how do you reduce muscle bulk?

[spud]

i am a desperate girl---> i cannot find a way to make my thigh muscles go away. i mean, i dont want them GONE or anything, i just want to get rid of the huge bulk that has accumulated. i cant wear a bikini or anything because i am so self-conscious of them. if anyone has any techniques or ideas please please please tell me cause i'm going crazy!!

[Monkey]

something you can do is run. i mean look at all the distance runners. they have really long and skinny legs.

i think something you can do is run 4-5 days a week, around 3 miles everytime, and you can also do stair workouts, which make your legs burn A LOT.

you may want to decrease the amount of protein you eat everyday, and increase the amount of good fat and complex carbs.

[threenorns]

i agree.

when you work out, instead of doing 6 - 10 reps on your legs, switch to a high-rep workout for them by choosing a very light weight that will allow you to complete 15, 20, or even 25 reps. like monkey said, you just need to look at the difference between sprinters (BIG thighs, BIG muscles in the butt from short but explosive movements) and marathon runners (long, skinny, stringy muscles from going and going and going and going and...).

um.. not to be rude, but you're sure it's muscle causing the size problem? you might have a fat buildup on your thighs like most of us women do and those can be a REAL female canine to shift because that part of the body contains the lowest levels of... dammit, forgot the name, but it's a body chemical (hormone, the like) used to trigger local fat burning.

[skyman]

My opinion would be to not do any weights what so ever with the lower body and stick with extensive cardio. I tend to carry a lot of my weight in my thighs and did the high rep thing for a while ( once per week) to find that they got bigger and not smaller. Now I'm focusing a lot on cardio and I haven't seen much of a reduction, but no increase either.

[spud]

well yea there is some fat, but it is the quads that are abnormally large. i weight trained in high school and somehow got it into my head that resistance would make them thin. nope.
thanks for the reply!!

[threenorns]

you NEED to keep up the resistance training - check out "female bodybuilding", subject something like "a post of interest to women" for the reason why.

trust me: 15 - 25 reps with a light weight IS a "cardio" workout (although it's actually more fat-burning than heart-strengthening).

[CF-OC_gal]

Yup, don't give up the weight training (read the article!) The easy way to lose muscle is to let nature take it's course. The better way is to keep on exercising and adjusting your choice of activity to minimally stimulate growthin your leg muscles.

Workout, but don't go to failure with your reps, do cardio. Try circuit training with just using your bodyweight. Make it last a long time. You could also make a point of not eating like a bodybuilder.

If your developed legs are a genetic gift then accept them with grace. There are many people for whom it would make their life easier and would kill for that kind of size.

[Pelon]

Originally Posted by Brat

If your developed legs are a genetic gift then accept them with grace.

I definitely agree. Personally, I prefer women with some muscle definition as opposed to the typical string beans that you see in magazines and movies.