do it quickly with a caloric deficit. Is what you're seeing an increase in size or increase in definition?
If they're actually getting bigger, then I would stop doing calf-specific muscle building exercise for a while and work on losing any extra fat you may have; that will eventually cause a decrease in size.
If they're just looking more defined, but your boots fit the same, then my advice to you would be to accept and love your muscular calves, and let other girls be jealous of how great your legs look in heels.

It may just be because it's cardio, but for myself, and from what I've heard from other people, running makes your calves shapely and less bulky-looking while still being toned, so maybe you can try that if you don't run already. Good luck!

dlaplume2

I worry about the same thing as you. I don't want popeye calves. A friend of mine who has done some personal trainer training said to not do calve raises. She also said little things like when you walk up the stairs put your foot flat on the stair. Most people only put the front of their foot on the front of the stair, which forces you to use that calve muscle. That is why most people have decent calve muscles.

best wishes to you.

gazz777

Bumping !