Will squats make my thighs bigger?

nashai01

I'm loving the legs in this thread!! I would MUCH RATHER have thighs a little bit bigger but firmer. I am a firm believer in lifting heavy, I've seen the results.

In my case, my genetics gave me flabby thighs. My mom has them, my sister has them, her mother before her, etc..

As someone else said, mostly it is diet - but diet can't reshape your body like lifting can - it has to be used in conjunction with a good lifting plan. When I was eating like a bird and weighed nothing I was just a flabby mess.

I was 103-105 pounds here and HATED my legs. Even though I was a skinny minny, my legs were still flabby. All I did back then were some light weights (DVDs) and the elliptical trainer, and my diet was low calorie/1000-1200 daily. See pic below. My legs were small by measurements, 19 inches at biggest part of thigh. And by the way, this was 7 years ago.



Now, I hardly do any cardio, only a couple sessions of HIIT per week, I lift heavy 3x a week, squats, deadlifts, you name it. Very little cellulite, and I eat WAY more. I weigh 6-7 pounds more, wear the same size clothing, and my measurements are 19.5 inches now. And now I wear short dresses, shorts, etc and I'm confident in them! I wish I could go back to the old me and tell me to lift weights! I spent years being dissatisfied. I wasted all of my 20's and early 30's away! :sad:

You look great! This post is so motivating. I was starting to give up on getting rid of cellulite but you ladies just encouraged me to keep working at it.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

there are ways to elongate muscle, instead of bulking muscle (weight / rep range combos, different resistant / impact levels, amt of work on a particular muscle group, etc). And these are definately ideas someone should look it to.

Muscles cannot be "elongated." We aren't Gumby.

ZoeLifts

Stealing this!

crossfit_lover

Great Job Jen!

Yanicka1

I'm loving the legs in this thread!! I would MUCH RATHER have thighs a little bit bigger but firmer. I am a firm believer in lifting heavy, I've seen the results.

In my case, my genetics gave me flabby thighs. My mom has them, my sister has them, her mother before her, etc..

As someone else said, mostly it is diet - but diet can't reshape your body like lifting can - it has to be used in conjunction with a good lifting plan. When I was eating like a bird and weighed nothing I was just a flabby mess.

I was 103-105 pounds here and HATED my legs. Even though I was a skinny minny, my legs were still flabby. All I did back then were some light weights (DVDs) and the elliptical trainer, and my diet was low calorie/1000-1200 daily. See pic below. My legs were small by measurements, 19 inches at biggest part of thigh. And by the way, this was 7 years ago.



Now, I hardly do any cardio, only a couple sessions of HIIT per week, I lift heavy 3x a week, squats, deadlifts, you name it. Very little cellulite, and I eat WAY more. I weigh 6-7 pounds more, wear the same size clothing, and my measurements are 19.5 inches now. And now I wear short dresses, shorts, etc and I'm confident in them! I wish I could go back to the old me and tell me to lift weights! I spent years being dissatisfied. I wasted all of my 20's and early 30's away! :sad:

best exemple ever

AllAboutThatTreble

I'm loving the legs in this thread!! I would MUCH RATHER have thighs a little bit bigger but firmer. I am a firm believer in lifting heavy, I've seen the results.

In my case, my genetics gave me flabby thighs. My mom has them, my sister has them, her mother before her, etc..

As someone else said, mostly it is diet - but diet can't reshape your body like lifting can - it has to be used in conjunction with a good lifting plan. When I was eating like a bird and weighed nothing I was just a flabby mess.

I was 103-105 pounds here and HATED my legs. Even though I was a skinny minny, my legs were still flabby. All I did back then were some light weights (DVDs) and the elliptical trainer, and my diet was low calorie/1000-1200 daily. See pic below. My legs were small by measurements, 19 inches at biggest part of thigh. And by the way, this was 7 years ago.



Now, I hardly do any cardio, only a couple sessions of HIIT per week, I lift heavy 3x a week, squats, deadlifts, you name it. Very little cellulite, and I eat WAY more. I weigh 6-7 pounds more, wear the same size clothing, and my measurements are 19.5 inches now. And now I wear short dresses, shorts, etc and I'm confident in them! I wish I could go back to the old me and tell me to lift weights! I spent years being dissatisfied. I wasted all of my 20's and early 30's away! :sad:

You look fantastic!!!

Lupercalia

I've been lifting for almost a year, and I like looking and feeling strong. However, it's ridiculous to say that people that don't want my type of muscle definition are stupid or misinformed. Some people (women in particular) would rather be and look a little soft, even if that means they have a little more wiggle in their walk. As long as they're healthy, why do you care? You don't want to look like them, and they don't want to look like you. The end.

Way to miss the entire point of the thread, beginning to end.

The point was that lifting will make your legs (thighs in particular) firmer and smaller, rather than "big and bulky".

"Looking soft" has to do with your body fat percentage. I lift heavy weights and look "soft", as my BF% isn't low enough to look hard or ripped at this point. I wiggle!

Nobody seems offended by this, and I'm certainly not offended by anyone who has a harder, tighter body than me, just as I'm not offended by someone with more body fat than I have, who is even wigglier and jigglier.

What bothers me are comments suggesting women who lift weights are "masculine", "bulky", and generally undesirable. I'm bothered by women jumping up to object to the MANY positive benefits of lifting weights, and the (YES) misinformed women who will discourage others from lifting by telling them they'll get big and bulky, masculine, etc. They are indeed misinformed if that's what they believe. There's no two ways about that, sorry.

MamaC77

Your legs are fabulous. Great work to all of you that have changed your bodies for the better by lifting. Sounds great to me....I just don't know where to start.

jpolinisse

I've been lifting for almost a year, and I like looking and feeling strong. However, it's ridiculous to say that people that don't want my type of muscle definition are stupid or misinformed. Some people (women in particular) would rather be and look a little soft, even if that means they have a little more wiggle in their walk. As long as they're healthy, why do you care? You don't want to look like them, and they don't want to look like you. The end.

Way to miss the entire point of the thread, beginning to end.

The point was that lifting will make your legs (thighs in particular) firmer and smaller, rather than "big and bulky".

"Looking soft" has to do with your body fat percentage. I lift heavy weights and look "soft", as my BF% isn't low enough to look hard or ripped at this point. I wiggle!

Nobody seems offended by this, and I'm certainly not offended by anyone who has a harder, tighter body than me, just as I'm not offended by someone with more body fat than I have, who is even wigglier and jigglier.

What bothers me are comments suggesting women who lift weights are "masculine", "bulky", and generally undesirable. I'm bothered by women jumping up to object to the MANY positive benefits of lifting weights, and the (YES) misinformed women who will discourage others from lifting by telling them they'll get big and bulky, masculine, etc. They are indeed misinformed if that's what they believe. There's no two ways about that, sorry.

I understand your point. But to some people the OP would probably be considered "bulky", and might serve as an example for women who do not want that aesthetic to not lift heavy. It's nothing personal, I'm a heavy squatter and tend to have "big thighs" but I get it that some women/men don't like that.

cleotherio

Strong legs are awesome and you look great, OP.

Natihilator

Out of all the B/A pictures, as a thunder thigh owner myself, these are the progress pics that inspire me most (along with the rest of the OP and all of her awesomeness)

I saw a picture of a woman on tumblr who started heavy lifting and the difference in her thigh/butt cellulite was insane despite her GAINING weight, blew me away since we're all told that "cellulite never goes away" I love it. I'd post the pic here but that would be creeperish of me.

woofers1803

love this reminds me of a conversation I had a work yesterday. A girl was complaining of all the "muscle" she gained on her thighs from running a mile everyday.

It is SO annoying when people complain about something fitness related and they have NO idea what they are talking about!!!!

OMG this ^^^^ Especially when they complain that they never lose any weight and work out so much and you never them break a sweat on cardio or lift anything other than barbie pink dumbbells... Sorry for the rant but this hit a nerve after going to the gym this morning!

petstorekitty

I can attest. When I added in squats, jumps, all kinds of lunges & dead lifts blah blah, and I started losing fat on my thighs within a week!

YES my quads are bigger but umm I want the fat to go away and it is! I lost an inch already!
Slowly but surely. Plus Leg muscle is sexy. (I'm not a teenager, I don't want chicken legs, Thx)

I HATE HATE HATE HATE my fat thighs. They looks worse than the OP's original, but I'm sure I can make a difference in them now if I keep it up!

Thanks for this post. I did know it was working, but it motivates me even more to stick with it. I enjoy the workouts like this and I want so badly for my stupid thigh fat to go away.

yay! <3<3

Mia_RagazzaTosta

I've been lifting for almost a year, and I like looking and feeling strong. However, it's ridiculous to say that people that don't want my type of muscle definition are stupid or misinformed. Some people (women in particular) would rather be and look a little soft, even if that means they have a little more wiggle in their walk. As long as they're healthy, why do you care? You don't want to look like them, and they don't want to look like you. The end.

Way to miss the entire point of the thread, beginning to end.

The point was that lifting will make your legs (thighs in particular) firmer and smaller, rather than "big and bulky".

"Looking soft" has to do with your body fat percentage. I lift heavy weights and look "soft", as my BF% isn't low enough to look hard or ripped at this point. I wiggle!

Nobody seems offended by this, and I'm certainly not offended by anyone who has a harder, tighter body than me, just as I'm not offended by someone with more body fat than I have, who is even wigglier and jigglier.

What bothers me are comments suggesting women who lift weights are "masculine", "bulky", and generally undesirable. I'm bothered by women jumping up to object to the MANY positive benefits of lifting weights, and the (YES) misinformed women who will discourage others from lifting by telling them they'll get big and bulky, masculine, etc. They are indeed misinformed if that's what they believe. There's no two ways about that, sorry.

I understand your point. But to some people the OP would probably be considered "bulky", and might serve as an example for women who do not want that aesthetic to not lift heavy. It's nothing personal, I'm a heavy squatter and tend to have "big thighs" but I get it that some women/men don't like that.

If the OP is "bulky" I don't want to live in this world anymore.

AngelsFan91106

Just wanted to contribute my experience on how shocked I was that squats didn't make my thighs bigger.

I'd always had proportionally bigger legs even when I was thin. I'd wear a size 2 top, but a size 6 jeans. (I know size 6 isn't big, the point is I was two sizes bigger on the bottom.) So I NEVER strength trained my legs in fear that they'd, well, get bigger.

Then I gained weight--all over--no longer a size 2 top, nor a size 6 bottom. When I tried to lose weight, I got on the heavy-lifting bandwagon (squats, deads, bench) after seeing all the MFP women's tremendous results.

And now? My husband married a woman who was fairly slender, but it is only NOW that he comments on how small my legs are.

Thank you, squat rack.

ShellyBell999

Nice legs OP
It's women like you who have inspired me to begin lifting
I look forward to every session
Congratulations and Thank You!

toomuchbootyindapants

My apologies for the blanket post - but thank you guys so much for all your love! I appreciate it. I've received a ton of new friend requests and sadly I cannot accept anymore as I can't keep up with my list as it is. But I wanted to put this group link out here for anyone interested in lifting to transform their bodies - a group of like-minded people over here (if you aren't lifting yet, you betta start if you join! LOL) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/12919-girls-who-lift-the-guys-who-spot-them

I'd love to support all of you but there are only so many hours in a day and I get limited time to myself these days. Also, for those asking how to get started - I highly recommend Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. You start with the barbell and progressively add weight as you get stronger (or each workout). Google it! It covers the compound lifts that will help transform your body the most efficiently as a beginner. Stronglifts is similar but it's a couple more sets for each lift and if you are eating in a deficit, you may hit walls/stalls sooner (which leads to frustration, so I push Starting Strength more for women just starting out).

DavPul

very late bump for a very good thread

Crankstr

My apologies for the blanket post - but thank you guys so much for all your love! I appreciate it. I've received a ton of new friend requests and sadly I cannot accept anymore as I can't keep up with my list as it is. But I wanted to put this group link out here for anyone interested in lifting to transform their bodies - a group of like-minded people over here (if you aren't lifting yet, you betta start if you join! LOL) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/12919-girls-who-lift-the-guys-who-spot-them

I'd love to support all of you but there are only so many hours in a day and I get limited time to myself these days. Also, for those asking how to get started - I highly recommend Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. You start with the barbell and progressively add weight as you get stronger (or each workout). Google it! It covers the compound lifts that will help transform your body the most efficiently as a beginner. Stronglifts is similar but it's a couple more sets for each lift and if you are eating in a deficit, you may hit walls/stalls sooner (which leads to frustration, so I push Starting Strength more for women just starting out).

this this this^^^

GiddyupTim

It really depends on what you like. If you want to look strong as the OP does, then squats are ok, but if you're more into the lean long look, then avoid them and go running.

I'm sorry Casy. This is wrong. My wife runs, does not squat, and has strong, muscular legs. Her legs look great. But, they are strong.
Legs are going to look better whatever you do, if you do something. But you cannot worry about getting big legs by using them. A woman either has bigger, strong legs or she doesn't. They're not going to change much.