Causes of thin legs
Putting emotions aside, let's look at the problem directly. There are only two reasons for thin legs:
- Genetics
- Anatomical problems
With the first, everything is simple: the ratio of adipose tissue and muscle tissue, which form the volume of the legs and thighs, as well as the thickness of the bones, are determined genetically. Look at your parents, the appearance and structure of their legs. Don't catch the similarities? Even if now their legs look quite decent, with a high degree of probability you can hear exciting stories about how “I couldn’t afford short skirts and shorts because my legs were too thin.”
Just because of hereditary characteristics, even with good physical activity, it is not always possible to noticeably increase muscle volume. Moreover, if the shape and volume of the hips are more subject to change, then the shape of the lower leg is definitely inherited.
The second reason may hide many others: from lack of adipose tissue and underdevelopment of muscles to atrophy from past diseases. In some severe cases, a rare pathology such as lipodystrophy is diagnosed. This is a metabolic disorder in which the body completely wastes fats without maintaining their reserves.
It often happens that legs lose their volume and shape with time and age. This is understandable. If such a situation occurs within a short period of time, then medical consultation is simply necessary.
So what can you do to improve your legs? Considering that our legs are 50 percent muscles, it is necessary to make these muscles work. According to the general rules for muscle mass growth, we give progressive loads to the muscles of the thighs and legs, provide the body with an excess amount of protein and healthy carbohydrates, and get a good rest at night.
Yes, genetics in some cases limits the achievement of the desired result. But the sooner you pay attention to the volume of your legs, the more realistic it is to change their shape. Ideally, before the age of 15, you can “sculpt” beautifully shaped legs, even despite poor heredity. The rest are also not recommended to stop and clearly move towards the intended goal in the literal and figurative sense. And you can start with regular walking.
Only for thin people: How to gain weight without special miracles
Of course, most women do not understand those “chosen ones” who ask with longing in their eyes: how to gain a few kilograms?
But they ask! Having suppressed my bad envy, I asked our experts to help girls and women gain the missing weight. Great diet: you can do anything
Those with underweight hips also need a diet, but what they need to eat is not exactly what is advised to those who want to lose weight.
1. Stimulate your appetite. Before meals, drink 150 - 200 grams of fruit juice. Recent research by British scientists has shown that a mixture of glucose and fructose (for example, in juices) blocks impulses in the brain that tell us that we are full. That is, after a glass of juice you can eat more. Don't forget about spicy and salty snacks.
2. Eat 5 - 6 times a day at regular intervals, for example, 2.5 - 3 hours. Snack whenever you want (at this advice, my stomach growled reproachfully, saying that I want that too.).
3. After eating, be sure to relax, rest for half an hour.
4. Protein foods - that is, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, fermented baked milk - should have a high percentage of fat content. A very tasty cocktail is obtained by mixing 200 grams of cottage cheese and 200 grams of heavy cream, adding frozen berries or jam.
5. Feel free to mix proteins and carbohydrates: meat, fish, eggs with potatoes and pasta. But don’t get carried away with white bread and buns - these are empty calories that do not provide any benefit. But don’t forget that when gaining muscle mass, white meat, chicken or turkey, is the healthiest.
6. A hearty and nutritious breakfast is required: a sandwich with whole grain bread, butter and cheese, a plate of porridge with honey and nuts (you can snack on nuts throughout the day - they are very high in calories and contribute to weight gain).
7. Drink more, up to three liters of fluid per day. And not only mineral water, but tea with milk or cream and sugar, fruit juices. The best juices are banana, peach or apricot. Apple and orange, on the contrary, help burn calories.
8. To grow muscle mass faster, you can drink a glass of milk 10 - 15 minutes before training, and then eat a portion of peeled rice.
If you don’t feel like eating, do push-ups
If food just won't go down your throat, it's time to exercise. The emphasis should be on strength exercises that help the growth of muscle mass: push-ups, exercises with dumbbells. You cannot do without the advice of a professional fitness trainer who will put together the necessary complex. But you can try to gain some muscle mass at home. + "Bicycle". Lying on your back, imitate riding a bicycle. Do not lower your feet below 50 cm from the floor.
+ “Scissors.” Raise your legs to a height of 50 cm, spread them wide and bring them together. Repeat both of these exercises at least 10 times, gradually increasing the load. We train the abdominal muscles.
+ Stand straight, feet together, hands at your sides. Raise one leg, bend it at the knee, and then sharply straighten it forward, then move it to the side and freeze for a few seconds. Same thing with the other foot. Repeat at least 10 times. Strengthens the buttocks and leg muscles.
+ Buy light dumbbells (0.5 kg or 1 kg). Raising your arms to the sides, make circular movements, first in one direction, then in the other direction. Strengthens the chest muscles.
+ Arms with dumbbells to the sides, then, bending your elbows, touch the dumbbells to your shoulders, straighten them back. The slower you do this exercise, applying effort, the better the muscles of your arms will develop.
TIPS FROM AN EXPERIENCED
If you want to get better, relax!
It so happened that since school days my weight - with a height of 167 cm - usually did not exceed 42 - 43 kg.
It doesn't really interfere with life. But we women are always dissatisfied with ourselves - so I periodically want to have more rounded and weighty shapes.
I don't suffer from lack of appetite. Fattier foods are my favorite. Sour cream, cream, and especially more meat - sacred! Porridge with nuts for breakfast, a sandwich with butter for a snack - with pleasure. Just not getting fat.
I also did fitness. On the advice of the trainer, I immediately ran to work out something high-calorie. Did not help.
But I've learned a few things over decades of weight loss. The main conclusion is simple: I am in a calm state of mind and in harmony with myself - I add kilograms quite quickly. Once on vacation I recovered in just a couple of days. This is where the protein diet begins to work, and the stress on the muscles. And with constant bustle and stress, even the most high-calorie diet, alas, does not help.
IMPORTANT!
If you have been thin since childhood, then these tips are for you. But if you notice that every month, without making any effort, you are rapidly losing weight (from three to five kilograms), immediately run to the doctor. This can be a symptom of quite unpleasant diseases - from improper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract to endocrine disorders and even hidden tumors.
Walking, cycling, dancing as ways to get better in your legs
Make your legs walk a lot, walk fast, and walk every day. Make walking part of your daily routine on the way to work, to the store, etc. Walk not only in a straight line, but also on stairs and over rough terrain. You need to walk in such a way that you feel noticeable muscle tension. It’s good to use weights, but not in your hands, but behind your back, so as not to spoil your posture.
Walk in comfortable shoes, shifting your body weight from heel to toe. When climbing a hill or stairs, keep your body slightly forward. Adjust your walking speed with your hand movements. Walk briskly for at least 30 minutes a day. As an alternative, you can try Nordic walking. Start walking 2-3 times a week in the nearest park, increasing the number of workouts to 4-5 weeks.
Intense cycling or exercise on an exercise bike is an excellent way to pump up your thigh muscles and give your calves more definition. Focus on three workouts a week for about 40 minutes, including a warm-up and stretching at the end. Vary your riding pace, even if you use a regular bicycle as a trainer.
Dancing is beautiful in itself and can make your legs no less beautiful. It is clear that this process is not quick. But if you dance with pleasure, you won’t even notice how your leg muscles will gain volume and elasticity. Choose dances to your liking: be it classical, modern or currently popular types of dance fitness (Zumba, jump fit, body ballet).
How to pump up leg muscles at home
What to do with your legs if you decide to exercise at home? Just don't let them lie on the couch all day! Create a workout program lasting 40-45 minutes, including warm-up and stretching. Exercise 3 times a week, doing the following exercises:
- Calf raises;
- Walking on toes, as options with weights, in a half-squat;
- Lunges with a strong push when returning: forward, right, left, back;
- Squats at a slow pace: to a right angle between the thigh and lower leg;
- Leg raises lying on your side, swings on your side;
- Bridge with elevation of the pelvis and hips.
Do each exercise 20 times for 2-3 sets, resting about 1 minute between sets. Work at the threshold of effort, gradually increasing the load so that the leg muscles are stressed during training. Only in this way, together with proper nutrition, will the body launch mechanisms for building muscle mass.
Principles of mass gain for girls
What types of muscle fibers will predominate in a particular person, as well as the ratio of testosterone to estrogen, and where the body stores fat deposits are determined genetically. And these factors are also influenced by body type .
All women fall into one of three body classifications or a combination of types.
- Mesomorphs tend to be muscular;
- endomorphs are denser and more voluminous (both muscle tissue and fat);
- and ectomorphs have a thin skeleton with minimal fat and muscle content.
Mesomorphs respond to strength training to build muscle much faster than ectomorphs, although they may follow similar training and nutrition patterns.
Endomorphs typically need to lose a lot of fat tissue to see a change in muscle size or shape as a result of strength training.
Ectomorphs are less likely to gain muscle mass, but will become stronger.
One of the fundamental principles of strength training is to work until muscles “failure ,” which leads to an increase in their size.
To quickly gain weight for a thin girl at home or in the gym, you need to work with heavier weights and perform fewer repetitions, from 8 to 12. To increase endurance, use lighter weights and multiple repetitions (more than 15), but with this training regimen muscles do not grow, but rather decrease in volume.
Determining your body type and how your body reacts to stress can help you set realistic goals and wait times for results. Avoid comparing your own results with other people in the gym , remember that every body is unique. Focus on which exercises allow you to feel your muscles better.
We pump our legs in the gym
Exercises in the gym also require a systematic approach and frequency. 3 classes per week will give good results. Moreover, basic leg exercises that involve more than one muscle group are best done at the beginning of the week, when you are full of strength after the weekend. It’s good to work out individual muscles at the end of the week.
Try not to focus on one program for more than 4 months, change the exercises and their intensity to give the body a new impetus. In the gym there is usually no problem using weights. Therefore, choose a weight that will allow you to do no more than 12 repetitions of each exercise. You don't want to lose weight, do you? And strength exercises are important for gaining mass. The following exercises can be included in the training complex:
- Squats
- Forward lunges with dumbbells
- Leg press in the simulator
- Deadlift on straight legs
- Lifting onto a bench with dumbbells
- Leg abduction and abduction in the simulator
- Leg bending while lying down in a machine
- Leg swings with dumbbells
Some, especially girls, are afraid of strength exercises, because there is no particular desire to become a “jock”. But you won’t be able to get better in your legs if your muscles don’t have good reasons for this. Muscles grow when they are forced to do so in response to significant stress. Therefore, no one forces you to immediately grab heavy weights; add it gradually and also gradually increase the pace of your training. And don't forget about a balanced diet.
Exercises with dumbbells
These exercises are also widely used to “replenish” the legs. For example, you can do the following exercises:
- Lunges. Stand up straight. Take dumbbells in your hands. Lunge forward with your left leg. Please note that the lunge should be deep - the thigh should be parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position. Lunge with your right foot and return to the starting position. Repeat 20 times. You can keep your hands with dumbbells down. If you want to pump up muscle mass in your arms at the same time as your legs, you can stretch your arms forward, raise them up or squeeze them at the elbows, combining exercises simultaneously with a leg lunge.
To speed up the effect, you can join a gym, where you will work out on a special machine that allows you to build muscle mass in your legs.
How to eat to get better legs
It is clear that in order to get better in your legs, you need to eat a lot and often. But with this approach, there is a risk of growing a belly and plump sides, rather than beautiful legs. Therefore, we remove from the diet everything that leads to the formation of fat. These are primarily fast carbohydrates: cakes, pastries, sweets, sweet sodas, fast food.
Food should be predominantly protein: lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products. Combine proteins with vegetables and fruits. This way they are better absorbed. In addition, active training, which you will make part of your life, requires a sufficient supply of vitamins and microelements. It won't hurt to add a multivitamin complex, especially in autumn and winter.
In order to provide yourself with enough energy, eat foods containing slow carbohydrates. This is primarily porridge. Prefer vegetable fats to animal fats. Be sure to eat fish 2 times a week. For a snack, enjoy dried fruits and nuts, especially after exercise.
In proper nutrition, the method of preparing food also matters. Stewing, steaming, and baking should become your main helpers. Eat most vegetables raw. Plan 3 main large meals and two snacks throughout the day. Before bed, treat yourself to kefir or yogurt. These nutritional principles will provide your body with enough necessary elements for muscle growth and energy to work on them.
Surgical correction of thin legs
For those who cannot or do not want to cope with the problem on their own, medicine offers its own operational methods. For example, thin lower legs can be corrected with cruroplasty. In this case, special silicone endoprostheses are placed in the shins so that the legs acquire the volume where you want.
Another operation that is more popular for hip enlargement is femoroplasty. Before surgery, a complete medical examination is required to exclude the slightest contraindications for the installation of implants. This is the only way to be sure that the prosthesis will take root well.
Perhaps one of the skinny people will say: “How complicated everything is!” In any business, the most difficult thing is to start. Start moving, start eating right, start tracking results. In fact, gaining even one centimeter in your legs is much easier than losing the same centimeter from your waist. And all because we have two legs. Half a centimeter on each leg is a completely achievable result to make you want to move on!