I have such huge calf muscles right now, and they aren't jiggly anymore -- that shiz is straight up muscle at this point. However, I want them to get smaller so I can wear boots! I work my legs at the gym so my thighs will get built up, but I really don't know how to work my thighs without also working my calves. Is there anything I can do to make my calves not so bulky but work my thighs as well?
Unfortunately, no. As you lose weight, a little muscle loss is inevitable. They will shrink a bit. But there is no way to spot target your legs like that. Also, they might not be as solid as you think. I thought mine were pretty rock solid when I started... but after a solid year of hard weight training I'm realizing my definition of hard was a bit off . They had a lot more potential for tightening up than I thought! Keep at it!
I got news for ya. Those calf muscles you think are straight up muscle?
VERY UNLIKELY.
I admit - I have not seen or felt your calves but more than likely the fat is packed in there so tight you don't realize it's fat. I've seen this with many people.
This is probably good news for you though - because your calves will most likely shrink as you lose fat dispite the fact that ever step you take works your calf muscles. (Don't worry about weight training working them ... calf muscles are exceedingly difficult to grow)
However, if your calves are all muscle now and they don't shrink you should not dispair. Many men find big strong calf muscles very sexy.
I agree with the above poster. Having trained a lot of women over the years, I've heard, "My calves are too big," more times than I can recall. And in most of those cases, if you palpated their calves, they did indeed feel super tight.
But as they lost weight, the calf circumference followed suit.
Just make sure you're not progressively loading the calves via isolation resistance training that's specifically targeting them.
I didn't even think of it that way! I guess cause it's not floppy and jiggly like the stuff everywhere else on my body. BOO! Can I at least pretend it's muscle? XD
I didn't even think of it that way! I guess cause it's not floppy and jiggly like the stuff everywhere else on my body. BOO! Can I at least pretend it's muscle? XD
I thought you said you wanted smaller calves? Shouldn't you be doing a happy dance right now knowing that your calves are going to shrink?
I have the same calves as you, Mimsy. Mine got several inches smaller my first time around with weight loss (I could wear some tall boots, even!) and since my regain they're back up to being ginormous and solid. It *feels* like muscle, but they will get smaller, I promise.
For some of us shorter girls I guess the fat has nowhere to go besides our arms or our calves, so they get pretty big. At least mine do. Unfortunately those are also the last places the weight often comes off. Patience! It's tough, but it'll happen eventually.
Awsome, these answers bring me some relief as well. I havent lost enough weight yet to see or even measure a difference, but I am glad to know that when the time comes I will. Even at the weight I am at now I have some pretty muscled (or at least feels muscled) calves. Good to know I might be able to fit into my "hooker boots" again.
I've always had big calves, and I hope that as I continue to lose weight they will get smaller. They haven't, so far.
I think some of us *do* just have naturally more 'athletic' (that's what they call it in the fashion industry, I believe) calves, but you might find that as you approach those last few pounds, you'll lose some there at the very end. I know a former poster here who was my height said that her calves were still big, but in order to get them smaller she had to lose too much and it made her look gaunt up top, so she just lived with her calves.
Its crazy how with even just weight loss will make "problem" areas that I always thought I would always have or wasn't even aware of disappear-like hey i had no idea I could feel this light and comfortable walking around!
I have thick calves. And mine are very much "muscle". I LOVE BOOTS! - it's hard to find them to fit properly; I have to buy either the stretchy kind or spend extra money for "extra wide shaft".
Thank the goddesses it's spring now & I'm in flip-flop mode.
Big Calves
. They had a lot more potential for tightening up than I thought! Keep at it!
