Weight and Resistance Training - how to slim down the legs of a pear?

Yes, I'm a pear! :D
Measure (cm): 84 - 69 - 99
A very lean and thin "upper part" (and my face now is SO thin and long), and quite a chubby bottom and tigh... my calves are quite "ok" instead, and my ankles very thin. I've always been exercising or playing some sport (volleyball for 15 years!!) and I consider myself quite athletic (BMI 20.8, body fat around 20%)... but still my thigs are big... and they even look bigger, compared to the rest of the body! :dizzy:

What kind of exercise do you suggest me to slim down my thigs a little?
I know I will never have skinny Barbie legs, but still I feel they SHOULD be a little bit thinner. And I have the impression that the most I exercise, the worse they get... I mean, of course the get thighter, but the muscle grow in a way I don't like... I seem a soccer player! :mad:

So far, in the last year I've been swimming (basically crawling style) 2/3 times a week (medium intensity, about 40 minutes) and running 1/2 times a week for 15+15 minutes. Now I'm trying to substitute the run with a walk (high intensity, 1hour and 15min) just to see if there is any change...

any suggestions? :^:

Usually the only thing you can do is lost more fat. Since your already at 20% body fat, you may not want to do that. So...the only thing I could think of is to accept your legs...or maybe let your muscle atrophy. I soooo don't not think that is a good idea, I just don't know what else you could do for your specific problem. My guess is your legs look good you just prefer smaller legs. I think soccer players have awesome legs.

So, maybe someone else has another idea?

One thing you can do is work to develop your upper body, especially your shoulders so that you can give your body a bit of a more balanced shape. Pushups and pullups are great for developing the upper body.

Try lunges, pretzel twist and thread the needle from these videos. The strictness of the form and the positioning of the feet supposedly can help to trim the thighs. Folks on the forum over there swear by it.
http://www.t-tapp.com/try/index.html

Lunges aren't going to make her legs smaller.

As a fellow pear (and a short one, to boot), I have to say that there is only so much you can do to fight your natural genetics. I have a decent body fat percentage (around 18-19%), but any spare fat I do have sticks stubbornly to the hips and thighs. I run, and swim, and strength train and all that, and it has all helped. But I have to settle for having "strong" legs instead of the thin shapely legs that the tall girls can get.

I second the comment about also building up the upper body to visually balance out the lower part --that works really well. I don't carry much BF in my upper half, so it looks ripped! I play that up and de-emphasize the lower half as much as I can.

okay, thank you all :hug:
I will try some of those excersize... otherwise I will face the truth! :^:

I think squats, lunges, and other strength training exercises targeting the lower body have helped me shape my lower body to a pretty big extent. (Leg press, leg extension, leg curl, abduction/adduction,..etc.)

I have been through a lot of yo-yo dieting in the past years and the result is (was) a stubborn, pear shaped lower body. But since I've started weight training this year my lower body (thighs, hips, butt, the whole package) have slimmed up quite a bit, and I've been receiving compliments in what used to my biggest TROUBLE zone.

Hmm if you haven't been doing much strength training how about giving it a try? I looove the Body Pump classes at my gym. And my all time fav exercises now are the squats + lunges and their many variations (squats with dumbbells, open squat, side lunges, etc.etc.)

made mine smaller and tighter

ok, I will try with strenght training :)
I just fear that my muscles would grow way too much, 'cause in the legs I easily put on muscle mass ( I actually already have it, and I would prefer them "softer", ehehe)

But I will give this option a chance, why not! :carrot:
Thanks :hug: