Squats and saddle bags

sureitstime
sureitstime Posts: 67 Member
edited November 26 in Fitness and Exercise
I have very large saddle bags (yuck) and unfor tunately they have become more pronounced with weight loss. Somebody saw me doing squats at the gym yesterday and told me that squats would make my thighs bulky and my legs would look worse. Can somebody please tell me if this is true?

Replies

  • chocochip13
    chocochip13 Posts: 15 Member
    I can only tell you from what I've experienced. I also have saddle bags plus a big booty. I run alot for cardio which has decreased the size of the SB, but I also weight train and do a lot of squats. My cellulite has evened out quite a bit, and the overall area looks tighter. I think it takes a long time to see a difference in that area so im going to continue doing my routine and see what happens.
  • sureitstime
    sureitstime Posts: 67 Member
    Thank you chocochip13 for your reply. I am quite frustrated coz I have lost weight from my butt, stomach and legs leaving my saddle bags intact in all their glory. I just want to know if these will reduce or go sometime in the future if I keep exercising.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited November 2015
    They prob will reduce but no one can say for sure because where we lose fat is determined primarily by genetics. You don't say how much you've lost Ior how much left to go. 5 lbs or 50 lbs would make s big diff. can't think of any reason you should stop doing squats.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited November 2015
    sureitstime wrote: »
    I have very large saddle bags (yuck) and unfor tunately they have become more pronounced with weight loss. Somebody saw me doing squats at the gym yesterday and told me that squats would make my thighs bulky and my legs would look worse. Can somebody please tell me if this is true?

    The nice thing about when somebody offers "advice" like that is that you don't have to wonder - you can safely ignore any other advice they may give you because they don't know what they're talking about.

    Getting "bulky" involves eating at a caloric surplus (the opposite of what you're doing if you're trying to lose weight) and lifting heavy. If you don't have a surplus, you don't bulk because you're not giving your body the raw material it needs to build muscles. It's also very difficult for women to bulk - even under optimal diet/training conditions you'll be able to put on about .25 lb. a week of muscle - so it certainly doesn't happen overnight and is something which is easy to stop if you do somehow see it start to happen (cut your calories back and/or cut your training back). "Getting too bulky" is a concern many women have when they think about taking up strength training - and every guy who's spent years drinking protein shakes and lifting heavy weights in the gym wishes it was that easy! The simple fact is that getting bulky isn't easy, isn't fast and doesn't happen unintentionally.

    Keep in mind, though, that there's no such thing as "spot reduction". Squats are a great exercise and will do wonderful things for your strength, but they won't make the fat on your thighs disappear - the only thing that will do that is to continue losing weight (through caloric deficit) and reducing your bodyfat. As lorrpb said, your genetics primarily dictate where and how it comes off. But no matter what, you'll look better (and be stronger) in the end than if you hadn't been training!
  • BalletAndBarbells
    BalletAndBarbells Posts: 334 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    sureitstime wrote: »
    I have very large saddle bags (yuck) and unfor tunately they have become more pronounced with weight loss. Somebody saw me doing squats at the gym yesterday and told me that squats would make my thighs bulky and my legs would look worse. Can somebody please tell me if this is true?

    The nice thing about when somebody offers "advice" like that is that you don't have to wonder - you can safely ignore any other advice they may give you because they don't know what they're talking about.

    Getting "bulky" involves eating at a caloric surplus (the opposite of what you're doing if you're trying to lose weight) and lifting heavy. If you don't have a surplus, you don't bulk because you're not giving your body the raw material it needs to build muscles. It's also very difficult for women to bulk - even under optimal diet/training conditions you'll be able to put on about .25 lb. a week of muscle - so it certainly doesn't happen overnight and is something which is easy to stop if you do somehow see it start to happen (cut your calories back and/or cut your training back). "Getting too bulky" is a concern many women have when they think about taking up strength training - and every guy who's spent years drinking protein shakes and lifting heavy weights in the gym wishes it was that easy! The simple fact is that getting bulky isn't easy, isn't fast and doesn't happen unintentionally.

    Keep in mind, though, that there's no such thing as "spot reduction". Squats are a great exercise and will do wonderful things for your strength, but they won't make the fat on your thighs disappear - the only thing that will do that is to continue losing weight (through caloric deficit) and reducing your bodyfat. As lorrpb said, your genetics primarily dictate where and how it comes off. But no matter what, you'll look better (and be stronger) in the end than if you hadn't been training!

    Exactly this!
  • sureitstime
    sureitstime Posts: 67 Member
    Thank you @AnvilHead . I know, I know! I have lurked around the forums long enough to know that bulking up for women is hard esp. in calorie deficit. But it is sooo frustrating, all my other bits ands bobs are shaping up nicely except for my saddle bags. I think it has to do with my genes. My mum who is and always has been lean has saddle bags. But she has never intentionally exercised in her life. I was just wondering if exercises esp. squats may help or harm my cause. I have another 10 kgs to lose. Please, please exercise gods, may my saddle bags disappear!
  • kuroshii
    kuroshii Posts: 168 Member
    edited November 2015
    It's partially genetics and partially biology. Women lose belly/hip/rear fat last just in general, because having fat there used to "help" when a woman is pregnant. But the energy from fat is taken by the blood that's going through your body once every ten seconds or so and then given to the muscles, not by the muscles themselves. Having more muscle will help your overall metabolism/BMR.
    Don't give up! Keep doing what you're doing. There's a never-ending supply of people at the gym who put their faith in the myth of targeted fat loss. Ignore them. :)
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