Avoiding skinny legs?

[Rosie]

Ever since I was a kid I always had little skinny pigeon legs. Last year they got to a point where I thought I actually had rather nice pins without them being all scrawny with knobbly needs but the problem was that I also gained weight everywhere else as well.

My problem is that while my top half has been going well diet and fitness wise (I'm back into the dresses I was wearing two years ago and the love handles are dissolving away) I'm worried that I'm going to end up with skinny little legs again.

If anything I'd like to bulk my legs up a bit but I don't want them to end up looking abnormal like Magonna's legs where they are muscular but still look incredibly skinny! I do a lot of running and zumba as well as climbing and some body weight exercises at home. Is there anything I could add to my routine? Should I eat more than I normally would after a work out?

Thanks guys!

[spatzcat]

I am not 100% sure about this, but I think you might be s.o.l.....it may be just your body type..you can't spot gain fat, or spot reduce fat....i doubt you'll ever look like madonna, god knows what she did to end up looking that freaking frightening. She has the scariest arms I have ever seen. she's like an alien.

anyways...keep doing what you are doing, if the legs get muscular so be it...i think it was spezzy that said 'i don't care what these legs look like, they help me deadlift'...

[ETFnerd]

when i started running regularly, i lost a lot of weight in my thighs and calves and my body looked unbalanced [in my mind], but what happened was that i shed a lot of fat that wasn't helping me run efficiently. that was step one. as i continued to run, my legs filled out with muscle or lean body mass because this again helped me run more efficiently as i built capacity. for women, my understanding is that this process is harder to see because women tend to keep a more persistent layer of subcutaneous fat in order to protect against going too lean and begin cannibalizing muscle and internal organs for survival. it also protects fetuses during pregnancy insuring that there is a sufficient store of energy to support fetal development... evolution... who'd have thunk it... but if you keep feeding your body good food and regular exercise, it will be near impossible to keep skinny legs in a steady state... eat to your BMR+expenditure and try to slowly improve the quality of food you provide your body...

in short... if you keep doing what you should be doing, change to a more athletic appearance is inevitable...

[Morrigainz]

mmmmm.....organs....

*cough* What?

What about adding weights to some of your lower body exercises? I've noticed muscle growth in my legs after 6-7 weeks of lifting. Also I agree with spatz...I don't think that you will end up looking like Madonna. Yes she does look like an alien. It is scary.

[bgvanbur]

It's funny that I have the opposite problem. My legs have always been large (when I was a skinny runner I had large calve and quad muscles). I never liked my large legs and was envious of the runners with skinny legs. When I gained weight I also gained fat mass in my legs (which made for discomfort in walking). Now that they are slimming down and I can see my muscle definition again I like my large leg muscles since they will help me run better. But like the spezzy quote (that spatzcat mentioned above) about worrying more about functional muscles than what they look like.

[Hermione Gainser]

I agree that you probably won't look like madonna... your genetics determine how your body will process your fitness. If you want bigger legs: squat. Seriously, if you can get yourself some weights and do weighted squats (barbell or dumbbell or sand bag or milk jugs, etc) you should give it a go. And eat. Protein! It will help you build up those leg muscles.

[bigm141414]

To add to what Miss Laura said: squat AND dead lift. Lots. Your legs will bulk out. ( I ripped a pair of dress pants once because my legs are beastly. True story )

[Bumblebee4]

I'm so happy to see this thread. Just Monday at the gym working out in shorts I was thinking "Next challenge I'm going to add working on getting legs more shapely and getting rid of knobby knees." I've always had skinny calves and I can wrap my thumb and middle finger around my ankle if that gives you an idea of how little they are and I'm 5'10".

I was figuring I'd add plyometrics for the calves. Do some of you more advanced work out people agree with that or is it all about the weighlifting?

[spatzcat]

I'm so happy to see this thread. Just Monday at the gym working out in shorts I was thinking "Next challenge I'm going to add working on getting legs more shapely and getting rid of knobby knees." I've always had skinny calves and I can wrap my thumb and middle finger around my ankle if that gives you an idea of how little they are and I'm 5'10".

I was figuring I'd add plyometrics for the calves. Do some of you more advanced work out people agree with that or is it all about the weighlifting?

Dear god? Really? that's quite the ankle! I have at least 1/5" between my thumb and f-off finger.

My husband has skinny wrists. he hates it. Some parts can not be changed.

[Hermione Gainser]

I actually have small calves but beastly thighs (squats and deadlifts!). Sometimes I think it's funny looking, and I know I could do some extra isolation exercises for the aesthetics.. but I probably won't

[Morrigainz]

Holy crap. I have AT LEAST an inch and a half. Yes I had to try it. Wow!

[Rosie]

Dear god? Really? that's quite the ankle! I have at least 1/5" between my thumb and f-off finger.

My husband has skinny wrists. he hates it. Some parts can not be changed.

My ankles used to be that skinny until last year when I gained a bit on my legs. I did also start running last summer so judging by the advice I've already been given on this thread, maybe my summer bulk up was also partly due the extra leg work I was doing? Keep on keeping on sounds like the route I should follow

Ditto on the skinny wrists spatzcat - I think I all always have tiny wrists no matter what! when I buy a new watch or get given one as a gift I always have to specify leather straps so I can make them small enough to fit me!

[161803398874989]

Running has given me large legs, but a large part of it is also bodyweight squat work. Work up to pistol squats, then we'll talk again.

[nickls]

I agree with Phi, there are a lot of exercises you can do either bodyweight or with light weights that will make your leg muscles bigger if you can't or don't want to do heavy squats and deadlifts. Split squats, reverse lunges, Bulgarian split squats, pistol squats, etc, etc.

I don't think running will have the biggest impact unless you are doing lots of hills and sprints. Biking against a lot of resistance (hills and sprints) works your legs a lot. Some of the fencers and badminton players I've known also have ripped legs from all the lunging in those sports.

[ETFnerd]

This is a shot of my legs from running on a treadmill for endurance without sprints or hills. I developed a lot of muscle mass in the last year. I'm not sure if rosie is looking to get massive or much bigger than this...

[Waldo]

I don't think running will have the biggest impact unless you are doing lots of hills and sprints.

Hill sprinting is an awesome leg exercise though that will definitely cause size-strength gains.

Another underrated leg exercise - pushing the car up the driveway.

[nickls]

This is a shot of my legs from running on a treadmill for endurance without sprints or hills. I developed a lot of muscle mass in the last year.

I don't think running would be near the top of the list for building leg muscle, especially steady slow-paced jogging (which is what many people think of as running). Strength training, like other people mentioned, would be the more obvious path. I ran 4-5 miles every other day for several months and I wouldn't say that my legs got noticeably big. Now this being NF I imagine that you are not just doing jogging. But if you are and it works for you, then more power to you.

[scuddle]

.....

Another underrated leg exercise - pushing the car up the driveway.

You sound like you speak from experience!

[Hermione Gainser]

I agree that many things that work for people with average to naturally beefy legs may not work as well on someone with traditionally skinny legs. We're trying to beat genetics. Running can do great things for your legs but in this case, I think she'll likely just end up with chicken legs again.

[ETFnerd]

Another underrated leg exercise - pushing the car up the driveway.

can the car back up on you while pushing it up?

[The Tin Man]

Dear god? Really? that's quite the ankle! I have at least 1/5" between my thumb and f-off finger.

My husband has skinny wrists. he hates it. Some parts can not be changed.

Damn skinny wrists. I hope my grip work helps with this.

[Waldo]

You sound like you speak from experience!

I've done it during activities like cleaning up leaves, but never for a workout yet. But it is a farily common workout, especially amongst football players. My brother used to do it all the time when he played football. It is the closest thing to the blocking sled that most people have access too.

As I get better and better at pistols I know I'm going to either join a gym or get creative with my leg exercises. Fortunately I can sprint hills on the road right in front of my house and live a short jog away from some really steep paved hills (8%-10% for ~100 yd). Combine that with some car pushing and I've got myself a good leg workout without a gym.

[The Tin Man]

I've done it during activities like cleaning up leaves, but never for a workout yet. But it is a farily common workout, especially amongst football players. My brother used to do it all the time when he played football. It is the closest thing to the blocking sled that most people have access too.

As I get better and better at pistols I know I'm going to either join a gym or get creative with my leg exercises. Fortunately I can sprint hills on the road right in front of my house and live a short jog away from some really steep paved hills (8%-10% for ~100 yd). Combine that with some car pushing and I've got myself a good leg workout without a gym.

Those are some good ideas! I'm still a ways off from pistols and don't expect to make too much progress while doing half marathon training BUT I have wondered where to go after that without weights. I was thinking

. How's that for explosiveness?

[Waldo]

can the car back up on you while pushing it up?

Probably. It helps to have a way to stop it at the bottom and top (though most people will have a natural stop of sorts where the driveway meets the road). Just keep a 2x4 at the top or run around and engage the parking break if the slope isn't very steep.

Unless you have a large vehicle, this isn't as hard as it seems it would be. The hard part is accelerating it. Cars roll well and have a ton of weight, thus inertia is the primary resistance, once rolling they have momentum.

[Waldo]

Those are some good ideas! I'm still a ways off from pistols and don't expect to make too much progress while doing half marathon training BUT I have wondered where to go after that without weights. I was thinking

. How's that for explosiveness?

I think the pistol to pistol jump gap is quite large, I'm not sure that you can bridge it by just doing pistols.