Young Calorie Counters

Hi. Im 17 (18 in a month) and I've been on and off dieting since about 15.

I have also been in soccer for about 3 years and as a result, I have huge soccer legs that are so out of porportion with the rest of my body. Now that Im dieting again, I would like to exercise but I don't know any exercises that would help to trim my bulky legs. I really want to make them more lean while getting a good work out as well.

Im also a vegetarian (also on and off for about a year) and my main reason is actually to lose some of the muscle mass in my legs by not consuming so much protein. Ha ha I know that sounds stupid but anyway.

Any suggestions?

i have the same problem. im 13 and have been playing soccer sincei was 4.  i just started dieting and my legs are out of not completey out of porportion but i dislike them. a lot. but all the excersices i do is running!! i dont know what else to do.

running helps? i thought it only increases muscle.

I'm 17 too and I have soccer legs too! and I'm vegetarian too!
I actually had extensive knee surgery about 2 years ago and had to do physical therapy 6 days of the week for 9 months straight working from light activity to really intense training so I could play again the next season.. I'm not good I just had a physical therapist who was an athletic trainer haha. so I did a lot of biking during that time so the knee would loosen up and my thighs trimmed down A LOT due to the biking. I started out doing 15 minutes a day plus other light weight training.. for about 2 or 3 months. then for the rest of the time I alternated 3 days a week 20 minutes on the bike.. light intensity on the bike though because I hear that lots of resistence = huge calfs.. and you don't want huge calfs and huge thighs.. unless you do then go for it.. but otherwise I did 3 days a week 20 min and the rest of a weight training circuit and the other 3 days 45 minutes straight on the bike and leg lifts only. It really helped build lean muscle in my atrophied leg and trimmed the muscle down in general. Since then I've put fat back on top so I have thunder thighs again.. But I'm trying to lose it again!
I'm sure that if you're in good shape already you can start off doing the alternating 20 min/45 min schedule right away.
Hope my rambling helped :D Good luck!

I've heard that Pilates gives people long lean muscles.  I would look into it.  Best of luck!

Hi Santana :)

I used to be a dancer, and when I dieted, I had the saaaaame problem at first (except mine had turned to a lot of fat!)

I know this basic piece of workout knowledge and try to apply it to what I do:

to build bulky, thick muscles - do HIGH resistance exercises for a short period of time.

to build long, lean muscles - do an exercise that challenges you but for a longer period of time.

If it helps, soccer is, from what I know, a lot of BURST movement... you're always kind of running, but the majority of the exercise comes in bursts, no? Sort of like dancing, you're always moving, but dancers who JUMP, LEAP, or do hip hop - a lot of them tend to have bulkier legs. (Don't think ballerina so much on this one, though it can hold true for the leapers)

Anyway, in applying that, you can see that swimmers, who are notorious for their long lean builds, operate with a constant resistance for a long time.

I have heard- don't take this straight from me because it is something, I will openly admit, that I remember seeing around the forums- anyway, I have heard that running at a constant speed over long distances helps you develop long, lean muscles because the muscle is torn down wile you exercise and when it repairs, it organizes itself differently (into a longer, leaner shape).

Maybe that, swimming, or a similar exercise (someone mentioned pilates/yoga - that's probably good!) Could help you :) Personally, I have been using an elliptical for a month, and JUST from that - I went from a 6 to a 4. (I've always had what my mother refers to as "Island Thighs" after the way the Lilo and Stitch characters are drawn :P)

Anyway, good luck and I hope that helps! :)

~Heather~

 *EDIT*

You should know that to GAIN muscle, you need a caloric surplus and LOTS of protein. Since you're a vegetarian and you're maintaining a defecit, you shouldn't have to worry about adding any bulk when you run :)