The FastDay Forum

Does anyone know if exercises to reduce thighs would also have the opposite effect and help to build up the muscles in that area without making me look like a rugby player?

My problem is thin thighs, I know that many women complain because their thighs are too fat but I always envy them as they look normal. Big hips and thin thighs do not look good, my calves are not thin, I'm just a weird shape.

Squats??

...BUT given our previous conversations, might set you back off.

Women don't build muscle like men, they just firm up, I'm not sure that squats would fill your thighs out or not. I am afraid I am one of the people who would gladly donate a bit of thigh if I could.

Yes exercise does build up your thighs, you just have to find the right ones. I would say dancing, if you actually look at professional dancers they have huge thighs in comparison to the rest of their bodies.

Julie I hate to disagree but have you looked at Ballet Danes who exercise 5 or 6 hours a day excluding performances. Their legs are slim to the point of being thin. I was a gymnastics coach for 13years and the girls did strength training for hours a week and were very slim not muscled . Where as the male gymnasts became very muscled.

On the same note about dancers, I've been doing this workout dvd that's "ballet-inspired," and it's amazing for toning your legs/thighs/butt without making you muscular. It's called Ballet Beautiful Body Blast by Mary Helen Bowers. I've been using it 2-3 times a week for a few months now, and it was very hard at first, but I've gotten a lot stronger & more toned without seeing my muscles bulk up.

Here's an amazon link for reviews (she has 2 dvd's, but this is the better one):

http://www.amazon.com/Ballet-Beautiful- ... B005OBA938

I bought it through iTunes and just watch it on my laptop while workout out.

Squats, stair climbing, if you go to the gym the leg machines, stepping up and down on a bench. Takes a long time to build muscle but it does happen eventually.
And women rarely end up looking like rugby players the ones that do spend everyday in the gym and eat egg whites and broccoli. ( my sister is a body builder but doesn't look like a bloke).

Coffee time I'm happy to donate some of my thighs I have more than enough to share

Thank you everyone for your replies, you are right BBT053, I will have to be careful not to do anything too strenuous or it will set my back pain off again but when I've recovered from this latest setback I would like to do some sort of exercise to try to get my body in proportion.

I love the idea of donations of bits of thighs Nessie and Wineoclock - if only!

I think that the Ballet Beautiful Body Blast will be too much for me for the time being Ferociousfleur, at least until I'm a bit fitter, the same with going to the gym, I've never tried that, I always associate the gym with healthy young energetic people but I'm sure there must be a few grannies there.

I think that the stair climbing is my best bet ATM as I'm always dashing up and down for my disabled hubby so perhaps I won't complain about it in future. I don't have to go to the top of the stairs, I could climb up and down the bottom three stairs - at least until I wear out the carpet!

Thanks for the advice, you have all given me the encouragement to try to get into shape.

Watching the Tour de France I see that all the cyclists have mmmm lovely thighs!

Seriously though, cycling is a great way to tone up and add bulk to your thighs.

Thanks Honeybee27, I'm sure I would be able to that without hurting my back again. I don't have a bicycle so I might try borrowing one to see how I get on before buying one.

I've just tried the 'six minute warm up exercises' and the 'stretching after exercising' from the NHS Choices link http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Page ... aster.aspx as recommended by JD8 in another thread and I'm worn out. I haven't even done any of the exercises in between yet. I'm so unfit!

Cycling is good but you have to go up a heck of a lot of hills or practice sprints to get thighs like a pro-cyclist.

Squats and lunges are both good exercises. Lunges have the added advantage of working the glutes and back of legs too so you don't just have big quads.

If you have a bad back, don't go too low on the squats - just take your bum back to chair level rather than going the way to your heels. Keep your chest up while you squat - keeping your arms out in front of you is a good way of stopping you bending over too much - that will help you keep your back straight. Pull your tummy muscles in too as you do them to protect your back. Try doing the squats at different speeds - very slowly or slow down/fast up - as well as regular speed.

If you're going to do the stairs - try to keep your whole foot on the stairs and push through the heel to activate glutes etc. Same with lunges - back foot 3ft back and heel lifted and push through the front heel to come back up.

Good luck! Another idea you might want to explore is the resistance bands that you can buy, they work with body weight and are low-impact but excellent for getting some resistance work in.

Thank you Applespider, perhaps the stairs wouldn't be suitable as the treads on ours are very short and my heels hang over the edge - I haven't got big feet, size 5!
I'll try the squats and lunges, I'll wait a while though as my back is still a bit painful.
This is all new to me, quads, glutes, a whole new language. I'm learning so much since starting 5:2, it's really broadening my outlook on life.

Have you looked at the old callanetics exercises? They are ballet Inspired and Callan Pinkney had severe back problems and that inspired her to come up with her routines. She did an excellent book called Callenetics for your Back which promises a Good Back for a Lifetime in Minutes a Day. I'm not her publicist, honestly, she died a wee while back! I think you might be able to get it on Amazon - I highly recommend it, the movements are small but effective.

Hello dhana *waves* - I've just recommended Callanetics on the 'wobbly bum exercises' thread LOL and janeg said she sometimes does them too. Is there a Callanetics thread anywhere or should we start one?