chubby thighs...to resistence train or not?

my opinion is that you should prioritize the weightlifting and fit the cardio around it however you like.

Squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hill sprints are the ticket to hot legs and a badass booty.
I have been a runner my entire life, and never had the legs/azz I wanted until I started seriously weight lifting.

This is what i was trying to say

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

i was too ashamed to take before leg pics...but i have a before regular pic.
lift heavy...3x a week, do cardio a few other days.

I'm pretty proud of what has happened to my legs as a result of weightlifting. I don't dare post pictures after canelly's though!:laugh: !!

I have no opinion on the 'less cardio' issue because I'm also a runner- my opinion is that you should prioritize the weightlifting and fit the cardio around it however you like.

Squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hill sprints are the ticket to hot legs and a badass booty.
I have been a runner my entire life, and never had the legs/azz I wanted until I started seriously weight lifting.

^^^ This is spot on. And Canelly and Crankster, your legs look fantastic!

I'm just here for the legspiration, go about cho' business!

Me too. Leg envy. Have it in spades right now. I think I have great legs, but dang.

I love the way that Canelly says she got her legs from running and body-weight lunges and squats, and all the other posters keep talking about and advocating weight-training, as if they did not even read what she said !
I am sure you can achieve nicer legs both ways. But, lets face it, if you want to burn a lot of calories fast, running wins hands down. It is also not true that you can run miles and miles and not strengthen and tone your legs. Running and walking are what legs are for.

Add weights to those squats, seriously! 40 reps is a lot, I wouldn't go higher than 10 personally. If you can do more, up the weight. Also, crunches won't help the stomach fat, they only work the muscles underneath. You can't spot reduce but a calorie deficit will reduce the fat over time.

You say it's not that intensive, but I think what you do is an awful lot! That's great if your fuelling yourself for it and you enjoy it, but you don't "need" it, weights will do a lot more for your legs and stomach. If you cut down the cardio, and want to keep your deficit the same then you will have to make up for it elsewhere though (with strength training and/or diet)

All you really need to lose fat is a deficit. Weights help to give you shape and definition by maintaining the muscle as you lose weight/fat. The calorie deficit is what helps you lose fat. Cardio (any exercise really) help with the deficit and is also good for cardiovascular health.

If you want to lose fat, you are actually holding yourself back by not resistance training the largest muscle groups on your body, OP.

As long as you are eating at a deficit, you won't gain/bulk, but you should but that lower body to work for you with squats, deadlifts, etc.

you will lose the fat through calorie restriction, whether you are burning the cals with cardio or not...don't lose too fast because then you lose more muscle mass than intended

I feel like you are not doing hard enough squats and lunges if you are able to do them 3-5 times per week. My legs get insanely sore when I give them a good workout so I would say I max 2x per week on legs but many weeks I do only one

heavy lifting in general, legs and upper body will shrink you and pull your waist in it will be awesome.

I have had stocky chubby flabby legs my entire life too and never had nice legs until last year. I'm 32


ETA: by "hard enough" I meant you need to at least hold some heavy dumbbells or use a weighted machine or something, don't just use body weight

I'm all legs, and still have trouble with my thighs, they seem to be the LAST thing to go. I do cardio more for stress than for burning fat, but have just worked with my trainer on a plan to start divvying up my hour of cardio between treadmill and cycling. My problem is my stupid lungs hate me. Asthma is the devil, I swear. This will be the first change to my cardio in a year, so we'll see how it goes. I do lift heavy twice a week, am moving that to three-four times a week - but need to get more comfortable lifting without a trainer first. Long story short - I haven't been paying attention, that's what I pay him for. :P

You haven't mentioned how many calories you are eating. But, I concur with the masses here-cut back on the cardio and focus more on heavy weights. Too few calories combined with excessive aerobic exercise can easily mask fat loss at it causes spikes in cortisol which elicits substantial water retention. Check out both references listed (Starting Strength and NLRFW) as they are invaluable guides to lifting.

bump. Great thread

Now that I've gotten past my thigh envy, I have to disagree with cutting back on cardio. Agree completely with adding weight to lunges and squats, though.

23 miles on the bike on Friday made me so happy and euphoric, and my legs were as pumped from that as if I had lifted (which I did, on Thursday). And the calorie burn was enough to where I polished off a 12 ounce steak at dinner without blinking or feeling the slightest guilt from it.

Strength AND cardio. Strength AND cardio.

I don't know any runners or bikers with legs that aren't strong and lean.

I'm pretty proud of what has happened to my legs as a result of weightlifting. I don't dare post pictures after canelly's though!:laugh: !!

I have no opinion on the 'less cardio' issue because I'm also a runner- my opinion is that you should prioritize the weightlifting and fit the cardio around it however you like.

Squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hill sprints are the ticket to hot legs and a badass booty.
I have been a runner my entire life, and never had the legs/azz I wanted until I started seriously weight lifting.

Lol..com'on everybody wanna see pics and I bet your legs look way better than mines !

I have a similar problem.. I just started lifting heavy weights (like 4-5 sets of 6-8reps vs 3x10) 3x a week and running 2x a week.. before I just ran and did 3x10 average weights and I notice a difference. I think it really depends on where you are at I would do more running to lose the inches (my thighs got slim when I ran all the time, but like someone said earlier super jiggly!) and then slowly add heavy weights until you are doing more heavy weights and less running to start toning. Unless you are taking steroids/testosterone you are not going to bulk up.. the lighter weights/more reps you lift you will create a "pump" look which may make you feel bulkier where heavier/fewer will build strength and really tone..


My real problem are is my inner thighs! Compared to the rest of my body they are not toning up at all and make my knees look like they go inward/my thighs rub together and are 22" at the biggest part! Anyone have any ideas on specific exercises to tone inner thighs?? I do 5x6 squats with 155lbs and lunges with 40lbs... I've noticed a huge difference since doing SL in my butt and back of thighs but nothing for the inside of my thighs! I've heard pointing your toes outward slightly doing squats helps target the inner part more but it is just not toning up!

Any suggestions??

Also, as for running 60 minutes a day practically every day... I read somewhere a university study that said people doing 4 days with 30 min cardio actually burned more fat/lost more weight than those doing an hour of cardio every day... not sure how accurate it was, just something I read..

I'm always so intimidated going into the lifting room at the gym. I've been using Jillian Michaels' DVDs at home. She focuses more on strength than cardio and I finally feel like I'm noticing a difference in muscle tone, especially my arms. I too have the trouble with my thighs, always have. I think I'll start incorporating some extra squats until I get the courage to hit the lifting room!

Don't be scared of the weight room. I look forward to my lifting day. I would recommend throw some headphones on, get in the zone, and only focus on yourself and your techique.