Are my legs too skinny?? How to get thicker legs??

[Guest flancakes]

Hello everyone! ^.^
I'm a 17 year old girl and I'm 5'4~5'5. Unfortunately, I've had fast metabolism all my life along with a narrower body frame. I've been weight training for a year and a half and have yet to gain my ideal leg measurements. I wanted to get your honest opinion on my legs, because I feel as if my idea of "normal legs" has been skewed since I grew up with chicken legs. I thought about asking my friends, but they never gave me their honest opinions. One day they'll say that I look like an anorexic bamboo toothpick, other days they'll say that they want to trade. I'm not trying to fish for compliments, I'm just looking for your honest opinions and possibly any tips on getting thicker legs? I hate when all my friends comment on my legs or adults tell me that I need to eat more when I already eat enough. 
Has anyone else struggled with this before? And if you were able to get bulkier legs, do you have any tips? 
And here are my toothpick legs OTL





12.5 calf, 19-20 thighs :c I really hope I don't come off as someone who is trying to fish for compliments/comfort;;;; I hope you can give me your honest opinion and possibly any tips

[radiocat]

SLightly skinny, just put on a little more weight on ya legs that would be fine. You can do dumbbell squats.

[zantac_2]

they look fine. i wouldnt try and gain anymore. but if you must, then heavy squats are the only way to go.

[Guest flancakes]

Alright, thank you for the advice! I'll add squats into my workout plan

[aresika]

I couldn't see the pics, but from your description of 19-20" thighs and 12.5" calves seem to be perfect for your height. I don't think they are too slim at all. You might try running or jogging, whenever I do a lot of cardio it seems to make my legs bulkier.

[frenchtutor]

I'd say your legs are on the skinnier side but they look pretty good.

If you would like to build more muscle on your legs here's what you do. You can't just do squats, you're just going to just get leaned and toned

1) You need to do about 3-5 exercises for leg day. Workout your legs twice a week. I'd say this is the most important rule to follow

Your main exercises will be squats (thighs at least parallel to the floor) and lunges (these two are a must). Start getting the form right first and then hold dumbbells on each side. Since it's mostly body weight with a little weight added, do each exercise until you start feeling sore from each set. Aim for 3-5 sets (usually 3 is good enough). More weight and a good amount of reps will help increase your leg mass

Also include the leg press machine (if lower back hurts, stop doing it), box jumps, and step-ups (holding dumbbells later). I suggest 3 sets of 10-12 reps for these

And these are just optional exercises. If you want to add some mass to your inner thighs, try doing cable hip adductions (more resistance the better 3 sets of 8-12), For hamstring and glutes, cable hip extensions or lying hip extensions

2) Rest only 0-60 seconds between each set, no longer than that for muscle hypertrophy. Very important as well

3) Eat a good amount of protein after your workout within 30-90 minutes (don't forget to eat and balance with carbs and fats too). I don't know how much you weigh but you can aim for 0.5-0.8g/lb. If you feel like that is too much just try eating more protein than you usually do

Since you have a fast metabolism, I recommend eating all kinds of meat not just chicken and turkey (the lean meats), tuna, and salmon but also like steak, pork, just anything with protein really. You can eat dairy products, eggs and soy products like tofu for protein 

Another way to provide protein for your body is to put these foods together to make a complete protein

Peanut butter with whole wheat bread
Yogurt with granola (yogurt alone is fine)
Hummus with pita bread
Rice and beans

4) For cardio I recommend doing sprints for best results but if it is too difficult, try running for 20 minutes and over (jogging will be less effective for muscle growth so try running faster at a good pace).

Follow all these rules and you'll definitely get thicker legs. If this doesn't work, you might have to increase your caloric intake to gain some body fat but you should be fine

Good luck!

[Guest flancakes]

@retsyo - Thank you for the tip! How often do you jog, and for how long?
@frenchtutor‌ - 
Would it be detrimental if I did leg workouts 3-4 times a week? I've been doing a "every other day" schedule for my legs with lunges, standing calf raises, and some toning exercises that I found on blogilates. I will definitely add the squats, box jumps, and leg press machine to my plan!

As for cardio, would you recommend doing it on my workout days or "rest days"? I've heard some say that cardio on rest days can sacrifice your gains (I'm not sure if this is true), but others have also said that cardio on workout days isn't really needed. 

Thank you so much for your help! 

[Guest nameless]

I also think your legs look fine! If anything a bit on the thin side but it looks proportionate to your body. 
Like what others have probably said, work on your legs with weights and up your protein intake. I love squats and lunges, it'll give you a nice booty as a bonus ;D

[frenchtutor]

flancakes said: @retsyo - Thank you for the tip! How often do you jog, and for how long?
@frenchtutor‌ - 
Would it be detrimental if I did leg workouts 3-4 times a week? I've been doing a "every other day" schedule for my legs with lunges, standing calf raises, and some toning exercises that I found on blogilates. I will definitely add the squats, box jumps, and leg press machine to my plan!

As for cardio, would you recommend doing it on my workout days or "rest days"? I've heard some say that cardio on rest days can sacrifice your gains (I'm not sure if this is true), but others have also said that cardio on workout days isn't really needed. 

Thank you so much for your help! 

[Guest sjjsj]

hi, @flancakes i think your legs looks fine, if you want to make them thicker all those exercise from frenchtutor will surely help
hi @frenchtutor in verse with flancakes, i had an oversized thigh and calves, can you help me to make it smaller? i have tried several exercise which focus on thigh but seems that it getting bigger
is it ok to comment here? since it's a thread for thicker legs.

[frenchtutor]

Hey @sjjsj

I think flancakes wouldn't mind

Just curious, what exercises were you doing before that you felt like your thighs got bigger? If you didn't add cardio and a proper diet, that might've been the problem

Also do you feel like your thighs and calves are bigger from muscle or from body fat? I think that is also pretty important to know. But for either case what I am about to say will work in general

Slimming and toning your thighs and calves, it will mainly be from doing cardio 3-5 days a week for 20-40 minutes. This thread from another user named @mariS explains more in detail: She has the calves reduction method down haha

http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/2018806/how-to-get-smaller-slimmer-leaner-calves-success/p1

Also it is going to have a lot to do with diet as well. You will have to eat more balanced meals and be a little more calorie conscious.

Also the exercises you should do are squats, lunges, box jumps and stepups (Do only 2-3 a day)

For squats and lunges (read what I rode above for proper form) try doing 2-3 sets of 12-20 reps. As progressions, add dumbbells and do less sets or do more reps with body weight but within the repetition range stated

For box jumps, you don't have to jump too high (aim for low to medium heights but the pace has to be faster with 0-60 seconds of rest) but as soon as you land and hold the landing for about 1-3 seconds, get back down and go right back up quickly. This should help you a lot toning down

Step-ups are a great exercise too

Try working out your legs 2-3 times a week doing only 2-3 exercise out of the 4 but the cardio and eating will be more important at this point. Make sure you read the other thread



Good luck

[Guest sallyen]

Listen to me! Probably the biggest booty on soompi lol

Here's what I would do to build those legs and most importantly that booty:

1. ATG barbell squats 5x5

3. Split squats on smith machine / lunges 4x10

4. Romanian deadlifts 4x10

5. Hip thrust 4x10

Do these twice a week. Hell, doing legs three times a week won't hurt your gains.

I like sets of fours. Also squats are 5x5 because you want to build strength when it comes to compounds exercises. With strength, size will follow :-) after that you can try adding more reps. I like to keep squats between 6-10 if I am not doing 5x5.

You can't go wrong with these exercises. And all those should be done heavy AND with correct form. Don't cheat yourself with the squats and hip thrust. If you're not seeing results and you're lifting heavy and eating right (as in a little over what you usually burn) then you're probably undereating.

When you feel like you want to change things up; try sumo squats, cable kickbacks and assisted step ups.

As far as cardio; why would you even want cardio? Lol. You are trying to build here :-)

[Guest sjjsj]

hi @frenchtutor
i just do yoga and cardio with different pace for around 50 mins, 4 times a week for 3 months, as im kinda afraid that some articles say squats or any exercise if not suitable will harm your muscles.
i guess i'll try your tips above for few months, can i add yoga or pilates as well?

[frenchtutor]

@sjjsj

My suggestion is you cutdown the cardio duration just a little, maybe like 20-30 minutes 3-5 a day and incorporate circuit training in your exercise routine (basically doing resistance exercises without much rest periods) instead. It has very similar effects and benefits of cardio. If that is all the exercises you did, your leg's muscle hypertrophy was probably due to a lot of running in your cardio routine. Also try to keep a consistent speed where you're not running to the point where you are sprinting. Also as long as it is light to moderate you should be fine.

You shouldn't be afraid to do any exercises as long as you learn the proper form of each exercise. Correct, efficient exercises are very suitable for muscles. The only time exercises may not be suitable for your body is when you have any underactive, overactive, or tight muscles, altered joint mechanics, or improper motor control from learning exercises incorrectly, So if all these problems were addressed and evaluated in a fitness assessment, everything will be fine.

But in the end, weighing the pros and cons of resistance training, whether or not they are suitable or not suitable for your muscles, the pros weigh in heavily.

And yes pilates and yoga will be fine

[Guest sjjsj]

hi @frenchtutor thanks for your advice, i've signed up for 3 month membership back at a fitness centre! *yaaay* i'll try the suggestion, will be back again for question, thanks lot :D

[frenchtutor]

Ooh I'm happy to hear you signed up yay

If you have any questions along the way feel free to message me

[Guest starfishnuna]

I would love to have thinner legs. It's just the human way to want what we can't have, so don't stress too much.

[Guest myballerina]

Omg i hate a sport ,well, diet and me it's both.before i did all time a sport cause i was a dancer but now.... i'm quickly tired :/

[Guest sjjsj]

@myballerina are you a ballet dancer? are you still doing it?

[Guest sanjanas]

You can make them thicker by bringing out the calf muscles which can be achieved through exercise. Example, is raising your heel, and back again, which flexes the calf muscle, there's a lot of videos on youtube! Also gaining some weight can help