Bulky legs :(

naynay

naynay

Cathlete
I just started my second month of STS and my clothes are fitting better and I am stronger my legs seem to be getting huge! i am not sure if it is muscle or fat that is making them so big. I am kind of scared to continue using heavy weights for the leg workouts because I don't want my legs to get any bigger. I have started running again but I haven't been too consistent with snow and a busy schedule. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to thin out my thighs but still build muscle and tone them?
 
Have you tried icing your legs post workout? I wonder if its just inflammation in the muscle. I know that runners ice post workout a lot to prevent inflammation.
 
Yeah like those crazy runners who take ice baths after a race...OMG...just the thought gives me a heart attack! LOL
 
Last edited:
It helped me to go lighter on the weights--a weight that is still somewhat challenging, but not as heavy as I can go. Plyo Legs in Meso 3 is awesome.
 
Thank you very much for posting the links to those other posts on this subject. My legs tend to bulk up as well. I'm halfway thru Meso 1 and I measured my legs at the start of it and plan to remeasure after Meso 1 to see if they've increased in size.
 
My legs are huge. Through LOTS of working out and experimenting, I've learned that the only way for me to lean them out is to go SUPER heavy on lifts, (much heavier than we do in Cathe DVDs) minimum (though definitely some) plyo, and uber clean eats. Have to keep my cardio in check, but building the muscle from heavy training has actually helped lean them out. Sounds odd huh? Good luck. Legs are hard.
 
Ya I think part of my problem is my eating is not the cleanest:eek: and this next week I am going to cut out all refined sugar and limit the natural sugar as well I am slowly working towards my goals. I am also upping my cardio since I haven't been to much lately. I tend to bulk up easily my arms are getting pretty big going through STS so I think I need to limit my weight all around.
 
naynay said:
I tend to bulk up easily my arms are getting pretty big going through STS so I think I need to limit my weight all around.
Click to expand...

I am always curious when I see these kinds of posts. Naynay (and everyone else) - when you say you are getting pretty big (arms and legs) do you mean you are packing on that much muscle? And is this only from STS? I think that's AWESOME, because it is usually SO hard for women to build muscle like that. (Heck - it's hard for a lot of GUYS to put on muscle like that!) We usually just don't have the testosterone base and can't lift nearly heavy enough to build muscle like that. I bow to you ladies.

I did STS and it was great. But I found that to go as heavy as I really needed to, to build ANY kind of muscle, I needed a spotter - which I just didn't have the luxury of having all the time at home. (I'm squatting like 160 pounds and I DEFINITELY need a spotter - just in case.) How heavy do you go to build muscle like that? Well done you all. Well done.

ETA: and I am not "skinny" by any stretch of the imagination. Not that I have a hard time putting on wt - in fact, just the opposite. I always struggle with and need to LOSE weight. I just wanted to build the muscle to shift my metabolic needs and assist in weight reduction.)
 
Last edited:
I really don't go that heavy I can't even squat very high at all, maybe I am building muscle up around fat or something but my arms don't seem to be fat. I am just starting to understand more about clean eating and good training so I am still working on cleaning up my diet and finding what exercises work best for me.
 
naynay said:
I just started my second month of STS and my clothes are fitting better and I am stronger my legs seem to be getting huge! i am not sure if it is muscle or fat that is making them so big. I am kind of scared to continue using heavy weights for the leg workouts because I don't want my legs to get any bigger. I have started running again but I haven't been too consistent with snow and a busy schedule. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to thin out my thighs but still build muscle and tone them?
Click to expand...


Hi NayNay,

I have , through trial and error had a similar case and wanted to quickly share. I noticed that when doing some of the heavier 'weighted' moves IE: barbell squats, lunges etc, ( think Step, Jump ,Pump, BodyMax, Bootcamp, etc.) PLUS doing the step routines that I was doing, my legs were getting pretty 'bulky'..I swear they even felt heavy. Thinking I needed to 'up the weights' I spent another 4 weeks working lower half, only for it to get worse. I decided to go a differant route, and try more cardio, with 'some' upper body weights & ab work. I did a 4 week rotation, then another 4 week rotation ( Insanity ), hense getting slimmer in my thigh area once again. My body responds extremely well to cardio with using 'body' as resistance ( KPC, KickMax, 4DS-Kickbox, Insanity , etc. ) I didn't want to believe it, but like I said, through trial and error , I noticed a huge differance between heavy weight work outs and cardio work outs. I do believe that you can 'overwork' a ceratin body part. Instead of upping the weights and really pounding on your legs more, try backing off, doing more cardio as you stated and see what happens in 4 weeks. Cardio can detfinately be a VERY efficient leg work out. keep a notebook handy to write down how you feel and what you see after certain work out rotations. This can be a perfect guide to go back to when you notice ( or don't notice ) what's working and what isn't. :)

Morgan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top