Hey all! I'm 15/female and skinny and I would like to gain muscle mass on my legs (I have skinny chicken legs). Both calves and thighs. I'd like to know what good exercise videos I can get to achieve this, and also some good exercises (like without videos). Does bike riding work out your legs? If so what parts?
If I DO gain muscle mass on my legs, will they look out of proportion to the rest of my body??? K thanks!!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

to gain muscle, you will need to work out harder and eat a little more to support growth (esp protein).

biking works quads, glutes, hams so that is a good exercise. elliptical is good too. you will have to do these with resistance to gain strength from it.

running uses more calves.

a better solution would be to incorporate weight training. leg press, squats, lunges and calf raises

[This message has been edited by chopstix_gal (edited 09-08-2003).]

My vote would go to weightlifting. I have had goodluck, and really enjoy it. I would say squats, leg press, lunges, leg ext. and leg curls.

Ok thanks! So basically I would also need to go to the gym? Are there any good videos? I eat a lot! Maybe not a whole lot of protein, but a lot of food, I think I expanded my stomach...

You need to get plenty of protein to gain the muscle mass you're after. If you can't get to the gym, weighted lunges are good overall leg exercises. I just hold a dumbell in each hand. I must agree, though, that squats are probably the best exercise for gaining mass in the thighs. Hiking uphill is good for developing calves if you're into that kind of thing.

-N

Originally posted by Guest502:
Ok thanks! So basically I would also need to go to the gym? Are there any good videos? I eat a lot! Maybe not a whole lot of protein, but a lot of food, I think I expanded my stomach...

you can buy dumbells and do all the excercises with them, however you would need different weights and then have to buy more once your strength exceeds those weights as u progress.

imo, working out at a gym is more fun, more variety and helps me stick to a plan better.

for food, make sure you eat .8 to 1g of protein for every lb u weight. example if u weigh 100 lbs, eat 100g protein over the day. muscle is made from protein.

ditto to squats. undoubtedly THE BEST WAY to add mass to your thighs [and glutes]. if all girls did squats the world would be a better place...

LOL, good one capitah (and i agree)...i love squats though so i would work those the hardest out of all the leg stuff you can do.

On the advice of my physio I did slow exercycling on high resistance to strengthen my knees (cartilages worn through sports earlier in life) and a side effect was that my leg muscles, particularly thighs, noticeably ballooned after a few weeks. So you could always try that.

FrJackHackett,
That's very interesting. I wonder if the same thing would happen to a woman if she tried this workout or if hormones would prevent this growth? Did your calves also get much bigger as a result of the high resistance exercycling?

[This message has been edited by rita (edited 09-23-2003).]

Rita:

I don't know anything about differences between men and women exercising; you'd have to ask an expert about that.

Changes in calves were only marginal but thighs became noticeably bigger. When I was younger I had skinny calves and increased their size a lot by raising myself up and down with my toes on a phone book (about three inches thick) and my heels on the floor. Using gradually increasing numbers of repetitions produced the desired effect after a few months.

So if that's all you want to do I know it worked for me.

[This message has been edited by FrJackHackett (edited 09-23-2003).]

Thanks FrJackHackett. May I ask how many sets/reps you worked up to and how often you did the calf raises (daily, twice a week, three times a week)?

Rita:

It was a long time ago, but as I recall I didn't need to strain myself to get results. I just slowly repeated groups of ankle lifts until tightness in the muscle each time told me I should stop. Mostly every second day I think, but often I just used to exercise if I had a moment to spare. As time went on more repetitions were needed. I don't think I ever counted.

Bear in mind though that when I did this I was exceptionally fit and flexible, in my twenties and playing many hours of tough hardcourt tennis (Although I enjoyed it I rather wish I hadn't now, what with the cartilages wearing ! But that's another issue).

It's very easy to pull or tear a calf muscle or get cramps in it. Please err on the side of discretion and go very slowly. I'd hate to think of somebody injuring herself because of my post.

Thanks again, FrJackHackett. Please do not worry about me injuring myself by doing calf raises. I have been doing quite a lot of them for a few years and did not notice how well they did for me until I stopped doing them and started doing other exercises for variety and with hope of improved performance. My calves are actually in quite a nice shape and not at all skinny but I would not mind adding a little bit more muscle mass.