Lower body

capluvshll · 02-Apr-07, 11:35 AM

So for some crazy reason I have decided to do print modeling. I met with my first photographer yesterday. At the end of the day I asked him what I needed to work on physically. He said that I am going to have a hard time find working because of my lower half that I was botttom heavy. I kind of new this already. My legs are muscular. I calves measure at around 16inches and my thighs around 24inches and Im 5'3. I guess my question is how to I trim down my bottom half? I dont have access to weights or anything like that. And I cant really put on muscle mass. Right now I run 3 to 4 times a day and I belly dance two nights a week. I also do protein shakes everyday or everyother day. Thanks for any advice.

**gymgirl** · 02-Apr-07, 11:49 AM

Hey Capluvshll!

Welcome to DF! What kind of modeling are you doing? 24inch legs don't sound big at all to me. Do you know what your bf% is or how much you weigh? Wow you run 3-4 times per day? Also how many calories are you getting and what types of food are you eating?

capluvshll · 02-Apr-07, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gymgirl

Hey Capluvshll!

Welcome to DF! What kind of modeling are you doing? 24inch legs don't sound big at all to me. Do you know what your bf% is or how much you weigh? Wow you run 3-4 times per day? Also how many calories are you getting and what types of food are you eating?

Right now Im trying to break into causal and artistic modeling. I weigh around 120. I take in roughly 1,000 to 1,500 calories daily sometimes less. As far as food I mostly do protien shakes. When I do eat solid food its mainly tuna, chicken, pasta, fruit, not too many veggies. It seems that I am to muscular for everyday modeling and not defined enough to do fitness modeling.....but any suggestions to tone down the muscle?

**LiftGirl** · 02-Apr-07, 04:32 PM

First of all, I really think you should eat more real food instead of protein shakes and more veggies.

Second, I don't think running 3-4 times a day is necessary. One cardio workout per day should be plenty.

Third, most women are not naturally overly muscular. It would be unusual to be "too muscular" without any weightlifting. If your lower half is "too big" (whatever that means) it could be body fat.

**gymgirl** · 02-Apr-07, 04:37 PM

well first of all I would suggest getting more calories from real food in you! 1,000calories or less is way too low, and you are screwing with your metabolism. I would suggest upping your calories (how far are you running when you run 3-4times per day?) closer to 1500-1600 possibly more depending on your training. Also I'd limit those shakes, they are good for added protein but you should not get most of your calories from them. You are doing good with the tuna, chicken and fruit, but I'd minimize the pasta (unless it is whole wheat) and add a lot of veggies into your diet.

I would suggest adding in cottage cheese, plain non-fat yogurt, whole grains, eggs, lean meats, fish, and VEGGIES!

Also resistance training is important, it will help you build lean mass and help reduce body fat. You will not get 'big' from lifting weights unless you are taking a lot of suppliments and eating a lot of excess calories, and even then it is hard!

Have you thought about doing 'sports modeling' you know where you have to look athletic but not necessarily extreamly cut?

**gymgirl** · 02-Apr-07, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

First of all, I really think you should eat more real food instead of protein shakes and more veggies.

Second, I don't think running 3-4 times a day is necessary. One cardio workout per day should be plenty.

Third, most women are not naturally overly muscular. It would be unusual to be "too muscular" without any weightlifting. If your lower half is "too big" (whatever that means) it could be body fat.

You must have posted this while I was replying liftgirl....

Also I forgot to mention what LiftGirl pointed out...running 3-4 times per day seems a bit uneccessary. how about once per day doing High Intensity Interval Training?

**LiftGirl** · 03-Apr-07, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gymgirl

You must have posted this while I was replying liftgirl....

What can I say? Great minds think alike! But I got to the submit button first

CF-OC_gal · 03-Apr-07, 07:07 PM

That's great that you are already working with a photog and getting some honest feedback about career options.

I too think that your calories are too low, but even more than that, although you say you have access to weights, I would ask how bad do you want it?

If you really want to trim your bodyfat levels I would invest in a gym membership and weight training program. I would also search until I found a personal trainer who would agree to train you towards your modelling goals. It might cost a lot, but you need the right tools to compete with all the girls who are naturally proportioned or who already work with weights and are modelling. If you've got the time to experiment on your own then just get the access to equiptment. 3-4 intense strength training sessions per week should help you along with diet control. (Look at gymgirl's life, she's camera ready right now)

Good luck! It sounds like you have some hard training, nutrition and possibly lifestyle change ahead of you. The satisfaction of reaching your goals are usually worth it though.

SarahPT · 09-Apr-07, 10:08 PM

Congrats on getting in to modeling! I'm going to be doing a bit myself.

The others have given really good advice.

You can work on reducing body fat a bit. Unfortuantely though you won't just lose it in the lower half. It will go from everywhere. That being said, to balance you could work on building just a bit of muscle in your upper body. You won't look buff or muscular at all. That's actually really hard for a woman to do. But it would help you balance out your physique more.

I understand your goal a lot, since I am getting in to a bit of modeling as well. Please let me know if I can help at all!

Sarah

capluvshll · 20-Apr-07, 08:45 PM

I feel a little misunderstood. I'm not complaining about the fat in my legs because its not there. I wanted to lose some of the muscle in my legs. I was asking what exercises I could do to thin out the muscle.

CF-OC_gal · 20-Apr-07, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capluvshll

I feel a little misunderstood. I'm not complaining about the fat in my legs because its not there. I wanted to lose some of the muscle in my legs. I was asking what exercises I could do to thin out the muscle.

It's unlikely you are carrying pure muscle and no fat in your legs especially if you haven't been working on a weight/strength muscle building program.

Compare your legs to Todds (a bodybuilding member here) He has 28" legs and he's not in contest form right now. Do your legs look like his? If not then I doubt you need to lose muscle.

Probably upping the intensity of your workouts will get you where you want to be. If you are not defined and too muscular then you probably are misinterpreting bodyfat for muscle size.

**minime** · 21-Apr-07, 10:41 AM

congratulations on getting into the modelling world! Yes, i agree to look at gymgirls workouts/diet maybe for some ideas, she is in fab shape, and 'camera ready' as brat says!

I too doubt that you are carrying to much muscle on your legs.. it is highly unlikely, but perhaps you might like to provide a picture for us to more accurately assess the situation.

Fact is, the legs are so hard to lean out, so the chances are good that without serious dedication to the weights room, you are not carrying too much muscle but rather too much bodyfat. I am quite lean and yet my legs still have a nice layer of fat on them lol...

So i suggst you hit the weights room, up your calories and clean up your diet. Start logging your food religiously on FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal or similar and see what your macros are coming out at. From there you can tweak as necessary.

It would of course be best if you could hire a personal trainer/nutritionist to get you on the right path.

Good luck!

**.V.** · 21-Apr-07, 11:58 AM

I haven't seen you or any pics so don't know. But for your height, those legs to sound a little big. If they don't match the rest of the body, then you'll have to either build the rest up or take away from the legs.

You want them smaller? I accidentally found a way to do it. Endurance training. Running for distance, bicycling for distance, long bouts of any cardio that involves the legs. That will make the muscle smaller. Something about type I vs type II fibers(I get them mixed up), but basically, the slow twitch muscle fibers don't get as big and when endurance training, they seem to take over and your muscle will be smaller. Or for me that seemed to be the way it worked.

When I was fat, I had big muscular legs, carrying around 300lbs will do that for you. When I did my triathlon last spring at 170lbs, instead of running, I looked like I was riding a chicken.

mixtic187 · 27-Apr-07, 12:23 AM

My 2 cents.. if you have big calves (I have huge ones) you can't really get rid of those.. Running can decrease fat a little, but unfortuntely genetics can screw you when it comes to the amount of muscle you have on them... even when i was 15lbs lighter and ran 7 miles a day, mine were still big.. But at least then they were toned.. I saw some news report about people in China getting them shaved down to get that skinny chicken leg look.. I considered it for about .5 seconds, but then i had to slap myself.. they are sturdy and get me around.. I just am self conscious about wearing skirts!