How to slim down muscular legs?

I'm no expert, but short of actual muscle atrophy , I'm not sure there is a way to do this. (I'm in the same boat. I have very muscular legs, but even if I got rid of all the fat on them, they would be far from feminine :frown: However I try to be happy that my legs are capable of so much!)

so basically my question is how can i slim down gigantic muscular legs, without the loss of my speed?

lose fat.

Can you talk to your coach/trainer about it?

Generally, the thing to do here would be to lose the fat, not the muscle. Set your calories to maintenance, but make sure to include all the workouts in your calculation so you don't lose muscle or performance.

Keep your protein high, 15 or 20 percent of your calories should do it.

I'm a basketball player too and I've always been someone who builds bulky muscles fast, especially in my legs. So besides the obvious advice about losing weight I wouldn't worry too much about it. Muscular legs look good and if you have defined calves it makes your ankles seem smaller in comparison which gives the illusion of a longer slimmer leg. If it's your thighs you're worried about you can figure out how to dress to make them look good. Short of lying in bed all day those muscles are staying there and you're working hard for them.

First off, muscular legs ROCK. Muscular legs that can power you through sprints and basketball games really, really rock.

Think of them as tools of the trade. You wouldn't wear sky-high heels while doing sports, you'd wear proper athletic shoes. Your sports require your awesome legs just as much as they require the right footwear.

I found getting rid of the fat makes them more feminine. Girls can't build too much muscle when they are completely natural. I lift heavy but also do a lot of one legged exercises so even though my legs are muscular they are still feminine. Usually when girls think they are too bulky it is fat not muscle (or both). The true test: Get a body composition test. Most girls carry the last of their fat on their upper legs and pelvic area. I'm under 12% body fat and the majority of my fat is in that area and that is quite typically, especially with girls still menstruating.

Honestly, learn to love your muscular legs. Between genetics, your activities, and your body type- unless you completely change what type of sport you do, your legs are going to stay muscular. Even with changing your activity (running instead of other sports) your legs will likely always be muscular. So, instead of fighting your body type, embrace it.

I hated my legs when I was 18, I was a gymnast and had large leg muscles as well, but those legs were crazy strong and 10 years later, I would give anything to have those legs back. If you want to lose fat in the booty, that's one thing- you can tone up, but learn to love your body the way it is. Not everyone has ballerina or runner legs, and that's okay.

Okay, I am an athlete and im looking to slim down my lower body. My legs are super muscular, and my butt is just fat . I want to slim down my huge muscle mass, but i need to maintain my speed. So the simple solution would be just to start running like two miles a day, but i cant because that would build slow-twitch endurance muscles instead of the fast-twitch muscles that i need for things such as basketball, and sprints in track. so basically my question is how can i slim down gigantic muscular legs, without the loss of my speed? I know that its possible, i used to be just as fast and i had less muscle mass but now i have more and am a little bit slower because of all the weight i have to run with. so if i can get down to the slimmer muscle i used to have that would be great!

The way I see it, your options are:
1) Endurance running, do it on top of your normal work out if you are concerned about not building areas that you want to build
2) Purposely overtrain. Fits in well with option 1, the only problem is that if you don't actually overtrain, you could gain mass
3) Accept your thighs. You don't always get what you want, and most sprinters do have pretty big thighs because the things you do to sprint fast are the same things you do to grow muscle, and anaerobic strength helps with being fast. You may not be able to get everything you want.

You can always check bodybuilding forums. Since they care more about proportions than most people here, it will probably be more friendly

This is not quite what you're asking about, but it might help: I was an athlete in high school, and a modern dancer until a few years after college. I had huge quads, and didn't think there was anything I could do about them. A couple of years ago, I started working with a physical therapist who used a Pilates-based approach. She taught me how to use my glutes more effectively, and I've recently noticed that my overdeveloped quads are less bulky and my underdeveloped glutes are higher and stronger. I can get a lot more specific on this topic, so if relatively overdeveloped thighs are your concern, rather than your legs being muscular all over, say so in the comments and I'll post more info.

Cycling. I don't know about slimming down but the best my legs ever looked was when I was using the stationary bike at the gym regularly. My sister was a runner and built up huge calves so I didn't want that and chose to cycle a lot.

You need those muscular legs for power and speed (sprints). Also, as a female athlete, increasing and maintaining muscular strength of your legs is paramount to injury prevention. For high school girls, 1 in every 100 will have a serious knee injury; in college, its even worse at 1 in every 10. However, if you ensure you focus training to increase and maintain the muscle mass you have, your risk of injury compared to male athlete's will be nearly identical. If you wish to lessen your mass, do so by reducing body fat, not muscle mass.

Additionally, if you wish to increase speed and power by strengthening the calves and stretching the Achilles tendon, look into plyometric training during the off season. Way back when I was a freshman in college, I used the Strength plyometric training shoes which helped by increasing my vertical jump by 9 inches for volleyball. Although they no longer make it, ATI Katapult is the brand to look for these days.

It's hard to say without pics, but most likely it's the fat overlying your muscles that make your legs look to bigger than you'd like.

I'd put money on this

I'm trying to put my finger on the issue here. You have muscular legs . . . still trying to identify the issue.

If you want less gurth, 1) lose the overlying fat (if you have fat on your *kitten* you have it on your thighs). 2) atrophy, which since you don't want to lose functional strenght is counter productive to your overall goals. 3) try endurance sports (like long distance running), but it may no have the impact you want on either your body composition or your functionality for your sport.

I would go for 4) accept them beautiful gams and embrace your body for what it is working with what you have instead of against it.

i have short big muscly thighs and hate them

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