Muscle Question

Okie everyone, this question is mainly for the vets but really for anyone who can help. I have have lost around 117lbs, which has meant many many inches from all over my body, except one area. My calves. See I am an apple shape, never carried much weight on my legs and practically nothing on my calves and very tiny ankles, other than tremendous muscle. I Ride horses, scuba dive, all sorts of things, all while I was heavy. So needless to say my calves are nothing but muscle and rock hard. Don't get me wrong I like how they look, nice curves and all, however with the rest of me shrinking and my calves staying the same how do I lose some muscle on my calves. I mean how does one *lose* muscle, I feel like everything I do from walking, yoga, Pilates, all just keep up the muscle in my calves and I have lost practically nothing in my calves.

Any ideas?

Start running, it can slim down your calves, avoid the workouts which strength the body muscles like cardio workouts and treadmill. And lastly avoid high impact jumping movements. It may help you to reduce the calves.

Hi,

I would highly recommend you get into some kind of strength training. You need to build lean muscle mass on your whole body, not just your legs.  This will strengthen your bones, heart and help prevent many unwanted ailments.  As a possible and very good resource for this is Curves.  I know because I see it happening every day.  Women are being strengthened by circuit training which provides both cardio and strength training.  You can try another gym but you will pretty much be on your one once you are shown a few machines.  But, that is entirely up to you.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I don't think Curves will work for me. I know it works for many many women, so I am not knocking it, it's just that I used to work for Curves and worked out there every day. It was great in the past to lose weight but I of course couldn't keep it off on my own due to appetite, broken metabolism, and ghrelin. So for me it's not a help but I appreciate the ideas, I do lots of cardio and strength training already. I think I am going to try to add the running in. Thanks!

That is why the new Curves Complete is so awesome!!!! Check it out! I can't say any  more because I can't promote anything but it is so much different than it used to be.

The further  something is from  the heart , the longer it takes to be affected  by diet and exercise .  The lower legs in particular take   seemingly FOREVER ...but  this also has a lot t do with why many weight loss patients complain  of initially being scrawny on top and remaining ( relatively ) big on the bottom  until it all redistributes a few years post op.  

Running or even walking is  a great suggestion .  When we walk we create    circulation in our lymphatic system which pushes fluid through our bodies  through muscle action basically . We are designed to walk 5-6 miles or so a day as our ancestors did for  many thousands of generations, not to live sedentary lives .  

The lymphatic circulation will dramatically reduce " bloating "  and fluid  retention .  I'm quite sure if you do walk  and measure your ankles and calves the next morning they will probably be smaller , despite exercising the muscles you have developed over the years .

The body will also reduce the size of these muscles when it  realizes  that you are not putting your weight back on so they are no longer needed to keep you safe and mobile .   

I will definitely try adding running to my workouts, it's been a great suggestion by people.

I really resonated with what you said about my body needing the muscle for safety.  It is very true. My legs carried all my weight around and I was very mobile, I never stopped even though I was over 300lbs. I have body builder legs, my genetics have me building muscle like a man builds muscle, big and round not long and lean. I guess I just want to have more feminine, ballet dancer type muscles.

I walk a lot and drink water, so bloating is at a minimum, but I think I will try the running thing, maybe it will help.

Plus like you said sometimes it just takes time for my body to shed some muscle once it doesn't have to carry around 3oo+lbs everywhere,lol.

You don't really want to lose any muscle mass. Lean muscle burns calories. Work instead on building more muscle elsewhere, to balance things out.

I understand what you are saying, but if I tried to build the rest of me to where my legs are I would be a body builder. I leg press about 820lbs right now with my legs already, I don't want that type of muscle everywhere. I genetically build muscle like a male, big and round muscles versus long and lean.

I think I am going to try running like people have suggested, and doing less strength training on my lower body, hopefully over time my body will let go of some of the excess muscle on my calves because it won't need to have it anymore.

820# with your legs? well,hell,no wonder they are as big as a cart horse then! Geeze, the first thing I would do is stop bench pressing 800# with them!

I would try Pilates or Yoga or something like that if you want long lean muscles.