thighs are getting bulky.Advice pls?

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I also find that cardio is enough to sculpt my legs. I run hills. I also do plenty of squats, burpees, and squat jumps in boxing class. I hate, hate, hate squat jumps and burpees, but I think that my thighs have actually gottena a hair smaller doing them. For people who put on muscle easily, lifting may be overkill. It's all about what works for your body. Anyways thick thighs are hot as heck, just get new pants.

I've always had larger thighs, I blame the constant squatting from volleyball and then the excess fat I carried on top of it. They are starting to lean out though... NOT to be read as getting skinny, they're getting solid. The squish is going away and I'm getting stronger. The pants thing has always been an issue for me, my butt and thighs aren't a big fan of most cuts of jeans.

Lifting isn't making you bulky, I promise that. Your trainer's email was AWESOME, btw. I would say if you want to get leaner, you're going to have to work on a little more of a deficit. Cardio isn't sculpting either, if you're adding it into a lifting routine and keeping your caloric intake constant its merely creating a higher caloric deficit which is probably just putting you into a "cut".

The comments about water retention are probably spot on. I typically lose 2-3 lbs of water weight if I don't lift for 3-4 days. Also, you may be gaining muscle in your thighs but not losing much fat there yet (stupid genetics!). In time, if you continue to increase lean muscle mass and reduce fat, you'll see the thighs disappear.

For me as a man, I retain fat around my mid-section. I've got minimal fat on most of my body, but the gut is still well rounded. I've made progress as time as gone on though.

I have a couple of questions regarding the email from the personal trainer:

I rarely witness women with big thunder thighs working heavy with the weight equipment. However, women who lift heavy with their legs almost always have lean, shapely, firm legs. The few women I do see lifting heavy, who actually have big thighs, are big all over: overall excess body fat. My recommendation: To trim big thighs, hit the weights hard - and heavy. Heavy weight workouts in a woman will incinerate fat, resulting in smaller, firmer gams!

So... like the OP, I'm ALL legs. Each of my legs is nearly the same number of inches around as my WAIST. I'm really QUITE bottom-heavy. I've been walking on a HARD incline at the gym for an hour for the past few weeks. By walking, I mean like... 12-15, speed 3.5-4.0 depending on how active I'm feeling that day. I was told by a bodybuilder at the gym this works WONDERS for burning fat & toning legs, & trust me, there is BURN when I'm doing this.

But... what about my cellulite? I know that cellulite is just little pockets of fat between the muscle/skin fibres that cause the skin to look dimpled. How do you make it go away? From burning high calories on the treadmill, I've managed to ditch the cellulite on my lower legs, but not the upper. Is this something that will just come with time as I get closer to my goal weight? Please bear in mind, that I'm realistic, & realize at age 30 I'm not going to be the 120lbs I was in high school. My goal is actually to be around 140-145, so I'm within 10lbs of that now.

You mention "lean, toned legs", but are these on people who've always had them? What about the rest of us? Will the cellulite EVER leave, or is this just something I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life?

lower weights, more reps

Bad advice.

+1

I'm a runner and have always had bulky legs--they only got bulkier with lifting. Even at 12% body far (early this year) my thighs were disproportionately large.

This happened to me too. Focus your weight training on your upper body, up the cardio, drink A LOT of water and eat a lot of protein. Once you start to loose body fat and the swelling goes down, they will seem less bulky.

I'm a runner and have always had bulky legs--they only got bulkier with lifting. Even at 12% body far (early this year) my thighs were disproportionately large.

Well, I will go eat my humble pie. Sorry!
Although, I bet you (like most women) are especially hard on yourself and you have awesome looking legs!

When women say their thighs are "getting bulky" I have to wonder how they know. Are you taking measurements? How much have they increased? Are you accounting for swelling and water retention generated by weight lifting? Lets say each thigh has increased 1 inch. Is one inch enough to go from "non-bulky" to bulky?

My thighs went from 24.5" to 23" during weight loss last year. I then started heavy lifting and EATING AT A CALORIE SURPLUS in an effort to gain muscle. My thighs again grew to 24.5 inches. I gained about 12lbs so this isn't surprising. I was a size 6 in pants. Ended up closer to an 8 but could still fit into some of my 6s. (I'm also 5'9" for context). So, in summary, I only gained 1.5inches per thigh when lifting heavy and TRYING to gain muscle (and the fat that comes with it) and I'm "PEAR SHAPED".