slimming thighs

er03bald

Hey everyone, So here's my issue. I want to slim down my thighs. I have been active my entire life and all it does is add bulk. I'm 5'2 and I've got a couple of tree trunks for legs (or as my husband calls them "soccer legs") I'm tired of putting jeans on and having them so tight on my legs you can't even pinch the fabric. Any Suggestions of exercises that will slim my thighs?

wellbert

lose body fat

LoraF83

lose body fat

Pretty much.

er03bald

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

canelly

I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

JesterMFP

There are no exercises that will slim your thighs specifically. You can't target fat reduction. You just need to reduce your overall body fat percentage (with a calorie deficit) and hope that it comes off where you want it to. You can target your muscles, but it sounds like you don't want to do that. The only way to make muscles smaller is to not use them, and let them atrophy.

EatWorkoutLive

I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

how far apart were these picuters taken? And how long/often do you do the eliptical
LOOKING AWESOME

LoraF83

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

Okay, then you need to lose muscle. So, don't do any exercise, avoid moving your legs too much and eat at an extreme calorie deficit. You'll lose muscle mass.

^Obviously sarcastic.

Chances are, you have more body fat to lose than you think. Have you had it measured? It might be worth looking in to. You can't change the shape of your muscles....no exercise is going to make your leg muscles longer or thinner.

The lady in the picture has thinner legs because she lost FAT that was on top of the muscle - not because the elliptical is a magic machine that makes legs look better.

lizsmith1976

Run. Running burns muscle on your legs and burns a ton of fat. But really, the biggest change I noticed in my legs was when I started biking. Are you sure it's all muscle? I would get your BF % measurements done and then if too high, lose overall body fat. It's pretty difficult for women to build up enormous muscles without additional "enhancements". Losing fat, even if you add some muscle will most likely help.

skyeliz525

Have you ever tried any pilates or ballet (pure Barre) exercises?

er03bald

I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

You're photo is awesome! I was thinking of running or the elliptical, but I am so afraid of adding muscle. I'll have to give it a go and take what I get, any change is a good change. (but if my legs get any bigger I wont be able to even wear jeans lol

JesterMFP

Also, I read on your profile that one of your goals is to not have your thighs touch any more. That might not be possible at a healthy weight, depending on the structure of your skeleton.

er03bald

well, I obviously have fat to lose I'm not saying that I'm pure muscle or anything like that... but I know that at least 70% of my legs are muscle due to 13 years of martial arts.

junipearl

canelly those are some nice legs.

SoDamnHungry

Also, I read on your profile that one of your goals is to not have your thighs touch any more. That might not be possible at a healthy weight, depending on the structure of your skeleton.

Yes, keep in mind that a gap between your thighs doesn't equate being thin. It's mostly related to your hip and thigh bone structure. Ain't no gap in my thighs!

FabMrFox

Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

CincinnatiDEIFan

My husband calls my legs "horsey legs" since they are pretty strong from riding. However, Im totally unhappy with them, but it is from fat over the muscles.

I am currently doing about an hour a day of cardio - elliptical, stationary bike, treadmill and am seeing improvement after about a month.

Good luck!

3bambi3

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

That's just not true. It's extremely hard for women to "increase the bulk" especially when not lifting weights and eating at a calorie surplus. If you lower your body fat %, you will see a reduction in your size all around, including on your thighs. I thought my thighs were mostly muscle, too. But then I started losing body fat and they have gone down 3".

kwatkin

Also, I read on your profile that one of your goals is to not have your thighs touch any more. That might not be possible at a healthy weight, depending on the structure of your skeleton.

Yes, keep in mind that a gap between your thighs doesn't equate being thin. It's mostly related to your hip and thigh bone structure. Ain't no gap in my thighs!

This makes me feel better, thank you! I always hoped that if I lost more weight, I'd finally have that "gap"... but I have literally NO hips so this probably would explain it, and helps me make my goals more realistic
I can't beleive I never thought of that! Thanks to both of you. :flowerforyou:

RunMyOregonBunsOff

I'm 5'2" as well and have the same "power muscle" issues that you do. Running is doing great things for my legs as yoga. When I was younger I had super solid leg muscles that I had the hardest time finding jeans to fit over them. My jeans would be two sizes too big in the waist so that they would fit over my legs. At least right now, several cuts of jeans are popular so that really helps too.

JustJennie1

Women do not bulk up. It's fat over the muscle. Lose the fat and your legs will slim down.

As for not having your thighs touch that's genetics and the way your body is shaped/made up. I am small framed and my thighs touch. I know that the only way they will not touch is if I stopped working out and lost the muscle (and yes, it IS muscle on my thighs not fat) and that ain't going to happen.

SexyLovinmeCook

I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

Wow your entire body looks great...Congrats on the transformation...I am inspired to hit up the Elliptical a little bit more....

murphy612

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

That's just not true. It's extremely hard for women to "increase the bulk" especially when not lifting weights and eating at a calorie surplus. If you lower your body fat %, you will see a reduction in your size all around, including on your thighs. I thought my thighs were mostly muscle, too. But then I started losing body fat and they have gone down 3".

Well said and the same thing happened for me. You are not going to build bulky leg muscles on a calorie deficit. My legs are still a little larger than some women would like, but I like them They are strong and shapely now.

LovelyLifter

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

well I am the opposite. I have embraced the fact I have muscular strong legs. My legs show that I lift and I lift heavy and I am proud of them

Maybe embrace what you have and work with that :flowerforyou:

bpotts44

The size of your legs are genetics. You are not going to add bulk by running or elliptical. You best bet is to exercise both cardio and strength and eat in slight caloric deficit if you are not happy with how you look.

RunMyOregonBunsOff

Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

Which is part of why I started running distance in the last year and a half when I was a sprinter in HS. It uses your muscles sooo differently.

As to the "women don't bulk" thing; some women have a natural heavy muscle build instead of long lean muscle. I naturally get thicker bunchy muscle. My mom calls it quarter horse muscle instead of Arabian (horse) muscles. I wouldn't look like China from WWE without "supplements" but that doesn't mean that I can't naturally get bulkier than many other women.

laserturkey

There might also be some better jeans options that would fit you, as well. When clothes don't fit right, sometimes it's the clothes that are to blame and not our bodies.

californiagirl2012

Hey everyone, So here's my issue. I want to slim down my thighs. I have been active my entire life and all it does is add bulk. I'm 5'2 and I've got a couple of tree trunks for legs (or as my husband calls them "soccer legs") I'm tired of putting jeans on and having them so tight on my legs you can't even pinch the fabric. Any Suggestions of exercises that will slim my thighs?

I used to have this problem. I am only 5'1" and I've always been active and everyone thought it was muscle and big bones. Nope, not so. Fat. And even now in maintenance with my new jeans my weight fluctuates and sometimes I have to adjust my diet slightly to bring it back down slightly. It really is all about calories and losing the fat. Honestly it is. All the tricks and lessons you learn while in the weight loss phase comes into play in maintenance. These are life long skills.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

UsedToBeHusky

You're photo is awesome! I was thinking of running or the elliptical, but I am so afraid of adding muscle. I'll have to give it a go and take what I get, any change is a good change. (but if my legs get any bigger I wont be able to even wear jeans lol

Cardio exercises do NOT build significant muscle.

osualex

When you find out tell me...my thighs are the only thing keeping from a size 8. I do 30 day shred, butt bible, and I run but it's barely made a dent. I'm starting to think I might just have to live with them.

wellbert

losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

so your body fat percentage is between 12-14% and you have big veiny highly defined quads and hams? In that case, your only solution is atrophy.