# Does running cause fat legs?



## IronSlingah (Jul 25, 2003)

I was watching the discovery channel and it had a program called BODY STORY on it. It was some fat guy and they showed how his body couldent use all the fat he ate so it stored it in his belly. Towards the end of the show they showed his first day at the gym running and then went into a 3-D view of his leg muscles running out of energy and him collapsing then the program said that his body was transporting fat to his legs so it could be burnt by the mitochondria and be available to the leg muscles faster next time he ran.

So according to this when u first start running ure legs get fatter?


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## Julie7Ulie (Jul 25, 2003)

I think some types of running work more leg parts than others, but doesnt make them "fat", for example, it is common (though not by all) for female soccer players to grow larger calves than perhaps, a cross country runner.

Sprints may possibly play a role?? (I dont really know, just saying I noticed something similar to this and wonder why)


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## OceanDude (Jul 25, 2003)

This is the first I have ever heard of this phenomenon. Discovery channel usually gets their science right so it???s intriguing to hear this.  I personally have never seen a ???real??? runner with fat legs. Most tend to be very lean both in muscular tissue and fat. This is interesting information since it suggests that there is some kind of ???locality principal??? in fat burning that I have often pondered about as being exploitable to move stubborn abdominal fat to other areas of the body for aesthetic purposes. My first inclination is to think the body does not have the adaptive sophistication to efficiently want to use it???s precious energy to break down lipids, mobilize them and re-absorb them in other areas as described. But it???s an intriguing notion and makes some sense from the perspective that the leg muscles are our biggest fat burning engines. Which episode did this air on ??? I might like to look into it? I think it would be very very good if this were true.


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## OceanDude (Jul 25, 2003)

On second thought, this is exactly accurate in terms of fat burning - but I do not believe that it is storing that fat in the subcutaneous tissue - only in the muscle cells. This will not make the legs appreciably larger. It's no different than the body transporting more glycogen into the muscle tissue. This later effect will give you a "pump" kind of look which most bodybuilders thing is very desirable. I jsut don't think the transport of lipids into the cell structure will add much in terms of muscle volume visually - but could be wrong. At any rate the effect is good since it will burn that fat up the next time it is called into action.


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## Sweep14 (Jul 25, 2003)

Runners having fat legs is the exact oposite thing from what I've heard. But of the Discovery Channel says it's true, maybe it happens to people with certine genetics.


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## Lean_Physique16 (Jul 25, 2003)

no, look at all professional runners.  They have small, but muscular calves.  Cardio exercise like running actually takes away muscle mass.


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## Mudge (Jul 25, 2003)

Either way the fat is going to be gone eventually, with diet and excersize.

Discovery Channel is entertaining, but it is not the holy grail - they unfortunately support the pro hormone ban and seem anti-supplement in general.


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## DanK (Jul 26, 2003)

This effect might only happen when you run until you collapse (just going by what the post says/implies). Would have to see the show to even know for sure what they are saying and then who knows if it's anything significant.


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## Jim1954 (Jul 26, 2003)

I never run at all, it makes my legs very weak, and they are weak
enough already. 

Jim


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## IronSlingah (Jul 26, 2003)

Most real runners are lean anyway so extra fat in their legs would be hard to notice. The guy on the show however had alot of abdominal fat and it said that fat was being transported to the legs to be used as energy next time he ran.

Btw the shows name was Body Story:Unseen menace or somthing like that it had the fat guy story and one about salmonela poisoning.


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## ashbash (Jul 26, 2003)

i play soccer and i have very muscular legs.  there isn't a lot of fat on there at all, but when i stopped playing for a few months and basically did no cardio, my legs got fatter.  i also have always been told that to keep legs from getting fat, stick to cardio.


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