[teawithsunshine]

Hi fellow chickies!

I've been morbidly obese for at least half of my lifetime. So this question may seem a bit off to some members here...

Okay... I've been noticing today a tightness in my leg muscles & abs and to a lesser extent, arms. I've been doing work on them via pilates dvds in addition to challenging aerobic routines on the treadmill for quite some time now. (*I slowly increase the intensity or speed of my pilates & treadmill routines when I feel I need more challenging work here.)

I'm well-versed in understanding what sore muscles feel like

I guess I'm confused because I still have a LOT of flab hanging around parts of my body (legs, stomach, arms, etc) but I think I'm beginning to feel more muscle definition or something under all that flab.

Is this normal to feel a tightening of body parts as you slim down by working on your muscles? I felt my muscles quite a lot today, but it didn't feel like I messed up my joints or had sore muscles (FYI, I've never been thin before, so I have no frame of reference here.)

Do skinny people tend to feel their muscles as more firmer compared to overweight people when they walk/move about? (*I don't mean to offend anyone by this question!)

thanks!

~ tea

[LuckyGirl09]

It's very normal to feel muscles. But you should know that adding cardio(oliptical, tredmill, etc) to your workout will help burn fat. We all have muslces thin or large. It's just the amount of exercise, or fat, that could prevent us from actually feeling them.

[recidivist]

Everyone has muscle, but not all muscle is toned. If you are sedentary, your muscle may become rather soft and flabby. I had a friend who was as thin as a rail, who had almost no muscle tone. She was not at all fat, but felt flabby all over, and had almost no endurance for anything physical. She did not like to exercise, nor did she enjoy sports, and led a fairly sedentary life, even for a young person. The more you work out, the firmer (and larger) your muscles will become.

[aneleh]

Lol I don't think muscles become flabby, if you don't lose them they get smaller. But yea, you do notice parts getting 'tighter' as you build more muscles, it's pretty exciting!

[recidivist]

While you are technically correct, that muscle is not actually flabby, it can feel flabby because there is not enough there to feel it or make it rock hard. It doesn't feel toned or tense, even when flexed because there is so little of it. That's why some people can flex a bicep and you see and feel it, and some can't. It's really there...just so small you can't see or feel it. Even flexed, it feels soft.

I tend to be muscular, even when I don't work out, I always have a bicep bump when flexed (and huge calves)...it is however feeling much softer as I age, because I don't keep it well toned in the winter. But there is still a bicep bump...just a softer one. As I work out in the spring, it quickly becomes rock hard again.

[aneleh]

The stuff that feels flabby is tissue and fat!

[recidivist]

Originally Posted by aneleh

The stuff that feels flabby is tissue and fat!

Yes, of course you are right and I'm an idiot. I already knew that without you confirming it.