Will Squats Make My Thighs/Legs Bigger?

Elleposh119
Elleposh119 Posts: 46 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm trying to slim my legs/thighs and give them a more slender appearance.. I've come across articles that say that doing squats will actually cause your legs/thighs to become larger due to the building of muscle. So, will doing squats make my legs larger (due to increasing the size of my muscles) or will it help me slim/slender down my legs?

I don't use any weights when I do squats, I just do them without any equipment.

I decided to make a separate thread for this from the one that I made before.
«1

Replies

  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    No
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    Unless you follow a plan to bulk, it is not going to happen. Squats without weight will not make you bulk. And they will not make you slim down either, exercising targeting specific body parts do not make fat melt away from this area.
  • Elleposh119
    Elleposh119 Posts: 46 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Unless you follow a plan to bulk, it is not going to happen. Squats without weight will not make you bulk. And they will not make you slim down either, exercising targeting specific body parts do not make fat melt away from this area.

    Exactly what will it do for this area then? Surely some result will occur.
    I see before and after squat photos like this and wonder if doing them will make my thighs get larger like they did with hers.
    tumblr_mu4d0xIjWZ1rluz59o1_500.jpg

  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    edited January 2015
    If you eat at a calorie surplus, eat .8g of protein per lb of your lean body weight and lifted heavy with progressive loads with great consistency for a long time, you could see your legs gain muscle.

    It's not easy to do on purpose.

    It's HIGHLY unlikely that you'd do it by accident.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    There is nothing you can do for any specific area reagrding fat loss. If you need to lose fat, you need a calorie deficit and you cannot control where you will lose the fat first. Exercise will help with getting fit, increasing endurance and strength, maybe building muscle too at some point, but it will not make fat melt away from specific body parts.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Elleposh119 wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Unless you follow a plan to bulk, it is not going to happen. Squats without weight will not make you bulk. And they will not make you slim down either, exercising targeting specific body parts do not make fat melt away from this area.

    Exactly what will it do for this area then? Surely some result will occur.
    I see before and after squat photos like this and wonder if doing them will make my thighs get larger like they did with hers.
    tumblr_mu4d0xIjWZ1rluz59o1_500.jpg

    That's a result of a lot of hard work and bulking (eating to gain.) It's not something that you wake up one morning and find greeting you in the mirror as a surprise. I think there's also some fancy camera angle work and/or photoshop going on there.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    No

    +1
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Only in a calorie surplus OP. Hard to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,112 Member
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Only in a calorie surplus OP. Hard to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit.

    how do you gain muscle in a calorie deficit ?
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Camo_xxx wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Only in a calorie surplus OP. Hard to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit.

    how do you gain muscle in a calorie deficit ?

    Newbie gains.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Camo_xxx wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Only in a calorie surplus OP. Hard to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit.

    how do you gain muscle in a calorie deficit ?

    Newbie gains from lifting weights. Apparently also lifting weights after a very long layoff.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    I seriously doubt that picture us 100% real
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Camo_xxx wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Only in a calorie surplus OP. Hard to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit.

    how do you gain muscle in a calorie deficit ?

    gear
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,476 Member
    Elleposh119 wrote: »
    I don't use any weights when I do squats, I just do them without any equipment.
    Virtually nothing is going to happen then. Your legs/butt will not grow or shrink from doing bodyweight squats. You will only see results if you squat with weights. No guy with a large chest/arms got there from just doing pushups.
  • jsecret
    jsecret Posts: 606 Member
    I still squat light weight reps (110 lbs) and I can say my thighs and butt have significantly slimmed down in the past 90 days. But I highly doubt that bodyweight squats will do anything for anyone other than waste time unfortunately.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    Elleposh119 wrote: »
    I'm trying to slim my legs/thighs and give them a more slender appearance.
    Lose weight.
  • hkeenan523
    hkeenan523 Posts: 16
    body weight squats will build the muscle in the glutes, hamstrings and quads. You will not lose fat, but you will build underneath. If anyone things that doing bodyweight squats won't build those muscles, they have not done enough squats or done any of Shaun T's workouts.
  • Tiamo719
    Tiamo719 Posts: 256 Member
    I've done a gazillion of squats and lunges and all I got was very toned legs.
  • quellybelly
    quellybelly Posts: 827 Member
    My legs got a little bigger from doing squats with a loaded barbell, but they were MUCH less jiggly and I'll take that any day! :)
  • burnsjulia
    burnsjulia Posts: 50 Member
    I have done and do a ton of squats. Toning only, no bulking.

Categories