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-   -   As a male VFer, can I talk about reducing my inner thighs so I can get bikini ready?? (http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=202916)

pumptmuscle 05-16-14 04:48 PM

As a male VFer, can I talk about reducing my inner thighs so I can get bikini ready??
 
Umm, yeah...you read that right. I'm a male VFer, who hardly ever posts, but I'm here to talk about reducing my inner thighs. Hey, a girl has to look hot you know! :)

Ok, here's the deal. I'm a guy who's a pear. As it is, that's a horrible combo, cause let's face it...every guy wants that perfect "A" shape. V shapes are SO overrated! One thing I've learned in life is that every body is different. Whether pears, apples, oranges, kiwis, watermelons, etc., people's muscle and fat distribution will vary. In my case, I carry a little extra fat at the top of my inner thighs. My hamstrings, outer thighs and the middle and lower part of the inner thighs are fine. As you might expect, I'm not interested in reducing this area for the same reason women might. In my case, it's more functional. When I do races, that area rubs together. For short races, it's not a big deal but for distance races, it is. I wear compression shorts so the friction per se is mostly taken care of. The problem is that that area wears on the shorts. The upper inner thigh area rubbing together is also something that affects me when I walk regularly for anything more than a mile or so. I'd like it gone if possible.

This past March, I was lucky enough to find a pair of 5 lb adjustable ankle weights at a charity fundraiser. Every year, a local church has a "fill a bag" sale. You walk into a big room full of items, kind of like a garage or tag sale as most items are used or on the older side. You're handed a plastic shopping bag and you can put any item in the room in it and fill it up for $4. I've gone a few years before and they had a huge stack of cds each time so I filled up the bag with like 100 cds, really getting my money's worth. The cds weren't there this year but I was lucky to find a pair of 5 lb adjustable ankle weights still in the box. Adding them to the bag was a no brainer and they were a very nice find. I figured even if I didn't end up using them, I could always donate or trade them. Ideally, I'm hoping to use them to help me with the inner thigh issue.

I used to be over 80 pounds heavier and have come a long way. Having yo-yo'd with weight all my life tho, the skin isn't perfectly taught in my legs (at my heaviest, my legs were very big). I think a residual effect of the weight fluctuations, and in particular, a one time gain of over 110 pounds, really affected the elasticity of my leg's skin. I've done many workouts for the legs including kickboxing, stepping, gliding, squats and lunges, etc. The upper inner thigh area has been an area that's so far been impervious to the workouts. I'm starting to feel it might be a good idea to experiment with some specific workouts to trim my legs, mainly that inner thigh area.

Does anyone have experience with floor work leg workouts, and in particular, using ankle weights with them? How effective were they and did you use the weights? Did using the weights help lean your legs or cause them to bulk? Granted, I still have big legs. I understand my legs will always be big, but at least now they're pretty much all muscle. If there was a way I could reduce the size of my entire legs, which would include a possible reduction of muscle as well as fat, I'd be up for it. Chances are, even if I do workouts designed to 'lean and shape' the legs, they still may remain big no matter what. If I could just reduce that upper inner thigh area and nothing else, that'd be fine with me. Of course, any suggestions for floor and/or standing workouts that can make my legs leaner/narrower, I'm open to try them.

For those in a similar position, what's worked for you? Can I get some workout recs for these type of floor and/or standing leg workouts to try? I don't really care about when the workout was made. I have a feeling the workouts for this will end up being on the older side. All I care about is how effective they are for helping me with this issue. Thanks.

Gibbee 05-16-14 04:57 PM

Bob,

There will be lots of suggestions made for sure, but I would look at workouts like Cathe's Legs & Glutes (standing and floor weighted leg work), Butts & Guts, Pure Strength Legs (she uses a body bar but you can use leg weights), etc.... Cathe has many with floor leg work.

Also there are workouts like the original Firm Volume 1... it is known for its floor work.

I'll do some more thinking but those popped in my head first. When I have used leg weights I have seen better muscle definition and some slimming and tightening. I really like Legs & Glutes - I should use it more myself!

pumptmuscle 05-16-14 05:13 PM

Thanks Gibbee. I'm hope to get a nice list going of workout choices. Legs and Glutes will definitely be one of them.

Since the workouts will probably be on the older side, I should be able to trade for them more easily. I just hope to find ones that work.

m42 05-16-14 05:27 PM

I'm assuming that barre workouts would work the same for you as it would for a woman. Callanetics slimmed my inner thighs. Also the mat work in Ballet Beautiful. For reference I'm pretty muscular and my inner thighs can rub even if there is nothing to pinch. Barre, those 2 workouts in particular, even if I'm lifting shrinks my inner thighs.

laurajhawk 05-16-14 06:03 PM

I saw some benefit in that area from Brazil Butt Lift High & Tight. I used up to 5 lb ankle weights with that one. :)

ARTmethodfan 05-16-14 06:08 PM

Hi Bob -

How about Terri Walsh's ART Prescriptives for inner thighs?http://artprescriptives.com/

It's a downloadable workout with 2 parts. The first part is 25 minutes for one leg and you repeat it on the other side. The second part is 30 minutes. I did the first workout once this week and I highly recommend it.

Good to see you posting! And thanks for sharing your story. I admire your accomplishments.

Nat

CatInTheHat 05-16-14 06:09 PM

The Firm has Standing Legs (ugh, it's a killer) and also the Floor Legs which I think is also called Lie Down and Workout.

Kitten 05-16-14 06:35 PM

Jane Fonda really focused on the lower half mostly. There's Complete Workout with standing a and floor work. The second half of lower body solution is all floor work. The Firms really focused in floor work, volume 1 is killer and 5 is lower body focused. For newer Sin6 has floor work that nearly made me cry:D.

seww 05-16-14 06:53 PM

Spinning will get your legs in shape like nothing else.
Sue

beyond.omega 05-16-14 07:07 PM

Bob...didn't you start a controversy before about your bikini body? ;)

I have found Callanetics Evolution and T-Tapp to both work great for the thighs.

In the Callanetics Evolution workout, the standing outer thigh work trims the whole thigh (to the extent that I avoid it because I like a bit of a curve on my outer quad.) The leg work is a timeless classic for shrinking the inner thigh.

In T-Tapp, I think holding the T-Tapp stance really does it for the thighs. (And will leave them *baked*!) Also, If you are having trouble with loose skin, you might want to look into dry skin brushing. (I learned about it from T-Tapp.) I have to admit, I don't like doing it as much in the summer, but at the very least, it really feels good in the cooler months.

Having said that, you should know that the thigh gap might be some unattainable holy grail for some people...it might just be one of those things that some people got it and some people don't. Good luck. :)

ETA: If you try Callanetics, or any other barre workout, don't skimp on the stretches. That is the key to slimming with barre.


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