Leg weight

[Grimbold21]

Hello there, i have a question for those who are better informed than i am on the exercising/diet subjects.

So im 24 years old, height of 1.78cm and weight of 84-85 kg. I practice shotokan karate 3 times a week and jog 2 to 3 times as well. I got back into Karate in February 2011 and overall exercising. At that time i weighed around 92-93kg.

According to some pharmacy scale, my ideal weight is around 75kg, even though i have a large build, in the sense of having a thick or wide torso or whatever you call it.

What annoys me is that even though i lost around 7 kg, the upper part of my legs is thick, and probably more fat than muscle. This gave me problems when i was teenager - a time where i was quite fatter - like having my crouch really sweaty and consequently "burned".

I don't have those issues right now, but im still interested in losing this leg thickness. Anyone has any tips for that?

[Judge Malthred]

You can't target an area for weight loss through exercise, your body looses fat universally. So keep it up and you should see a reduction there.

[ralphie]

Probably more leg exercises....like jogging or biking. Though you have to consider maybe it's genetic.

[Grimbold21]

You can't target an area for weight loss through exercise, your body looses fat universally. So keep it up and you should see a reduction there.

Yes i am aware of that, but throughout this process of weight loss, i've barely noticed any difference on my upper legs.

@Ralphie i don't reckon it's genetic. Im probably the thickest one of all my brothers, and even my father. My brother had thick legs but that was due to playing football.

[DStrukt]

Tense your thighs, if they go rock hard its muscle. If they stay soft/flabby, its fat. Common sense really.
Do some squats, thatll sort you out if its fat

[Deleted]

On the contrary what others have said in this topic I think you can focus energy burning in a certain area.

If you wabt slimmer legs you should do leg excersizes, suprising fact right? If you have the time for it you should do light excersizes with a lot of repetitions. IF you do not have the time or patience to do a lot of repeats, exhaust your legs by doing a heavier excersize.

I'd recommend an excersize ball:
*Rotate the ball between your ankles, moving one leg forward and the other back (tips is easier, when the excersize gets too light move it lower between your legs)
*Throw the ball and catch it tightly between your legs
*Squeeze the ball between your legs and move your legs horizontally and vertically

If you do not own an excersize ball or cannot be arsed to purchase one (Really I swear by them, they are good for stretching and offer a big variety of effective excersizes) try some of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Icu6oXYL00 (this user has a couple of videos on different leg excersizes)
Or youtube other leg excersizes.


Concerning the myth of a target area. Within a movement it's never one muscle which controls a movement, most leg excersizes will involve abdominal muscles as well for example. But for a certain movement a certain amount of energy is demanded of muscles and energy tapped the quickest from nearest sources; leg fat.
Ofcourse a body is not that specific that only leg fat will be used to provide energy, but seeing as it's a readily available NEARBY source it will be addressed more.

[Adamas102]

Cutting fat is primarily about diet. Not necessarily just eating less, but eating the right stuff. You can exercise all you want but if your diet is lacking then you are making it infinitely harder for yourself. Since you didn't actually mention what it is you eat, it's kind of hard to spot what might need to be changed.

And for the record, Khaleesi, you really can't target burn fat despite how logical it may sound.

[Sophic]

On the contrary what others have said in this topic I think you can focus energy burning in a certain area.

If you wabt slimmer legs you should do leg excersizes, suprising fact right? If you have the time for it you should do light excersizes with a lot of repetitions. IF you do not have the time or patience to do a lot of repeats, exhaust your legs by doing a heavier excersize.

I'd recommend an excersize ball:
*Rotate the ball between your ankles, moving one leg forward and the other back (tips is easier, when the excersize gets too light move it lower between your legs)
*Throw the ball and catch it tightly between your legs
*Squeeze the ball between your legs and move your legs horizontally and vertically

If you do not own an excersize ball or cannot be arsed to purchase one (Really I swear by them, they are good for stretching and offer a big variety of effective excersizes) try some of these:
(this user has a couple of videos on different leg excersizes)
Or youtube other leg excersizes.


Concerning the myth of a target area. Within a movement it's never one muscle which controls a movement, most leg excersizes will involve abdominal muscles as well for example. But for a certain movement a certain amount of energy is demanded of muscles and energy tapped the quickest from nearest sources; leg fat.
Ofcourse a body is not that specific that only leg fat will be used to provide energy, but seeing as it's a readily available NEARBY source it will be addressed more.

So much broscience, do not listen to a single thing he said. If you want smaller legs, lose fat it's that simple. You cannot target weight loss but you do not lose weight linearly from all parts of your body. Depending on gender and genetics, you will lose fat from certain areas faster than others.


So you will eventually lose your leg fat BUT it will happen when you're a lower body fat percentage simply because of genetics.

[Deleted]

Cutting fat is primarily about diet. Not necessarily just eating less, but eating the right stuff. You can exercise all you want but if your diet is lacking then you are making it infinitely harder for yourself. Since you didn't actually mention what it is you eat, it's kind of hard to spot what might need to be changed.

And for the record, Khaleesi, you really can't target burn fat despite how logical it may sound.

After googling some sources, seems you are right. No targeted burning fat ;(.
But I wouldn't be too hasty to ignore all I said before, except if that you tone the muscles it works as an excellent shape maker!

But excersizing will cause you to burn fat, not just a diet. When your body is deprived of readily available energy, triglyceride molecules will be actively broken down. But on the contrary to what I said before I'm not sure if it is for targeting the burning of fat.

Gotta admit even after typing this out it sounds really unnatural, but sources say so! (Even a proper one)
http://www.yalescientific.org/2011/0...th-or-reality/ (target fat burning = myth)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16985258 (target fat burning = measurable truth)

About 50 % of the trainers say it's rubbish, while the other 50% swear by targeting zones for those fat thighs.
I am sure this will be one of those things people will just not agree on like, it takes 15 mins (or enter a random time here) before you start burning fat when excersizing.

So a conclusive answer or agreement cannot be given. But I guess these gentlemen are already convinced, I'd like to see more than just 1 article preferably supported by researchdata. My conclusion, keep doing leg excersizes. A nice strong layer of muscles always looks better than just fat layer.

[gold pumpkin]

If you run you would make that leg fat dissappear and muscle reappear! Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so dont worry about your weight if you are very fit and muscular!

[glo]

If you run you would make that leg fat dissappear and muscle reappear! Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so dont worry about your weight if you are very fit and muscular!

As others have already made clear, you can't target weight loss to certain parts of your body. Sure, you can exercise your legs, but all you're going to do is build muscle there, not burn fat from that specific area. The fat you'll burn by doing it will be universal over your entire body.

[Rdx]

You can't target an area for weight loss through exercise, your body looses fat universally. So keep it up and you should see a reduction there.

Just wanted to clarify this post. What he states is true. You cant spot reduce. You cant look at one part of your body and specificity remove fat off that.

As for your body loosing fat universally its not quiet true. When you loose 1KG of body fat its not equally taken off all parts of your body. This is why you didnt notice much coming off your back legs. Some of it has to do with genetics but generally the last place you put on fat is the first place you will notice fat loss.

[Deleted]

Spot fat reducing is actually possible but only veeery minimally so it doensnt make any sense. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Feb;292(2):E394-9. Epub 2006 Sep 19.
I'd like a picture of your legs.