Q&A: Wonder Thighs and 6-pack Abs

Q: “I already have well developed leg muscles from a life-time of athletics, BUT I really want to shrink my legs. I go jogging as often as I can, but its really boring. I know you advocate interval training and sprinting, but is that really a good idea for a woman like me? Will that shrink the layer of fat on top of my muscles or just make my legs bigger?”

A: The real question is, “my legs are bigger than I want them to be. I’ve been jogging when I can for a while now, but its not really working [otherwise why ask the question]. I’ve read your article on why running sucks, but am afraid that sprinting will just make my legs bigger. What should I do to shrink and tighten my legs?”

Side note: GUYS – don’t tune this out just because it is a question from a lady. What applies to a woman’s hips and thighs applies to your gut and man-boobs too!

What you really want to know is how to get the legs you want. The answer is a really simple 2 part formula (it’s the exact same formula as for getting 6-pack abs for the men reading this):

#1. Shrink the layer of fat on top of your thighs: Your leg muscles/abs muscles look exactly the way you want them to look right now. The only problem is that you can’t see them right now because the layer of fat on top is too thick.

#2. Keep or slightly increase the size of the muscle underneath: “Toned” thighs and “ripped” abs require that you actually have some muscle underneath to reveal. If you don’t have any muscle you look like this:

What you should do to get there depends on how much time you have – there is a hierarchy of fat-loss (and I am stealing a lot of this material from Alwyn Cosgrove because I agree with him).

Most people can trade their current “junk” training for effective training and get 200, 300, 400 or 500% better results in the exact same amount of time.

Remember the 80/20 Rule

The highest priority activities will give you the biggest bang for your buck (time invested). Even if you have 8 hours per week to spend on fat-loss, and you can fit #1-5 into your life, #1, 2, and 3 will give you 90% of your results. The extra 4 hours spent on #4 and 5 will yield very little.

That’s not to say that you should never do #4 and 5, but that it really only makes sense if you really need that last 10% and can afford to double your time in the gym to get it.

#1. EAT BETTER (if you have no time): You cannot out train a poor diet if you are an adult. While exercise is important it is not #1 on the list. If you could only do one thing to get the thighs and/or abs you want then it would be eat better.

What does it mean to eat better?
A. Eliminate refined carbs from your diet: If you are trying to drop belly or thigh fat, then cut the crap out of your diet. Juice, bread, sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup will block fat-loss from these parts of your body like nothing else can.

If you want more about the science of why that is read this article. [link to fat-cell article]

B. Eat more protein: Every feeding should have a protein source in it – chicken, grass-fed beef, protein powder, Greek yogurt, etc.

C. Spread your meals out into smaller, more frequent feedings. You should be eating a meal or snack about every 3 hours to keep your hunger in check, speed up your metabolism and to help you recover from your workouts.

D. Curb your portions: You probably don’t need to eat everything on your plate and you almost certainly don’t need a second helping. Slow down, take a breath, and actually chew your food.

#2. METABOLIC RESISTANCE TRAINING (if you have up to 3 hours per week): What is the sound of one hand clapping? Its not diet OR exercise, its diet AND exercise. #1 and 2 work together to create synergy – that is 1 + 1 NOT EQUAL 2, rather 1 + 1 = 3, 4 or 5.

This would be a lot like the free workout that I posted here.

If you wanted a full 16 week program you can click here to check out Afterburn.

#3. INTERVAL TRAINING (if you have up to 4 or 5 hours per week): If better nutrition and resistance training are the cake, then this would be the icing on the cake. Icing without the cake would be kinda silly. Unless you are one of those people who like to eat frosting out of the can, but that definitely violates #1!

However interval training IS about 450% more effective than #4, and should definitely be done if you have the time. For more on why it’s so much better, and how to do it read this.

#4. ENDURANCE WORK/AEROBICS (if you have more than 5 hours per week): This is luxury training. If you get everything else done and you still have more time, then bring on the steady-state aerobics.

How to use it – Set your cardio day like this:
5min Warm-up

15min Intervals (5 rounds at 60sec FAST/120sec RECOVERY pace)

5min very slow (this floods your blood stream with triglycerides – body fat)

20min at 90% of the hardest pace you can maintain for 20min (this directly burns the fat that you flooded your blood with. Keep in mind, directly burning your fat is a very SLOW and INEFFICIENT process.)

#5. WALKING (if you have more than 7 hours per week): I’m not even sure if this will make any difference in your body composition whatsoever. If you are a large, muscular man with a high metabolic rate, 4 HOURS of walking per week will burn about 900 calories TOTAL.

In other words you MIGHT lose an extra pound per MONTH if you walked for 4 extra hours per week. But that is ONLY IF you are a 200 pound man with 10% body fat.

If you’re a fit woman – 140lbs, 20% body fat, that number goes down to about 600. You might lose an extra pound every MONTH and a HALF.

That is theoretical. If you look at research on what actually happens in the human body from low long-term walking programs it seems like the body adapts to the activity by figuring out how to walk for up to 6 hours per week while giving up essentially NO body fat at all.

Walking more IS relaxing, good for you and is better than driving everywhere you go, BUT it’s just about the least effective fat-loss tool ever invented. Ironically weight-loss “officials” always recommend that people start here instead of with exercise that actually works.

It may not be that people are lazy (as weight loss “officials” claim), but that they get poor advice. If you put in 6 hour per week in an exercise program and get almost nothing to show for it then that will kill your motivation. 60min of aerobics per week seems to result in about 4-6 pounds of fat-loss in a YEAR – that is depressing.

On the other hand, if someone comes to me with 6hour per week to spend I’ll get them down 15-20pounds of pure body-fat (not just weight) in a month. NO ONE ever has trouble keeping their motivation up for a demanding 6 hour per week program when they can fit into their old jeans again in just 7days.

Josef is also the author of The Body You Want, and a Washington, DC based nominee for 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year from Personal Fitness Professional Magazine. Click here to find out more.