How can i tone legs

I am female with what i call "footballers" legs. I have short dumpy, muscular legs (although now shrouded with a layer of fat).

how can i trim my legs to be slim without bulking up the existing muscle.? My thighs touchtoo which is horrible. is there any way to shift this? will cardio help. i know you cant target one area but will it improve?

A few things jump out to me in your post. One is that you say it's muscle, but also say that there is also fat. I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that it's not muscle that's the problem (scroll down about half way).

The other thing is that you complain that your thighs touch. Well... are we talking that they rub painfully against each other as you walk, or just as you stand with your feet together, there isn't air between your thighs? Because if it's the latter - then I don't think you have big thighs at all. Most people don't have space between their thighs, and your hip width is going to be a bigger factor than thigh fat. There's this idea that if your thighs touch, you are fat, and I can tell you categorically that it's not true. I know of some people who even at an unhealthily low weight still had their thighs touch.

To lose fat, you'll need to keep a deficit (which you are probably already doing), through diet and activity. I do recommend adding strength training if you haven't already, since as I said above, muscle is most likely not the problem, and you don't want to lose muscle as you lose fat, since your legs will look better if they still have muscle mass.

Squats, deadlifts, lunges, stepups will all help work your lower body. Doing exercises for your upper body (pushups, pullups, shoulder press, rows), will not only help with calorie burn but also can help balance out your top half, if you feel you look more bottom-heavy.

Thank Amethyst

What i meant was that when i was a size 8 (uk) i had "air" between my thighs but i still have quite big thigh in comparison to the rest of my body (i.e. my legs do most of the supporting for my body) I have put on a lot of weight s obviously there is that fat to get rid off but the muscle underneath is still quite big. What i meant was how to make that muscle leaner rather than bulkier.

obviously a whole body target of reducing fat % is essential for me. but i can assure you i am fat.

im not saying i want to target only my legs, its just my legs is the one place im not sure about. i know how to tone arms..kinda... and i know all about sqauts, ab crunches etc. but there is no point in really working a muscle for it to lie below a layer of fat.

about the thighs "Well... are we talking that they rub painfully against each other as you walk, or just as you stand with your feet together, there isn't air between your thighs?" As i said before they are fat, with quite a big muscle underneath but also if i wear skirt or shorts they do rub togheter quite painfully and can sometimes bleed quite a bit hence why i wear trousers.

My jeans dont last long as the inside of the thighs rub against one another and cause the denim to split.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Lyndsay

Ok, I just wanted to make sure. I assure you that there are plenty of people who truly believe that any touching = fat, which isn't true, and it's hard to know where a poster is coming from. However, it sounds like you are experiencing the painful "chub rub".

A few things:

There is a point to working the muscle, even if it's covered by fat - it will burn calories and is great for burning fat - read Hierarchy of Fat Loss.  Plus, it prevents muscle loss (a concern when dieting).

Muscle is... muscle. You can increase it, or decrease it, or have it stay the same. So asking about making it lean vs bulky.... there isn't an answer. Often what makes someone look lean vs bulky is how much fat is covering the muscle, and you've already recognized the importance of losing fat, so you are already on your way.

If you keep a deficit, except perhaps for some newbie gains, you aren't going to put on muscle. Gaining muscle requires a calorie surplus (eating more than you burn).

If you don't lift for your lower body, you could lose some muscle mass, which might seem like it's the way to go, but once you've lost the fat, you'll wish that you still had that muscle left (plus, keeping the muscle around will help with fat loss).

I know that none of this really answers your question, but I think that's because there isn't a good answer - slimmer legs will come as you lose fat all over, and lifting (and whatever cardio you want to do to help your daily deficit) will help with the fat loss. There isn't a way to change your muscle from "bulky" to "lean" and I'd bet that as you lose the fat, your opinion of your legs will shift.

Hope that helps some.

*ding ding ding!*

I love when I read replies and don't want to correct any of the advice.

Weight training and a deficit of calories for fat loss will give you the best results!  so.... ^ what amthystgirl said.

I disagree a little bit with some of this, but it's just personal experience-based advice, so don't take my words as informed.  When I ran crosscountry and was overweight, my legs got too big for my taste.  Lost weight but exercised a lot, and the chub rub decreased, but overall size stayed similar.

When I stopped running this summer and stopped going to the gym, but kept losing weight, they finally got down in size after staying the same size all last year due to my exercise. (though my arms got small, which I didn't want, but you can't have it all)   So when I got back this year, I was able to tone up easily with a few runs a week and some biking, and now they are smaller and perfect.  I think I did an accidental cut then bulk lol.

Losing a pound or two of muscle in your legs will not decrease your cal/day expenditure by more than 10 calories.

My additional opinion:

Runners historically "eat up" a lot of muscle - especially the long distance endurance stuff. (Cardio doesn't just burn fat you know!) Running alone should not be used as your one and only strength training routine! Your muscles need weight training to improve and/or maintain: Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts...

I wish I could find the link to the article I'm thinking about but I don't have the time to search for it.

Muscle loss could have attributed to the scale reading an overall weight loss.... but your legs reflected that muscle loss by not being in the "shape" you were hoping for.

A strong body is a sexy body!

jef - was it No Business Running?

Ok,

My bod is the same (I have some thicky little leggers)... which isn't a bad thing (generally means you have a nice butt too - and guys like that). So you have a good base ;).

Don't get me wrong, sans the pregnancy I did long distance (?) running every week... once per week I ran 10 miles through hills. Didn't do a damn thing for my abs, or my legs really (a good amount of butt though as it was uphill and you can't run fast). BUT it did help my shoulders... so did the elliptical. Also gave me an excuse to carb-load up on popcorn and pancakes and other bad stuff the morning before the run.

Weight lifting? Well at first I wasn't a fan - I felt awkward, I looked stupid, and I gained weight... unlike cardio this had me stuffing my face afterwards and busning like no cals... plus I was sore as hell the next two days.

The key wasn't lifting - it was lifting heavy and doing certain exercises. Squats, straight-legged deadlifts, lunges, sissy squats, and that one exercise.... damn can't think of the name but your practically lying horzontally, legs up pushing weight up with your legs.... oh well you get the picture.

Anyhow that's when I started noticing my cellutlite was less visible... My legs didn't get so much "smaller" as they did just sexified. My calves went down, as did my upper thighs... but I gained an inch in my quads lol! But I'll be dammed if I wear shorts or a skirt people look ;)

So try your cardio... it will help for keeping your diet in check since you get to eat more on those days... but seriously hit the weight room and go fudge it up like some angry guy on steroids... you'll get results.

Original Post by littlemalynda:

Anyhow that's when I started noticing my cellutlite was less visible... My legs didn't get so much "smaller" as they did just sexified.

 

yeah i've been trying to work on the sexified legs, they are no where near sexified but at least they look like they have a little more shape than just sausage shape.

LOL! I am crackin up over that - sausage shape? LOL. My sister deemed me as having "snausages" growing up... lmao, oh man memories! 

Original Post by littlemalynda:

 but seriously hit the weight room and go fudge it up like some angry guy on steroids... you'll get results.

 

 I second that! Strength training is the key here.

Original Post by littlemalynda:

LOL! I am crackin up over that - sausage shape? LOL. My sister deemed me as having "snausages" growing up... lmao, oh man memories! 

snausages, hehe. go fudge it up, hehe.

Hey thanks for that article!

I don't know if this will help a lot but I don't have a lot of the problems with the upper legs as they're starting to get more slender and the inside thigh fat isn't as much  but I have very large calf muscles.  Some of it is down to genetics too.  When I was a kid I always hated my legs for being 'fat' even when I was really too thin... but now I've just got used to it.  While I don't know how to reduce the bottom half to those pencil thin model legs, I have toned them with exercise... in fact while I was down in London, I had a rather handsome body builder asking me about my calf muscles and wanting to 'feel' them.. hey quirky I know  but it made me feel a lot better about someone actually admiring them when I'd spent so long hating them!