Can bulkier legs be leaned out after years of wieght training?

[chrismeyer]

I hope you ladies can help me out!!! After years of weight training my legs have gotten bulkier. Years ago (about 10) I really got serious about weight training. After I had my 1st son I did Body for Life and had great results (a long lean look) then after BFL is when I really got serious about the weight training....and going Heavy with the weights. But my legs have gotten bulkier (which I don't like). I really didn't notice it until some recent pictures I saw of myself. I like how my body looked when I did BFL. Is there a way I can go back to having leaner looking legs after years of doing heavy weight work??????? Help!!!

 

[kathryn]

They can for most people, at least to a certain extent.

IMO, it's a combination of reducing any excess fat through diet (what you eat not "a temporary way of eating designed to reduce weight"), and doing Freestyle-type lower-body workouts (body weight or light weights, higher reps, working lower body most days of the week: Slim Series is like that)

 

[chrismeyer]

Thank you! I will try the slim series.

 

[violinga1]

I agree with kathryn. Although I love training with heavier weights, I do plenty of "free style" training for the lower body to keep things "lean" in the thigh area. I also have found that doing a short HIIT session on the treadmill after heavy weights helps. I've really changed the shape of my bulky legs by doing these two things consistently.

 

[babindy]

It's easy for me to gain both muscle AND fat.

I recently changed my lower body routine. I used to do heavy weights with cardio like step and kickboxing. A few months ago I dropped the heavy weights on the lower body (still do moderately heavy on the upper) and replaced some of the cardio with racewalking and running intervals.

My legs have seriously slimmed down. They are still very muscular but not as bulky. I've lost weight over all (30 lbs so far) but the biggest change is in the legs (mostly thighs woo-hoo!). I know I've lost some leg muscle, but I like how it's redistributing.

YMMV

 

[chrismeyer]

Thank You all sooooo much for replying. It helps! I have always done so much leg work because I thought it was doing more good. People would comment on how muscular they are, but to me, they are bulky muscular. I do HIIT on the treadmill the days that I don't do leg day(with weights). I do eat clean (but I am human and I do have days here and there when I cheat) and I ALWAYS work out hard!! It just frustrates me that I work so hard and me legs look bulkier

 

[darine]

i think i asked that question before and it still not clear.

what is free style?

any of Cathe DVDs are considered free style?

Which of Cathe DVDs will help slim the legs?

thx

 

[maddiesmum]

Freestyle training involves working the legs somewhat on a near daily basis and it does not use heavy weights, which would require more rest days in between training days. A lot of freestyle exercises involve the use of body weight only and a high degree of reps which is what causes the burn out of the muscles. They are more endurance focussed.

Cathe's lower body workouts are not, strictly speaking, freestyle workouts. That does not mean that you could not borrow some or all of her exercises, eliminate the weights or sub much lighter weights and increase the reps to make the exercises more suitable. For example, on one day you could use the band and do firewalkers (from Butts and Guts), this uses resistance but not a heavy weight. You could add some prone, stability ball roll ins for the hamstrings and glutes (from GS legs, floor routine), add in some front and back and side kicks incorporated from kick boxing any Cathe kickboxing workout) and get a good leg workout for the day. You will have worked all the lower body muscles without heavy weights and in a dynamic way that will allow you to bounce back and work legs again tomorrow, but with a different selection of exercises.

There is not one Cathe workout in particular that is ideal for freestyle training. You have to view them and list the exercises, know how to perform them and then put them together in a new way to make them work for you as freestyle training. Where Cathe does a full hour or more on the lower body, you would select only 3 or 4 leg and glute exercises for the day and mix this with your cardio routine or upper bopdy training for the day's workout. The next day, you would select a different set of 3 or 4 exercises so that each day you have about 20 mins only dedicated to the lower body.

Other instructors have DVDs that may lend themselves to being adopted for freestyle training more easily than Cathe, sorry to say. Try Mindy Mylrea's "About Legs" with her emphasis on gliding discs to work the lower body, and Kelly Coffey-Meyer's most recent release "Body Training" which uses body weight only and very effectively to train the lower body.

Clare

 

[Connie07]

Yes, my sister used to compete in body building, had large muscular legs and she's very short. Fast forward a few yrs, no longer competing and her legs look awesome, very good muscle definition but very small in size. She no longer uses weights for lower body, she runs instead. Shes uses wts in upper body wo's only. We're all different but I"ve seen it with my own eyes.

 

[mj476]

A couple of non-weighted parts of Cathe workouts I like:

Stability ball portion of Pyramid Lower Body
Kick Max Leg Conditioning Drills

Marcy

 

[jonahnah]

One of the Butts & Guts premixes is a good freestyle-type workout. You do several sets of walking lunges, firewalkers & lunge/squat combos using only 5 lb weights or just your body weight. It's called Leg Blast.

 

[kathryn]

IMO, you could take a workout like leaner legs or butts and guts and do it with no or very light weights, maybe doing extra reps.

 

[michefit]

I just had to chime in... I have been tinkering with the freestyle legs idea - thanks to several posts on the forums. Has anyone tried the 7 blasts only from LoMax? That's a great one - I have added that one after a 30 minutes of cardio - or even doing twice through (total of 46 minutes) That would be killer endurance/cardio. I also love the Drill Max cardio lower body blast - also a good one. Anyway - I have found the freestyle the way to go for short stocky legs (like mine!)

 

[darine]

is the STS Plyo or STS MEso 1 are close to freestyle?

I own Cathe, 3 Ripped DVDs and P90X which I don't like

What about Cathe floor work, like in GS, B&G, Legs and Glutes?

I think when I had my legs at their best, I was doing mostly floor leg workouts.