HIIT for smaller thighs?

[mccollins]

I am not very good at doing cardio for prolonged periods of time...every time I try to make myself do a 45min run or elliptical workout I get really discouraged and turned off by exercise in general. Would doing HIIT make my legs bulky? I really just want to get fat off of my legs. I was going to alternate between doing HIIT and pilates but I have heard that sprinting can make your legs bigger.

What is the truth?

Updates

+1 y

link

Updates

+1 y

Thats sort of what I'm going for

[kheserthorpe]

Most people don't bulk up tremendously from sprint type exercises. Especially women.

Some do, though seriously, like most men, I've never seen a woman whose thigh muscles were too big from running. It takes testosterone injections and heavy lifting for women to get 'overly bulky'.

HIIT and steady state cardio have different goals. While I doubt you'd build much muscle doing HIIT, it tends to be more 'muscle preserving' then steady state cardio, in terms of the hormonal response it triggers. That's generally considered a plus for fat burning - keeping muscle keeps your metabolism up. Long distance runners actually develop very -slow- metabolisms - its an adaptation that -lets- them run very long distances efficiently.

I'll note that there are also some dietary differences - HIIT actually -requires- more calories to be able to do effectively.

Unless you are in caloric surplus for the day, you're not going to be building muscle very fast. However I wouldn't be surprised if the muscle tone became more obvious.

If you 'just want the fat off' then a mixture of HIIT and steady state might be best, though diet is key.

Unless you've gained 20 lbs recently, your legs look great.

Finally, stop gazing at Miley Cyrus. Wanting someone else's body would be like me wondering what exercise will make me 7' tall.

You cannot pick the body you want. You can have the best possible version of your body, which will look great, but won't necessarily look like the best version of Miley Cyrus' body, or Kim K's body, or allison stokke's body - all of which are different.

You're likely to be psychologically better off (and stick with gym routine better, and maybe look better in the end) if you start thinking about your body in terms of what it can -do-. Aim to run further, faster, jump higher, be able to do more explosively, and a great body will follow. Its easier to focus on performance though.

[AnonymousRussian]

Any type of leg exercise will build lug muscles and make them bigger. If you can't do running, try skating or biking. Both are great forms of cardio and work the legs hard. There is also jump roping that will help burn fat. The real key though is to get on a good diet which is the hardest part. I will have to warn you though that a lot of leg exercises will put muscle on your legs relatively quickly with enough frequency because of how fast the legs can recover after working hard.

[Xx_DRE_xX]

This.

[Anonymous]

sprints can make your legs get bigger but I know a lot of guys who including my self who like girls with big thighs so its really not a bad thing

[mccollins]

I don't like big thighs lol I already have them

[Opinion Owner]

well if you are trying to get fat off of your thighs sprinting definitely helps. And it depends on how much fat you have stored in your thighs, if its not a lot then it will definitely make your thighs get bigger. But if there is a lot then your gain to loss ratio will be significantly less so end result would be smaller thighs

[Opinion Owner]

u can get miley sirus type of legs by sprinting as far as I know