Working out legs for women? What to do?

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  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    ^^^NOT TRUE! for the 1000 time, women do not get BULKY!!!! I wish people would stop spreading this nonsense!

    What happened to me, than? I am almost at the same weight when I was starting it, and now, after 2 months of work out I can not pull my skinny jeans over my tights that use to be loose on me?

    Conditioned muscle retains water, a lot of it. Your body fat percentage probably dropped quite a bit but unless you were eating a calorie surplus, you didn't gain any new muscle tissue. You just condition the muscle you have, which makes it appear bulkier (see water retention). Remember that strength gains do not equate to muscle tissue gains. Just because you get stronger and leaner doesn't mean you get new muscle tissue growth. This is the reason bodybuilders have to go through bulk/cut cycles to get big and lean. Furthermore, the only way to tell if you actually got new muscle tissue is to have a high end body scan (DEXA or similar) done that tells you your precise body composition (bone, organs, water, fat, muscle) before and after.

    I think what meggles means is that women don't look huge when lifting heavy, and there is no such thing as "toning" weight.
  • babareeba
    babareeba Posts: 74 Member
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    water! yes, it looks like I am full of water! that is way my legs don't look more masculine, but more flabby, fat and flabby...

    what do you think, is it something that is going to be changed over time or I am just that type of the body?
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    water! yes, it looks like I am full of water! that is way my legs don't look more masculine, but more flabby, fat and flabby...

    what do you think, is it something that is going to be changed over time or I am just that type of the body?

    If you stay dedicated to your diet and training program, it can only get better.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    ^^^NOT TRUE! for the 1000 time, women do not get BULKY!!!! I wish people would stop spreading this nonsense!

    What happened to me, than? I am almost at the same weight when I was starting it, and now, after 2 months of work out I can not pull my skinny jeans over my tights that use to be loose on me?

    Conditioned muscle retains water, a lot of it. Your body fat percentage probably dropped quite a bit but unless you were eating a calorie surplus, you didn't gain any new muscle tissue. You just condition the muscle you have, which makes it appear bulkier (see water retention). Remember that strength gains do not equate to muscle tissue gains. Just because you get stronger and leaner doesn't mean you get new muscle tissue growth. This is the reason bodybuilders have to go through bulk/cut cycles to get big and lean. Furthermore, the only way to tell if you actually got new muscle tissue is to have a high end body scan (DEXA or similar) done that tells you your precise body composition (bone, organs, water, fat, muscle) before and after.

    I think what meggles means is that women don't look huge when lifting heavy, and there is no such thing as "toning" weight.

    ^^^^^^^^ THIS

    I am SOOOOOOOO sick of hearing how women are "bulking up" their legs by lifting weights.

    My legs measure 1 inch smaller (18.5" around the thigh instead of 19.5") now that I lift heavy and weigh 110 pounds....when I weighed 102 pounds my legs were flabbier and BIGGER. Now they are lean and "toned" (hate that word). The #1 reason: I lost body fat.

    Don't listen to the naysayers that think doing cardio alone will get you shapely legs...it won't...it might make them smaller but they won't be as lean as someone who loses the fat and gains muscle.

    weights.jpg

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