Slim down calves

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bronagh679
bronagh679 Posts: 22 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Firstly I completely understand that you cannot spot reduce fat in a particular area on your body!

I am a slim toned female but my calves are just so big, bigger than my thighs!!!
my diet is good and I am fit doing strength training and cardio
Is there any exercises or techniques to reduce my calf muscle size

Also what is the best types of HIIT workouts

Replies

  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    I'm sorry but if you are aware that you cannot spot reduce, why are you asking how to spot reduce? There is no magic answer. To have your muscles atrophy, you would have to stop using them and well, that's just unrealistic.
  • bronagh679
    bronagh679 Posts: 22 Member
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    sammyliftsandeats wrote: »
    I'm sorry but if you are aware that you cannot spot reduce, why are you asking how to spot reduce? There is no magic answer. To have your muscles atrophy, you would have to stop using them and well, that's just unrealistic.

    I'm aware you cannot spot reduce, in the sense I mean is there something I'm doing wrong that is making my calves larger maybe......
    Only asking lol I'm a beginner to this
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    bronagh679 wrote: »
    sammyliftsandeats wrote: »
    I'm sorry but if you are aware that you cannot spot reduce, why are you asking how to spot reduce? There is no magic answer. To have your muscles atrophy, you would have to stop using them and well, that's just unrealistic.

    I'm aware you cannot spot reduce, in the sense I mean is there something I'm doing wrong that is making my calves larger maybe......
    Only asking lol I'm a beginner to this

    Calf size is predominantly genetic. I mean, you can grow them by doing leg exercises and eating at a surplus, but a lot of the time, it's just genetics.
  • Ben_there_done_that
    Ben_there_done_that Posts: 732 Member
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    I can't speak to the calves, although I think it'd be super interesting to see if they're really bigger than your thighs. I think the best HIIT workouts are Tabatas because the 20 second sets force you to do legit HIIT, going 100%. Obviously just my opinion, though.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    Unfortunately your genetics are going to determine your calf size. Like you stated there's no way to spot reduce.

    The only thing I could recommend to "reduce"the size of your calves is stop exerciseing them. it might make them smaller but then on the other hand you may not like the look of that either. Learn to embrace what you have.

  • skinnyinachubbybody
    skinnyinachubbybody Posts: 11 Member
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    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,203 Member
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    bronagh679 wrote: »
    Firstly I completely understand that you cannot spot reduce fat in a particular area on your body!

    I am a slim toned female but my calves are just so big, bigger than my thighs!!!
    my diet is good and I am fit doing strength training and cardio
    Is there any exercises or techniques to reduce my calf muscle size

    Also what is the best types of HIIT workouts

    Do you walk or cycle?

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!

    What would you be trying to lengthen? That doesn't make sense.

    If you got big calves, you got big calves. If there is a decent amount of fat to lose then they will slim a little as you lose but...yeah. My calves are huge too.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!

    What would you be trying to lengthen? That doesn't make sense.

    If you got big calves, you got big calves. If there is a decent amount of fat to lose then they will slim a little as you lose but...yeah. My calves are huge too.

    I never understand that. If we could actually lengthen a muscle, it would just hang there all slack, right? The only way it wouldn't would be if your bones lengthened along with it.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!

    What would you be trying to lengthen? That doesn't make sense.

    If you got big calves, you got big calves. If there is a decent amount of fat to lose then they will slim a little as you lose but...yeah. My calves are huge too.

    I never understand that. If we could actually lengthen a muscle, it would just hang there all slack, right? The only way it wouldn't would be if your bones lengthened along with it.

    It is very dumb indeed. It's why pilates pisses me off. Aren't they always talking about "lengthening" things?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!

    What would you be trying to lengthen? That doesn't make sense.

    If you got big calves, you got big calves. If there is a decent amount of fat to lose then they will slim a little as you lose but...yeah. My calves are huge too.

    I never understand that. If we could actually lengthen a muscle, it would just hang there all slack, right? The only way it wouldn't would be if your bones lengthened along with it.

    It is very dumb indeed. It's why pilates pisses me off. Aren't they always talking about "lengthening" things?

    Looong leeeannn muscles!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    You can't spot reduce. Those who lose weight often see a reduction in calf size, but you said you're not needing to lose. Learn to love your calves & build the muscle.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!
    You CANNOT lengthen muscle. Muscle length is already set at birth, so there's nothing you can do to lengthen them unless you somehow increase the length of your bones in the process. And only a surgery can do that.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • CoffeeNBooze
    CoffeeNBooze Posts: 966 Member
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    Not much you can do except maybe not work out so the muscle atrophies! Not that I'm advocating that..but if you don't use it, you lose it. I have muscular calves too but nothing I can do about it. And maybe they're not as big as you think anyway.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    OP, if you have big calves and don't have a lot of fat around them, they AREN'T going to get any smaller unless you stop using them and let them atrophy. That would entail, not walking, running, jumping, dancing, skipping, etc. Movement starts from the calves on up, so any activation at all will keep them from atrophying. And I'm betting you're not going to sit in a wheelchair for a year or so.
    So your choice is to learn to love them or just hate them. But hating doesn't help IMO.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • KickboxFanatic
    KickboxFanatic Posts: 184 Member
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    If they truly are bigger than your thighs and don't have much fat to shed, another option would be to build the muscles in your upper legs so that they are more proportionate with the rest of your leg.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    skinnyinachubbybody wrote: »
    You can also try doing lengthening exercises to see if that helps!

    What would you be trying to lengthen? That doesn't make sense.

    If you got big calves, you got big calves. If there is a decent amount of fat to lose then they will slim a little as you lose but...yeah. My calves are huge too.

    I never understand that. If we could actually lengthen a muscle, it would just hang there all slack, right? The only way it wouldn't would be if your bones lengthened along with it.

    It is very dumb indeed. It's why pilates pisses me off. Aren't they always talking about "lengthening" things?

    The same thing drives me nuts about yoga, because doing those exercise will somehow modify your attach points or muscle fat and beat out genetics.


    OP, like others have stated, if there is fat on top, you can help eliminate that, but outside of that, genetics will win. But out of curiosity, how big are your calves?
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    Learn to love your calves. Us gals that are cursed, ah..blessed :p with large calves are simply living with genetics. I actually remember when I was in 10th grade, walking down the street looking at my legs, thinking, "Wow I have a lot of shape to my calves. I'm gonna have great legs when I am finished growing!". LOL. I've been a regular gym-goer for over 30 years, and stronger is better than weak. So calf-size be damned....I will keep on working them.
  • diggydog2
    diggydog2 Posts: 107 Member
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    I have big calves too. And I'm very short so that just accentuates their size. Nothing I can do about big calves any more then being short. Accept yourself for who you are. There is no ideal body shape. Being healthy is more important.

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