Will a pear shaped shorty get bulky thighs?

S

stephanie932

Cathlete
Hi, ladies!

I have some questions and concerns and am hoping that you can defy the testimonies of pear shaped girls "bulking" instead of slimming down their thutt (thigh/butt) and hip area by using Cathe's lower body strength workouts.

To give you some history, I haven't been to this forum in probably about 3 years. I used to visit daily when I was doing Cathe quite a bit and then for some reason or other I stopped using her DVDs and went on to some other instructors. Unfortunately, like I always do, I gained some weight and have to drop about 20 lbs. so I'm back to get some advice.

I'm 5'2" and pear shaped. I had ordered Barry's Bootcamp (which I see some of you have also tried out) and I love the 4 day type split w/ cardio.......but, when I read of other's experiences on different boards, I see a trend where pear shaped women say that using heavy weights while doing lunges, squats, plies, etc. causes bulking in their thighs and hips. Now, I realize that having muscle instead of fat is a good thing.......but, do you think this really happens?

I have to admit that I tend to bounce around all over the place with workouts and never stick to one rotation for too long, so I can't give my own testimony on whether or not this truly happens to me and I realize that everyone probably differs....but this scares me. I've gotten great slimming results with just walking and cycling (also lost 13 pounds by doing this) but now I want to tone my body using weights.

Just last week, I took my measurments ;( and did a week of Barry's Bootcamp and I lost 3.8 pounds. This week I'm alternating cardio and doing Cathe's Slow & Heavy. Next week I'll be doing her Gym Styles and then hitting BBC again to finish out the month.....I'm hoping to see a drop in inches for my hips/thighs. Mixing these strength workouts are allowing me to not get burned out on one series because I tend to do that and it's allowing me to get strength workouts in 3 times or more a week (something I haven't EVER done).

So, after preordering Cathe's new 4 Day split, I'm here to ask what other strength workouts from Cathe I should add to my collection (provided you don't think I'll bulk up). I'm considering a few: Pyramids, Supersets & Push Pull, Muscle Max and Low Impact Circuit.

If you are a pear/hourglass (because I'm somewhere in between), have you had good results doing strength workouts using weights for your lower body? If so, can you tell me what you used and what your results were?

Thanks, everyone!

~Stephanie

"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
i know you wanted to hear from pear shaped people and i am not one. but i have family and friends that are so i feel like i can at least give my opinion based on their experiences. for them, they got bulky thighs b/c they had fat over their building muscles. when they first started lifting, they complained a lot about their thighs getting bigger but after about 4 weeks the fat really started to melt off and their thighs got smaller. they lifted heavy for legs. remember muscle takes up less room then fat but you must burn the fat off to become leaner. you may go through a period of bulkiness but press through and you should slim out. i know other posts on this board have had similar topics. it really comes down to genetics. if you truly are the type that builds muscle super easy then my suggestion is to stick with lighter weight with higher repetitions. you won't know unless you really give the heavy lifting a go for at least 4 weeks. if after this period you do bulk up and are not happy with the results, its not hard to change your program to more endurance types of weight lifting. i hope this helped some.
 
for pears short legs you have to always remember to stretch stretch stretch. sometimes that 'bulky' thigh look comes from a short - tight - muscle....not from over development. stretchen will lengthen the muscles.
 
How interested about the stretching. I am 5 foot tall, not pear shaped though. I have lowered the weight on my legwork due to bulking. I am trying to go no heavier than 18 pounds total for lower body and am finding that floorwork is really what helps to slim the lower body. I believe using too heavy a weight can cause bulking especially on a petite person. I prefer low weight ,high reps.
 
I am an hour-glass, 5' 4",but when I first start to put on any noticeable weight, it is on my thighs. As a matter of fact, right now I have about 3-5 lbs to lose...all on....my thighs!

I legs are incredibly strong, relatively, naturally. (upper body...
I scramble for strength!). My long femur tneds to counter-act the 'short, bulky' look, at least for me. But, there are three facts I recognize about my legs. (My hips won't 'bulk up' with weights...who really puts on muscles on their hips?)

1) I need to get rid of the fat to have nicer-looking legs
2) They will always be 'thicker', never the long and lean look...that, and my broad chest/shoulders will always give me an 'athletic', not a 'graceful' body-look.
3) I need to work with them weights to appear athletic-looking and not blobby.

Being at wit's end with thick, plump, jello thighs at the moment, after having not exercised for a while, I started concentrating on burning the fat first. So,I did mostly step/kick-boxing for the first 3 weeks, and a 'practice mode' of leaner legs a couple of times to find where I was at with the weight work.

Now I've found where I'm at with the weights. I've had success with Leaner Legs, combined with floorwork (Which I think is fun too :) ) I guess I'm a big fan of the 'leg press'...for some reason I'm convinced that has really helped my butt, and I love the sit 'n stands (sit 'n swears). :) Like I said, I've had success with it before.....I think the speed of the reps, the low-ends, the amount of the reps and the level of weights works for me. I tend to match Cathe's weights, or go a bit higher on them, and add more leg-presses. Anyway, it worked for me before, so I'm going to try it again.

One thing with squats...I do try to go very low, and when I go up, I concentrate on the hamstrings and butts doing as much work as possible, rather than the thighs. I love plie squats for the inner thighs...I do not think anything else I've tried, floorwork included, has ever done anything for them. (I like floorwork for outer thigh, hip, butt and hamstring though).

Sorry if this post is too long to wade through...just thought my experience might help, although I am by far more of an hour-glass than a true pear.
 
I am a pear, about 5'6" (ok maybe 5'5") and I haven't had a problem bulking up in thigh area. I have accepted that I'm always going to have a big thighs but they have slimmed down immensly and they are not gotten bulky due to lower body weight work. I tend to mix up my workouts though and I notice when I do more running then my legs slim down a lot. I also due tons of squats and walking lunges. I use Gym Style Legs, Pyramid Lower Body, Muscle Max and Slow and Heavy. I also lost my saddlebags doing kickboxing. I just have an athletic body and I'm always going to carry the weight in my legs and butt.
 
Hi Stephanie!

I am 5'1" and use very heavy weights for my lower body workouts.

My thighs are not bulky by any means.

As long as you eat as clean as possible, you will find your legs grow sleek and firm!
 
Thanks, everyone for sharing what works for you........I really appreciate it.

I really think to find out for myself, I just need to stick with a rotation for more than a week. ;) I did make up a whole rotation for July and feel I can really stick with the weight work 4 times a week (3 day splits and 1 total body).

I'll be back to tell you my results when July is over.....but, by all means, keep those results coming because it might give me an idea as to what workout that I should purchase next from Cathe (as mentioned in my OP).

~Stephanie




"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
This is an interesting thread. I am 5'6 and am extremely pear shaped. my legs and hips are quite large. my waist is about 32.5 inches and my hips are like 46-48 or something like that. I try to block it out so i can't remember the exact measurement. Anyway, I look like an idiot. When i workout, i always lose all the fat in my upper body first and then it takes FOREVER to lose anything in my lower body. so i feel for all you pears out there. its just so frustrating to see my upper body start to really look good - my shoulders, arms, chest and even upper abs all look great - i actually have definition and all that jazz!!!! but my lower body looks like it doesn't belong with my upper. my SIL told me that the other day. she said i look like two different people. From the waist up I look pretty darn good!!! Too bad everyone has to see the bottom half. ha ha. anyway, i just wanted to share my frustration with you all.

I just started doing legs 2x a week so hopefully that will help. i have been doing Legs & Glutes and GS Legs mainly. I borrowed Pyramid Upper/Lower body DVD off of my SIL and I love that leg workout too. My legs are muscular but there is way way too much fat on them to actually notice. Anyway, just wanted to share. Goodnight everyone!!!

:) :)

T.
 
Hi,

I found the best leg video for me has been L&G. You may also want to try Freestyle training. Do a search on Open discussion and you are bound to find a ton of info for Freestyle.

In a nut shell, you work your legs daily. High rep low weight workouts.

I have also found kickboxing to really help with my legs and hips.

Elaine HTH:)
 
Thanks for the tips. I really do enjoy L&G. It is very tough and fun! I'm trying to do a little bit of everything to mix it up. I work my legs to exhaustion which doesn't take much because they are the weakest part of me (and the biggest!) I used to do alot of kickboxing - Cathe, Kimberly Spreen and Janis Saffell but then KS and JS started to get to easy so I started doing more of CAthe's other cardio workouts. So you are saying work legs every day, high reps low weights? if you are sore the next day do you take that day off? I don't even know if I have time to work legs everyday!!!!

I will check open discussion also for the freestyle stuff! Thanks again for your suggestions!!
T.
 
You have to try different training methods because everyone responds differently. Personsally, I have big legs and got the best results when I quit using weights and did body weight exercises that used a stability ball. Walking lunges are good, too, as is the Freestyle training method.
 
Cakebaker,

Can you give us some examples of the stability ball exercises that you did? Also how many reps and sets did you do?
 
Hi T.

I seriously doubt you look like an idiot.

Your post makes me feel you are busting butt to work out and I think you will have success.

It just takes time and patience!

Cheers!

Amy
 
>Thanks for the tips. I really do enjoy L&G. It is very
>tough and fun! I'm trying to do a little bit of everything to
>mix it up. I work my legs to exhaustion which doesn't take
>much because they are the weakest part of me (and the
>biggest!) I used to do alot of kickboxing - Cathe, Kimberly
>Spreen and Janis Saffell but then KS and JS started to get to
>easy so I started doing more of CAthe's other cardio workouts.
> So you are saying work legs every day, high reps low weights?
> if you are sore the next day do you take that day off? I
>don't even know if I have time to work legs everyday!!!!
>
>I will check open discussion also for the freestyle stuff!
>Thanks again for your suggestions!!
>T.

If you are weak in the legs, then you probably will benefit greatly from weight work in those legs and see a lot of improvement.

When I see posts like this there is one thing I want to comment. If you are pear, you will never ever look like a stick model, just like a stick model will ever look like J-Lo. We can improve ourselves, but we cannot change what genetics has given us.
 
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