Leg toning

curly shirley

I really need a few hints and ideas on toning my legs. I haven't a bad figure but I have what I call chunky legs. I walk a lot and do exercise dvds but nothing is helping!!!! I have a good enough diet, I have a flat stomach so when it comes to buying jeans or pants the thighs are too tight and the waist is too big! Any ideas?

EileenG

Squats and lunges are the king (or queen) when it comes to leg exercises. There are lots of variations like front squats, hack squats, sumo squats, goblin squats, prisoner squats etc. I also reckon deadlifts and stiffleg deadlifts do great things for y your bum and thighs, and I find high step-up are an amazing functional exercise.

Trust me, they won't make your thighs bigger.

The cross section of thighs here is amazing. http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=157

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=45#

celestial

Squats - truly the king of all exercises!! Do them!!

g'em

curly shirley wrote: »

I haven't a bad figure but I have what I call chunky legs. I walk a lot and do exercise dvds but nothing is helping!!!! I have a good enough diet, I have a flat stomach so when it comes to buying jeans or pants the thighs are too tight and the waist is too big! Any ideas?

First up, I feel your pain, although I can bet that I'd wins hands down in a thunder-thighs competition between the two of us

Everything you've said (good all-over body shape, flat tummy) suggests that you simply tend to store fat on your legs, much like I do. It's a very common problem among women tbh, but remember, there's a gazillion other women-folk out there who have fab legs and bigger bellies so embrace your hourglass shape and enjoy it

You've said your diet is "good enough" but what does it actually consist of? Cutting out sugars and processed foods is the first step, keep your intake of water and vegetables really high, and try and incoporate resistance work for your legs as both Eileen and celestial have mentioned. Squats are an overall great leg exercise (you can do bodyweight squats at home with no equipment) and lunges are incredible for firming up your ass and thighs.

Weights won't make your legs bigger, but they will make them a lot firmer. Your diet will trim them down

curly shirley

Thanx for advice. I do a lot of lunges and squats with the dvds I have. I guess I'll have to repeat them 1,000 times a day to get what I'm looking for. I always had stumpy legs so maybe it's just my build! Us women have it hard! I did the gym for a year and felt that only bulked me up more! I don't eat much junk food (maybe a bit of chocolate in the day) I drink water, cut out the coffee 2 months ago, eat fruit. I prop consume bout 1,000 calories in a day if even that! I'll keep trying.........puff.......pant........

Seraphina

curly shirley wrote: »

Thanx for advice. I do a lot of lunges and squats with the dvds I have. I guess I'll have to repeat them 1,000 times a day to get what I'm looking for. I always had stumpy legs so maybe it's just my build! Us women have it hard! I did the gym for a year and felt that only bulked me up more! I don't eat much junk food (maybe a bit of chocolate in the day) I drink water, cut out the coffee 2 months ago, eat fruit. I prop consume bout 1,000 calories in a day if even that! I'll keep trying.........puff.......pant........

ummm, did you not READ the page where she said most people underestimate calories/food and overestimate exercise???

if you ARE actually eating only 1,000 calories a day (which i HIGHLY doubt) then you need to check the stickies at the top and completely reconsider your diet, as undereating can be almost as bad as overeating when it comes to weight loss.

if you already do squats and lunges, think about getting some weights to add to the resistance and work harder, this will do wonders for increasing your lean muscle mass (which will NOT make you chunky.. i refer again to the links EileenG posted, that stumptuous.com link is a wealth of information for women trying to lose weight

EileenG

If you are squatting and not getting the results you want, add lots of weight. Pick a weight that will let you do around eight reps, and where you will fail at 10. If you don't have a spotter, do front or hack or dumbell squats, so you can drop the weight safely.

And I agree about the calories. Unless you are weighing and measuring and recording every mouthful, chances are you are under-estimating. A piece of wholemeal pitta bread is 160 calories before you put a thing on it. The average bowl of cereal that a normal person pours out is close to 300 calories before you add the milk. A small bar of chocolate is around 250 cals. A normal apple is around 90 calories.