I am one of those women who has always carried her weight in her hips, butt and thighs (and im only 5 "2), just like most women on a diet i dream of wearing skinny jeans. I already have pretty muscular thighs (hidden under fat LOL) after years and years of dance training. Would simply cardio be more affective for trimming my thighs or should i also be doing squats, lunges and other lower body strength training, or will that make my thighs even bulkier?
I am 5 ft 2 also. I've been doing the 30 Day Shred for 18 days now and you do a lot of squats and lunges. I have lost about an inch in both thighs. So far for me, the squats and lunges have been making them smaller!
You should do both! Cardio will reduce fat everywhere and the squats/lunges will make your legs leaner. They really shouldn't make them bigger. It's difficult for women to get bulky from strength training in general because we don't have enough testosterone in our bodies.
Your thighs may or may not get bigger with squats and lunges, it all depends on genetics, but you may not know it till you lose the fat on top of the muscles. Sometimes when there is fat on top of the muscles it'll make your legs look bigger, but once you lose fat you'll seen nice cut legs... Cardio helps a lot along with squats and lunges to sculpt legs...
Mine got a little bigger when I started the squats, half an inch or so, but they have actually dropped back down a full inch now so are smaller than when I started and look a whole lot better.
I'm a pretty avid biker and for years have avoided doing lunges/squats etc for fear of making my already muscular thighs any bigger... However, after doing a bootcamp class for 4 weeks (which included a TON of lower body strength) they have DEFINITELY gotten smaller!
I used to have thick thighs and have done Callanetics for several years. I now have much sleeker thighs. I don't know about the squats, perhaps it is genetics that determines muscle build. But, I have always heard that those sort of exercises build bulk. I have never heard of anyone doing squats in order to get lean, sleek thighs.
To me, Callanetics are the perfect exercises for sculpting long, lean, beautiful muscles.
99.9999% of women whose legs get bigger from squats/lunges are not eating below maintenance calories and the amount of fat on them make them appear larger.
Just as a suggestion, on top of what you already go there.....I would suggest increasing the upper body weight training.....since making your upper body look more toned might minimize the look of the lower body. Just a thought. I have a pear shaped body and a trainer once told me that, so I thought I'd pass it along.
thighs: Will squats make them bigger?
