Many are faced with the fact that when losing weight in the first place go centimeters and volumes in the chest and abdomen. BeautyPositive asked experts why it is especially difficult to get rid of excessive fat around the hips and legs, and also found out what to focus on, how to eat and what exercises to do in the gym and at home to make this part of the body slimmer and slimmer.
Why leg fat appears
Women have a higher percentage of body fat than men. By the age of 25, for example, healthy-weight women have almost twice as much as men. This physiological difference begins at an early age. From birth until age six, the number and size of fat cells is tripled in both boys and girls, resulting in a gradual and equal increase in fat deposits. But after about the age of eight, girls begin to gain fat mass faster than boys. Doctors speculate that this is a result of women’s lower basal fat oxidation rate (a measure of how much fat is used to nourish the body at rest). In addition, the volume increases by increasing the size of the fat cells, not the number of fat cells. Hormones stimulate fat deposition around the waist, buttocks and thighs in women and the abdomen in men.
“Fat deposits on the legs in women and men are different. In women, the hips and pelvis area is more often problematic: these areas are responsible for the function of carrying babies. Therefore, the body tends to make them more voluminous for pelvic stability and safe carrying of the fetus. Genetically, women are more prone to the accumulation of subcutaneous fat. Men in general have an easier time losing fat mass, and legs are no exception.” Anastasia Yurkova (Master-trainer of X-FIT group programs)
There is a difference between subcutaneous and intramuscular fat. The first occurs on the hips and is located just under the skin, the second is dispersed within the muscles themselves. Most leg fat is found under the skin, which creates fewer health problems in the long run. A small percentage of it is not dangerous, in fact, it is necessary for the normal functioning of the body. Keep an eye on your body fat percentage: check your BMI, go to the gym for checkups, consult a trainer and a doctor.
In addition to gender and genetics, fatty deposits on the legs are the result of everyday choices. Improper diet, sedentary lifestyle, and sedentary work all contribute to excess volume from the buttocks to the shins.
Exercises for skinny legs at home
Exercise can be given to the legs at home, but you should not be limited to this. Be sure to add walking or jogging to your daily schedule, be outdoors more, look for new and interesting activities.
Aerobic exercises are especially effective for burning fat. Try to include them in your weekly exercise program. Whether you walk, swim or bike, it’s important to choose the type of exercise you can do with moderate intensity. You need to increase your heart rate to burn as many calories as possible.
Anastasia Yurkova, master trainer of X-FIT Group Programs, shared the most effective exercises that you can do at home.
1. Side Lunges
@emmafituk_ one of the BEST inner thigh / glute isolation exercises 🤌🏼🍑🔥 #sidelunges #laterallunges #innerthighworkout #innerthighsworkout #innerthighexercise #innerthighsathome #fitnesstok #fittok #bodyweightglutes #fitnesstiktoker #bestgluteexercises ♬ original sound – DJ L BEATS
Exercises for thin legs. Lunges to the side
Stand up straight, your arms can be bent in front of your chest or put your palms on your hips. Take a wide step with your right leg to the side, shift your center of gravity to it and squat down to a right angle at the knee. Your left leg remains straight. Smoothly return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Keep your back straight, and you may tilt your body forward slightly. During the exercise, you can feel the work of the gluteal muscles and quadriceps.
2. Squat jumps
@senada.grecaYour next leg day finisher♬ Grillz – Nelly
Exercises for thin legs. Squat jumps
From a standing position, feet shoulder width apart. Arms bent at the elbows in front of you. Squat down with your knees bent. In the process, the hips should be lowered to parallel with the floor: it is important not to crouch forward. The neck is an extension of the spine, don’t lower your gaze, look straight ahead. From this position, jump up vertically and return to the squat. The speed of the exercise and the number of repetitions can be varied depending on the level of fitness.
3. Kick from the lunge
Exercises for skinny legs. Kick of the lunge
Classic lunge forward with knees of both legs bent at right angles. From this position, extend the left leg forward and kick the right leg forward as if you were throwing a punch. Repeat several times on one side and then the other.
4. Shoulder bridge leg raise
@tabeaunruh ♬ Tick Tick Boom (feat. BygTwo3) – Sage The Gemini
Exercises for skinny legs. Leg lift in shoulder bridge.
Lying on a mat, arms outstretched along your body. Bend your legs, lift your lower torso and transfer your weight to your shoulder girdle. Alternately, lift your feet off the floor, keeping the angle at the knee, and return them to the starting position.
5. Spread out
Exercises for thin legs. Straddle .
Begin the exercise in a lunge, just as you would with a kick. But instead of lifting one foot off the floor at the same time as you jump. In the process, switch legs and then back again. Arms can be raised and clasped above your head, helping the inertia of the movement.
Exercises for slimming legs in the gym
Master trainer Anastasia Yurkova also picked up a few exercises with equipment in the gym, which contribute to an active leg workout, but without excessive force and over-pumping the muscles.
1. Squat jumps with TRX loops
@royalpersonaltrainingUse the TRX for jump squats 🔥♬ big poppa – mr7knp
In a half crouch, use your hands to hold on to the loops. Do small jumps by spreading your legs apart and then returning them to the starting position. It is important not to straighten your legs in the jumps, but to keep the angle at the knees. Your body is toned, your back is straight and your gaze is in front of you.
2. Cross lunge on one leg with loops
@workoutsbymerlyn Elevated curtsy lunge variation #fitness #foryoupage #parati #viral ♬ original sound – Karan K Mashups
Arms bent at the elbows in front of you, loops behind you. Bring both legs back and straighten, lunging forward. From this position, bend the right leg at the knee (the left leg is lifted on the toe), bring it forward. The body also moves forward, keeping the back and support leg straight. Then bring the active leg as far back as possible, straightening it out. Do several repetitions on one leg, return to the starting position and work on the other.
3. Lunges with TRX loops
@stephaniewarwick_ Didn’t think I was going to make that second one 😬 #boxjumps #trx #workout #lungejumps ♬ Fitzpleasure – alt-J
Exercises for thin legs. Lunges with trx loops
Hinges in front of you, right leg supported, left leg weighted and bent at right angles to the knee. Bend the right leg as for squat, carry the left leg back and forth without straightening the knee. It does not touch the floor for the duration of the exercise. After working on one leg, do the same number of repetitions on the other leg.
Diet for losing weight in the legs
The main thing is to establish a daily routine, go to bed on time. Also reconsider your diet: proper nutrition is the key to the optimal work of all internal systems of the body and improve metabolism.
“If you emphasize training the lower body – squatting, doing leg presses and other exercises – you will not decrease in volume. Of course, on bioimpedance analysis of the body you can see how much fat was and is, but strength training increases muscle, so there is a substitution of one for the other”. Elena Krohmaleva (Ph.D. in biology, gerontologist, nutritionist)
Often a person has quite an impressive muscle mass on the hips and fat is also localized here, which means that the figure looks disharmonious and one wants to lose the volume below. The main advice in this case is to include cardio exercises and to take long and active walks, one or two times a day.
It is necessary to reduce carbohydrate intake: remove sugar, honey, food from white flour, high-glycemic fruits and vegetables from your diet. Because of the consumption of these products and increase fat depots.
Watch your drinking regimen, drink plain clean water as needed. To improve peristalsis in the diet should be fiber, fresh fruits and vegetables. Watch your balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Doctors agree that strict, restrictive diets do more harm than good. Moreover, they inevitably lead to kickback: as soon as a person breaks and returns to the normal eating habits, extra pounds are deposited even more actively, including in the legs, thighs and buttocks.
Can you lose weight in your legs without pumping them up?
When you exercise your muscles, including your leg muscles, they need to adapt to the new conditions. So if you haven’t exercised before, they may get a little bigger. But to really rock the legs, you will have to exercise on machines and with weight. If you are afraid of the appearance of extra volume around the hips and calves, emphasize cardio training, rather than strength exercises in the gym.
Many people wonder if their calves and thighs will become even bulkier if they exercise all the time. Anastasia Yurkova, master-trainer of X-FIT, believes that this will happen if, firstly, you train not on endurance (i.e. with a large number of repetitions), but on strength (using weights), and secondly, if you forget about recovery and relaxation. In this case, fluid will accumulate, provoking swelling, and the legs will increase in volume. To avoid this, rely on functional training without the use of weights and with a large number of repetitions, do not focus on working and pumping any particular muscle, but choose the complex exercises, regularly practice cardio training and watch your drinking regime and proper recovery after the training.
Trainer’s tips
“It is possible to reduce the volume locally in a certain place only with the help of liposuction provided by a plastic surgeon. Training, nutrition and cosmetic procedures will not help. These methods can reduce the total fat mass of the body, and it goes evenly and not usually where we want.” Anastasia Yurkova (Master-trainer of group training programs X-FIT)
If in general you eat right and work out regularly, but it seems to you that in the legs you do not lose weight, it is worth paying attention to this area and find out whether there is swelling due to improper drinking regime. Also a possible cause could be hypertonicity – overexertion. What we often perceive as subcutaneous fat is exactly the accumulation of fluid. In this case the fold above the knees can be a consequence of overstretching of the front surface of the thighs, and deposits in the halifa area – the result of not enough tone of the buttocks and the anterior tilt of the pelvis.
If the issue is specifically swelling, localized problems of the leg muscles and pelvic position, it is possible to correct the situation. But the first step should not be strength training, but a good relaxation: massage, wraps, sauna, intense cardio or endurance work. So do not rush to the gym.