Thighs!

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Lulzaroonie
Lulzaroonie Posts: 222 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hiya
Does anyone have some good tips for toning thighs and calves?
I've always had what I call 'rugby' legs, with large calves which is annoying for a girl, but what annoys me more is than my thighs have got a little wobbly and I'd like to remedy that.
Can anyone recommend me something?
I am limited by a joint weakness, so preferably something not too harsh, but something i can do alot of (stamina providing!) without causing myself discomfort
Thanks alot

Replies

  • nbloom
    nbloom Posts: 14
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    Hi,

    I think the best thing you to can do to tone your legs and thighs especially are squats. Sumo Squats are great for your inner thigh, that's where you stand with your feet out as far as you can comfortably and you squat down with your back straight. Do reps of those and you will see a difference in your legs.
  • Ashia1317
    Ashia1317 Posts: 415
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    Squats, lunges, inclines, stairs.

    I have "big" thighs myself that I'm working on toning and all those above have helped me. Plus I have a lot of knee pain, so I do the best I can, when I can - some days are easier than others.
  • prettylyzard
    prettylyzard Posts: 98 Member
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    swimming...awesome for your body, doesn't hurt at all!
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    I've seen a difference in my legs with the elliptical, and its lower impact than running would be. I have hugeeee calves (thanks genetics) and my legs are where I carry alot of weight. So between the elliptical twice a week (i'm up to level 8 so I can really feel the resistance) and doing squats and lunges and such with EA Sports Active More Workouts for me Wii, I've actually noticed a difference in my legs.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    What do you mean by tone?

    Exercises that target your leg muscles can be viewed as either overloading or endurance.

    Overloading exercises would be those that are "hard" or "heavy" and surpass the threshold of what your muscles are accustomed to. When you surpass this threshold, your muscles adapt so they can better handle this sort of stress in the future. This is where you see increases in strength and muscle size.

    Endurance exercises would be "easier" or "lighter" stuff that you can do a large volume of. Running would be a prime example. While these generally don't contribute to muscle growth or strength gains, they're great for conditioning and increasing the oxidative capacity or endurance of your muscles as well as expending calories.

    It's important to note that you can't pigeonhole most exercises as one or the other - overloading or endurance. Take squats for instance. If you were to hold weights in your hands or across your shoulders and they were heavy to a point that it kept you from doing many reps (15+), they'd be overloading. On the other hand, if you didn't add weight to the squats and did many, many reps of light squats (using your bodyweight only), this would be more endurance.

    What I'm getting at is there aren't exercises that specifically tone, assuming by tone you mean to shrink and get lean. Getting lean is a function of losing body fat and preserving or adding muscle. More importantly, you can't pick and choose where fat leaves the body. It'll always come off in a genetically predetermined pattern, unless you opt for getting it sucked out, lol.

    I just want to make sure you're thinking about this correctly.

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