Squats make your thighs slim
emergencytennis
Posts: 864 Member
Just been reading another thread on this subject. To be fair, only one poster said that squats make your thighs slim, but I have read it A LOT.
I just want someone to tell me exactly how this works. Don't tell me it doesn't, don't talk about general weight loss.
How do squats make my thighs slim?
I just want someone to tell me exactly how this works. Don't tell me it doesn't, don't talk about general weight loss.
How do squats make my thighs slim?
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Replies
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turns them into mucles I guess.0
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Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.0 -
turns them into mucles I guess.
Damn. sometimes the obvios answer is the right answer.0 -
Losing fat makes your thighs slim. Toning muscle will make them firm. If you are not a slim person you will not have slim thighs. I am 5'3". I have stocky legs even on a skinny day. I don't care how many squats I ever did, my thighs were never slim, toned yes, slim no.0
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I would say that if you have fat in your thighs, and are eating at a deficit while doing squats, you could lose the fat. Of course it would be attributable to the "eating at a deficit" part more than the squats, but that would explain the perception that squats slim your thighs.0
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turns them into mucles I guess.
Damn. sometimes the obvios answer is the right answer.
What, exactly, are you "turning into muscle" while doing squats? Squats will help you retain muscle while eating at a deficit. Squats will help to define the muscle in that area so once the layer of fat covering them is gone, your legs and butt look great. Squats, in and of themselves, by themselves, do not "slim your thighs".0 -
This right here.Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
And fat doesn't turn into muscle. Unless you own a Unicorn.0 -
My opinion on the topic is that squats build the muscle and since muscle is more compact than fat, if I build the muscle and eat at a deficit, my thighs will look slimmer. Of course this applies to the whole body and you can't just pick your thighs to work on, but eventually it happens.
If I had weighed just my legs, and weighed them again now, chances are they would weigh the same. But because I have built the muscle and lost the fat, they are 2.5" slimmer than they were.0 -
Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
Yah, but I have been reading my MFP. I can grow muscle in a calorie excess. This will make my thighs thicker. Or, I can increase my muscle endurance, so they will become harder or more dense. They will not get smaller.
Squats could be exercise that contributes to a calorie deficit. So could zumba. Why squats, in particular?
Edit vocab0 -
Thanks for bringing this up. IMO I already have way too much muscle in my thighs and really don't want anymore. Think I'll skip increasing the squats!0
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You might find this article helpful (and fun!)
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/07/08/why-you-need-squats-in-your-workout-and-how-to-do-them-right/0 -
There is no such thing as flabby or dense muscle. It's just muscle.Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
Yah, but I have been reading my MFP. I can grow muscle in a calorie excess. This will make my thighs fatter. Or, I can increase my muscle endurance, so they will become harder or more dense. They will not get smaller.
Squats could be exercise that contributes to a calorie deficit. So could zumba. Why squats, in particlar?
The muscle can grow under a calorie surplus, and you can store fat in such a state.
In a calorie deficit, in an ideal world you maintain the muscle size whilst losing fat but often you'll lose some muscle size as well.
Bodyfat is what makes your legs more or less defined.
Squats are simply the most effective exercise for leg development and strength vs. time invested.0 -
This right here.Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
And fat doesn't turn into muscle. Unless you own a Unicorn.
^^ I agree with all of that.
But needed to add - you need glitter to toss in the air while riding on your Unicorn to the end of a rainbow as well to make fat turn into muscle.0 -
Losing fat makes your thighs slim. Toning muscle will make them firm. If you are not a slim person you will not have slim thighs. I am 5'3". I have stocky legs even on a skinny day. I don't care how many squats I ever did, my thighs were never slim, toned yes, slim no.
You and I are on the same page.0 -
The last thing I'm gonna say about squats is this: before them, decent booty. After them (and I'm talking heavy squats), I have a pretty amazing *kitten*, even if I do say so myself. I could still stand to lose some fat from that area, but the squats have definitely made it firm and rounder. My legs are nice and strong, and I think that helps my running. Squats aren't some magical answer to nice legs, but they have amazing benefits when part of an overall fitness plan and good diet.
Your fat-to-muscle Unicorn should also be purple. Those pink ones are lazy, and the job ends up half a$$ed.
And don't forget the glitter. 0 -
The last thing I'm gonna say about squats is this: before them, decent booty. After them (and I'm talking heavy squats), I have a pretty amazing *kitten*, even if I do say so myself. I could still stand to lose some fat from that area, but the squats have definitely made it firm and rounder. My legs are nice and strong, and I think that helps my running. Squats aren't some magical answer to nice legs, but they have amazing benefits when part of an overall fitness plan and good diet.
Your fat-to-muscle Unicorn should also be purple. Those pink ones are lazy, and the job ends up half a$$ed. And don't forget the glitter.
I didn't know the pink ones were lazy. No wonder I haven't seen any progress!!! smh.....jeeezzzzz. I was totally conned! :drinker:0 -
Thanks for bringing this up. IMO I already have way too much muscle in my thighs and really don't want anymore. Think I'll skip increasing the squats!
I am not dissing squats. I have a squat track that I squat to (Big Shot by Straylight Run). I love my thigh muscles.
Squatting will not make your thighs bigger if you are in a calorie deficit.
I don't think it will make them smaller, either.0 -
turns them into mucles I guess.
Damn. sometimes the obvios answer is the right answer.
What, exactly, are you "turning into muscle" while doing squats? Squats will help you retain muscle while eating at a deficit. Squats will help to define the muscle in that area so once the layer of fat covering them is gone, your legs and butt look great. Squats, in and of themselves, by themselves, do not "slim your thighs".
didn't you know that squats are the magic formula for converting fat into muscle? Dugh....!0 -
My thighs got slimmer. I'm pretty sure it was strength training while at maintenance and on a deficit that did it. I lost 2 inches on each of them when I started to shed the body fat.
Muscle takes up less space, so when I started developing strength in my legs, and maybe added 2-4 pounds of muscle in the past 6 months, but I lost 4-5 pounds of fat. Result: I'm smaller, stronger and weigh almost exactly the same. This equals smaller thighs.0 -
turns them into mucles I guess.
Damn. sometimes the obvios answer is the right answer.
What, exactly, are you "turning into muscle" while doing squats? Squats will help you retain muscle while eating at a deficit. Squats will help to define the muscle in that area so once the layer of fat covering them is gone, your legs and butt look great. Squats, in and of themselves, by themselves, do not "slim your thighs".
didn't you know that squats are the magic formula for converting fat into muscle? Dugh....!
You can definitely gain muscle whilst losing weight/fat. I have gone from 150lb to 140lb and am now leg-pressing on a 30ish degree angle 160+lbs (i.e. comfortably over my own body weight).
My weight loss has stalled, but this is because I am now gaining muscle whilst losing fat (muscle weighs more than fat) and not eating at a ridiculous deficit.
I am proud to say my *kitten* is really defying gravity more than ever, and I attribute this to squatting, lunges, running uphill (I am talking, the 15% highest setting on the treadmill) and some hiking.
As for making legs skinnier? Well if you are gaining muscle, you will require more calories to maintain that... so even whilst eating the same you naturally burn a little more and can get an overall fat loss from that. Ontop of it, if you're doing weights PROPERLY and killing yourself by the 10-12th rep then it is almost like cardio anyway. My heart gets up to 160s (I usually get to 180 whilst jogging with 55 resting, no I don't need to see a Dr) so it's an awesome workout.
YAY FOR SQUATS!0 -
Squats make your thighs awesome, that is all!0
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Interesting about the heart rate, I would agree with this. I do 40 minutes of weights then 20 mins of cardio. When i start the cardio the HR is around 145-150 starting and shoots up a bit from there.0
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Hello! I do weighted squats and my thighs are now 21 inches around at the widest part.
They didn't bulk up because I was on a calorie deficit when I was doing them. You may temporarily gain water if you work hard and do things right because that's what happens when your muscles repair, but that will continuously go away with then some if you keep up the calorie deficit and that's how it works and you will continuously look better. You can't continuously grow mass on a calorie deficit. Muscle needs fuel to build. And although you can't grow a noticeable amount of muscle, you can get stronger.
1. It is scientifically impossible to become bigger and bulkier to begin with on a calorie deficit
2. by volume, muscle weighs more then fat. This means that muscle takes up less room then fat. So if you think you bulked up in muscle on a calorie deficit, that means you slimmed down by a gigantic amount.
3. You don't turn into a hulk over night. It takes lots of calorie surplus and strength training and time and dedication. And in a blink of an eye those effects can be reversed. Just be lazy, tada your problems are solved.
4. If you see someone who you think is big and bulky and they are on a calorie deficit...ask them for a before picture. You'll see they were bigger and bulkier.
5. You can't spot reduce fat. Working a particular muscle isn't going to remove the fat from it, it is going to help maintain the muscle in it. So if you are doing a full body strength routine when you lose weight, the weight will likely come from fat and not LBM. If you have jiggly thighs, squats +a calorie deficit is great.0 -
Just been reading another thread on this subject. To be fair, only one poster said that squats make your thighs slim, but I have read it A LOT.
I just want someone to tell me exactly how this works. Don't tell me it doesn't, don't talk about general weight loss.
How do squats make my thighs slim?
By burning the fat thats surrounding your leg muscles?0 -
Good information. I've lost an inch with a combination of walking, squats and lunges. BUT, I have a bit to lose. I started off with 28" thighs. I'm not that concerned with how many inches I lose - but I definitely am concerned with toning. I was planning on adding weights.0
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There is no such thing as flabby or dense muscle. It's just muscle.Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
Yah, but I have been reading my MFP. I can grow muscle in a calorie excess. This will make my thighs fatter. Or, I can increase my muscle endurance, so they will become harder or more dense. They will not get smaller.
Squats could be exercise that contributes to a calorie deficit. So could zumba. Why squats, in particlar?
The muscle can grow under a calorie surplus, and you can store fat in such a state.
In a calorie deficit, in an ideal world you maintain the muscle size whilst losing fat but often you'll lose some muscle size as well.
Bodyfat is what makes your legs more or less defined.
Squats are simply the most effective exercise for leg development and strength vs. time invested.
People of different fitness levels have different muscle density. It is one of the measures of fitness. Diabetics, for example, have less muscle density than healthy people. There are plenty of broscience myths out there, but muscle density is real.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/54/3/509.short0 -
I believe the idea is to maintain the muscle you have in your thighs while losing the fat, rather than losing both fat and muscle. That way you end up with a lower body fat percentage. It's not that you're going to magically transform fat into muscle.0 -
On a surplus they build muscle (if you continue to progressively add weight to them). On a calorie deficit they partially retain muscle (thus when most lifters lose weight, they lose it mostly in fat)My opinion on the topic is that squats build the muscle and since muscle is more compact than fat, if I build the muscle and eat at a deficit, my thighs will look slimmer. Of course this applies to the whole body and you can't just pick your thighs to work on, but eventually it happens.
If I had weighed just my legs, and weighed them again now, chances are they would weigh the same. But because I have built the muscle and lost the fat, they are 2.5" slimmer than they were.0 -
I ADORE squats. Combined with overall calorie deficit (which is what took the fat off my thighs), they've given me great muscle definition. But you can't spot reduce fat on your thighs by doing them, it has to be a calorie deficit to produce that.0
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This right here.Squats primarily develop muscle around the thighs, typically hamstrings, glutes and quads, depending on form.
That is all they do, no more, no less.
Perhaps having definition in the legs makes people think they look thinner, perhaps people have lost fat whilst doing squats.
And fat doesn't turn into muscle. Unless you own a Unicorn.
^^ I agree with all of that.
But needed to add - you need glitter to toss in the air while riding on your Unicorn to the end of a rainbow as well to make fat turn into muscle.
Thank god I just bought more glitter!0
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