You train hard, your nutrition is in check, but you just can’t get lean legs.
Like most women in the world, I’ve struggled to get lean legs for as long as I can remember. I can thank my mum and dad for most of it; they were both extremely athletic and had a lot of power in their lower body. As such, I was blessed with tree trunks for legs.
Over the years, it didn’t matter how much I trained or how much ‘good’ food I ate, my leg size barely changed. However, through some guided reading and learning from the best in the World, I’ve been able to finally start to lean my legs out.
It’s not just as simple as getting in the gym and doing legs every day, it’s more about your lifestyle and the way you live it.
So, if you’re like me and want those lean and sexy legs that go allllllll the way down, pay attention to this article and implement every single step.
Keep in mind that without a solid base of good nutrition, you will see little benefit from the steps in this article. Everyone has their own definition of what this is, but ours is pretty simple – have a look at our Healthy Eating Guidelines to get an idea.
STEP 1
Get a full body assessment – the best way to do this is to find a qualified practitioner that can run you BioPrint and determine your priority, and run a structural assessment like we do here at THP with the FMS and SB Testing.
If you’re body is out of whack, for example you have a tilted pelvis where your lower back curve is really obvious, you won’t be able to recruit as many muscle fibers as you need to. If we take the squat for example, you won’t get those lean legs and tight butt because you physically can’t contract the muscles necessary to achieve this.
STEP 2
Limit carbohydrate/sugar intake – this is a fairly obvious one, but for those of you who haven’t caught up with the times, this is for you. Refined carbs and sugars increase your insulin levels, which, in short, can cause excessive fat gain. There are times to have carbs and times to avoid them, to get lean legs, avoid them as much as you can and use them as a re-feed meal once per week or post-workout if need be.
STEP 3
Eat enough protein – this is often the most missed piece on info when it comes to lean legs. Excess weight stored in this could indicate poor detoxification. Protein is key for detoxification, and just by adding in the right about, you will see a reduction in your hamstring fat. Make sure the quality of protein is high, you only want hormone free chicken, grass fed beef/lamb/pork options, and only fresh seafood, not ones that have been farmed.
STEP 4
Eat lots of green, leafy veggies – broccoli is a great example of this, containing a large amount of sulforophane, it is a great item to add to your food to get those lean legs. These veggies contain a lot of fiber which is great for lean legs, make sure you increase your water intake though otherwise you may have trouble going to the toilet! If you’re finding you can’t get your intake up, try taking a quality greens supplement to help.
STEP 5
Get a proper program – so many so called ‘gym junkies’ go and ‘pump’ weights every day but never see the results they want. The main reason is because you’re either not following a program designed to suit your needs, or you’re not training for your type. Get a program written for you by someone that actually knows how to write them – a GBC program with slow tempo work will help you greatly that has a lot of slow tempo work to increase your time under tension which is great to get those legs nice and lean. Get off the treadmill too – I’ll never understand why people go to the gym to walk on a treadmill!!! Don’t even use it as a warm up, don’t use it at all. If you must do some form of ‘cardio’, at least make sure you run outside. For optimal ‘cardio’, impellent some sprints or a modified strongman session, not just prolonged running.
STEP 6
Eliminate xeno-estrogens – these have been popping up in a fair few of our articles lately, and that’s because they are super important. Xeno-estrogrens or Xeno-hormones are products that we expose ourselves to that change the way our hormones work and alter their naturally occurring levels in the body. Excess fat storage in the hip and leg region indicates excessive Xeno-estrogen exposure. YOU NEED TO ELIMINATE THEM.
Swap plastic bottles with stainless steel bottles
Only drink filtered water
Stop using commercial make up
Choose SLS free toothpaste
Find a deodorant where you can actually understand the ingredients
Only use coconut oil as a skin moisturizer
STEP 7
Use proper supplements – as always, I have a basic supplement protocol that I believe almost everyone should be on:
Multi-vitamin
Fish oil
Magnesium
Zinc
HCl
CoQ10
Vitamin D
If you’re not taking these and your nutrition is not where it should be, then don’t even think about the following specialty list:
Liver support supplement
Curcumin
Sulforophane
Green drink
Note: You can’t out-supplement a bad diet; so make sure that is your first priority!
Obviously, these are only guidelines; you will have your own unique program, as everyone is different. For example, some people respond better with carbs, other respond poorly.
Everything we do is individual, so if you feel that one step may not be for you, then that’s ok! Start by getting an assessment and by building a solid base of nutrition. Once you have that in order, then you will start seeing results.