Running is making her legs thicker?

[Koolhaas]

I'm here to ask if this is possible. My girl friend works out a lot. She walks on her treadmill twice a day for a total of 1-2 hours. She goes to the gym 3x/week to have personal training sessions. She looks fantastic.

I've been running about 12-15 miles a week (3 miles at a time), and she begun to join in. She's gotten pretty good and she's really starting to enjoy it. She likes running with me and i like having her with me too. THe problem is that her legs are getting thicker some how. She noticed some of her favorite jeans are getting tighter. I haven't noticed any increase in thickens. The personal trainer told her to stop running the way she is, and to only walk or walk with an incline on her treadmill. It sounds like BS to me, but i don't know what else it could be. She eats really clean. She's lactose intolerant and doesn't like sweet things. Most of her food is grilled, baked, steamed or it's salad.

What else could it be? I like running with her, but she's going to stop for a while. I didn't think it was muscle growth because she doesn't get enough protein as it is to maintain...

[illiniStrive]

Distance running doesn't usually make your legs thicker, if anything it has the opposite affect.

However, people who increase their activity (especially by a large amount) tend to naturally start eating more. People training for their first marathon think they might lose a lot from all the new activity, but are shocked to see the scale go up!

"Clean" can mean all sorts of things and "clean" calories are still calories and it's possible to eat too many of them. This may be what's happening in your girl friend's case.

[AnnieOlson]

She gained weight/BF, perhaps?

[goalorientgirl]

She's probably just eating more. Running, like any cardio, makes us hungrier, and she just needs to be more careful with her calories. It doesn't matter how "clean" her diet is, if she's eating too much. She's either gained a little weight or is retaining water in her thighs - both are possible if she's eating more now that she's running (especially if she's eating more carbs - carbs and water retention go together for many people). It's very, very unlikely that it's muscle development, since she's already fit, probably just a little fat and water, I'm afraid.

[LunicaAshes]

I would fire any trainer that told me I need to stop running because it's making my legs too big. Either it's fat and she needs to watch her diet, or it's muscle and that's a good thing.

Going out for short runs of a few miles a few times a week will not make her legs big. It will make her healthier, and I assume is good for your relationship.

[joyce261]

This used to happen to me. Every time, i'd quit after a few weeks of running. But you just have to push through it. Eventually the swelling/muscle/whatever it is will go away. Your legs won't continually get bigger forever. They will go back to their normal size eventually.

[Tina7578]

Any chance it's the PT work? Maybe her legs are getting stronger from the running and the PT is pushing her more because of it; using more weight, doing more reps, etc?

Could be some lean mass growth if that's the case. Long distance running won't make your legs "thicker" ... my guess is it's lean mass.

[Koolhaas]

Any chance it's the PT work? Maybe her legs are getting stronger from the running and the PT is pushing her more because of it; using more weight, doing more reps, etc?

Could be some lean mass growth if that's the case. Long distance running won't make your legs "thicker" ... my guess is it's lean mass.

Her trainer doesn't really make her do heavy weights with her legs. I've told her to up the weight on her upper body. Her legs grow muscle/fat easily.


I spoke with my girl friend last night about it. She's not buying what the PT is telling her either, but says her body does strange things like that. So, she going to give it one month and see what happens. The PT told her to not eat carbs after lunch, so she is going to do that and I think that will help.

Thank you ladies for commenting!

[Julie5150]

This is what we call 'skinny fat'

Where you have a reasonable amount of muscle and fat - and when you gain muscle you look more pudgy.

It's a downer - an outright negative for some women (like me) - who get this way very quickly . . . maintaining a good workout regime and diet is the only way to combat it. It'll take time but I and others do see a change in body composition if we don't stop what we're doing after a while.

She'll started to burn off the fat - increase muscle mass - and will be better off for sticking to it even when things don't go 100% her way.

[toodlepip]

I spoke with my girl friend last night about it. She's not buying what the PT is telling her either, but says her body does strange things like that. So, she going to give it one month and see what happens. The PT told her to not eat carbs after lunch, so she is going to do that and I think that will help.

Good for her not listening to her PT in one instance, but the carbs thing? Really? Stopping at a certain time is going to magically make her thighs smaller? What rubbish.

[joyce261]

[QUOTE=Koolhaas;688548661]Her trainer doesn't really make her do heavy weights with her legs. I've told her to up the weight on her upper body. Her legs grow muscle/fat easily.

QUOTE]

^ this. Yes. I used to run and do nothing else, and i was extremely bottom heavy. Then i started running less and swimming more and added upper body weights. Now i am way more balanced...and i can run a lot more (WAY more than i did in the past) and not get bulky legs. I mean it's all relative...i still think i'm bulky in general, but my legs are not bulky compared to the rest of me.

[Koolhaas]

Good for her not listening to her PT in one instance, but the carbs thing? Really? Stopping at a certain time is going to magically make her thighs smaller? What rubbish.

Yes, it does. My body is very carb sensitive and doing low carb is very effective for weight for me. Low carb hurts me while i'm lifting so i can't do that. But I found that eating my carbs earlier in the day and then stopping after lunch helped me cut some fat while still gaining mass. It something about going to sleep while my body is processing carbs, makes it harder to lean up.

[Koolhaas]

[QUOTE=joyce261;688576991]

Her trainer doesn't really make her do heavy weights with her legs. I've told her to up the weight on her upper body. Her legs grow muscle/fat easily.

QUOTE]

^ this. Yes. I used to run and do nothing else, and i was extremely bottom heavy. Then i started running less and swimming more and added upper body weights. Now i am way more balanced...and i can run a lot more (WAY more than i did in the past) and not get bulky legs. I mean it's all relative...i still think i'm bulky in general, but my legs are not bulky compared to the rest of me.

her body is very close to your profile pic. I'll pass along your recommendation on swimming.

Thank you.

[toodlepip]

Yes, it does. My body is very carb sensitive and doing low carb is very effective for weight for me. Low carb hurts me while i'm lifting so i can't do that. But I found that eating my carbs earlier in the day and then stopping after lunch helped me cut some fat while still gaining mass. It something about going to sleep while my body is processing carbs, makes it harder to lean up.

Wouldn't the cutting of some fat be because you've cut calories not carbs?

[kimm4]

Wouldn't the cutting of some fat be because you've cut calories not carbs?

Losing fat/getting lean goes back to consuming the right amount of calories and being in the proper deficit based on your goal.

The typical I'm carb sensitive, cut your carbs after a certain time is all broscience garbage.

If your g/f's legs are getting thicker, she needs to take a closer look at her diet. Her training program is not the problem.

[Koolhaas]

Wouldn't the cutting of some fat be because you've cut calories not carbs?

I don't cut calories when I do this. I just get my carbs in earlier in the day.

Losing fat/getting lean goes back to consuming the right amount of calories and being in the proper deficit based on your goal.

The typical I'm carb sensitive, cut your carbs after a certain time is all broscience garbage.

If your g/f's legs are getting thicker, she needs to take a closer look at her diet. Her training program is not the problem.

Broscience it may be, but it seems to work for me. I don't do it much these days because cutting while bulking makes me hate life. Food cost too much, and it's just too much macro counting for me.

My girlfriend likes salads (she's very creative and talented when making salads) and now she's just going to eat them for dinner instead of heavy starchy foods like we usually do.

[Stephanyluu]

If my calves are already muscular so will running makes them bigger?

[Nfloares]

Agree

[anandagirl]