Tips for toning legs

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I am currently 21 years old and I am chubby imo, I am working on losing weight. My question is; my legs have a lot of cellulite. Not indents but it’s pretty visible, will losing weight and doing the leg press reduce this a lot? What are your favorite leg weights to tone your legs. Thanks everyone
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Replies

  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Losing fat might reduce it a bit (or a bit more if you carry luckier genes). Working out will not on its own.
    What you envision as a "toned" leg is a leg with a low fat to muscle ratio (and less cellulite I suppose).
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    my legs are getting toned.. I lost my weight, and my legs still had rippled skin on my inner thighs..then I started walking for exercise just to keep my weight off..and now I notice that my legs are looking pretty good. I think it is the fat has come off them and the simple fast paced walking is slowly toning them up. I'm going to start doing upper body easy exercises to see if I can get the rest of my body to match.
  • Mami93
    Mami93 Posts: 11 Member
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    I haven't lost much weight yet but have lost inches since starting to workout at the beginning of August and I already see a huge difference. I do the treadmill on incline as well as squats and lunges with dumbbells and donkey kicks.
  • layladrew26
    layladrew26 Posts: 111 Member
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    I carry my extra weight mostly on my thighs. I had a lot of cellulite and rather large 'saddle bags' at the top of my thighs. Since losing 65lb and trying to get my 10000 steps a day my legs are not toned but they look much better. I still have a bit of cellulite and the saddle bags (which I inherited from my Mum) but the overall appearance is much, much better and because of the fat loss the muscles are starting to show. You cannot change genetics but you can improve what your mamma gave you.
  • saires_au
    saires_au Posts: 175 Member
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    Losing weight (18.6kg) has helped the appearance of my cellulite. A tan also helps the appearance of my cellulite

    I do weights too, I think having some muscle helps reduce the appearance of my cellulite somewhat. Some of the exercises I do for my legs are dumbbell lunges, leg press, lying leg curl, hack squat, hip thrust, squat (body weight/kettle bell and dumbbell don’t have good form in barbell)

    Cellulite is normal, many women have it and genetics are out of your control, weight loss and strength training may help, if those two things don’t improve your cellulite they will change how you look overall!
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,331 Member
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    johnw83 wrote: »
    to tone your legs light weights 5 to 8 sets and 20 to 30 reps on leg press leg gurls leg extentions and standing calve raises that will help u cheers john

    yeah, no.

    This.

    To “tone” you need to lose fat and build muscle. That can be done in various ways but it doesn’t have to be high reps of low weights. Look at a progressive lifting programme (squats and deadlifts etc). Just as a fair warning though, I’m only 8.5stone, body fat c18%, lift weights and yet store pretty much all my fat on my legs. It’s just the way I’m built. You cannot spot reduce, sadly.

  • blobby10
    blobby10 Posts: 357 Member
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    Cellulite is more about diet and genes than exercise. There are plenty of (non-airbrushed) photos of thin or skinny models with cellulite on their thighs.

    Apparently you can help to reduce cellulite by drinking lots of water and following a sensible diet - low on the unhealthy fats, lots of fruit and veg, low sugar, low processed foods.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Losing weight will help, it did for me but specifically exercising consistently - mix of strength training and cardio really helped reduce the look of the cellulite, having good muscle tone really minimizes the look.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Being "toned" usually means having low enough body fat to show off some muscle. Keep eating in a deficit. Leg press is good. I'd suggest doing a full body lifting program as they are great for beginners--even beginner's whose primary focus is their legs.

    There's a book by Bret Contreras called Strong Curves that may be a good fit for you. It has 3 full body programs. One is bodyweight exercises only, one is a beginner's lifting program, one is an advanced lifting program. Plus it has a template for building your own program. I highly suggest getting the hard copy of the book, not the e-book or the free online template. (Though you might look at the latter so you can see what you're getting into.)
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    johnw83 wrote: »
    to tone your legs light weights 5 to 8 sets and 20 to 30 reps on leg press leg gurls leg extentions and standing calve raises that will help u cheers john

    I was waiting for the j/k at the end of this but it never came. as others have said, there is no "toning" a muscle and certainly not doing this. lower body fat (through calorie deficit) and building muscle will help you get the look it sounds like you are after.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    Being "toned" usually means having low enough body fat to show off some muscle. Keep eating in a deficit. Leg press is good. I'd suggest doing a full body lifting program as they are great for beginners--even beginner's whose primary focus is their legs.

    Agreed.


    johnw83 wrote: »
    to tone your legs light weights 5 to 8 sets and 20 to 30 reps on leg press leg gurls leg extentions and standing calve raises that will help u cheers john

    Not agreed.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    even really fit women often still have cellulite. There's not much you can do about it. You can strength train and keep losing weight and that will probably help but it may not ever go away completely.
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
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    Pretty much everyone has cellulite and there's good advice here
    I hate running but love it because it is great for the legs. I always advice running. But genetics play a huge role. Lots ask how I get the legs I have. I say genetics (my nana was an Olympic runner) and years of training (I grew up competitively figure skating). Changes don't happen overnight
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited September 2018
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    urloved33 wrote: »
    I am currently 21 years old and I am chubby imo, I am working on losing weight. My question is; my legs have a lot of cellulite. Not indents but it’s pretty visible, will losing weight and doing the leg press reduce this a lot? What are your favorite leg weights to tone your legs. Thanks everyone

    eat clean build leg muscles. great way to minimize cellulite.

    'Eating clean' is not the way to build muscles, eating more protein is what aids muscle growth alongside lifting heavy. Cellulite is mostly genetic, its not caused by what we eat. Although I hear caffeine isn't good for it, but personally I wouldn't be giving up that, no sirree, I'll live with a little bit of cellulite first :smiley: