Need Help Gang! :)

N

niclyf

Cathlete
Hi Gang! I knew if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be the Cathe crowd!

Here's my problem .. while I don't need to lose weight at all, I can't seem to figure out how in the world, being a size 2, I have VISIBLE inner thigh flab!! The rest of me (arms, quads, hamstrings, etc.) is pretty toned. But I noticed a *disgusting* bulge (pure flab) on my inner thighs, and around my abs. I know that eating clean has a lot to do with it, and 98% of the time, I eat a very clean diet of lean protein, fruits, veggies, and whole grains. What tapes/exercises have any of you used that helped to tackle the inner thigh flab, and additionally, what has worked to get rid of that yuk layer of flab around the middle. I can't possibly lose more weight than I already have, and I don't want to, but I'm at a loss as to how to tone up these areas. I perform 5-6 cardio sessions a week (combo of step, kickboxing, hi/lo, and running), and work upper and lower body twice per week using Cathe's strength tapes (lifting right around 30-35 bb, and #10 db). So I think my exercise level is sufficient. I'm soooo frustrated though with the way my inner thighs and abs are looking, those are the only two areas where I'm struggling!! Do I need to lift heavier for less reps, lighter on more reps??

HELP!!
Thanks in advance for any insight!
~ Nicole
 
Hi Nicole-

We sound like twins! I am also petite and only seem to gain weight mostly in the abs and a little in the inner thigh. The exercise that helped me most was walking lunges. I would do them every day at the gym after doing cardio. Another thing that got rid of the dreaded thigh jiggle was that I lifted very heavy. I stayed within a 5-8 rep range and did 4 sets for each exercise. I would work one body part per week. Also the leg press can do wonders for your legs. The heavier I lifted the sleeker my legs got. I got a lot of compliments at the gym on my legs and I can attribute that to very heavy weight lifting. I did a lot of walking for cardio so I'm sure if I had increased the intensity I would have seen some even better gains. Overall I was very pleased with my shape with just lifting very heavy weights. HTH
 
Hi there :)

Thanks for your response .. I'm curious to hear more about your experience. How long you lifted heavier, how heavy you lifted, and how long it took you to achieve satisfactory results. I've been contemplating if I should lift heavier, but have to admit, I fear that by doing so, I'm going to end up at the other end of the spectrum ... gaining too much mass and bulk. I'm happy with the size of my legs, just not the tone of them. Were you doing just mainly gym machines, or using weights as well?? Any additional insight you could give would be great!!

Thanks!
Nicole
 
Hi Nicole -

I lifted weights for about 2 years consecutively. I'd say I saw satisfactory results in about 4 - 6 weeks. It may take someone longer that is already working out with weights though.

I wouldn't worry about bulking unless you gain muscle very easily. I don't gain muscle very easily. Even when I was lifting as heavy as possible I only looked toned and lean. I never got bulky.

When I was lifting consistenly I weighed about 15 lbs. more than I do now, but was smaller. Like they say - muscle weighs more than fat.

I am also a size 2 and can weigh anywhere from 105 -120 lbs. I did 90% free weights when I was lifting heavy. The machines I used for legs were the leg press and leg extension. For legs I would do 4 sets of each exercise with the heaviest weight possible. I did anywhere from 6-10 reps for each set. I made sure I rested at least 1-2 minutes between sets so I could put maximum effort into each set.

leg exercises: squat, leg press, lunges w/dumbbells, good mornings, and standing calf work

Obviously I worked up to this volume. I went as heavy as possible on the squats and leg press. On the lunges and good mornings I didn't try to go as heavy on those. You can feel those exercises fairly well with lighter weights. For squats I would do about 85 lbs. and on the leg press I would start off with 90 lbs. for my warm-up set, 180 lbs. next set, and then 270 lbs. the last 2-3 sets. The leg press really shaped my legs up quickly.

In general I tried to lift heavier weights each week for every body part. I followed the same scheme for every body part - 4 sets, 6-8 reps, rest 1-2 minutes between sets, and 3-4 exercises per body part. I worked each body part once a week so that my muscles would get adequate rest. For the upper body I used the barbell a lot and a few machines.

My cardio was rather non-existent other than walking 3-4 miles 5 days a week. I really lost a lot of body fat from just weight lifting alone and moderate walking. I also ate about 2000 calories a day so I could feul my muscles properly for my weight workouts. I made sure to take a break from heavy lifting whenever I felt I was hitting a plateau. I also tried to change my exercises every few months to shake things up. HTH
 
Thanks for all of the info!! Gosh .. I feel wimpy with what I've been lifting up until now! (Only have enough plates to stack my barbell to 35lbs). I was hoping you could clarify a couple of things. The leg press, is the machine where you're sitting with your feet on the platform with the knees at a 90 degree angle towards the chest and you push out/forward with the legs right? Also, you mentioned an exercise that in my 8 year history of working out that I have never heard of? .. Good Mornings?? Could you describe those??

Thanks again for all the info!
Nicole
 
Hi Nicole –

Don’t feel wimpy by any means! I definitely worked up to those weights. I worked out with my sister and she made me push myself. She has an awesome body so I knew I better do what she told me. LOL!

Yes – that is the leg press I am talking about. We have two at our gym. The one I use allows you to add weight plates to it. Also, I used different leg stances when doing the leg press to hit different areas of the leg. Some weeks I would keep my feet close together and other times I would keep them about hip width apart. When your feet are closer together you hit more of your outer leg in general. With a wider stance it seemed to work more of my glutes. Either way you prefer to do them is effective. Experiment and see which one is more comfortable for you. I know some people even turn their toes outward, but that put a lot of strain on my knees so I didn’t worry too much about foot positions. Every time I do the leg press my legs are sore for days and that really got my legs toned quickly.

Good mornings are a back/hamstring exercise. I would use a barbell for that exercise. You put the barbell on your back, place your feet about hip width apart, and bend forward from the hip until your legs and back make a 90 degree angle. You want to jut your hips back pushing your upper body towards the floor simultaneously. You can keep a slight bend in the knee if your hammies are tight or you aren’t as flexible. You will definitely feel that in your hamstrings. You don’t need to use much weight on those. I think I used a 30 lb. barbell. I have a hard time feeling my hamstrings when doing machines so I do good mornings and they always make me sore the next day. I also like to do quarter deadlifts with dumbbells for my hammies.

For each leg workout I always made sure that I did either the leg press or squats, some type of lunge exercise, an exercise for the hammies, and a calf exercise. The heavier I lifted the better my legs looked.

A good exercise for the inner thigh is side lunges. I used to do those with maybe 20 lbs. at the most. You can really feel the thigh burn when you do those.

I think free weights are the best in my opinion. You do need to use some machines, but you use a lot more muscles when you do free weights. You activate stabilizer muscles that you don’t when machines are helping you do particular moves.

I like to challenge myself in the gym and I LOVE lifting weights so I couldn’t wait to get back in there and work out hard each day. It was very motivating to see how much stronger I would get every week. HTH
 
Howdy :)

Okay .. so it sounds like "good mornings" take the same motion as deadlifts? If so, then I may have to give that one a try to see how it feels .. never thought about performing that motion with a barbell on my back.

I'll definitely give the leg press a shot on a regular basis, my problem is more my inner thighs, but any additional tone I can receive from anything, be on my quads, hams, etc. is always welcome!

You mentioned side lunges .. how exactly did you perform those with weight? I do front and back lunges all the time, but I'm not really sure of how to perform the exact motion while incorporating weight to make it more challenging? Would I use a barbell, body bar, dumbbells? I'll definitely be adding that into my routine as well.

Thanks again .. am I bugging you yet?? :)
~ Nicole
 
Hi Nicole, I too am a size 2, but a more muscular 2, so I weigh 119. My advice re: inner thighs is to do floor inner thigh work. There is great floor work in Firm Volume 1, Buns of Steel Original, Firm Sculpted Buns, Hips and Thighs, and I think a Cathe has floor work too.

IMO, floor work is the best way to tighten inner and outer thighs, and glutes. If you don't have or want to get those tapes, just do floor inner thigh work on your own every other day. Lie down on one side, and lift the lower leg. Do it until it burns, then do it some more. Leg weights help, as does holding a dumbbell on the thigh as you lift it.

Oh- and plie squats aren't bad either.
Lisa
 
Hi Nicole -

You are not bothering me at all! I love to talk about exercise in case you didn¡¦t notice. Tee hee ;) Weight lifting is a great exercise and if I can convince more people of that it makes my day.

My problem was my inner thighs too, but remember that the more muscle you build the more your body turns into a fat-burning machine. I did minimal cardio and got great results and I attribute that to heavy leg work in general.

I don¡¦t know if you have the S&H series, but Cathe performs side lunges in the leg tape. You can do them w/dumbbells or a barbell or just body weight. It¡¦s almost like doing a one-legged squat but you step to the side. Make sure that your knee does not go past your toe (like they suggest when doing squats). You should feel it in your other leg which you keep straight while squatting the other leg to the side. You should feel a nice stretch in the straight leg. You don¡¦t have to go very heavy with the weights. Do what is comfortable. That¡¦s more of a shaping exercise so there¡¦s no need to go all out with the weights. I liked to add those to my leg routine as well. I would do 3 sets of 10 reps for each leg. My legs would be toast after my leg workouts, but I got used to the muscle soreness.

It sounds like your cardio is adequate from your previous post so you should see even better results. I really hated doing cardio before I discovered Cathe so walking was all I would fit in most of the time.

There are some good exercise books that show you how to do these exercises. I think there¡¦s one by Cory Everson that shows a lot of good exercises for free weights. Just go to the bookstore and skim through i. No need to buy the book if you don¡¦t want to.


Make sure that you ease yourself into the workout at first. That is a lot of legwork and you will definitely have some DOMS when doing this routine. I hope I explained myself well. Good luck in your leg routine. Let me know how it works out for you. I'd be glad to answer more questions if you have any. :)
 
Thanks Lisa and mystery girl "tsut" .. :)

I have a 9lb bodybar that I'm going to use in conjunction with the inner thigh work in PS Legs. I'm contemplating between getting Sculpted Buns, Hip & Thighs, or incorporating additional legwork as recommended by tsut :) I do have the Slow & Heavy Series as well ... for either of you (or anyone else) that has it and has used it .. would I be better off doing one day of PS Legs and one day of S&H Legs, or one day of PS Legs and one gym day using various machines? I'm teetering between the two ideas. I've also heard that to really 're-shape' an area you have to hit it three times per week .. I'm hoping that's not true, being that I can't envision where I'd fit in three thorough leg workouts per week, aside from spliting it by doing maybe the first half of PS Legs, then the second half another day, then a third day using whatever other leg workout? Any ideas of what would offer the best results/challenge?

Thanks a bunch!!
Nicole
 
Hi Nicole -

I can't really advise you on what tapes to rotate because I've never done a rotation with S&H Legs. I have used PS Legs and Leaner Legs though. I think you could do PS Legs twice a week. I would make sure that you put at least 48 hours between your leg workouts so your leg muscles can get adequate rest so you don't overtrain.

I can't speak for floorwork because I've never done it. I've tried it on ocassion, but never added it to my leg routine. I'm sure doing S&H and PS Legs in the same week would be fine.

I really like Leaner Legs. It's more of an endurance workout but Cathe thoroughly tortures every muscle fiber in your lower half. LOL!

You should experiment and see if two leg workouts a week will blast your thighs. Everyone is different. I only worked my legs out once a week when I lifted heavier. It's hard for me to gain muscle so that's what worked for me. Good luck! HTH
 
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