Squats and lunges

Can squats and lunges make your legs bigger? I feel like that's what always happens to me, and I'm kind of apprehensive about doing them.

Not unles you're a man, you're lifting VERY heavy while eating over maintenence calories, or you are taking steriods

Nope...I feared that too...but after having done squats and deadlifts for a few months now, I'm happy to report that my legs are looking so much tighter and shaplier...and less jiggly and flabby (ofcourse I have also been reducing my calories, so my legs are actually smaller with less fat now).

What Desert Rose said :D

I've been doing a weight lifting class about twice a week since December, and my legs are getting nice and firm and shapley :D I can even see between my thighs!! (they're still touching, don't get me wrong, but there's space now).  My arms are less flabby and more shapely, and the horrid upper arm jiggle is going away.. for that alone I think I'd keep doing weight lifting.

To get big you have eat the calories for it, and train in a certain way.  As they say muscle is built in the kitchen not in the gym.

Don't worry your legs won't explode with muscle, keep up the squats and lunges, they're essential for functional strength and fat loss!

Anything, whether squats or lunges or sitting on the couch, will make your legs bigger if it's done win a caloric surplus.  And anything, whether squats or lunges or sitting on the couch, will make your legs smaller if done in a caloric deficit.

I hear you... I've gone from back squatting 25kg to 130kg sets over the past six months and I've lost an inch from each thigh.  But I've got some great vascularity starting to show up.

Unfortunately I carried my weight around my belly - and even that's pretty well vacated the premises.

how much weight do you need to use to make a difference?  40-50lbs never seemed to make a difference, but maybe I don't do it enough

Original Post by pepper654:

how much weight do you need to use to make a difference?  40-50lbs never seemed to make a difference, but maybe I don't do it enough

 I'm really confused about this one too...I started with 5 pounds about three-four months ago...I now dumbell squat with 15lbs...maybe I'm lifting too little...I saw a huge difference in the way my legs looked lifting that little probably because I was a beginner...gosh I'm loving the way my legs are looking, I swear they're tighter and my hamstrings are nice and curvy instead of jiggly and saggy, and my butt! Oh lordi lord! I have a butt! it's not just a sad, saggy mass of cellulite anymore, it's round!!

ofcourse my legs could look even better and I'm excited at the thought...I realize that I need to lift heavier to continue seeing results, but I don't know how much heavier I should go? I'm doing 20lbs next week in my squats and deadlifts (I do them with dumbells, not with barbells, and not on any machine)...is this still too little?

There are girls in my class who seem to be topping out at around 60 lbs on the 5 lb bar, for a high rep/low weight squat that lasts as long as "big girls don't cry' : )  My goal is to just keep upping my weight, a week at a time or more sretched out, until I'm at my peak.

It's not a matter of doing it enough, it's a matter of doing it right - how long do you lift weights at a time?

Original Post by fluffydragon:

There are girls in my class who seem to be topping out at around 60 lbs on the 5 lb bar, for a high rep/low weight squat that lasts as long as "big girls don't cry' : )  My goal is to just keep upping my weight, a week at a time or more sretched out, until I'm at my peak.

It's not a matter of doing it enough, it's a matter of doing it right - how long do you lift weights at a time?

 wow....I should definately try upping my weights...I was always doing the deep kinda squats though (ass to floor), not the partial squats, and I'd focus on clenching my butt as I come up, 3 sets of 12-15 reps for those...it's the only way I'll feel it in my bum...I also did jumping squats and did the split squats...wipes me out everytime. I'd like to try out those barbell squats though...I recently started doing leg presses on the machine and I lift my own weight...it amazes me that our legs are actually alot stronger than we think....I'm still pretty much a wimp and I would love to up my weights with the dumbell squats and deadlifts as well, I just don't know how heavy I should go...the last thing I want is to injure myself. FluffyDragon, At what weight did you start doing your leg work outs with? And what's the weight you're lifting now?

First off, on your squats, you don't want to necessarily clench your butt - you actually want to stick it out as far back as you can - sitting back on your heels, and not caring what you 'look like'.  The clenching comes all through the back of the legs - pushing up against the weight.  Squats should probably not be done all the way to the floor - ours are parallel with the floor, no more.  Partial squats can be the way to go - nothing burns during the second half of the song like doing 8 'lower-halfs', squating all the way down, coming up to halfway, and going down again.. it's awesome.

I began in, letsee the first of January at once a week, 5 lbs - 2 2.5lb weights on the 5 lb bar for warm up, and 10 lbs on the bar for squats.  By the middle of Feb, I was going twice a week, and working on my form.  In the middle of April, my warm up weight is 15 lbs on the bar, and squats are 25 lbs.  This last class, I got through triceps at 15 lbs on the bar : ) I'm thrilled! 

The way the bars work in our class is you can set your weight, then hang extra weights on the unsecured sides of the bar - and dump them if it becomes too much weight through the four minute songs.  I don't know if that's the best way to do it, but it helps me.  Without a class instructor, I'd never get this far.

ATG (ass to grass) squats are fine if done properly, it all depends on your flexibility, etc. I have to do them with lighter weights then my normal squats. Normally I squat around 70lbs, but that's nothing compared to some of the girls I know. I could probably go heavier if my stupid gym had a barbell with a squat rack. I'm doomed with dumbbells for now.

Oh and every time I up my weights my legs do get heavier, but not from dry muscle. I retain a lot of water/glycogen in my legs. I usually concentrate on increasing the weight for a few weeks at a time, then once I taper down the swelling subsides, but I'm left with more shapely muscle. And I'm defo loving my bum when I bend over now.

doing squats pushing on the balls of the feet work the front of your legs/quads. [A great way to do this at the gym is by placing a bench on the floor, putting your heels on the bench]. pushing through heels works your butt and back of legs. Wide squats [ballerina style- feet pointed slightly outward] works inner thighs. 

All squats- keep chest up, butt back [as if sitting in a seat that is far back from you], chin off chest. 

And, you will get defined legs and a firmer butt.  :)

Original Post by desert_rose:

Original Post by pepper654:

how much weight do you need to use to make a difference?  40-50lbs never seemed to make a difference, but maybe I don't do it enough

 I'm really confused about this one too...I started with 5 pounds about three-four months ago...I now dumbell squat with 15lbs...maybe I'm lifting too little...I saw a huge difference in the way my legs looked lifting that little probably because I was a beginner...gosh I'm loving the way my legs are looking, I swear they're tighter and my hamstrings are nice and curvy instead of jiggly and saggy, and my butt! Oh lordi lord! I have a butt! it's not just a sad, saggy mass of cellulite anymore, it's round!!

ofcourse my legs could look even better and I'm excited at the thought...I realize that I need to lift heavier to continue seeing results, but I don't know how much heavier I should go? I'm doing 20lbs next week in my squats and deadlifts (I do them with dumbells, not with barbells, and not on any machine)...is this still too little?

 

 There's no magic weight that you should be squatting, it's all about your ability. Do to heaviest weight you can while still being able to be in control and have good form. Every few sessions up your weight if you can. It's all relative :] 

the heaviest dumbbells at my gym are 25lbs, so I stopped increasing weight for squats at 50lbs.  What should I ask a trainer to show me if I want to do more weight? 

So your gym doesn't have a weight rack with weight bars you can just grab and load? If not, yeah, ask a trainer - in either case someone who works at the gym and knows you can probably give you better personal advice than people here on the boards.  If the gym offers it, you might want to buy half an hour of trainer time, so you can get a complete circuit

Original Post by pepper654:

the heaviest dumbbells at my gym are 25lbs, so I stopped increasing weight for squats at 50lbs.  What should I ask a trainer to show me if I want to do more weight? 

 Assuming your holding the dumbbells at your side, the next step up in difficulty would be holding them up by your shoulders.  Once that's no longer challenging split squats and one legged squats are the way to go.

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

doing squats pushing on the balls of the feet work the front of your legs/quads. [A great way to do this at the gym is by placing a bench on the floor, putting your heels on the bench]. pushing through heels works your butt and back of legs.

 I always thought which muscles were working was determined by which joints moved, not which part of your foot your weight was on.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

doing squats pushing on the balls of the feet work the front of your legs/quads. [A great way to do this at the gym is by placing a bench on the floor, putting your heels on the bench]. pushing through heels works your butt and back of legs.

 I always thought which muscles were working was determined by which joints moved, not which part of your foot your weight was on.

 Well, now you know something new! :) positioning of feet [shoulder with, wide, ballerina -toes out] works diff sections of leg as well as pressure points - where you 'push' up from on your foot.