I am a pear shape, and I've read that you shouldn't use weights to exercise your legs and thighs because that will make them larger, but I like to do leg lifts with weights on my ankles because it's so hard to lose the weight off my thighs. Any suggestions?
214895
The best exercise for Pear shaped individuals would be the Elliptical Trainer you will work your abs, glutes, and thighs. You will see a difference within a week if you use it 3-4 days a week for 30-45 minutes. I lost 26 lbs. in 7 weeks. along with a great diet plan from "Medifast"
644061
I love the elliptical machine so much I bought one!  :)  It really works on your gluts, and is a great all over workout since you can move your arms and your legs. \n\nFor weight machines, I don't know what it's called, but you're face down with your upper thighs being supported by a padded bar.  Then you're lifting weights with a bar that's on the back of your ankle by bending your knee.  Hope this helps!  Enjoy your workout.  :)
216714
Sure, treadmill will help. But if you just fat below the waist, I think it's from your body type (pear shaped,big below waistline), it's genetic and you can't change that. Measure the width between your hip bones, is it much wider than your shoulder? All you can do exercise more to keep that parts toned and tight, or reduce your overall weight and size. But the proportion won't change a lot, but the difference will be less noticeable if you're skinny.
160572
Squats are the King of leg exercises, forget the leg press machine if your goal is to increase your vertical jump.  The reason why is that squats use all your lower body muscles at the same time where as leg press just isolates the thighs.\n\nAnother good exercise to develop explosive jumping power would be the clean and also plyometrics (e.g. hopping bounding, 2 footed hops over hurdles etc.).
164776
avoid exercises that result in repeat impact to your knees: jumping, running, jogging, etc. Try using an elliptical where you never remove your foot from the surface and you are using your thighs and calves. \nDespite the advice you may get about using weights or floor exercises, it's better for you to do cardiovascular exercises than to do things that will build up or tone muscle- you don't want big thighs right? You want to burn fat and maintain a healthy heart so stick with the cardio work up that will avoid further injuring yur needs. Swimming is great but not readily available. If you have access to a pool year round (and don't mind ruining your hair)- go for it! Otherwise, Try the elliptical.
504482
I'm a lady cyclist, and when I get out of shape I tend to put on weight on my thighs immediately, so this was a concern for me too. \n\nBut, I've been riding for years and I can say that riding bikes makes your legs more toned, so even if you're unhappy with the current size of your thighs, when they're more toned and muscular, they look better. And, I think they've made my legs get more lean overall.\n\nCycling is a GREAT way to burn calories, increase your overall fitness, and improve your metabolism, so if you get serious about cycling it can really make you more lean overall, and not in a bulky masculine way. You could potentially have a very feminine, but healthy looking body.\n\nI am taking a Spinning class twice a week with several women, and one of them told me she's lost 10lbs. since starting Spinning a couple months ago. So, if you're new to cycling, that's a great place to start since you won't have to worry about cars and traffic, and the teacher can give you advice on your form, etc.\n\nThe one danger with cycling and thighs is when you really are riding a lot, and your legs are fit and toned, if you stop and lay around and get out of shape, I think then your legs might be bigger than they would have been if you never started. But, they also get back into shape very quickly as soon as you start riding again.\n\nBut, there are so many benefits that come from cycling: adventure, fun, friends, fitness, confidence, strength, feeling like a kid again!
408593
I can tell you what not to do.\nDont run or even walk on hard surfaces -even grass can be to hard.running and walking can be the best thing for fitness/cardio even warm up but it needs to be done with no impact on your ankles/knees/hips but MOST! importantly your back.especially if your only young.get your self a running machine.not a walking machine it has to be specificley?a running machine.it also makes it a lot easier to find the time and inclination to actually do it.you can still listen to music or watch the idiot box or whatever.no excuse then.any physical excersize that hardens your muscles and keeps your muscle/body fat ratio in the right proportion for YOU is going to help.it has to be a regime not just 1 or 2 excersizes.-improve your blocking/moving/footwork techniques.
499155
do squats daily. side crunched (25 daily) of course cruches daily (25) do up to 50 squats if you have enough leg strength. these are good things to do at home. \n\nif you have acess/ and or want to start working out at the gym there are many other great ways to build ab and thigh strength. i am like you....skinny and in need of being toned lol....but this program has worked. i do it daily. but i also workout daily at the gym at school so my results have beeen way faster but i dont just do abs and thighs. i do full body workouts for an hour daily. but im tall so my results come so much slower unfortuneatley.\n\ngood luck.
274155
are you really working out properly and really dieting properly? Its a basic law of nature that you can't get more energy then you put in. meaning if you take in 1000 calories and workout to lose 2000 then your body HAS to take the extra 1000 calories from fat etc. Uneven fat lose from one side to the other does seem a bit odd. Is one side more dominant then the other? It could have larger muscles. Are your hips even most folks are not but yours maybe more so. Keep working at it
494308
Honestly, it's 80% diet if you want to lose inches. But, a few suggestions for exercises are; straight leg dead lifts, squats, lunges. Those are large muscle exercises that will tone your legs, glutes, lower back. Those exercises also burn a lot of calories. Start with those and then do isolation exercises (example: leg curls, etc). Combine that with running, jumping rope, and stair climbing.....and you'll have a great place to start.
510856
Don't use ankle weights, bad for the joints. Start on a program of resistance, speed, and plyometric training. Try to find a program or trainer if you can afford that is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
584736
I prefer yoga, pilates, and leg lifts.  Don't freak out, just work on it.
201511
It doesn't surprise me that your right leg is bigger.Are you right handed? most right handed people are also right-footed so anything you need to do with one foot (like kicking a ball, or pressing a foot peddle) you'll probably use your right foot to do, so it is used more.\n\nIf you got to the gym, you'll be able to use some of the machines for working your legs with just your left leg. I have one arm that's much weaker than the other, due to an accident I had years ago. When I go to the gym, on each machine that can be used single-handed, I work out the left (weak) arm on it's own and then work both arms together. That means that I'm slowly building my left arm up, while maintaining the strength of the right arm. I'm sure you could do something similar with your leg.
429339
lie on your side and do straight leg raises in the air.  That will tighten the thigh muslces and work generally on the legs.   Squats work well too.\nIf your wanting to lose the fat, also while doing this- be on a diet.  Instead of eating 3 big meals a day, eat 4-5 smaller portioned meals a day.  Reason for this is because 4-5 small meals/day helps to increase your metabloism and escentially help you lose weight.  \n\nGood luck!
54560
First off, you may be going too much. If you are hitting the weights to build your legs every day, you are over training. You need to give them time to recover, which takes at least 48 hours. \n\nA good routine I've used for my legs is 3 sets each of squats, leg press, leg curls, and calf raises. Try to do 4-6 reps for each set of squats. If you can do 6, increase the weight the next set. If you can't do 4, decrease the weight. For the other exercises, try to do 8-12 reps per set. Do this twice a week, and you will start seeing better legs in just a few weeks. On the other days, work on other muscle groups.
306464
For your legs I would suggest going to a gym and using the Leg Press Machine.... But since you have bad knees, only do a few reps at a time.. Start out with a light weight and only bring it down as far as you feel comfortable with.\n\nFor your arms, do curls... It'll burn the fat and turn some of it into muscle, which will give you a toned look. You should start out with a weight that you can only do about 10 curls with until you start to feel it.... One of the major mistakes that women make is that they get those little 5 pound weights and do 20 or more reps and it does almost nothing for them..... Anyway, continue to use that weight until it becomes easy for you, and then get a heavier one and repeat.\n\nDon't worry, It won't make you look overly muscular... It'll simply burn the fat and tone your arms, giving you a "fit" look.... \n\nAnd both exercises will only take a few minutes out of your day.\n\nAs mentioned, swimming is a good one for the arms and the legs too... But some people either can't swim (or don't like to) or they don't have enough time to swim for it to actually impact their health.
576545
same here. I'm at the perfect wieght but I think I"m fat and I hate my thighs. To me they r huge but to other people they say they r OK! ok doesn't cut it 4 me and I don't like to be just average, I want to be super skinny or just yea.....We have stuff incommon that's cool! well try doing lunges and pilates on exercise videos. I'm 12 and I do exercise videos.