Tips to get Slim and Shapely Legs

While identifying the reason for wider looking legs, you may find that they are actually muscular and not fat. This gives an obvious solution to refine them which is by reducing the intensity of your exercises or designing a workout which will tone your muscles rather than giving them a bulky look. Another reason could be a build-up of fat which could be the result of two factors. First is body movement problems which promote fat accumulation, swelling and water retention. Second could be relating to hormones which are responsible for fat storage and the appearance of cellulite.

To slim down your calf muscles and reduce any fat around the legs, you need to alter your exercise program and use simple tips to reduce the size of your calf muscles.

Efforts to lose weight too quickly may backfire. Starvation plans or fad diets often leave you feeling so hungry that you get frustrated and want to give up. Even if you can maintain a strict plan, you may be nutritionally deficient and stall your metabolism, which brings weight loss to a halt. Too drastic of a calorie deficit can also lead to muscle loss, which takes away from defined, sculpted-looking legs.

You must go further than just doing a few simple leg exercises or following fad diets in order to get lean and slim legs. You need to adopt a routine to achieve a combination of fat loss and improved muscularity and flexibility in your legs. But there has to be some easy and smart way out and yes there are! We have compiled several effective tips which will help lose fat in the calves and thighs to get shapely legs.

1. Walk

   Walking is the best activity to get shapely legs. Need to go shopping? Walk to the shops, get off one or two bus stops earlier than usual. During the week, park your car a few blocks away from your workplace... there are plenty of opportunities to walk. Think about it, because these few small regular efforts will allow you to carve your legs and make them appear pretty and tapered.

2. Take the stairs

   To tone your calves and refine your thighs, there is nothing better than the stairs. So instead of taking the elevator or the escalators, make the effort to climb a few steps every day. If you wish to tone your buttocks at the same time, go up the stairs two by two. This will help you to firm and refine your legs and make your buttocks shapely too.

3. Physical activities

   Dancing, running, skipping rope, swimming, cardio boxing , cycling, elliptical trainer, climbing, aqua cycling or aqua biking are some examples of sports which you can practice besides typical exercise to get pretty, slim and muscular legs. They are also a great way to meet other people either socially, or to act as companions for achieving the same goals.

4. Diet to refine legs

   Limit your salt intake because it increases water retention, especially in the thighs. Eat fruits and vegetables, rich in potassium, they help restore the balance of sodium and fight against water retention. Eat protein-rich foods as they help build better muscle and reduce fat deposits by following an anti cellulite diet and exercise routine.

5. Stretch to lengthen your legs

   

   A great stretching exercise daily for the calf muscles not only makes your muscles more elastic but also makes the calves compact. Stress can be a factor leading to the accumulation of cellulite especially on the calves. Regular stretching also helps to relieve stress which can support your efforts of getting shapely legs while helping you recover from a workout. You can choose wall push-ups for your calves. Stand with your front foot approximately one foot from a wall and your back foot about three feet from a wall. Your back leg should be straight, the front leg bent and your hands resting against the wall, while you lean forward. Your feet should be pointing straight ahead and your heels on the ground. Hold this position for around 15 – 30 seconds and then switch the legs and repeat.

6. Slimming and weight loss patches

   You can use Natural Slimming Patches to contribute to your efforts to lose fat from the calves. These patches are fast becoming a popular way to shed a few pounds without major changes in your diet or daily routine. They are self-adhesive patches which stick on your skin and release the goodness of their natural ingredients which are designed to remove deep fat tissues. You can target specific areas like calves and use them over a period of time.

   Once you start incorporating these tips towards getting slimmer and sleeker calves, you can consequently see your legs look more attractive than before in some time.

7. Sleep Wearing Slimming Socks

   These are a very popular technique in Japan. These slimming socks promote the blood flow in your legs. Wearing these slimming socks or compression stockings at night can make a difference in appearance of your calves and make them look leaner.

Losing big calves is a wish of many women so they can wear skirts or summer capris without looking fat from the lower legs. Here are tips to help you get a summer body with slender calves.

Do's

1. Avoid high heels and tight pants as they impede blood flow and tend to inflate the legs.
2. Do not stay in a sitting position for too long, it also limits blood circulation.
3. Avoid heat, as it may cause swelling of the legs.
4. If your calves tend to swell, use compression stockings which will promote blood circulation and allow you to refine your legs.
5. When you take a shower, finish with a jet of cold water from the ankles to the buttocks, this will act to strengthen your legs and refine them, through an activation of blood circulation.
6. Massage your legs. Massages draining the thighs and calves help eliminate excess water in the tissues, fight against cellulite, and help make legs appear thinner.
7. Ensure you participate in endurance running at a low intensity.
8. Complete full body stretch workouts, there are plenty of tutorials of these on YouTube which you can easily follow along too.
9. Do low impact, but high rep body exercises, to target fat loss as opposed to muscle strengthening.

Don'ts

1. Do not sprint on incline, as previously mentioned, this will only work to increase muscle strength, therefore increasing the size of your calves.
2. Avoid high impact jumping movements, for example burpees, this will also work the opposite effect
3. Avoid weighted calf exercises, whether this is in the gym or at home.
4. Stay away from a non-healthy diet, planning your meals in advance here will help you avoid those binging moments which every chocolate bar here and there can really damage your hard efforts made to reduce the size of your calves.

To get amazing legs you need to target areas of your thighs with exercise, as well as increase the shapeliness of your calves. Here are some tips which can boost your efforts:

• Perform all exercises in a slow and controlled manner.
• At the most challenging part of the exercise, hold your position briefly and gently return back to your starting position.
• As you get stronger, do the exercises slower to increase the intensity of the workout. Remember, it is better to go slow and do fewer repetitions than to go fast and do more.
• To make some of the exercises more challenging you can use dumbbells/ kettlebells, or if you don’t have any to hand, grab a couple of cans of beans to use as light dumbbells or fill a couple of old plastic milk/ juice containers with water to use as kettlebells.

Your goal for slim legs may be just weeks away as you plan for a vacation cruise or pool escapade. Recognise, though, that if your legs have always been heavy, they'll likely be one of the last places to slim down. The place where you gain weight first is usually the place where you lose it last. The thighs, hips and buttocks can be stubborn places of fat storage, especially in women. By combining the above tips with regular exercises and a clean diet you may start to see the signs of a fast metabolism and can refine your thighs and calves and get tapered and shapely legs.