The goal to get slimmer and firmer thighs is one that many women have as they begin their workout program, as it’s one of the most typical problem areas for the female body.
This is understandable: your body is more prone to storing fat in the lower body and you don’t release stored fat as easily in this region when on a fat loss plan.
That’s why you often see fat loss taking place in your upper body far before you notice your lower body getting leaner.
This doesn’t mean that you are destined to maintain thicker legs forever. With the right training and nutrition strategies, you can get those slimmer legs that you desire.
Staggered low carb diet
First, consider doing a staggered low carbohydrate diet. Let’s face it — you are going to have to decrease your calorie intake quite extensively to get the fat coming off the lower body.
As such, you need to be careful to prevent metabolic slow down.
This is accomplished by using the staggered approach. Have some days higher calorie days and others low. Aim for a 5/2 split between low/high days and your metabolism will stay faster longer as you diet.
The lower body fat does respond better to lower carb diets as well, so that is the route to take as you decrease your calorie intake.
Strength training first
Moving along, you also must put more emphasis on the strength training element of things.
Far too many women just begin doing cardio workout after cardio workout, which brings little results.
Strength training helps you reshape your lower body and is far better for burning up body fat as well.
Squats, lunges, deadlifts, step-ups, and leg presses should all be integrated into your workout routine. Use a heavy weight that challenges you for around 10-12 reps per set.
Steady state cardio after your weights
Finally, you will want to add some cardio into the picture, but consider doing steady state cardio after your strength training session.
The reason for this is because at that point, the glucose will be depleted from your body as it was used up during strength training, which will now allow you to tap into stored body fat far better.
Additionally, you want to optimize the frequency in which you can train your lower body in the gym and if you’re doing loads of interval cardio training, you just won’t be able to hit them as frequently with weights.
So steady state cardio allows you to do this.
If you use this protocol as you work towards the goal of slimming your legs, you should be able to see excellent progress forward and finally achieve the look that you desire.
Cabel McElderry is a local personal trainer and nutrition coach. For more information on fitness and nutrition, visit the Fitness F/X website at www.fitnessfx.com.