For you workout buffs...

[lovechild27]

I run about two miles four or five times a week, on top of yoga and swimming in the summer (Im in Az so its almost always summer to keep in shape. I CAN NOT get rid of my poochy inner thighs though. THEY WONT GO AWAY! I dont want stick thin twigs...just about an inch or two off would make me happy. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions that could help me get rid of my chunky inner thighs?

 

[PinkOrchid]

 

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

lovechild hate to break it to you but...

Take at look at your mom's thighs (or the female relitive you most look like) if she's always had "pouchy inner thighs" you will too. My body puts weight on my thighs too (thank you mom) and no matter how well toned or skinny I am (I spend a lot of time running too) compared to the rest of my body I always have fat on my thighs. Its just genetics.

 

[lovechild27]

Take at look at your mom's thighs

Well the women in my family are blessed with nicely proportioned size 8 hourglass fig's....I AM THE ONLY ONE with this prob!! I cant even seem to get muscel tone there....

 

[Zilla]

The inner thighs are the HARDEST place to tone. It doesn't matter how skinny I get, even when I weighed 80some lbs I had flab on my very inner thighs. Some people swear that it's genetic and you can't get rid of it without surgery. I am begining to wonder if that is true, because no matter what extreme weight loss lengths I have gone to that has always remained a problem for me. I do an exercise where I lay on my back with my legs straight up in the air and lay them apart and bring them back together. I do 100 reps a day and it seems to help somewhat but there is no such thing as spot reducing. All you can do is lose fat with diet and exercise and then work on toning specific parts of your body to make the muscles bigger there.

 

[Guest]

I would recommend resistance training ...rubber bands or weights or if possible for you weight machine . Don't do heavy weight but enough where you can get 15 - 20 reps of an inner thigh exercise done and it really begins to burn ... then stretch it for 30 seconds and do another and stretch again for the same amount time ... all together doing 3 - 4 sets ...... and do the exercise somewhat slow ... making the resistance even more , doing a slow 1-2-3 count . Also carbs can be a culprit if you eat too much of them . They turn to sugar which turns to fat if you don't use them up ... sugar also triggers insulin ( the fat drug ) which makes us hungry even if we have eaten just 30 minutes prior and ate until we are full. Carbs can be a double edged sword , know which ones to eat.

lol I'll step down now.

 

[Blindinthedark]

You could also do a body fat test. I'd suggest the one where they immerse you in water. I think it's called hydrostatic weighing.

It's not too expensive and can be done at a sports center near you. Usually they'll give you a consultation too. Telling you what to eat and what areas to work out for such and such result.

20 to 30% is about average for women. Lower if you want to be an athlete. Any lover than 10% is dangerous. If you know you have a higher fat ratio you can direct your workout effort to lowering it. If nothing else it's an easy way to start and find out where you're at now.

Fat usually goes with the "last on first off" assumption. If you're thighs were the last place to get fatty then you should be able to lose it without surgery. If it wasn't then you may have to work harder to remove it.

 

[Guest]

have you tried?

 

[Morcheeba]

try bike-riding and tennis for at least 6 hours a week.

and when i say bike riding, i mean POWER rides. start off slowly and then get into a mindset with music playing.

tennis helps my upper arms but seeing how this is about your thighs, i guess suggesting you play tennis for 3 hours a week against someone who really sucks and makes you keep walking to fetch balls is approp.


(had phone call while trying to edit this, and yes, it was a call from the one who works my thighs with all his terrible serves, hehe)

 

[paradisefl]

Do squats, they are going to be the best exersise for your legs all around. Do they heavy so you can do about 8-10 reps and do 3 or 4 sets. Add some cardio in and your going to get what your looking for. By the way, if you really want to get in shape get into a full body routine. If you want muslce tone low body fat is the only thing that is going to get you there, you can do a mi llion crunches a day and you won't have a 6pack without low bf %

 

[Eagle70]

Theres also a product that you can pick up and any GNC. Its called a "cutting gel", and it actually works. it penetrates the skin in "frees the fat cells" on a specific spot. Kinda pricey, but it really works, it helped me tone my pecs. I'd give it a go

 

[lovechild27]

wow...you guys gave me a plethora of knowledge!


I will try most if not all of these...lol.


Ya they prob arent bad...Its the only part of my bod im really self consiouc about..go fig

 

[JosephGH]

I agree some things are just genetic. For example i always had big legs, 17 or 18 inch calves and thighs a bit bigger. Im male and my legs are all muscle, and besides my legs I have a pretty lanky build. Whenever I fight I look smaller than my opponent even though we're about the same weight because my legs bump me up a couple weight classes (amateur boxing). but they do give me enormous leverage, and allow me to throw punches with massive torque and power. So i guess my point is find something to love about your legs and you'll feel better.

Joe

 

[lovechild27]

So hard to embrace poochy thighs when Im in Az and 2 inch long shorts are what everyone wears....

 

[houseman]

poor genetics is an excuse the lazy and unmotivated use.

Training is 20% of the equation - diet is the other 80%.

Its ALLLLL about the diet.

For women, the thighs/butt is generally the last place fat deposits to go, in men it's the abdominal areas.

If its that important to you, get with a sports nutritionalist (one that preferably understands weight training as well) and they'll devise a nutritional and training program for you to follow.

They'll lay out all your meals for you and exactly what exercises you should be doing, reps, set, etc.

If you don't want that then you can do things on your own through trial and error. Be mindful that it will take time ot understand how your body reacts and adapts to various dieting/nutritional conditions.

For women, I like carb/calorie cycling.

Meaning.. you determine your BMR (Basal metabolic rate) which tells you how many calories you need to consume to sustain daily life for your body type and then you build oyur calorie requirements around it.

If your BMR is 2000 calories (mine is about 3750/day right now) you might cycle sometihng like (starting Mon-to-Sun)

2000,1800,1600,1900,1700,1600,1500

To lose one pound/week of fat you must expend 3500 calories in that week. How you expend them doesn't matter (diet,cardio,both).

In this example.. what we're doing is doing an up and down zig-zag so your body doesn't adapt to your eating.

We're also expending (saving) a total of 1900 calories over the coarse of the week which means you have an additional 1600 calories to expend through cardio efforts.

Another benefit of the cycling method is that when you lose scale weight you're generally losing a big portion of muscle as well. Sometimes as much as 60% which means only 40% is from fat. SO by keeping close to your BMR and using cardio to burn the calories to lose the weight you'll be able to keep a bigger portion of muscle while reducing more bodyfat.

Another thing to remember about losing weight and fat loss. Losing weight simply means scale weight.. losing fat (body fat) means you are reducing your overall body fat while increasing your LBM (lean body mass). More LBM means you burn calories are a higher rate because your metabolism is always on the go.

BIG difference between losing weight and losing body fat.

Always eat 5-6 times a day and drink a minimum 1 gallon (3.8 litres) of water a day.

Eat your strachy carbs in your first 3 meals with fiberous carbs in your last 2-3 meals.

Keep carbs low GI (no sugars, etc).

Use the mirror as your scale of progress and not a weight scale.

Good luck!

Aaron

 

[Zilla]

I do the cycling method when I feel a little lumpy. It kicks your metabolism in the ass a bit and makes you lose weight pretty fast. I don't go nearly that high in calories though, damn. 2,000 seems like a lot when you are trying to lose weight.

 

[houseman]

I do the cycling method when I feel a little lumpy. It kicks your metabolism in the ass a bit and makes you lose weight pretty fast. I don't go nearly that high in calories though, damn. 2,000 seems like a lot when you are trying to lose weight.

It can be, depending on your daily caloric requirements.

I used to workout with a girl at my gym who was dieting on 1900 calories. Meaning her BMR was that of 1900 (maintenance level) and she only weighed 110 LBS (fitness competitor).

Its' a trial and error process when you don't KNOW what you are doing to understand how your body react and adapts.

Once you learn this you can easily control weight (gaining or losing).

Like I said.. my BMR is 3750 calories/day for maintenance. I am dieting down right now so I have a little more variance in my dieting and cardio efforts. If you go TO LOW in calories for too long oyur body will go into starvation mode and being to hoard onto everything you eat.

Tip: the more water you drink the less you will retain.

By the way... when I am gaining weight (bulking) my caloric level is around 5000-5500 calories/day. Damn.. can't wait til Fall again

Enjoy.

Aaron

 

[Zilla]

I think my BMR is like, 1000 at best, seriously. That's probably being generous. Any tips on mending a seriously damaged metabolism?

 

[houseman]

I think my BMR is like, 1000 at best, seriously. That's probably being generous. Any tips on mending a seriously damaged metabolism?

Unless you are dead or weigh about 80LBS I am doubting that


Mending a metabolism.

Kick start it into high gear for 2 weeks. Eat 250-300 calos over your BMR for 2 weeks. Then each maintenance level calories for another 2 weeks and then start slowly start dropping the cals.

Remember to eat 5-6 times a day and for your case, maybe 7.

I'll do read through some of my research and see what i can't come up with on that subject.

Aaron

 

[Zilla]

Um, actually I did weigh 80 lbs not all that long ago. After much time of eating between 200-800 calories a day my metabolism is very fucked up. Not sure what to do about it, I am afraid to eat much because now I gain weight so fast and easy.

 

[PinkOrchid]

 

[houseman]

Everyone focuses on strength training and aerobic conditioning, which is good.

But people have forgotten about anaerobic workouts. If you want to change your metabolism, add anaerobic workouts to your strength training and aerobic training, up to half an hour a day, something like wind sprints or short bursts uphill (awesome workout!). Anaerobic exercise really helps adjust a slow metabolism, but don't forget everything else!

And don't just cycle your diet, cycle your workouts. 2 weeks normal, 2 weeks heavy, 2 weeks light.

Good luck!

There is no reason to cycle training every 2 weeks. Unlike diet, that body doesn't adapt to a training regine that quickly.

Another thing... I am sure there are those that are going to say "light" weight and higher reps will shape and tone your body.

False. Toning comes through lowered body fat. Shaping? well you simply cannot change the shape of a muscle - just increase its' size.

When you do light weight, higher rep workouts you are doing as PinkOrchid indicated - creating an anerobic workout thus ramping up the metabolism.

I am in this phase as we speak. I do 3-4 exercises per body part (one body part/day) and I keep the reps around 12-15 with 30 seconds rest (timed) inbetween.

Once training is finished, its' a high paced walk for 30 mins.

This, with my strict diet I am able to shed about 30lbs in 12 weeks and about 7% bodyfat - give or take.

It took me a looong time to dial in my program but I feel the time has been worth it.

Enjoy everyone!

Aaron

 

[lovechild27]

Welll being a full time college girl its hard for me to take the time to sit down and figure out what to eat and how much...and realistically I cant afford to sit down with a nurtritionist, seeing as how I take out a seven thousand dollar loan every semester.

With summer coming up tho and only taking one class I will have more time to watch what I eat...its so hard when your running non stop and never really have time to make anything...Awesome advice tho! You guys know wut your talkin bout

 

[Lust Engine]

I'd take all of these wonderful suggestions in stride & implement which ones you think will work for you. One of the things I'd seriously would do is make the attempt but don't be obsessive about it and expect instantaneous results. Keep making headway into it on the tight schedule you have.

Like Orchid said early on, you're probably more than beautiful to everyone else.

Good luck.

 

[lovechild27]

Lust Engine:

Ya im not into weird fad diets and shite like that. In no way am I looking to reshape my life and be derpived and craving a cookie so I can have what some poeple have told me the perfect body is.


Im hoping my thighs arent as chunky as I think they are...hahahaha