If you want thin legs DO NOT lift weights!?!?!?

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  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    Morgaen73 wrote: »
    beastmode2718 wrote: »
    I just don't want to gain inches on them from weight training. My goal is to loose inches. I don't want super muscular quads. I want to slim them down and tone them. Basically I don't want them to get bigger from too much muscle.

    Just skip leg day ... loads of Johnny Bravo's at my local gym can give you advice on that.

    Alternatively tone your legs instead.

    Toning is muscle building, it's not a different mechanism. What you're referring to is an aesthetic but it is still musculature.
  • kavahni
    kavahni Posts: 313 Member
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    Bottom line is that individual genetics has the most influence.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    beastmode2718 wrote: »
    I see this in a lot of places. You have too much muscle keeping you from slim legs and if you want them thinner do not by any means do weight training or any exercise that might build muscle. Is this total bull or a sad truth?

    Good job I want strong legs rather than thin legs then isn't it? Seriously look at the photo, I am always getting compliments about my legs yet they are quite muscular.

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    beastmode2718 wrote: »
    I just don't want to gain inches on them from weight training. My goal is to loose inches. I don't want super muscular quads. I want to slim them down and tone them. Basically I don't want them to get bigger from too much muscle.

    As others have said it's hard for a woman to gain muscle, but it's not hard to lose it. Weight training will help your legs look shapely as you lose the fat, pretty sure my legs wouldn't have looked this good if I hadn't been lifting as I lost the weight.

  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
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    First of all: hogwash. It takes YEARS to pack on muscle mass! Talk to any bodybuilder and just ask them how long it takes to gain 5lbs of muscle, and they specifically are trying to gain muscle. Also, having muscles helps prevent jiggle.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
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    beastmode2718 wrote: »
    I just don't want to gain inches on them from weight training. My goal is to loose inches. I don't want super muscular quads. I want to slim them down and tone them. Basically I don't want them to get bigger from too much muscle.

    So don't go very heavy of the weights. I'm barely starting to see truly muscular definition in my quads. I also max at 180lb squats and 360lb leg presses. There's still quite a bit of fat there, but they are starting to have some definition.

    It also takes YEARS of lifting to truly pack on muscle. I did have a jump start from being obese (my legs were used to carrying around 350lbs all day, for a decade). Ask any women with muscular legs how long it took and what her workouts are.
  • timtam163
    timtam163 Posts: 500 Member
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    As many have pointed out, you don't just wake up with massive legs one day; nor are you guaranteed to get massive leg muscles from standard lifting regimens. I biked up and down hills over 4000 miles one summer, while carrying 30-40 pounds on my heavy bike, and at the end of the summer nobody could say that my legs were too beefy (in fact they looked shapely and amazing!) Even now that I lift, my legs are smaller than they were that summer. Don't worry, it takes a lot of effort for body builders to look like that. Come to think about it, look at dancers' legs; they're strong af, they leap around for hours a day, and definitely don't look too bulky.

    I could also go on about how important leg training is for fitness, health, and longevity, but yeah basically leg training is fun and will change your life.
  • PowerliftingMom
    PowerliftingMom Posts: 430 Member
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    5z6sxpnl2tw2.jpg

    Pic on right, I was not lifting any significant amount of weights and my legs were shredded. I was on a low calorie diet (1200 calories), did some carb cycling and my BF was only 17% which is pretty insane for a 57 year old woman lol!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,540 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Morgaen73 wrote: »
    beastmode2718 wrote: »
    I just don't want to gain inches on them from weight training. My goal is to loose inches. I don't want super muscular quads. I want to slim them down and tone them. Basically I don't want them to get bigger from too much muscle.

    Just skip leg day ... loads of Johnny Bravo's at my local gym can give you advice on that.

    Alternatively tone your legs instead.

    Toning is muscle building, it's not a different mechanism. What you're referring to is an aesthetic but it is still musculature.
    "Toning" isn't a real thing. There are no "toning" exercises. No such thing as a "toning" squat, curl or chest press.

    Building muscle takes serious progressive overload, volume enough to encourage hypertrophy and a surplus to support building new tissue.
    If one doesn't want an overly muscular look, then don't get your body fat percentage too low.

    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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