HELP, i dont want thunder thighs!

lady_in_weighting

Ive been trying to build lean muscle over my whole body by doing weights at the gym, complemented by cardio. Now i feel like my thighs are getting to big and the top half of my body (especially round my ribs and back) is not catching up. I look out of proportion. Ive got a pear shape anyway and im quite flat chested but this is really getting me down! Im trying to keep my arm weights to a minimum if i can cause now my skinny arms have these man muscles. too much muscle, not enough lean mass!

any hints or tips would be soooo apreciated!

thanks :]

lublue

i'll be interested to hear what advice you get here

meerkat70

You might need to give a bit more information on the kind of exercise you're doing? What kind of weights? What kind of cardio?How much and to what intensity?

You really can't build 'man muscles' as a woman, unless you start taking male hormones.

lady_in_weighting

im doing weight machines and free weights to tone my legs and arms, abs ect for at least 20-25 mins three times a week.
cardio i do 200-300kcals three times a week also.
i never usually eat my allowance in calories a day (my food diary is open for anyone to have a look)
im not sure if not eating my calories is a reason why or im just going the wrong exercise.
i dont want man muscles, i just want lean muscle mass all over so that my bones on the top half of my frame dont jutt out.

JadeRabbit08

Building lean muscle mass is hard work and for the majority of women takes extreme dedication in heavy lifting and eating alot of calories. Even if you do all that it takes quite some time. So you wont wake up the next day after overstepping by one heavy rep too many and be all muscle bound and horrified.

Your calories are still in a deficit and a fairly big one at that. Not much chance of putting on more weight of any kind if your exercise calories drop you this low on your daily net calories.

Really good job on your eating, your doing really well. I can see the effort you are putting in to be healthy. Your calorie level is still at a weight loss level for most people though. Have you managed to creep it up anymore over the past couple of weeks? Keep working on that.

One thing when you have a very low bodyfat percent even when you dont have much muscle what you do have stands out because there isnt the smoothing layer of fat. When you gain some more you won't look muscley it will just smooth everything out and make the underlying muscle you build look more "girlie".

If you want that lean muscle mass you will have to work on the calorie intake. At the moment on the calories now, your body is probably just battling to get everything done.

Maybe think about it like putting money into building a house, if you dont pay (calories) the builders they can't buy the supplies to build your house.
You can work out as hard as you like but if there isnt enough calories nothing is being built.

lady_in_weighting

Building lean muscle mass is hard work and for the majority of women takes extreme dedication in heavy lifting and eating alot of calories. Even if you do all that it takes quite some time. So you wont wake up the next day after overstepping by one heavy rep too many and be all muscle bound and horrified.

Your calories are still in a deficit and a fairly big one at that. Not much chance of putting on more weight of any kind if your exercise calories drop you this low on your daily net calories.

Really good job on your eating, your doing really well. I can see the effort you are putting in to be healthy. Your calorie level is still at a weight loss level for most people though. Have you managed to creep it up anymore over the past couple of weeks? Keep working on that.

One thing when you have a very low bodyfat percent even when you dont have much muscle what you do have stands out because there isnt the smoothing layer of fat. When you gain some more you won't look muscley it will just smooth everything out and make the underlying muscle you build look more "girlie".

If you want that lean muscle mass you will have to work on the calorie intake. At the moment on the calories now, your body is probably just battling to get everything done.

Maybe think about it like putting money into building a house, if you dont pay (calories) the builders they can't buy the supplies to build your house.
You can work out as hard as you like but if there isnt enough calories nothing is being built.

Thank you so much for your reply, its a BIG help.

Ive been trying to creep up the calories a little bit, i know if i do it slowly then i wont get too freaked out about it or struggle to eat them, at the moment im on maintainance calories as my deficit on 0.5lbs to be gained a week felt huge. i know that if i want to put on some weight then i need to be eating all my calories. it does scare me as i had an eating disorder which still plagues me from time to time but with the support from everyone on MPF its getting better (:

in regards to the body fat, i think your absolutley right! if i had a bit more fat it would cover the skeletal frame and make the muscle mass balance out. if i try to hit my MFP nutrition goals and calorie deficits each day then that should help.

i love your analogy at the end by the way :]

thanks again!

joankpoirier

Morning. I have a friend that wanted to lose some inches on hips and thighs she started using the Slim in 6 and it really worked for her

determinedbutlazy

Muscle shape is genetic, I think if you're naturally a pear shape, when you lean out, you will still be a pear shape.
There are a lot of gorgeous fitness inspiration girls out there with skinny top halves and awesome curvy thighs and butts!





I had huge thighs even at 140lb as a teenager, I've always been bottom heavy. I aim towards looking like these girls one day... Or, you know... Beyonce ¬_¬

Sharonks

One of my daughters is a fitness nut. When she is seriously working out her butt gets bigger. No amount of weight loss makes it get smaller than it wants to be. She has 46" hips and that is just that. It is just genetics. No matter what I do my hips are 35-36" and that's that.

Some of your body shape is just what it is. Learn to embrace what you can't change.