Legs and more Legs~CONFUSED!!!!!

[pamelas7]

HI everyone...I do not post here much, but I am here checking the posts a few dyas a week.

I am CONFUSED about the lower body. I tend to hold onto weight in my upper hip/butt area, and I am short. I have great upper body definition, but I need some advice on the legs.

How many times a week should legs be done- once a week working them relatively hard or twice a week working them hard one day and easier on another, and if you do work them twice a week, how mnay days off in between, one or two?

I do cardio 6 dyas a week, running, eliptical, step, spin, aerobics, boxing, intervals, you name it, and I pretty much do it. So, is it too much then to do legs twice a week?

HELP!!!

Thanks!
Pamela;-)

 

[Dani53]

Hello, you sound like a good friend of mine. She is an amazingly athletic person who works out like crazy. To look at her thighs and booty you would not necessarily know it. Very J-Lo if you know what I mean. I know that if she didn't work out, she would be much bigger....she is built like her mom who does not work out. Her upper body is tiny with lots of definition in her arms and chest/core. Her lower legs are nice, it is just the middle where she carries extra curve.

Having said that, I know that for her to really lose that area, she has to be completely faithful to a super clean diet. She has a really healthy body image, and eats what she wants because she works out hard to maintain. I think the combination of such strict eating with all the exercise is just too much. Truthfully, she is stunningly pretty, and very fit, so as long as she is happy and healthy.

You describe her to a "T" with your workouts and body type, but you didn't mention diet. I know that my friend has admitted that it is only when she is constantly in a slight state of hunger that she can drop the weight in that area, which she is not willing to do.

 

[mogambo]

I am built like that except that I am tall. I have gotten rid of almost all my bodyfat and have good leg definition. (5'8", 132). I do 4 cardios a week and 2 leg workouts. One is a killer workout like PS Legs or Leaner Legs, or PLB. The other is easier like MIS, PH or ME. Well, not easier, but more endurance style!

I work every body part twice a week and do 4 cardios. The cardios are mostly Cathe, but I do run 3-4 times a month in cool weather, and do some stationary biking sometimes as a crosstrain, or attend a spin class. But most of it is Cathe's step or kickboxing. And of course the clean diet. I eat very clean. "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." works for me, although it's not for everyone.

 

[nancy324]

In my opinion, when you use the elliptical machine one day, you might not want to do a leg workout the day before or the day after. The same is true for spinning. Those machines sell themselves on providing leg toning with the cardio, and they can tire out your leg muscles. I prefer to do cardio that doesn't tone, because I like to do my strength-training separately, so I always do 2 intense leg workouts each week. But if I were using some of those machines that you use, I would limit my leg workouts to once per week, depending upon what kind of cardio you are doing. I don't consider straight step cardio to be a leg workout, and if that's your only cardio one week, you can do 2 leg workouts. But for weeks where you do elliptical, spin or step "interval" training, you might want to limit your leg work to 1 or even 0 times per week.

Just my two cents.

 

[kelley111]

I also have big legs. I'm only 5' and carry most of my weight in my upper outer thighs and butt. Over the last month I've started doing very little leg work and that seems to have helped. I was doing a lot of Firming with the newest workouts and I was getting bigger. I can only think that it was from all the leg presses. As a test I started doing more Cathe with less leg work and my thighs got a little smaller. I then went back to the Firm and they got bigger again. I'm now back on Cathe and they are smaller once again. I'm thinking I'm going to start adding in Legs & Glutes once or twice per week for about a month along with 4-5 days of Cathe cardio.

 

[hippahips]

Hi Pamela, my workout style for my legs is more like mogambo's -- two leg workouts twice a week, one for strength (PS Legs, PLB), the other more endurance-type (Leaner Legs, the leg workouts in PH). Like you, I deposit fat mainly in my hip/butt area and am also short. This is my 7th month on Cathe and my legs are strong and hard. I now have calves and hamstrings where there used to be slabs of fat. Since my goal is strength and packing on more flesh, I do cardio only twice a week. If I plan to do more, I lessen the session from an hour to just 45 minutes max. Eventually I will have to do more cardio (step aerobics mainly, a little kickboxing) for definition once I have as much flesh as I need, but right now I'm pretty happy with my legs. They have never been this hard and strong. They also have better shape than before. Once I get to the cutting phase I won't expect my body to look like Cathe's as my genes won't allow that. All the women in my mother's family have round and full lower bodies.

Pinky

 

[cathe4me2]

I got very big hips, thighs and a backyard when doing the Firm for 10 years. I couldn't understand why because I worked out EVERY day! I started Cathe's workouts two years ago and I am whittled down to the right size. Recently it clicked as to the 'why'. I was watching the Firm videos while jogging on my treadmill and there is gazillions of leg press, squats, lunges....hardly any upper body work to speak of and minimal cardio. Ah...I know the 'you are burning calories while using the light weights and moving your legs' That is true, but...it isn't the intensity as Cathe uses.
And I got to thinking about the Firm's advertisement....'look like a race horse'. Hey....race horses have a big backyard! I want to look like a dancer or at least sleek....not like a horse. And no offense to the horse because I like horses. I just don't want to be one.
I still work my legs hard. Just looking at my workout log, Last week I did Timesaver #5 which is Legs&Glutes, PLB, Body Blast Premix using the legs, Super Sets, + Bar Method and Pilates.
But I also did some Kickboxing, StepBlast, jogging, and working the upper body 3xs. I also work my abs hard.
I'm working the legs alot but it is more of a variety instead of tons of presses, squats and lunges all day.
Try just watching the videos and see what I mean. The videos I was watching was Tough tapes 1 & 2 and Tough Cardio mix.
I'm not trying to be negative on the Firm. It was a big help to me. But....I got bigger in the lower section as well.....