The Truth For Lean Legs

I have been in the fitness industry for almost ten years now. Over that time a great deal has changed in research, training methods, and philosophies. Although much has changed, many things have remained the same. The basics are always going to stick. For one if you are trying to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. That will always be the foundation of any program. If you are gaining or not losing weight it will always come back to this formula.

Another thing that always seems to stick are the objections to high intensity strength training. Most people are just too scared to push themselves. Surprisingly though, they are not scared of getting hurt usually. They are scared that if they lift harder they will bulk up or gain weight. I am starting to realize though that many people just are hearing what they want to hear, or just making things up as they go possibly.

Here is a clear example. Most women are scared to bulk up as I mentioned and will not push themselves hard for certain exercises or they will not even strength train altogether. They will, however, kill themselves on the adductor/abductor machines (inner/outer thigh machine). So if you are too scared to do squats and push ups because they will bulk you up, why would you do inner/outer thigh machines? Would that just give you bigger inner and outer thighs?

Obviously no. You will not get bigger legs using the adductor/abductor machines, just like you will not get big doing most strength training exercises. Unless, of course, you train to get big and follow a proper nutrition plan. Most people do not eat enough or train hard enough to put on significant muscle mass.

And while I am ranting I have another problem with the inner/outer thigh machines. No matter how many times people hear it they just don't believe that you cannot spot reduce. Yes those machines will strengthen those muscles but they will not necessarily burn fat from that area. The body will burn calories from other places as well. In fact there was a study in Med Sci Sports Exercise 39 no7 Jl 2007 that looked at this exact concept. They used arm exercises instead. They had subjects perform bicep exercises and measure the amount of fat in the arm. While body fat was lost it did not come from the arm but all over the body.

If you are trying to get leaner legs then you want to just burn fat in general. You will burn fat from all over and it will get to your thighs at some point. This is determined by genetics unfortunately. This is the same reason it is a waste of time to perform hundreds of ab exercises to try and get a six pack. It just won't work. The inner and outer thigh muscles are relatively small muscles as well. This means you won't burn as many calories working on them as you will bigger muscles, such as the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Spend your time on the bigger muscles to burn more calories.

Well that is my rant for the day. I hope this information will help you with your workout.

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Personal Training
My Workout Creator