# reducing quads



## Michelle (May 3, 2002)

I know a lot of people have the opposite problem.....but my quads are too big, I am trying to reduce them. 

Any suggestions? I never train them with weights but somehow they are still way more built up than I would like. It is just genetics. (Or perhaps it is in the drinking water...I live in the same town as Quadzilla, LOL)

I even have a hard time finding pants to fit because everything that fits the rest of me is always too tight in the leg.

Any tips on a training program to reduce leg size? I already do plenty of cardio.


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## Neil (May 3, 2002)

Do one of Dr. Pain's 25 set workouts, the overtraining will cause them to shrink.


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## Robboe (May 3, 2002)

lol@neil.


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## Arnold (May 3, 2002)

No offense, but is the size fat or muscle?


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## dvlmn666 (May 3, 2002)

I had that problem. But since cleaning up my nutrition and doing more cardio my quads have gained shape and gone down in size.


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## Michelle (May 3, 2002)

None taken....

It's solid muscle. That's why it's so hard to reduce.

I have a muscular build in general, partly due to genetics and partly due to sports as a child. 

The quads are just too big though. I'd like to have the muscle look longer and more stretched out. I do stretch often and I have great flexibility. I have tried everything....I might be just stuck with them


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## dvlmn666 (May 3, 2002)

I thought mine were solid to. And destined for baggy jeans forever, but it worked for me. Give it a try. 

Unfortunately I started the dieting and cardio at the same time so not sure if either one alone would have done it.


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## Michelle (May 3, 2002)

Thanks for the tips....

How much cardio do you recommend?

I normally run for 5 miles once a week and do elliptical or treadmill walk/run  30 min 3 x a week. Sometimes I will mix it up on a nice day and do roller blading or a bike ride as a substitute.

Do you think I should be working up to doing an hour for each session? 

How many x's a week did you go for best results?


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## dvlmn666 (May 3, 2002)

I was doing either stairmaster or eliptical for 60 minutes 4-5 times a week. but it looks like your already doing alot of cardio. 

Maybe look into the diet. Or try upping your reps on your leg exercises to more like 15-25 rep/sets.


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## Arnold (May 3, 2002)

Well, I guess I would do a lot of cardio and leg work-outs would be high reps, low weight.


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## gopro (May 3, 2002)

My suggestion is to train your legs up to 6 days per week. Use compound movements like squats, lunges, step ups, leg presses, etc. Use sets of 30 + reps with little rest between sets. Continue your cardio as well. You must run them into the ground to shrink em. Good luck!


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## Neil (May 3, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by gopro *_
> My suggestion is to train your legs up to 6 days per week. Use compound movements like squats, lunges, step ups, leg presses, etc. Use sets of 30 + reps with little rest between sets. Continue your cardio as well. You must run them into the ground to shrink em. Good luck!




ha! so I was right.


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## archer (May 3, 2002)

hmmm....thought you need to stop using them to shrink them....and lower cals....

just read something interesting here's an exerpt from a T-mag article

Maxim # 2: To lose muscle, you must temporarily stop training it.

Yes, there are ways to train muscle and minimize (not stop) hypertrophy, but if you're serious about losing mass, you must allow for (gasp!) atrophy to set in. That means not only stopping any direct work for at least a month, but also being very observant of any indirect tension you may be placing on the muscle. So for instance, if you want to lose mass from the trunk, this isn't a good time to do powerlifting. If you want to reduce your thighs, be careful of the amount of work they get from aerobics. 

Understand that there's a difference between detraining ??? the physical and hormonal consequence of complete cessation of training ??? and specialized atrophy. So long as the usual level of tension is maintained for the rest of the body, detraining shouldn't be a problem. With athletes who like to do high intensity work, which usually innervates all muscle groups, I generally advise focusing on machine and isolation work for the other groups during the planned atrophy period. This maintains strength levels while minimizing inadvertent work.


Maxim # 3: To lose muscle, you must reduce calories.

Muscle is a tissue, which requires energy for maintenance or growth, and it'll decay in a hypocaloric environment. If you avoid training a muscle but eat enough or too many calories, the result might not be a reduction in muscle tissue but a reduction of resting muscular tension, commonly called tone, that will leave those big thighs every bit as stocky, but now soft and undefined.

But just as I wrote before, specialization doesn't require nearly the same caloric change as bulking and cutting. A reduction of about 250 calories a day should speed atrophy while shrinking some fat stores but minimizing other muscle loss.


here's the link to the whole article
http://www.t-mag.com/articles/207spec.html


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## ali (May 4, 2002)

just a little thought about the quad coment.  i have big solid quads too,  and my advice is to watch the diet.  for people like us who work out all the time,  sometimes we don't realize that maybe we are eating too much.  i didnt realize i was picking too much till i put on 5lbs.    it hit me when i recently had knee surgery and i really had to watch b/c i couldnt work out!  i droped the wt. and the bulk!  hey, maybe thats not it but i just wanted to give you my experence!  and sometimes we need a little rest, try eating clean, writing down all that you put into your mouth, drink lots of water and rest for 1 week,  it might be what you need, dont be so hard on yourself,  and when you look in the mirror for 1 week dont look at that part of your body.  I know sounds really oprah, but sometimes its all in our minds and what we keep pumping into our brains!


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## Scotty the Body (May 4, 2002)

Run, back in the day before I got back into weight training I would run twice a day, once in the morning and once at night and I lost alot of weight and muscle to.


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## Arnold (May 4, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by gopro *_
> My suggestion is to train your legs up to 6 days per week. Use compound movements like squats, lunges, step ups, leg presses, etc. Use sets of 30 + reps with little rest between sets.



I disagree with that.


Here is a article clip from t-mag.com
_
To lose muscle, you must temporarily stop training it.

Yes, there are ways to train muscle and minimize (not stop) hypertrophy, but if you're serious about losing mass, you must allow for (gasp!) atrophy to set in. That means not only stopping any direct work for at least a month, but also being very observant of any indirect tension you may be placing on the muscle. So for instance, if you want to lose mass from the trunk, this isn't a good time to do powerlifting. If you want to reduce your thighs, be careful of the amount of work they get from aerobics. 

Understand that there's a difference between detraining ??? the physical and hormonal consequence of complete cessation of training ??? and specialized atrophy. So long as the usual level of tension is maintained for the rest of the body, detraining shouldn't be a problem. With athletes who like to do high intensity work, which usually innervates all muscle groups, I generally advise focusing on machine and isolation work for the other groups during the planned atrophy period. This maintains strength levels while minimizing inadvertent work._


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## cornfed (May 4, 2002)

What worked for me.  had 27.5-28" quads @ 13%BF  so not too much fat on me... stopped training legs for 23mo and viola!   22"quads!  Wait...bad idea.  My jeans went from tight to baggy... too baggy.  Geez, I understan, though.  27.5-28" quads and a 30-31" waist.  finding jeans sucked.  Give Mavi a try.  the Max and Mad Max both have a ton of room.


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## ActionMatt (May 4, 2002)

The whole idea of intentionally breaking down muscle is insane.

If you're genetically prone to having big legs, then you're going to have big legs. No point doing stupid tricks like intentionally overtraining to "slim them down"-- that runs counter to any common sense.


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## Scotty the Body (May 4, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by ActionMatt *_
> The whole idea of intentionally breaking down muscle is insane.
> 
> If you're genetically prone to having big legs, then you're going to have big legs. No point doing stupid tricks like intentionally overtraining to "slim them down"-- that runs counter to any common sense.



For you and I would agree but for someone thats 5'3" I can understand why she'd want to have thinner looking legs.


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## ironmag (May 4, 2002)

You say you have big quads but have you measured them to see what the size of them are. It may be simply a self perception problem. 
Also, I don't mean to harp on the training mod Go Pro, but it would save this person a lot of time and effort by simply not training them. Why  someone would want to subject themselves to torture is beyond me. All they have to do is  stop what they're doing.


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## gopro (May 5, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by Prince *_
> 
> 
> I disagree with that.
> ...



For Prince and ironmag...

Unfortunately, for the genetically gifted, not training a bodypart does not always work. Sometimes the body needs to be "forced" to atrophy. I know this runs contradictory to everything that is "bodybuilding," but you cannot argue with a person's goals...especially in my profession!

Anyway, I have run into this exact problem before with several woman. My first instinct was to train everything but their legs...2 problems...a few of them had this problem without EVER training their legs...AND...not training them did not always work!

So I went the other way with these genetically gifted (cursed?) gals, and whammo...their legs began to shrink while still looking toned! 

In fact a whole training methodology about this came out many years ago called "Freestyle Training." I am actually certified in this training method, but found out its benefits well before this time.

I don't like to do it, but thats what I get paid for!


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## archer (May 5, 2002)

point taken gorpo ... not easy to imagine but understandable ...think I would be the opposite...had a cast on one leg for 6 weeks and hobbled around on crutches ...when the cast was off my right leg was sooooo skinny i didn't wear shorts for months...too me this is atrophy to an extreme, but solidly leaves me with an image of the effect...
cheers


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## ironmag (May 5, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by gopro *_
> 
> 
> For Prince and ironmag...
> ...


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## gopro (May 6, 2002)

Ok, now you just pissed me off ironmag...you must be from WBB...

a) My credibility as a trainer is just fine. My clients stay with me and treat me as part as their family because I get them the results they are after, AND, because they know I have their best interests at heart

b) The atrophy did take some time to achieve, but short enough to satisfy their needs, especially when nothing else works for them

c) When overtraining their legs, I make sure to compensate in other ways in order to keep progress coming in all other areas. Never had a single complaint

d) Freestyle training was a waste of your time because you have no idea how to apply it...although I was already using some of the methodology long before Freestyle came out

e) As far as females or anyone for that matter gaining without training...some people have such freaky genetics for certain bodyparts that low level activities like casual bikeriding or doing some hammering can cause hypertrophy. Even you should know that

f) Go back to WBB and stop wasting my time


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## Robboe (May 6, 2002)

Why do you instantly assume it's someone from wbb?


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## gopro (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by The_Chicken_Daddy *_
> Why do you instantly assume it's someone from wbb?



I'm psychic...


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## ActionMatt (May 6, 2002)

He's not one of us. I honestly don't know who he is.

........though I like his style.


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## gopro (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by ActionMatt *_
> He's not one of us. I honestly don't know who he is.
> 
> ........though I like his style.



Same IP address as Maki...either way, still a babbling fool!


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## ActionMatt (May 6, 2002)

You have an incredibly poor attitude.


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## ironmag (May 6, 2002)

I'm sorry that you were offended, I figured that we were all mature adults and that some "other" opinions and experiences were welcome on this board. If this is not in fact true then I'm sorry.
Btw, my name speaks very clearly about who I am.

I guess we can agree to disagree.


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## Arnold (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by ActionMatt *_
> He's not one of us. I honestly don't know who he is.
> 
> ........though I like his style.



Yes he is! 

ironmag is Maki Riddington and he will not go away.


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## gopro (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by ActionMatt *_
> You have an incredibly poor attitude.



That really hurts coming from you...ouch.


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## gopro (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by Prince *_
> 
> 
> Yes he is!
> ...



I guess WBB is boring him, so he needs another outlet for his rantings.


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## cornfed (May 6, 2002)

Once again, I agree w/ GP.  (starting to sound like the 2nd Bush/gore debate,  "I agree...I agree w/ his agreement..I agree" LOL).  I have the personal experience to back him up on this.  Let's start at the beginning...

Ironmag, I had abnormally large quads and calves since I was in fricken' 3rd grade, by the time I was in 6th grade, it woulda' been noticeable to Stevie Wonder.  I started seriously training b/c of football in 9th grade (dam cirquit training, but I was ignorant) and w/in 9mo, my max squat went up 210lbs and my quads and calves exploded.  At the end of that year 205lb 13-15%BF 15yr old w/ 27.5" quads, 18.5" calves and a 31" waist who squated 445lbs.  Not any of this 1/2 ass 3" deep squats either, the top of my quad was parallel to the floor and @ 5'10" tall, the bar touched the rack.  By the beginning of my last year of HS football I did sets of 8 w/ the same wt.  I feel safe in saying that I have a genetic propensity toward large quads and the developement thereof.  However, my last year of Fball, as a Jr., I shredded 60% of the connective tissue in my right ankle in a game (1st one of district dammit).  Crutches 6weeks, couldn't run for 9mo.  Didn't train legs for a total of 23mo.  I stated the change in size earlier.  Even after that, I still can't get my dang calves to get any smaller than 18", which is fine, but they make my quads look dang puny LOL.  
The End


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## gopro (May 7, 2002)

Thank you cornfed!


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## cornfed (May 7, 2002)

hey, now... I never agreed w/ you on forced atrophy    LOL... but agreed, it works.


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