Bit of an odd question for the ladies...

fizzletto
fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If you are a healthy weight, when you stand with your legs together, are you supposed to have a gap in between your thighs?

I ask because I've heard so many people talk about "chub rub" which happens when you are overweight and you wear a skirt or dress and your thighs rub together as you walk causing painful sores. I've had this happen to me before when I was overweight.

I'm a healthy weight now, but I noticed that I still don't have a gap in between my thighs when I stand up straight with my legs together. Am I supposed to get this gap eventually or is it only something underweight people should get?
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Replies

  • Duckz1
    Duckz1 Posts: 145 Member
    It's totally dependent on the individual. My BMI is below 20 and my thighs STILL rub together. I'd have to really get my weight down to get a gap, possibly to the "underweight" category. Other girls naturally have one at a healthy weight.

    I get miffed at the term "chub rub." I am NOT chubby :laugh:
  • Kealihc
    Kealihc Posts: 39
    I've heard it has to do with how you're built, like wider set hips would have more of a gap, narrower hips would be less likely to have one! Obviously weight plays a role too though :)
  • MoonIite
    MoonIite Posts: 341 Member
    I don't have it even at my lowest weight. I never came across this fascination with thigh gap until I found this website.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Most of my life when I was at my regular weight, I had a gap. When I get there again. . .19 pounds from now, I'll keep you posted! I'm really hoping to get it back because the rubbing was high on my list of annoyances at having gained weight.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    My thighs have touched since puberty. They don't rub or chafe, though.
  • Pudgebrownie
    Pudgebrownie Posts: 73
    I had it when I was around 100lbs and lower in weight.


    I did not have it when I was 120lbs or heavier.
  • auntiemsgr8
    auntiemsgr8 Posts: 483 Member
    I don't notice it on underweight women but on very healthy and toned women. Mostly on women of smaller frames but not always. I am very jealous of that gap but have come to accept I will never have one. I believe if one is able to tone their inner thighs they can achieve the gap.
  • abbybean11
    abbybean11 Posts: 122 Member
    my thighs have rubbed together when i walk my whole life - I HATE IT! i just lost 45 pounds and it still happens to me - just 5 pounds from my goal weight. i'm hoping SOME DAY, but you never know....
  • Michellereducf
    Michellereducf Posts: 168 Member
    When I was in high school and weighed 97 pounds, my thighs rubbed together. Some people have a gap, some don't. Just the way it is.
  • Duckz1
    Duckz1 Posts: 145 Member
    I believe if one is able to tone their inner thighs they can achieve the gap.

    I think possibly the opposite...I ride horses and most horse girls I know (even the one who is insanely thin) have muscular thighs that touch. Believe me, our inner thighs are toned! lol
  • spammyanna
    spammyanna Posts: 871 Member
    I don't have it even at my lowest weight. I never came across this fascination with thigh gap until I found this website.

    This.

    Why does it matter if you have a gap? If you are happy with your body, and working on being healthy, who the hell cares? No one is going to look at your thighs and say "OMG, that chick doesn't have a thigh gap. How gross!"
  • fizzletto
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
    Thanks for your help everyone :) I'm beginning to think it may be about the shape of the woman rather than the size.
    Lynn - have you ever walked 4 miles straight on a very hot day wearing a dress and nothing underneath but underwear? I hadn't experienced chafing until I did that. the sores were very angry and red and extremely painful. Now I'm too scared to walk any distance in a skirt or dress in case it happens again. I was hoping that I might get a gap once I lose weight but I'm almost at my goal and I'm not seeing one forming.

    Also, I'm not wanting a gap because of how it looks, I'm wanting one because I don't want to be in physical pain any more when I walk long distances in a skirt or dress
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    I've heard it has to do with how you're built, like wider set hips would have more of a gap, narrower hips would be less likely to have one! Obviously weight plays a role too though :)

    ^^^^ Wider hips play a big role, it's not just the size of the legs or your weight. It's genetics.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    If you are a healthy weight, when you stand with your legs together, are you supposed to have a gap in between your thighs?

    I ask because I've heard so many people talk about "chub rub" which happens when you are overweight and you wear a skirt or dress and your thighs rub together as you walk causing painful sores. I've had this happen to me before when I was overweight.

    I'm a healthy weight now, but I noticed that I still don't have a gap in between my thighs when I stand up straight with my legs together. Am I supposed to get this gap eventually or is it only something underweight people should get?

    It's called "Chaffing" and it happens to men too. And it is definitely because of being overweight. The times when I've been thinner I haven't had a problem with it at all (despite not being able to see a difference in my legs). However at my worst weights it gets bad...like to the point where it takes days for it to heal.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    My thighs have touched since birth and I was super skinny until age 21. A lot of it has to do with bone structure.
  • tessavonhagen
    tessavonhagen Posts: 94 Member
    I dont think i even had a gap at my lowest weight of 128 :( so dont guess will ever have one.
  • EnchantedEvening
    EnchantedEvening Posts: 671 Member
    A lot depends on build, hips, muscle tone, where you carry your weight...

    Even when I was in great shape, I didn't have a gap. I never really wanted one, actually. It would look strange with the way my body is shaped because I'm so curvy. My legs would look bowed.
  • oOMusicBabii
    oOMusicBabii Posts: 494
    It's a family trait here...grumble grumble. Even when my mum was wicked thin, ran track and did cheerleading in high school she still had that problem. Just have to learn to deal with it. I usually end up wearing pantyhose to cancel the rub under skirts and dresses. On really toasty days, I pull out a pair I cut short enough to hide under a skirt/dress or really lightweight, shorter biking shorts.
  • utes09
    utes09 Posts: 561 Member
    Try body glide to help with that.
  • Klem4
    Klem4 Posts: 399 Member
    I have wide hips, and mine do not rub, I have a slight gap, but that was never my body goal. :)
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    Thanks for your help everyone :) I'm beginning to think it may be about the shape of the woman rather than the size.
    Lynn - have you ever walked 4 miles straight on a very hot day wearing a dress and nothing underneath but underwear? I hadn't experienced chafing until I did that. the sores were very angry and red and extremely painful. Now I'm too scared to walk any distance in a skirt or dress in case it happens again. I was hoping that I might get a gap once I lose weight but I'm almost at my goal and I'm not seeing one forming.

    Also, I'm not wanting a gap because of how it looks, I'm wanting one because I don't want to be in physical pain any more when I walk long distances in a skirt or dress

    If the "thigh gap" doesn't seem to be in your future (it may or may not, I don't know) in the mean time try a chafing gel on those days. Monistat makes a nice one. Smooth and dry with no friction :smile:
  • fizzletto
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
    The times when I've been thinner I haven't had a problem with it at all (despite not being able to see a difference in my legs).

    That's interesting, so you think that the chafing may stop happening as I lose weight even though I can't visibly see a gap between my legs? That would be great!
  • Hibiscus1984
    Hibiscus1984 Posts: 49
    I would think it depends on the length of your legs really. None of the women in my family have ever had a gap but we're all vertically challenged as well. It's all in the distribution throughout your body.
  • RuthSweetTooth
    RuthSweetTooth Posts: 461 Member
    I hate it and am working on 20 reps of abduction using a rubber band loop attach to the base of my exercise equipment to firm the inner thighs. When I get skinny, don't want my thighs to tough anymore. Definitely feels firmer.
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
    Im 5'3" and even at 85lbs I still didnt have the gap. I also think its genitic.
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
    Deodorant on the thighs works wonders in preventing chafing.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Thanks for your help everyone :) I'm beginning to think it may be about the shape of the woman rather than the size.
    Lynn - have you ever walked 4 miles straight on a very hot day wearing a dress and nothing underneath but underwear? I hadn't experienced chafing until I did that. the sores were very angry and red and extremely painful. Now I'm too scared to walk any distance in a skirt or dress in case it happens again. I was hoping that I might get a gap once I lose weight but I'm almost at my goal and I'm not seeing one forming.

    Also, I'm not wanting a gap because of how it looks, I'm wanting one because I don't want to be in physical pain any more when I walk long distances in a skirt or dress
    Why don't you wear some shorts? Who would walk that far in a dress?
  • thistimeismytime
    thistimeismytime Posts: 711 Member
    It's very highly genetic. One of my best friends is about 40 lbs overweight and she has a gap (she has widely space hips). I, on the other hand, will never have one. I weighed 100 lbs in high school at 5' 6"--no gap. It's become a silly thing that young girls aspire to have. Some of the fittest, most muscular women I've seen have thighs that ~~(gasp) ~~TOUCH each other. :laugh: IT'S OKAY! Really, IT. IS. OKAY.

    Just work on getting in shape and don't fixate on this (mostly) genetic trait. :flowerforyou:
  • fizzletto
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
    Im 5'3" and even at 85lbs I still didnt have the gap

    Goodness, 85lbs? That is skinny... I'm 5'3" as well, 129lbs and I hope to be around 120 maybe a bit smaller.. Wow, maybe I never will have one then...

    I really like the idea of cutting off a pair of tights to wear underneath dresses and skirts, I have loads of old tights I could use, thank you for that. I don't like wearing shorts underneath other clothes so that might be a great idea.

    And the anti-chafing gel stuff sounds brilliant too. What do you do, just apply it before you go out for a walk/run?
  • shannajojo
    shannajojo Posts: 192 Member
    I don't think I will ever have a thigh gap, but that is okay with me... i just don't want my thighs rubbing together.

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