Lifting and thighs

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bmb42
bmb42 Posts: 19 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been lifting for about a year now. I've done pretty well and made some good gains. I've managed to get a slim waist and all, but my legs seem to hold all of my fat. Any suggestions on how to get shredded or more cut legs?

Btw, I just started a new program. I used to lift 4 days a week. Now I lift six, with cardio for an hour on Mondays.

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  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
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    If you are naturally pear shaped, legs/thighs is most likely the last place of fat to come off.
    You are probably aware it is not possible to spot reduce. Your body decides when fat comes off where. Only option is to decrease overall bf% even more and hope for the best.
  • ash_law
    ash_law Posts: 70 Member
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    AsISmile wrote: »
    If you are naturally pear shaped, legs/thighs is most likely the last place of fat to come off.
    You are probably aware it is not possible to spot reduce. Your body decides when fat comes off where. Only option is to decrease overall bf% even more and hope for the best.

    Yep, this. I'm the opposite of you, where I hold all my extra body fat in my mid-section but my legs and arms are defined. It is frustrating, but you just have to reduce overall body fat to work with the hand you are dealt.
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I have relatively thick thighs--they were 26 inches around (each) when I weighed 170. Yikes! What worked for me was a thirty-day challenge that builds up bodyweight/leg strengthening exercises. I still do them; I lost 2 inches off of each thigh in the first month and have lost another 3 inches since then. Here are the exercises:

    Plie Squats--Start with 5; build to 22
    Side Lunges--22 per leg; start with 5 each
    Leg Swings-Standing, bring one leg up as high as you can sideways, and cross that leg with your other leg as it comes down. Start by doing 5 per leg and build up to 22.
    Leg Lifts--There are many variations of this exercise; all are good. The ones I do involve lying on my side and lifting my leg up as high as it will go. Build up to 22 reps and switch to the other leg.

    Good luck!
  • sallygroundhog
    sallygroundhog Posts: 133 Member
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    Kullerva wrote: »
    I have relatively thick thighs--they were 26 inches around (each) when I weighed 170. Yikes! What worked for me was a thirty-day challenge that builds up bodyweight/leg strengthening exercises. I still do them; I lost 2 inches off of each thigh in the first month and have lost another 3 inches since then. Here are the exercises:

    Plie Squats--Start with 5; build to 22
    Side Lunges--22 per leg; start with 5 each
    Leg Swings-Standing, bring one leg up as high as you can sideways, and cross that leg with your other leg as it comes down. Start by doing 5 per leg and build up to 22.
    Leg Lifts--There are many variations of this exercise; all are good. The ones I do involve lying on my side and lifting my leg up as high as it will go. Build up to 22 reps and switch to the other leg.

    Good luck!

    Thanks for posting this. I've always been self-conscious about my thighs. They could use some muscle. :wink:
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    My thighs were 26 inches when I weighed 160 lbs, and I'm only 5'4". I've managed to get them down to about 23 I think. I wanted to get them even smaller but I got fed up and started to bulk anyway.

    It sounds like you know the only way to lose the fat is a calorie deficit.

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