For those who’re a girl with skinny legs, you may fear that they give the impression of being too skinny or that they don’t have sufficient muscle tone. You may even change the way in which you gown and keep away from carrying shorts since you’re embarrassed about your skinny legs. If you need tips about the way to construct fearsomely robust and toned legs, you’re in the correct place.
First issues first, we have to keep in mind that each girl is totally different, and there’s nobody “very best” feminine physique kind. Some girls naturally have thinner legs, whereas different girls have extra muscular legs. Totally different feminine physique shapes are regular. And if there’s one factor we’ve discovered by way of our feminine physique surveys, it’s that we regularly discover “well being” essentially the most enticing. So work on bettering your basic well being, lifting weights, and so on., and also you’ll discover this drawback resolves itself.
The easiest way to construct up your legs is by growing the muscle mass there. You’ll be able to elevate weights and do workouts that focus on the legs like squats, leg curls, leg extensions, step-ups, lunges, and so on. Lifting will trigger stress to your muscle groups, telling them to adapt greater and stronger. With the correct train choice, your legs will develop in dimension, and provides form to your legs and create a pleasant muscle tone. However lifting weights solely tells your physique you want extra muscle. Subsequent, you’ll want a weight-reduction plan to help the precise muscle development.
Understanding Skinny Legs In Females
For those who’re a girl with skinny legs, you aren’t alone. Many ladies wrestle with this concern, and it may be irritating due to how cussed your legs might be. Whereas everybody round us is frightened about the way to drop extra pounds, there’s a small minority of us who’ve skinny limbs and are desperately making an attempt to place muscle mass in the correct areas, together with the legs.
What Causes Skinny Legs in Girls?
Like most issues, there are a selection of things contributing to this drawback. A few of the commonest causes of thin legs embody:
- Genetics and maternal well being
- Your physique form and dimension are impacted by each your genes and your mom’s well being whereas she was carrying you. In utero, your mom’s well being impacts your future well being. In case your mom has skinny legs, there’s a very good probability you’ll have naturally skinny legs.
- Lack of train
- Most girls don’t train, and in the event that they do, it’s often cardio and never lifting weights. Your physique sees no cause for them to be muscular, which is “costly” to the physique, so that they gained’t be. This will result in thinner, skinnier legs.
- A poor weight-reduction plan that’s low in protein
- Many ladies have been duped that they should eat a whole lot of salad and do juice cleanses and skip the proteins. It will get worse when you determine that the majority fashionable diets are designed to trigger a calorie deficit. Most girls must eat extra protein—consider issues like wild seafood, steaks, rooster wings, eggs, Kefir, and so on. If you don’t eat sufficient energy or protein, your physique could not have the sources it must construct muscle mass in your legs.
- Poor well being and older age
- Typically, as individuals age, they’ll lose muscle mass of their legs. It’s a part of a course of known as sarcopenia. Some analysis reveals that girls lose muscle mass quicker within the legs than they do within the arms, as they age (examine). The excellent news is you could radically sluggish and even reverse this course of by lifting weights, even in case you’re older than 60 years of age.
Can Skinny Legs Be a Signal of Poor Well being?
Skinny legs doesn’t essentially imply that you simply’re unhealthy, nevertheless it may. If you’re clinically underweight or eat a poor weight-reduction plan and you’ve got skinny legs, this could result in quite a lot of well being issues, together with:
- Weakened immune system (extra colds and infections)
- Decrease bone density (bone fracture threat, and so on.)
- Hormonal and fertility issues
For those who’ve received skinny legs and are frightened about your general well being, you will need to communicate with a licenced medical skilled who can assist you work that out.
The best way to Achieve Muscle in Your Legs As A Lady
For those who’re wholesome however you are feeling like your legs are too skinny, there’s excellent news! All we’ve got to do is acquire some leg muscle mass. Let’s cowl how to do this.
The Significance of Hypertrophy Coaching For Leg Progress
Hypertrophy coaching is a sort of weightlifting that focuses on constructing muscle mass. In contrast to energy coaching, which is concentrated on getting stronger to your dimension, hypertrophy coaching is concentrated on muscle dimension. It’s centered on making you greater.
To achieve muscle in your legs, you need to incorporate hypertrophy lifting that has leg workouts into your exercise routine. Hypertrophy coaching includes lifting weights with a reasonable to heavy load—often within the 5-12 rep vary—and performing a number of units of every train.
The Greatest Leg Workouts for Girls With Skinny Legs
To construct up your legs, you’ll wish to hit your:
- Quads. That is the entrance of your thigh. These workouts embody squats, leg extensions, step-ups, and so on.
- Hamstrings. That is the again of your thigh. These embody workouts like Romanian Deadlifts, leg curls, Swiss Ball Leg Curls, and so on.
- Calves. These… are your calves. You are able to do standing calf raises, seated calf raises, and place your toe to hit totally different muscle fibres.
You don’t wish to overlook about your glutes, both. Squats construct robust glutes, however most girls like throwing in some glute isolation workouts just like the glute bridge or hip thrust.
The best way to Create a Leg-Dimension Exercise Plan For Girls
To create a leg exercise plan as a girl, you want to take into account the place you’re ranging from. A newbie may see fast leg development with just some units of squats. However a seasoned lifter who’s been within the health club for five years will want much more quantity and quite a lot of workouts to proceed to see development.
However on the whole, you need to begin by choosing quite a lot of workouts that focus on totally different muscle groups in your legs. Ideally, you begin with a heavier compound elevate, like a squat or a deadlift variation, after which you are able to do some isolation work after for extra quantity, like step-ups, Swiss ball leg curls, or when you have entry to machines—workouts like leg curls and leg extensions.
Over time, you possibly can change the load to maintain stimulating your legs. Doing 5-rep squats and 15-rep squats feels fully totally different and can problem your legs in a brand new approach.
Newbie Leg Exercise For Girls
The exercise may be very easy, and we’ll go over the directions in a second. Right here it’s:
- Goblet squats: 2 units of 10 repetitions.
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: 2 units of 10 repetitions.
- Standing Calf Raises: 2 units of 10 repetitions.
- Raised push-ups: 2 units of as many reps as you are able to do (AMRAP).
- Dumbbell row: 2 units of 10 repetitions.
You begin with some leg constructing workouts. That may permit you to give your finest effort to pushing your legs to develop. Then later within the exercise, you possibly can swap to the higher physique for balanced development. When doing the exercise, fear much less in regards to the variety of reps and extra about difficult your self and bringing your self shut sufficient to failure. For those who fail at 8 or 15 reps, that’s simply pretty much as good as failing at 10 reps. Wherever from 4–40 reps will construct muscle. 10 reps is only a good default.
Ideally, you’ll cease your set whenever you’re nearly to fail. However as a newbie, it’s exhausting to know precisely how exhausting you’re pushing your self. For those who aren’t positive in case you’re taking your units near failure, strive doing extra. Strive pushing your self all the way in which till your muscle groups give out. That approach you’ll know what it seems like. Subsequent time, cease proper earlier than that time.
Units: Begin With 2, Then Add Extra
Begin with only a couple units, then add extra units as you get stronger. We suggest doing two units of every train the primary week. Follow your kind, discover the correct weights, take your time.
Subsequent week, in case you aren’t too sore initially of every exercise, strive including a set to every train. If that goes properly and you’re feeling prepared for extra, add one other set subsequent week. You are able to do round 3–6 units per train. Most individuals will do finest with 3–4 units (together with us). For those who ever begin to really feel worn down, or in case you’re coming again after an extended break, begin the cycle over once more, going again to only two units per train.
How Typically Ought to I Do This Exercise?
As a girl, you’ll wish to do three full physique exercises per week for optimum muscle acquire. Every exercise will stimulate muscle development for the subsequent 2–3 days. After these 2–3 days, your leg muscle groups will probably be (principally) repaired, and you ought to be prepared for an additional exercise. Extra importantly, you ought to be stronger. You must be capable of elevate extra weight or eke out extra repetitions than final time.
As a result of every exercise stimulates a few days of muscle development, coaching each second or third day works very properly. Right here’s a very good default schedule, however be happy to regulate it:
- Monday: exercise #1
- Tuesday: relaxation
- Wednesday: exercise #2 (even when sore)
- Thursday: relaxation
- Friday: exercise #3 (even when sore)
- Saturday: relaxation
- Sunday: relaxation (and full restoration)
How Lengthy Ought to I Relaxation?
How lengthy you relaxation between units isn’t crucial. Whether or not you relaxation 2 or 10 minutes, you’ll nonetheless stimulate an analogous quantity of muscle development. The necessary factor is that you simply relaxation lengthy sufficient to catch your breath, making certain that your cardiovascular system doesn’t restrict the efficiency of your muscle groups.
We wish to problem your muscle groups, not simply your coronary heart (although your coronary heart will get a very good exercise, too!).
Usually, you possibly can relaxation 1-2 minutes between units. The primary cause to relaxation for simply a few minutes is to maintain your exercises quick and dense. However in case you want extra relaxation or get interrupted partway by way of your exercise, no drawback. Simply choose up the place you left off.
If you wish to blast by way of your exercise even quicker, you are able to do the lifts in a circuit/superset. Do a set of push-ups, relaxation a minute, then do a set of squats, relaxation a minute, then do your second set of push-ups, after which do your second set of squats. That approach, you’re nonetheless giving your muscle groups loads of time to get better between units, however you’re doing one other train throughout the remainder interval.
Add Isolation Lifts—If You Need
This easy exercise is a superb basis for build up the legs, however be happy so as to add to it. If you need greater glutes, no drawback. You’re already doing squats and a deadlift variation, which is a lot, however there’s no hurt in including in some further hip thrusts or glute bridges to the tip of your exercise for further glute stimulation.
Exercise Video Demonstration For Leg Progress:
The Goblet Squat
Right here’s Marco and Simone educating the goblet squat. It is a nice elevate for constructing greater quads and glutes, and nice for strengthening your torso and posture. Don’t be discouraged if it takes you a short while to grasp. You don’t must be excellent in your first day. Simply attempt for gradual enchancment.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Standing Calf Raises
Raised Push-Ups
Dumbbell Row
Bonus: Single Leg Hip Thrust For Glute Progress
Weight loss program and Vitamin for Stronger Legs As A Lady
Lifting weights is simply step one. It tells your physique you want greater, stronger legs. However your physique wants further diet to construct these greater muscle groups, so your weight-reduction plan and even issues like sleep matter fairly e lot with regards to constructing stronger legs.
The Position of Protein in Muscle Progress


Protein is an important nutrient for muscle development. It supplies the constructing blocks for muscle tissue, which is why it’s necessary to eat sufficient protein in your weight-reduction plan. Our physique makes use of protein to assemble hair, nails, organs, pink blood cells, and so on.
It’s not simply sufficient to get sufficient protein to stay—you want an abundance of protein, particularly after lifting, to assist construct extra muscle mass. Usually, we suggest aiming for about 1 gram of protein per body weight pound. So if you’re 120 kilos (54kg), then you need to intention for 120 grams of protein.
To make sure that you’re getting sufficient protein, embody meals corresponding to:
- Unprocessed meats
- lean floor meat (floor beef, floor turkey, and so on.)
- steaks
- rooster breast, rooster wings, rooster drumsticks, and so on.
- seafood
- eggs
- dairy
- Strive Kefir or different fermented dairy, because the probiotics can assist with digestion.
- Alternatively some individuals have anecdotes of unheated dairy with dwelling probiotics and energetic enzymes serving to with digestion.
- Protein powders are extra processed however included inside a nutritious diet, they can assist you attain your protein objectives.
- Examine whey isolate, or a vegan protein powder like soy isolate or a rice/pea mix
To a lesser extent, there may be nonetheless some protein present in beans and legumes, and people is usually a useful ally with regards to constructing muscle, as they’re additionally full of excellent carbohydrates.
Different Wholesome Meals That Assist With Muscle Progress


On prime of protein, there are different meals that may assist promote muscle development after hitting your legs with some lifts. These embody:
- Carbohydrates
- Carbs present power to your exercises and assist replenish glycogen shops in your muscle groups. The perfect sources of carbs for constructing muscle are fruit, dried fruits, uncooked honey, white rice, and legumes.
- Fat
- Wholesome fat are necessary for hormone manufacturing, which might have an effect on muscle development. Good sources of wholesome fat embody fatty seafood, avocados, further virgin olive oil, and so on.
- Nutritional vitamins, Minerals & Compounds
- Nutritional vitamins, minerals, and compounds play an important function in muscle development and restoration. Be sure to incorporate quite a lot of unprocessed meat, fruits, and greens in your weight-reduction plan to make sure that you’re getting all of the vitamins your physique wants. For instance, one compound known as creatine is discovered solely in animal flesh and can assist with muscle acquire. It’s present in excessive ranges in fish and pink meat, however many ladies and men complement with it.
What Subsequent?
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