thank you for asking what i always wanted to ask! What I've found is doing slow, steady cardio but not frequently. Don't work out a lot. Cut back on how much you're eating, and eat clean. I think these are the only things that work, at least for me. I build muscle like crazy and it drives ME crazy!

So strictly cardio, but not intense and no weight training. If I am only wanting to de-bulk my legs, can I still weight train upper body?

I used to be a sprinter.......so I very very quickly develop legs that look like pile drivers (yes, I am one of THOSE unfortunate women). Will body weight training on the lower half create as much bulk or should I just keep an eye on it and adjust if I am getting too bulky?

You can definitely weight train the upper body, without doing lower body. Just use a seated bench or something to isolate your legs so they are not in use.

Standard running, walking would be good to tone up without bulking.

I was going to ask about BF% too...depending on how far you are from your goal you'll have to accept that your body is going to change a great deal in unpredictable ways until you get there. If I'm not mistaken, you still have a ways to go so I don't think you can have a very accurate picture of whether you have too much muscle or not until you get the fat loss out of the way. And reducing muscle mass is going to work against you when it comes to fat loss as well, so keep that in mind.

Body recomposition through weight training is a wonderful thing, but I think you're getting ahead of yourself. Focus on the fat loss & you'll have plenty of time to sculpt your body later.

If you have a high BF% right now, why even worry about body composition (that you're not even sure you'll have)? Honestly, I've never understood why women would deliberately want to lose muscle mass.. it makes you strong, supports your bones, and does a better job of assisting in weight loss.

But whatever. Maybe don't eat much and don't work out at all and see how it goes. Good Luck!

If it's honestly muscle, then you would reduce it by doing nothing. Then your muscles would atrophy and voila, no more muscle.

The only thing with that, as the ladies above me have stated, if there is a layer of fat over muscle, then it "appears" like we are bulking up really fast. Muscle always forms underneath the fat, so it pushes the fat "out" further, and gives a bulky look. The only way to get rid of the bulk is to get rid of the fat. My own legs "bulk" easily, in that I carry more fat there. So when I build muscle in my legs, my legs seem huge. When I get to the point that I can't fit my jeans anymore, then I focus more on losing fat, not muscle. The reason is that when my legs get to the size that I want them to be, I still want them to be tight and lean. If I just focus on getting my legs down to size w/o any muscle, then they will still look fat, when I get to the "goal" size. Besides the fact that the more muscle I have on my legs, the better job my body does w/helping me to burn fat. So I'm constantly trying to up my fat burning factor (aka build enough muscle)..

Sprinting for cardio will definitely build *more* mass in that area, but it also provides a great afterburn effect, helping you to shed fat. I would def get your overall bf% checked to make sure that it is all muscle there. If the bf% on your legs is rather low, and it truly is ALL muscle, then just stop working them and focus on upper until your muscle atrophies down to the desired size. But just be sure that you know what you will be left with afterward, and that its the "look" that you truly want.

~Kiki

My husband is built with massive tree trunk legs. He runs and does upper body workouts. It makes him look very lean. His legs get much slimmer but still have shape. The running keeps them toned but doesn't build them up.

Besides the fact that the more muscle I have on my legs, the better job my body does w/helping me to burn fat. So I'm constantly trying to up my fat burning factor (aka build enough muscle)..
~Kiki

Yup, I've totally heard (read?) that building muscle in your legs does wonders for your overall fat burning potential since your lower body houses the largest muscles. I also need to raise my booty up quite a bit, lol, if I can perk up and solidify my booty I will happily carry on with thick muscle in my legs....my rear has been my nemesis since 5th grade. Srsly. That's when I saw a pic of me in a swim suit and noticed cellulite on my rear and I've never been the same. :P

oh, and ps - I think we all have very different definitions for the word "bulky"!! I defnitely want strong, toned, lean arms that look sexy but I do NOT want big muscles! I've posted questions before about "heavy lifting" and getting too big, etc. and people always respond with statements like "look at so and so's pics on her profile, she doesn't look bulky and she lifts heavy" and then I promptly go to "so and so's" profile, look through her pics and am totally confused because to ME, she looks "big" or "bulky". Clearly she's not too bulky for HER own personal preference but I personally do not want big arms. I want strong, defined arms (and am getting there by the way..hehe) but I do not want to look the way some people look who say they're "not bulky". Anyway, my point is everyone has a different opinion on what is too much muslce, too bulky, etc. and it's ok to disagree.....we don't need to make each feel bad for having a certain goal or desired look in mind for our own bodies! I lift havey 3 days a week and have been for a month or so and am LOVING the new muscles and strength, I'm addicted to lifting now but that doesn't mean that my idea of "bulky" has really changed much....still want long, lean strong, defined muscles....not "bulky" ones!

I had a DEXA scan recently....when i had that done....they told me my lean muscle mass is 64.9 kilos and a female wants to aim for only 40 kilos. They basically told me as i still have another 5-7 kilos of fat to actually lose....to do cardio, cardio, cardio and they recommended eating 700-800 cals below my TDEE they actually told me if i need to lose 15 kilos to lose 5 kilos of fat and the rest lean mass it wouldnt matter cos of my high content....so cardio does seem the way to go

Wait wait wait...I thought we're supposed to back off on cardio in EM2LM??? Now I'm officially thoroughly confused.
I love cardio because I LOVE how it makes my body look but I've backed it wayyyyy down from 9 hours/week to a measly 3 hours/well and have been severely saddened by the results but figured I just had to keep the faith and keep lifting heavier....God this is the most confusing crap ever.

I had a DEXA scan recently....when i had that done....they told me my lean muscle mass is 64.9 kilos and a female wants to aim for only 40 kilos. They basically told me as i still have another 5-7 kilos of fat to actually lose....to do cardio, cardio, cardio and they recommended eating 700-800 cals below my TDEE they actually told me if i need to lose 15 kilos to lose 5 kilos of fat and the rest lean mass it wouldnt matter cos of my high content....so cardio does seem the way to go

Wait wait wait...I thought we're supposed to back off on cardio in EM2LM??? Now I'm officially thoroughly confused.
I love cardio because I LOVE how it makes my body look but I've backed it wayyyyy down from 9 hours/week to a measly 3 hours/well and have been severely saddened by the results but figured I just had to keep the faith and keep lifting heavier....God this is the most confusing crap ever.

Days, they told her to do more cardio to reduce her lean mass. Cardio is the way to go if you want to get rid of lean mass along with fat, but most of us are trying to build lean mass while reducing fat. So less cardio (shorter sessions of HIIT, or other cardio less often) along with heavy lifting will achieve this much quicker than just doing hours upon hours of cardio.