FitnessFreak: Legs question

[ksg68]

Hi, Debbie:
I just saw your Sept. 08 legs rotation and it looked awesome! I also saw that you're really into the bodybuilding mindset which is where I'm heading. I've read an article about fitness competitors and the guy who wrote it said that if your legs are more than 23" you shouldn't work out with weights. (If I could find the article, I'll post it.) Well, that's right where I'm at with 23" thighs. Do you agree with this statement? Right now my goal is fat loss. Currently at 22% body fat and want to be 16-18%. My split looks like this:

Mon: Chest & Tri's plus 30 min brisk walking on 7% incline
Tues: 4 mile run
Wed: Back & Bi's plus 30 min brisk walk on 8% incline
Thurs: Off
Fri: Legs & Shoulders plus 30 min brisk walk on 9% incline
Sat: 4 mile run

Considering that legs are such a large muscle and also considering my goal is fat loss, do I weight train my legs? Or just stick with working the upper body hard and then lean out the legs with walking/running?

Thank you for your time,

 

[hrcfitness]

Oh I really hope Debbie answers you! I'd be curious to hear what she thinks about thinning out the theigh area. I have had more than a few people tell me that I shouldn't lift weights for lower body if I want to thin it out, they say I should do things like plyo work and hard cardio!! There is so much confussing info out there!

 

[RapidBreath]

I'm curious too

However, my comment is this. I am considerably overweight (about 60 pounds to lose) and lost 66 pounds over the last 18 months. I've always been thick through the lower body, but equally so everywhere else. And not knowing to be fearful of lower body workouts I began attacking local hills at least once sometimes three times a week. I would hike in the beginning and now I jog the flat areas, speed walk down the hills and up them too. These are significant. I put on muscle in the leg area to start with. I could feel it go from all flabby to somewhat soft and then a truly hard core bit around the bone. But, now I'm seeing smaller legs. I do measure so I can be truthful with myself on that score. Also, I see more space between my thighs when I do a table top position or child's pose.

So, what gives? I'm prone to putting on weight and muscle. Its hard for me to lose it. (18 months hard work.) And, I'm losing weight on my thighs????? If its bad for us to use weights (I see those hills as my lower body training as well as the step work.) then how come I am losing inches on the thighs?

 

[nspire]

I'm intersted in Debbie's response also. I've worked out for years and being a black female we prone to be more curvy in our lower body. I'm 5'7 and totter between 150-158 however my smallest being 138, I think I look good between 135-140. I've been following the advise of Debbie and it's proved to be quite beneficial. I just finished my first Cathe Aug 08 rotation and really liked it and had planned to do a leg blast Debbie came up with sometime ago but will do the rotation she came up with. She also gave me a eating plan which I plan to follow.

I think she will tell you to eat clean, and do legs possibly 2x a week, with 2-3 dys cardio.

 

[Fitnessfreakk366]

No, I don't think it's a good idea to just stop training your legs. You need to keep that muscle group working just like you would your upper body. You have to keep BALANCE.

That being said, legs are a tricky muscle group to figure out. Some women get thick thighs when they train with heavy weights (me), some thin out, some get enviously defined.

Whatever the case may be, if you are one of the women who get thick thighs, then you should only work your legs once a week and use LIGHT weights with HIGH reps. So if you are doing 100# squats for 8 reps, go with 75# for 12-15 reps. You can even go as high as 20 reps with leg exercises as long as you train safely. This will help not create larger muscles, but keep the muscles defined and conditioned.

Eating clean helps too.