32 Comments

  1. Darren @ Transformation Cheat Sheet
    November 16, 2012 @ 1:07 pm

    Great article Kevin. Too many people are confused about what to do to gain muscle and to lose muscle when it’s actually pretty simple.

    Reply

    • Kevin
      January 19, 2013 @ 8:25 pm

      Thanks Darren … Yep, some solid info out there!

      Reply

    • Kendra
      January 13, 2015 @ 3:47 pm

      This was really good information that I will apply to my diet and exercise regimen. I’m a genetically bulky woman with broad shoulders and big calves. People are always asking if I ran track and field. I’m a size 14, but want to look more feminine by shrinking muscles mass. Thanks again!

      Reply

  2. Jeff Nelson
    November 19, 2012 @ 12:23 pm

    Great article. You’re especially good on explaining the “why’s” of a subject matter. Can you elaborate a bit in the comment section on why excessive running causes muscle breakdown? I’m assuming after you’ve leaned down enough and your body no longer has any fat to burn off the obvious next thing would be muscle but that’s simply an assumption.

    Reply

    • Kevin
      January 19, 2013 @ 8:33 pm

      Hey Jeff,
      I can’t really pretend to be an expert on this matter. I’ve read a lot of theories and opinions … many of them (although being different) have some solid reasoning.

      I lean towards our bodies adapting to fit the circumstance.

      If you look at a distance runner vs. a sprinter they are built MUCH differently.

      And yes, as you get leaner and leaner your diet and training need to be more geared towards keeping muscle and losing weight/fat at a slower rate.

      Reply

  3. Mitch - Home Fitness Manual
    November 21, 2012 @ 11:06 pm

    Kevin, I remember meeting up with a childhood friend during my college days…and he had way more muscle on his frame than what was needed. He was on the football team and got jacked…but after his time on the field he had trouble leaning out. These are great words of advice for anyone who, for whatever reason, needs to lose some muscle to match what looks best for their frame.

    Mitch

    Reply

  4. Tara
    December 7, 2012 @ 7:44 pm

    Hi i am a female and i have muscular thighs from cheerleading and gymnastics, i started doing ballet moves and pilates moves, i feel like it creates a pump but its with my body weight, but i was wondering if that would make my legs bigger or not? i cant really run because i dont want to and its pretty cold. But i would like to know your opininon! But the main purpose for me is to lean out my thigh muscles.

    Reply

    • Kevin
      January 19, 2013 @ 8:39 pm

      Hey Tara,
      Generally, us guys hold our weight in our guts and women in their thighs. And the first place you gain weight in is the last place you lose it. Usually, if you just focus on fat loss you will be able to slim down your thighs … eventually.

      Also, ballet and Pilates are great because they incorporate a lot of stretching and a longer/leaner look, so I say just keep it up!

      Reply

  5. Manny
    January 22, 2013 @ 2:38 pm

    In regards to the legs portion, I though that doing HIIT was for the express purpose of losing leg muscle, rather than wasting time jogging for 45 mins to an hour? This was stated in Rusty’s Visual Impact series. Please clarify where I might have erred. Thanks, Kevin. By the way, keep up the awesome work

    Reply

    • JAZON
      March 26, 2013 @ 7:39 am

      HIIT will keep your muscles! Look at sprinters. Do they look like they loose muscles? They do mostly HIIT.

      When you do long runs your build up more lactic acid and that will start to tear on your muscle. Do cardio long and frequently enough and you will loose muscle.

      Reply

  6. ace
    March 10, 2013 @ 12:23 pm

    if u wana reaaly lose thigh muscle badly stay in a cast 8 weeks it will shrink. trust me/

    Reply

  7. Elise
    March 20, 2013 @ 3:01 pm

    Hey there
    I have a question about your article that seems contradictory to me. So your article says that in summary, in order to lose muscle in a particular place just don’t use it. This makes a lot of sense to me. How is it then that you’re suggesting marathon cardio to lose muscle in the legs? Running uses all leg muscles… Any clarification would be appreciated!
    Elle

    Reply

    • Adam
      February 3, 2016 @ 7:59 pm

      Because the body turns to muscle for fuel when there’s no carbs to use, that’s why it’s good to run before breaky if your trying to lose weight. The fat is mostly burned in the recovery stage of the run which can take up to 48 hours all in all. The thing is the diet too, if you had the right amount of protein after a run you could actually build muscle from the runs, but then that tends to be contradictory to being a long distance runner in the first place. Low carb diet and long distance training equals muscle loss and fat loss.

      Reply

      • maya
        March 27, 2017 @ 9:46 am

        Your so right , I intend to build muscles from all types of cardio , my hamstring and quards are hardrock and i am vegan 100% , I guess this has something to do with genetics , I don’t eat meat neither any go to the gym. I am marathon runner and sprinter, very lean looking but very defined. The only thing that works for me now after trying almost all experimenting training to lose mass, I have cut off all types of exercise and I focus on my diet and making sure my vegan diet has very little protein and not too much carbs . I have lost 20 pound of muscles now especially in my legs and back , So happy and still aiming to lose another 20 , and still resting my body , I live active life , I swim and play golf, dance, yoga , that it and not often , Too much walking build my legs and makes them super hard. Good luck to you all, I know the process can be very frustrating but you have to keep experimenting and find what will work for you

        Reply

  8. Helen
    April 6, 2013 @ 3:17 am

    OMG!! This is ssoooo funny! I havent laughted so much in all my life! Its the same as writing an article on “how to become poor quickly” as opposed to “how to get rich quick”.

    Anyway, I am a female with skinny legs -skinny, compared to the rest of my body. I am 5.4 and weigh 57 kg. My weight has been staple but I seem to be losing fat because my skinny jeans are loose. I want to build muscular thighs and calves because I like the look. I have stopped all cardio 3 months ago, I eat healthy/clean with lots of protein, plus whey protein powder, I also supplement with creatine. I weight train 4 times a week, split routine with two of the workouts consisting of leg exercises – on the other two days I do chest, arms shoulders and on back day I do deadlifts, pull ups, bridges with barbel and barbel rows. On first leg day I do, step ups and side lunges with weighted vest, Bulgarian split squats with barbel and front squats – total of 12 sets of 12. On the second leg day I do back squats, leg extensions, leg curls and 8×12 seated calve raises. My legs are not growing as fast as I would like. I cant stand legs that look like strands of spaghetti and I aspire to have legs like the Brazilian fitness models, Gracyanne Barbossa and Eva Andressa Vieira. I expect it will take a couple of years for me to get to their level. These women are goddesses!

    Reply

  9. Tania Monteiro
    April 13, 2013 @ 5:51 am

    Thank you!
    I had to do some serious lifting (lift my whole weight…) in a show for 6months and because i gain muscle really easily, now i have huge arms and shoulders. I hate it. And summer is coming and I want to be able to wear straps. So, running and not using my arms is what you reccomend? Or low weight lifts with a lot of reps is good too?
    Thanks again!

    Reply

  10. Tania Monteiro
    April 13, 2013 @ 5:53 am

    Oh, and I usually do Insanity workouts, don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but I’ve never followed the program ’till the end.

    Reply

  11. nick
    July 19, 2013 @ 9:21 pm

    I’m just curious, but how would you go about losing muscle in lower obliques then?
    I can’t think of cardio that doesn’t use them, and mine are well developed after years of twisting movements. They aren’t overly bulky, but I’d like to lose some slight oblique muscle, to straighten up the abs a bit more. Make them perfect.

    Reply

  12. Mikka
    August 31, 2013 @ 4:36 am

    Actually I think it’s pretty important to understand what makes muscle atrophy. Because once that is under the belt. You aren’t so fearful about it anymore. But more importantly. You understand what it’s polar opposite is what builds muscles effectively also. And yes from your explanation it is quite simple. Thanks for writing this.

    Reply

  13. Clary
    June 20, 2014 @ 8:38 pm

    Thanks for this info, Kevin. I’m very bulky in my calves and thighs from years of dance and this is really going to help me tone down.

    Reply

  14. kyle
    August 28, 2014 @ 2:20 pm

    I’m 16 years old 5’4 in height and a little bigger than I intended to get. The question is how can I do this while maintaining my strength?

    Reply

  15. Clara
    January 26, 2015 @ 7:43 am

    Thanks for your post ^^
    I did way to much lifting, so my muscles bulked up.
    But since I have only one way to get to school:
    Can I lose muscle mass and still keep biking (about 10 -15k every day)?
    I’d even do more sport like cardio to do that.

    Greetings,
    Clara

    Reply

  16. Ngan
    October 6, 2015 @ 7:53 pm

    Thanks for the article! Im not a lifter, i just want to lose some muscle in my legs and this is the most helpful articles about lose muscle on the internet i came across with 🙂 i will give it a try and hope for a good result!

    Reply

  17. Anna
    October 31, 2015 @ 3:51 pm

    Hey! I LOVE your article!! I’m 5″10 and I used to run track and cross country and do lots of HITT so I’m not fat at all but I want to lose muscle because of a modeling offer I got. Do I just avoid protein and weights and calories in general? how many calories should I eat per day?

    Reply

  18. Maria
    February 1, 2016 @ 6:09 am

    Hi Kevin,

    I have a question regarding eating less protein – what should I substitute with? I start to gain fat if I eat too much carbs (even the “good” kind). Should I stick only to vegs? Do you have any advice?

    Many thanks,
    Maria

    Reply

  19. jerry
    February 16, 2016 @ 9:31 pm

    This article was very informative and very detailed. This does explain what to do or not to do as an advice for those people that are bulky and need to be less bulky.

    Reply

  20. Mercy
    March 10, 2016 @ 8:26 pm

    Thank you for your post. I am a 5’0″ female. I used to lift weights hardcore. It felt amazing don’t get me wrong, but I hated the way my clothes fit & how I was ALWAYS hungry. I felt bulky. I built a lot of muscle mass. I weighed about 115-125lbs. Despite working out so much & enjoying the rush, my arms and back bulked up. My legs did too, but I have the shape of an inverted triangle: broad shoulders, narrow waste & slim legs. Now, I’m going for a slim, sleek, delicate look. I’m doing lots of cardio throughout the week with a couple days of light weights. I am going to try the fasted cardio. Currently, I am 105lbs & never felt better. I think my ideal weight is going to be between 100-105lbs due to my small stature and petite frame. Thanks once again.

    Reply

  21. Eleanor
    March 28, 2016 @ 2:35 am

    Hi, I want to lose muscles in the thighs, will jogging not be using those muscles? Ive been doing about a 45 min power walk fasted first thing in the morning with the intention to continue, at the same time though I dont want to put fat on! I have a low-calorie diet though so it should be ok, I am working on reducing the protein though… any feedback would be really helpful, I really don’t want bulky lefts, its been consuming my mind and infant focus on work!!

    Reply

  22. Frank
    December 16, 2016 @ 2:40 am

    Thank you for this!
    I have been training strength my whole life. But the muscle was getting to big and just for show, i did not use it outside the gym. Having to much muscle is the same as beeing fat, the human is not made for beeing that way. But i love running! So i have gone from 100kg pure muscle, to 78kg. I run 4-5 times a week now, and it feels alot better than dragging those extra kilos. I do heavy strength 2 times a week. 4-5 RM`s with 3-5min pauses. And i only train base exercises. My 3000meter time when weighing 100kg was 11 minutes. Now i am down to 9min 10sek. And the funniest thing is that my deadlift has only gone from 230kg to only 185kg.

    Reply

  23. Fifi
    January 18, 2017 @ 4:58 am

    How does this approach apply to a teenaged ballet dancer who has overdeveloped quads? My daughters legs are very muscular for her career choice. We would appreciate some insight in ways to reduce them. She is 164cm tall and weighs 43kg. She is very lean but as mentioned previously has large quads.

    Reply

  24. Ambia
    March 24, 2017 @ 11:48 pm

    Hi,
    Thank you for this article!
    I have mucular thighs and I really want to loose some muscle. I use to be a triathlete but ended up having a tendon surgery … so that was that! The thing is, I cant run or power walk for more than 20 minutes without having pain in my ankle (where I had surgery).

    Since I left triathlon , I started doing other cardio stuff at the gym (c Emotionally I need cardio, makes me happy)… among some cardio machines , I did for the first 2 months Intense stairmaster :s cause I loved the sweaty feeling…. which left me with a bigger butt and bulkier legs, now I can barely put on my jeans, they are really tight on my legs and butt and lose on my waist. ( I used to be size 6 , Am thinking I need 10 now!! :/ cause of my legs!)
    So 4 weeks ago I read that spinning could help loose leg muscle, so I switch to that but now am thinking, after reading your article, that I do feel the pump and that maybe is a bad idea….. help!

    I love working out! Love and need cardio but dont want my bulky legs.
    I do pilates 4 times a week.
    What can I do instead of running??

    Thanks!!

    Reply

  25. Samira
    April 15, 2017 @ 10:03 am

    Awesome article, I have been trying to find one on how to lose muscle for a while. My husband has way too much thigh muscle from his football days which make it hard for him to fit into his proper jean size. Losing if only just a couple inches off his thighs would be way more appealing for his body type. What would you recommend food wise as something that’s low cal and low protein but still filling?

    Reply

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