Work out tips to avoid building more calf muscle

c_turner
c_turner Posts: 18
edited September 30 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone,

I workout pretty hard, at least 5/6 days a week for at least an hour over the past 18 months. s you would expect i have built up muscle along the way. My usual workout consist of a lot of leg work such as the treadmill, cross trainer, stair master and the bike. I dont want to cut down on my cardio but i am really conscious of my calf muscles and how big they have got!

Can anyone suggest a cardio workout that would help at least stop my calfs getting any bigger or miraculously reduce in size?

Help!

Replies

  • scottbaron
    scottbaron Posts: 11 Member
    Hand Bike or Rowing Machine come to mind.
  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
    rowing :smile:
  • jwaitman
    jwaitman Posts: 367 Member
    Oh please share any info you get. I have that same problem and have been looking for a way short of plastic surgery. The skinny jeans are kicking my butt and I really want to wear them!
  • voluptas63
    voluptas63 Posts: 602 Member
    Well you can't spot reduce. So you can't reduce the size of your calves unless you're going to reduce the size of your whole body:)

    Personally though, I LOVE a set of well defined calve muscles.
  • ♥ChUbByCoyLe♥
    ♥ChUbByCoyLe♥ Posts: 267 Member
    Try yoga. Exercise shortens muscles giving them a bulky appearance but yoga lengthens and stretches the muscles giving them a long lean appearance. I still love jane fonda yoga, its retro but motivating how fantastic she looked in her 50's!!
  • AZTrailRunner
    AZTrailRunner Posts: 1,199 Member
    swimming doesn't involve your calves.
  • jamie78
    jamie78 Posts: 514 Member
    Stop doing the stair stepper and row instead.
  • ashley_7979
    ashley_7979 Posts: 20
    I have the same problem. Step aerobics makes them big. lol
  • efahey
    efahey Posts: 33 Member
    :'( i love step class... but i dont want big calves though!!! gonna have to keep an eye on that!

    great topic! <3
  • sufikitkat
    sufikitkat Posts: 583 Member
    Going off of what an earlier poster said, work on stretching your muscles. I am a former competitive cheerleader, run, spin, and do leg workouts that absolutely strengthen my calves, but I believe that doing yoga and taking the 20-30 minutes to stretch all my muscle groups after my workouts has helped to keep them from bulging too much. If you can't find a class to take, look up specific poses such as Downward Facing dog that stretch the calves. Flexibility can really aid in keeping your muscles strong and lean. Hope this helps!
  • c_turner
    c_turner Posts: 18
    Thanks everyone for the suggestions, ive started doign more swimming so heopfrully this will help. Plus it has the upsaide of working my whole body. I think im going to start doing small intervals of HITT training anf focus more on strength training more than cardio. Im going to see if i get any results from doing this in the next 4 weeks. Wish me luck! x
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