Reducing Leg Size

by Tom Venuto

Question:

Is there any way to get rid of muscle? I was a track runner for 13 years and in combination with genetics, my legs are huge and overpower my shape. I'm 5'3", 143 lbs. and my body fat is around 16%. The middle of my thigh measures 23" and my waist is 27". Besides small problems with fat on my hip area that I am currently battling, the rest of my thigh is solid. I've gotten advice about training the legs heavy, but I'm afraid they'll get even bigger than they already are. I eat clean, intake about 200 grams of carbs, 140g of protein and about 20g of fat. I do cardio 5 days a week and weight train 4 days a week (light weight high reps). I would like my legs to look smaller, what can I do to trim down the muscle?

Answer:

The best way to get rid of a muscle to avoid using it. That being the case, I suppose the ultimate way to shrink your legs would be to immobilize them completely. If you've ever seen someone the day they had a cast taken off their leg, you know what I'm talking about. The immobilized leg shrinks away to practically nothing.

However, since "leg immobilization" isn't exactly a practical (or healthy) solution, the best thing you can do is simply to avoid heavy weight training for the lower body. If you do any lower body weight training workouts, use supersets, tri-sets and giant sets. Also, keep the rest intervals between straight sets very short (20-45 seconds) to add an aerobic effect. You should also use weights light enough so your reps stays in the 12-15+ range. Reps in the range of 6 - 10 tend to increase muscle size.

It may also help to perform your entire leg workout in a circuit style. For example, you might do a lunge followed by a leg curl, inner thigh machine (adduction), leg press, calf raise and then a leg extension. Then you would rest a minute and repeat the same circuit or even a completely different circuit once or twice more. Multiple sets of 6-10 reps to failure on one portion of a muscle (i.e., 8-12 sets in a row for front thigh/quadricep) are best for bodybuilding and increasing muscle mass. Skipping from one section of the leg to the next in a non-specific, nonstop circuit tends to give the muscles a more "toned" and streamlined look.

As far as cardio exercise goes; endurance training, especially jogging, has a reducing effect on the entire lower body. If you look at a long distance runner's physique, you'll notice that they never have "thick" legs. It's an adaptive response for the body to reduce leg size to accommodate the endurance training. Sprinters and power/anaerobic athletes usually have larger, more muscular legs than long distance runners. If you have no lower body joint problems, distance running might be the answer.

If light weight training combined with distance running doesn't reduce your legs, then you may need to drop the lower body weight training completely.

Lastly, a calorie deficit will make you lose body fat, and losing body fat will reduce any body part in size. You're 16% already, which is very lean, so you don't have much room to drop further, but if your body fat percentage does go down, your leg measurements will probably go down too.

Keep in mind that ultimately, we are all subject to our genetics. Some women simply have naturally larger legs than others. These are the "mesomorph" or "endo-mesomorph" body types.

I used to believe it was ridiculous when women said they got "too big." I often got on my soapbox and spouted from memory my "women don't have enough testosterone to get big" lecture.

Over the years, after working with hundreds of women of every body type imaginable, I've come to the conclusion that I was wrong! It's not easy for most women to build muscle mass, but there is a small handful with the genetic predisposition to gain size very easily.

You'll definitely see some reduction in size by following these suggestions. I've seen many people completely transform their body shape and create an "optical illusion" through strategic training and nutrition...taking a little bit of fat and muscle off one area, while adding a little muscle in other places.

Your body can and will change, but a healthy and realistic approach is to accept the basic shape and body type you were endowed with and learn how to adjust your nutrition and training accordingly. The same training program won't work for everyone, so be cautious of people who recommend the same heavy lifting for you as they do for a skinny "ectomorph" body type.

About the author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, gym owner, freelance writer and author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom has written over 140 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN magazine, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine, Exercise for Men and Men's Exercise. Tom is the Fat Loss Expert for Global-Fitness.com and the nutrition editor for Femalemuscle and his articles are featured regularly on literally dozens of other websites.


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