I've made regular runs a goal for this year in order to improve my endurance and lose bodyfat. However, after reading a bit about running I saw mention of people getting bulkier legs from doing runs. And I'm talking about regular runs where you try to maintain the same pace from finish to start. This worries me, because I'm self-conscious about my already bulky legs. I don't even have a skinny upper body, however my legs are so bulky that I'm considering to beef up my upper body to get a better balanced physique. To give you an idea, without ever training for it, last week I pushed 140kg with my legs with moderate difficulty and I could probably do short reps if I wanted. My bench press is only 50kg and it takes a whole lot of effort just to do 1, short reps are a no-go. I've never really trained with weights, but recently I've been going to the gym together with my mom to encourage her to keep exercising. She finished some dietary program where she discovered the benefits of exercise, so I'm trying to strike the iron while it's hot and maybe get in some meaningful exercise myself. Anyway I'm 1.70m (5'7 i think) and I weigh 74kg. I believe my optimal weight would be around 72kg if I take my plans to beef up my upper body into consideration. My problem basically comes down to this. As an athlete, I'm the power+speed type with naturally crappy endurance. Running is the best way to work on my weak point, but I can't risk over-developing my already overdeveloped legs. So I'm not sure what to do really.
Bulky legs from running? Have you ever seen marathon or ultra runner's legs?? If you short fast runs, then yes, you probably will develop bigger legs. Long distance, then quite the opposite. If you do do a lot of long distance, you will probably drop bulk from your upper body too.
I always thought marathon runners shouldn't be used as a reference for running normally, because they run to the point where they actually start to lose muscle mass. Someone who wants to run to lose a bit of body fat won't go that far. And from what I've read, gaining or losing muscle mass in the legs from running depends on each person. And I'm not looking to become a marathon runner btw...
You asked if running makes your legs bulky. A 100 metre sprint is running, a 10k is running, doing a marathon...etc, etc. I'm giving you extremes to show you the difference. But as I said, short, hard runs usually will result in bulkier legs. Longer distances, nope. It's the same if you look at different cycling disciplines. However, the overall effect of running will depend on all sorts of factors; other training, diet/calories, distances and frequency of running, terrain, rest.
I'm not going to argue about facts. During my entire childhood, I either did EU Football, Tennis or TKD with no gaps in between. And from when I was 12 until 19, I had to ride a bike to school for 45 mins every day with wind blowing in the opposite direction and I had to cycle up a hill for the last 10 minutes of the trip. Also, for 6 years I had to ride a bike to my football club 3 times a week for 45 minutes as well. On top of which my family reveres meat like the second coming of christ. The question isn't if I do have bulky legs. The question is, how the hell could I not have bulky legs?
A bit vague, but I get it. So perhaps now it is a case of figuring out the shortest 'longer distance' I should run to get the result I'm looking for.
As you know cardio is incredibly important for MA and fitness. So...I'd think more about developing your cardio and less about whether you have bulky legs.
add more upper body work and run. similarly to you have bulky legs (compared to the rest of me), genetics and loading i think is the factor. i used to carry a heavy as hell backpack as a kid and i lived at the bottom of a 2 mile hill and had to walk to school. i've also cycled 3 miles a day for the past 2 years and squatted almost daily for a long while. i've started to add more upper body work in, bodybuilding style (no it wont make me slow). but mainly i take pride in the fact that i have to by custom made pants because they dont fit around my thighs but they're too loose on the waist. embrace the bulk!
lol I understand now. I buy my jeans at a much bigger size so it fits my thighs and then have them shortened. And still it fits horribly. Anyway, I'll just come out and say that I'm quite vane. I do care about my looks and yes, I even wear skinny jeans somehow(the slopes always get stuck on my calves when I stand up after being seated):bang:. The extra bulk on my legs comes in handy when I'm doing sports, but fashion-wise not so much. It's kind of like a love-hate relationship. So yeah, it's a vanity thing like I said. As for it being important for MA, I'm not all that serious about it. I just do it because I find it very fun to do. I'm just looking to get my shodan, do a few competitions here and there, but that's about it, competitive wise. For me, that's not important enough to sacrifice my aesthetics for. So I'm really just looking for a good cardio workout to get a flat stomach and to feel in good shape which is a nice feeling to me. If jogging adds bulk to my legs, then I'd rather do something else. But I still want to know if jogging would add bulk to my legs or not.
I guess a martial arts forum is the wrong place to start talking about vanity haha. Anyway, after looking around on the web, no one seems to really know an answer to my question. One says it does add bulk, others say it doesn't and most of them say that it depends on the persons genetics and eating habits. Pretty much nothing I didn't already know, which is why I asked the Mappers since it's also easier to trust the people on this forum than random people on the internet. Anyway, I've decided to go ahead with my jogging schedule and halve my meat intake. If I don't like the results after a month or two, I'll just do something else I guess.
You'll find no vanity in martial arts. What next big egos and insecurity? In martial arts? Mad idea. Yeah, you probably found all the same sites that I was looking at last night when I couldn't sleep. One of the comments I found said that short, hard runs and stairs/hills will add mass but it is so small that it's not worth mentioning. I could imagine that being true. Another comment on a forum said no running adds mass. You tend to see sprinters with big legs as they are more inclined to lift to develop explosive power needed for sprinting. Long distance guys aren't so interested in strength training. If you want more insight into the issue, I would recommend you ask at a running forum. As you can see though, there seems to be all kinds of opinions. Yeah...try it and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, swim or something. Can't see the point in cutting your meat though.
There's no point in halving the meat intake. This means you more or less halve your protein intake consciously and protein is good for you. I understand that a HUGE amount of protein every day, like the amounts that pro bodybuilders or wanna be-pro bodybuilders ( the same people who believe in Bulking and Cutting ) consume, might have negative effects on some organs of the body in the long term. But I suppose that's not the case with you.
...especially when you are adding sessions to your training schedule. (I presume you are not running much, or at all, at the moment).
Yeah. Because no one around here really cares. Function over form and all that. That being said I doubt you have incredible bulky legs. Post a pic and we'll give you our opinion/scores out of 10. Nothing wrong with muscular legs. I doubt you look like this shopped guy.
https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/5480_1197583900573_3206680_n.jpg its an old picture, but you should get the idea
