I’m new to the forums. I’ve been trying my best to find my answer in articles but there is usually some aspect that doesn’t apply to me.
I’ve been lifting weights for about 2 years, and for the past year I have gotten my diet under control and switched to a plan approach rather than randomly walking around lifting whatever was connected to the muscle group I feel like working that day. I’ve lost all the weight I’ve wanted, I’m happy with my body, almost. My butt is fabulous, I’m lean everywhere I want to be, my muscles are more defined. Except for my inner thighs. I’ve read the article about how women can’t train like men, and I’m wondering if this is my problem. My legs are strong and my muscles are defined, but I have that typical fat pocket on my inner thighs that I can not get rid of. Its Along with strong calves, I’m just not happy with how it looks with summer approaching.
My typical leg day as of now includes back squat, leg press, leg curl, leg extension, and calf raises. I’m sort of addicted to watching my weights go up, so the idea of losing muscle to get where I want to be, while still holding on to that fat is depressing to me. I’ve been told that adding in cardio is the best way for me to go. Insert eye roll. I hate cardio. Is this truly the best method, or should I be training my legs in a different way?
My inner thigh area is the FIRST place I gain fat, and it’s the LAST place I loose it. My last fat stand. I’m grateful it isn’t saddlebags. It may be that this is your situation. I’ve been training for years now, and I have to get very lean to loose the soft spot on my inner thigh. There are worse places to put your last fat stand! Haha.
I know some people recommend intensely training a problem area to create blood flow, or attempting to put more muscle under the fat to make it firmer. Sorry, but I have had no luck with changing this pattern of carrying fat in myself.
My muscles have gotten amazing. You can see the definition. And I’ve gotten quite lean everywhere else. I know spot reduction is a myth, I just am trying so hard not to believe this is just the way things are . I kind of decided today to stop stressing over this, continue my gym routine for the next couple weeks, and then I will go back on my cutting with a fresh mind. I need to refocus on the positives and just feel good with my progress again. Thank you for the responses
You bet! Good luck. And about having “strong calves,” I’ve made lots of jokes about mine here, but really it’s about proportion. I’d rather have a more balanced leg than have sort of an ice cream cone effect (thick at thigh but pointy and underdeveloped at the bottom). People have a really hard time building calves, so as you keep lifting you may be happier about your calf genetics.
About the soft spot on your inner thigh. Some women are going to get lipo on that last fat stand because sometimes “getting leaner” just makes the rest of your body look gaunt, or you’d have to have unsustainable low levels of body fat to finally take that off.
You can’t spot reduce but you can spot isolate. Try the abductor machine at moderate to light weight with high reps. I hate cardio myself so I do these at a comfortable weight and do 4 to 5 sets to complete failure. Try not to use too much weight unless you’re looking to build. When I first started doing these I wanted to really challenge myself with high weight and ended up with very big inner thighs so I had to lower the weight with high reps.
That’s a great idea. I’m such a nerd for high weights, it’s difficult to go down when I know I can do more. I add these in occasionally but I’ll try making them a regular part of my routine.
It’s hard for me to go down in weight as well. I really love to lift and challenge myself so going down in weight feels kinda wimpy lol. I personally tend to put on mass really easy for a women so in some areas of my body I have to do higher reps verses higher weight.
To be honest you’re going to have to start cutting fat. Period. And please for the love of everything do not try to lose it too quickly. Considering you’ve only been lifting for two years, like myself, I honestly wouldn’t even advise cutting down just yet because you haven’t been training for years. I’d suggest to keep gaining muscle steadily. There will be some fat gain ultimately, but the more you can build up muscle the easier it will to cut down, and faster.
But if you really REALLY wish to cut down, increase conditioning work. I say conditioning and not cardio because it’s beyond easy to stall with basic cardio, and cause your legs to look like chicken legs. Do farmers carries, loaded carries, swimming laps, prowler pushes, heavy bag work, jump rope, battle ropes, and sprints. It’s up to you to correctly incorporate this into your training. I have no idea what your diet or training looks like so I can’t really go into depth that much more.
