Muscle size - "bulking up" :( ?

[Lula3]

There is something that has been bothering me for quite some time... it might sound totally dumb to some people.

I haven't been to the gym much in the last 2 months, but while I was losing weight, I went there a lot and somehow I gained and still have quite prominent quad/upper leg muscles, which I find very unattractive on women. Some might disagree, but I personally really don't like it. This is a pic of me:

It's from behind (I'm the one wearing the leggings/jumper combo) and you can clearly see it on my right leg.

I don't know what kind of lower body exercises I could do to ensure that my bum is still toned, without putting on more of the leg muscles I don't like. I used to do leg press, and now do lunges/squats

Any tips?

 

[Blancita]

I could be wrong, but I would think stiff legged dead lifts; they seem to work everything from the back.

 

[Steve]

1. I think your legs are fantastic. But you're right, it's your body and you've got to do what you want.

2. You aren't going to put on any appreciable muscle unless you are in a caloric surplus. If you aren't eating to fuel hypertrophy, I wouldn't be overly concerned.

3. You could certainly put your quads on a 'maintenance' schedule where you hit them with a very reduced volume. I'd still some form of quad training in the routine. Once per week for a few sets is all. The rest of your training for legs can be comprised of posterior chain work. Blancita is right, an excellent example is stiff leg deadlifts.

Others include SHELCS (supine hip extensions with leg curls), GHRs (glute ham raises), deadlifts in general (although some quad activation will occur here), etc.

4. I'm not sure of your past. I'm assuming you trained for growth which means you ate for growth too, which led to the nice set of 'wheels' you currently have. If you didn't, chances are good that you are genetically blessed (cursed depending on whose point of view you are looking from) with great quad development.

I know a woman with the same issue. She's lost figure competitions b/c of the same exact issue. The judges told her she's 'too big in the legs.' This year she did very little quad work and focused on the booty and hams.

 

[Lula3]

1. I think your legs are fantastic. But you're right, it's your body and you've got to do what you want.

2. You aren't going to put on any appreciable muscle unless you are in a caloric surplus. If you aren't eating to fuel hypertrophy, I wouldn't be overly concerned.

3. You could certainly put your quads on a 'maintenance' schedule where you hit them with a very reduced volume. I'd still some form of quad training in the routine. Once per week for a few sets is all. The rest of your training for legs can be comprised of posterior chain work. Blancita is right, an excellent example is stiff leg deadlifts.

Others include SHELCS (supine hip extensions with leg curls), GHRs (glute ham raises), deadlifts in general (although some quad activation will occur here), etc.

4. I'm not sure of your past. I'm assuming you trained for growth which means you ate for growth too, which led to the nice set of 'wheels' you currently have. If you didn't, chances are good that you are genetically blessed (cursed depending on whose point of view you are looking from) with great quad development.

I know a woman with the same issue. She's lost figure competitions b/c of the same exact issue. The judges told her she's 'too big in the legs.' This year she did very little quad work and focused on the booty and hams.

Thanks Steve - I didn't have much muscle tone to start with but it's true that my upper body strength is crap compared to my legs (which have to be my least favourite bit of my body lool glad someone likes them!!).

I'll look into the exercises mentioned by you and Blancita