How can I lose muscle mass in my quads and ham strings (thighs?)

Question

I would really appreciate the help on how to lose muscle mass in the thigh area? Ever since I recovered from weight loss (40kg back up to 46kg, age 20, female, 1.66m), I started taking lysine and other pills to help put on muscle and general mass.

I love to run and I started running faster (11mphr) for shorter periods of time when I gained stamina...but now my thighs have bulked up! I mean the rest of me is quite stick-like, small calves, sticky arms, flat stomach, but now my thighs are much bigger and more muscular than ever! How can I get rid of this?

I know some people think this looks great and they love it, but its just not my look and I prefer to be slimmer like I use to be before I started running. Should I just stop running all together? What should I be eating? Should I run slower at day 7mphr and do yoga and Pilates?

Thank you so much!

Answer 1

I want to clarify some points for you, which will help you decide what to do:

• You've been working to add muscle and mass.
• You've only been working your legs.
• Muscle responds to Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands (SAID principle)

What is unclear is whether you want to keep a more balanced physique with increased mass, or reduce your mass to where it was when you were 40kg. The recommendation depends on the answer to that question.

If you want to balance your distribution of muscle

The simple answer is that you need to require more from the muscles you aren't really using right now. The weight room is the most straightforward way to do that. Yoga and Pilates will build enough strength to hold the positions required for the activity. The end result is a well distributed musculature. How pronounced you want those muscles to look depends on the amount of body fat you carry. More fat hides muscle definition, less fat shows it off.

Your goal with this approach is to increase the size and proportion of your muscles so that they look good together. You'll probably have to increase your body weight some more since you've been underweight for so long. That said, training your upper body will balance out the proportion of your thighs to your arms and torso. Your calves may be genetically small, but focusing directly on them with standing calf raises will help them grow as best they can.

If you truly want to reduce the size of your thighs

For this case, I would recommend slowing your pace and working more on endurance. Fast pace running for short distances increases the type 2 muscle, which takes up more space. Endurance emphasizes type 1 muscle, which is more compact. Running long distances is fairly catabolic, so it will reduce the size of your thighs.

Answer 2

If you want to lose muscle mass or fat, no matter where it is, you need to burn more calories than you take in. I would normally say continue exercising, but reduce the amount of carbohydrates and fats you are eating, and eat more lean protein (fish, white meat chicken) and vegetables. However, you mentioned that you're recovering from weight loss, so may not want to lose any further weight.

Are you a sprinter or a distance runner? Sprinters tend to develop bulk and distance runners tend to be leaner. You could try gradually dialing back the intensity of your runs but increasing distance.

You're probably not going to like it, but since this is "fitness.stackexchange" and not "bodybuilding.stackexchange" ;), I think the best advice is to stay fit, and try to accept and enjoy your body shape if you're fit and healthy.

Answer 3

Loss muscular mass is an interesting challenge. To do this, you need to use the right exercise and maintain your diet program as well.

If you want to lose muscle mass to look slimmer and fit then these steps are helpful for you:-

1. Decrease your daily calories intake.

2. Do cardiovascular on an empty stomach.

3. Do high repetition, low-weight isolation exercises to reduce it instantly.

4. Also, try to decrease your total protein intake.

5. Keep junk food sugary snacks away from you.

In your question, you mentioned you are also taking pills to lose muscles. It's also good but never take any pills without taking suggestions from your doctor. If you want to know more tips then you read it from here.