If you have unwanted fat on your calves, this article will show you how to reduce calf fat without surgery.
Some people are genetically predisposed to accumulate fat in their legs and calves. Conversely, others may have too much weight all over their body including their calves. To reduce calf fat, you need to make lifestyle and training adjustments.
The two components involved in dealing with this problem area are exercise and diet.
You have to watch what you eat for a holistic and sustainable outcome. You also have to engage in exercise for overall weight loss and leg toning.
Ways to Reduce Calf Fat without Surgery
1. Don’t try to spot reduce
No single person can lose weight in a specific area of their body. In this study, it was shown that localized resistance training doesn’t cause weight loss in the targeted part.
What you can do is attempt to lose weight in general and then tone certain parts.
For instance, if you wanted to have a flat stomach, don’t think that crunches will make your belly disappear. You have to deal with the weight first. This should be the general approach you take.
2. Eat less food
The reason why you have fat in the first place is that you are eating more food than your body is using. You thus need to reduce your food intake if you have been overeating.
To know the exact amount, you might want to determine your ideal weight then see how many calories you need to reduce. If you’re struggling to count these, then it is better to use an app to calculate the quantity of food you should be eating.
3. Avoid processed foods
The main problem with processed foods is that you have to eat a lot of it to feel full. Most processed foods lack fiber, which increases fullness.
In one study, it was shown that processed foods have low levels of satiety. Additionally, processed foods increase food cravings because they are highly palatable. This makes you more likely to eat them.
Replace these foods with foods rich in fiber. These include fruits like mango, pineapples, bananas, berries, and pears. Vegetables are also rich in fiber and so are whole starches like oat bran and sweet potatoes.
4. Don’t forget proteins
To reduce calf fat, you should lose weight. Proteins are essential in increasing your metabolism
Additionally, protein is essential in burning calories since it is harder to metabolize than carbohydrates.
Reduce the number of carbs you eat and replace it with proteins. Eat lean meat, eggs, beans, peas, and other legumes.
5. Be sure that it is fat and not muscle
If your calves seem a little bulky, it could be because of muscle rather than fat. When you want to reduce muscles, you have to apply an entirely different strategy compared to the reduction of fat.
You should avoid exercises that target these muscles. However, if it is from fat then you should train your legs.
To establish whether it is really fat that is making your calves big, use the tiptoe test. Stand on your toes and look at your legs from a mirror. If there are no defined muscles and it still looks the same as it did when you were flat-footed then it is fat. If it curves into a tight, knotted shape then you have muscles.
6. Do calf raises
Once you’ve established that it is really fat making your calves bigger, then engage in exercises that target those areas. The intention is for you to lose fat all over your body (as you make lifestyle changes) including your calves. You can thus prevent your body from holding on to weight in problem areas like calves.
The exercise involves raising your heels, balancing your body on the balls of your feet then lowering. Do about 3 sets of 20 reps each.
7. Consider skater hops
This exercise involves hopping from one leg to the other. You should take a runner’s stance and should ensure that your knees are bent when you begin.
When you hop on the left leg, you land on the right side. The width between both sides should be the same as your shoulders. Keep doing about a dozen reps for 3 sets.
8. Start running or change how you run
If your body has a natural tendency to keep fat in your calves, you may want to do exercises that work your legs.
Running is a great example of a leg-intensive workout. In order to have leaner legs, it is essential to do endurance running rather than sprints. The latter would end up bulking you up rather than slimming you down.
When running, make sure you build lung capacity by starting slowly then increase your pace as you continue. Then as you pick up the pace, do not overdo it. You want to have enough stamina to go for 30-45 minutes.
If you can run while conversing, you’re doing it right. This will ascertain that you lose weight everywhere and that you reduce calf fat in particular. In this study, participants lost weight from steady-state running.
9. Always remember to stretch those calves
It is best to do these stretches after an intensive workout. That way, you can elongate the muscles in your legs and have them look thinner.
One stretch you can attempt is standing with one leg then supporting the other with a seat. The supporting leg should be as straight as possible. Lower your head until your hands reach the foot of the supporting knee and count to 10. Switch legs and repeat.
10. Don’t lift weights with your legs
If your aim is to reduce calf fat and not gain calf muscles in turn then strive to do only moderate resistance training for your legs.
Rely on your body weight for these exercises. If you add weights into the mix, you may start to develop muscles in that area. The result would be calves with the same size as before but different composition.
However, since you don’t already have calf muscles, then some form of leg exercise like calf raises would be useful. These short home workouts are also ideal because they lower your body fat percentage.
11. Do different types of cardio
As I mentioned in the beginning, you don’t want to simply focus on a trouble spot at the expense of a proper workout.
Instead, strive to do workouts that help you lose weight everywhere like running or swimming. Thereafter, do calf exercises to boost the efforts you have made throughout your entire body.
12. Consider Pilates or yoga
The beauty of these types of workouts is that they improve your posture and help in body toning. Most of the moves elongate and stretch muscles all over the body including the legs.
A typical pose for someone battling fat in their legs is the hand under foot pose.
This entails standing straight, then bending forward and slipping your hand under your foot. Bring your head towards your knees and pose there for about 5 seconds. Repeat this thrice for 2 sets and you will reduce calf fat.
The Bottom Line
If you want to reduce calf fat, you have to exercise a lot of patience. Women’s bodies are designed to hold on to fat in the bottom section of their bodies.
You might lose weight in other places and see results in your calves only as a last resort. In spite of this, always keep going.
And if you add these fat-blasting workouts to your daily routine, you might reduce calf fat faster than you expect.
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