Hello! I am a woman with fairly large calfs. Normally, this wouldn't bother me incredibly. However, I have started working out again, and when I do something like running, my calfs feel like they're huge bags of sand ready to fly off at any time. Should I just be doing more to warm up? And also, will my calfs increase in size when I start exercising again? I've noticed that recently I've had a harder time squatting- I can only do it for about 20 seconds.

Anyway, that was my messy jumble of thoughts about my legs, I'd aprreciate any responses!

As difficult as it is to increase the size of one's calves, it is even more difficult to decrease it. Calf muscle size is largely determined by genetics and usually it does not have much of a fat covering so dieting to decrease the size will not yield very good results. The best you can do is to avoid exercises which tend to increase the size of the muscle. These are the ones where you would rise and lower your legs (calf raises), jumping. Also, avoid wearing high heels which tend to shorten the muscle by contracting it. Other than that, I would say, enjoy the large calves. They are sexy and many women (and men) would love to be in your shoes:)