How to reduce calves - exercises for the calf muscle at home

More and more often you can see girls rushing to the gym in the hope of not only getting their body in order, but also to correct certain parts of the body. Large calves are a common problem among women.

The calf muscles are the most powerful group of muscles that are constantly at work in our daily activities. Every time we walk or run, these guys are working to keep us upright and balanced. In this article we will figure out why our calves are imperfect, and also look at simple and at the same time very effective exercises that will help you get toned and slender legs. Let's get started!

How to remove fat from calves

Many women who are impressed by thinness want to always be slim, fit and beautiful. To achieve this result, they go on diets, exhaust themselves with long daily workouts, intense physical activity, and actively play sports several days a week. At the same time, excess weight goes away, but the problem of thick calf areas, which cannot be reduced instantly, remains unresolved. What to do in this case?

The lower leg is always under heavy load; subcutaneous fat acts as a protective barrier, so the female body uses it up very slowly. How to reduce calves in this case? Experts recommend doing gymnastics, running fast several times a month, jumping, giving up carbohydrates and limiting vegetable fats in your diet. Walking, regular walks, squats, and their comprehensive strengthening will help reduce large shins.

The main ways to make your calves thinner:

• sports, a set of specially designed exercises;
• drying, stretching;
• liposuction;
• massage.

Before choosing the appropriate method that will allow you to achieve thin calves, it is necessary to establish the cause of fullness. It can be:

• regular swelling of the limbs;
• genetic predisposition;
• gait;
• accumulated fat.

Top 7 exercises for calf muscles

Exercises for the calf muscles for women at home are selected in such a way as to sufficiently work out exactly that muscle group that gives the legs a relief outline. This can only be achieved through regular physical activity that targets the problem area.

The recommended complex consists of exercises that most effectively work the muscles, help lose weight in the lower leg and form slender legs at home:

1. Calf raise;
2. Rolling from toes to heels;
3. Walking on your heels;
4. Raising your toes while sitting on a chair;
5. Squats with a load;
6. Pistol.
7. Jumping rope;

You can perform this set of exercises every other day. Warm up before doing it. It is recommended to include exercises such as:

• Active jumps;
• Lunges;
• “Bicycle” in a lying position or “Scissors”;
• Rotate the foot clockwise and counterclockwise;

Also, to warm up, you can simply massage your calves with active movements. Well, you can complete the workout with static exercises, for example, the “Chair” exercise.

Calf raise

This is a great stretch for the calf muscles. It is recommended to start the complex with it.

1. We stand facing the wall close and lean on it with our hands at chest level. We step back from the wall one and a half steps without lifting our hands.
2. We rise and fall on our toes, transferring our body weight to them. The body should form a straight line.
3. If you round your back and lower your head, the load on your calf muscles will be minimal.

We perform ten times in three to four approaches.

Another excellent method for burning fat from a problem area is walking up the stairs . An alternative could be “Stepping onto the platform”, which has 3 types of execution.

Rolling from toes to heels

The muscles of the lower leg and foot work.

1. We stand straight, shoulders straightened. We place our feet shoulder width apart.
2. We rise on our toes and roll onto our heels as much as possible, lifting our toes off the floor.
3. We try to keep the body straight and maintain balance.

We perform ten times in three to four approaches. We increase the number of exercises with each workout and bring it to seventy.

Walking on your heels

The muscles of the lower leg, thighs and buttocks work.

A useful and effective exercise that can be done several times a day. It will help make your calves and thighs slender and your gait easy.

1. Stand on your heels, raise your toes as high as possible.
2. We walk on our heels in small steps, keep our body straight, and don’t lower our head.

To begin with, you can do three sets of ten steps. Gradually increase to ninety steps.

Seated calf raise with weights

The soleus muscle gets a good workout. The muscles of the buttocks and thighs work.

1. We sit on a chair, our back is straight, we form a right angle at the hip and knee joints .
2. We lift the heels and toes off the floor one by one, rolling the foot with maximum amplitude.

We do the exercise at a slow pace for ten exercises - three approaches.

It is recommended to use a weight that must be placed on your knees. For example, dumbbells or several one and a half liter bottles of water, fastened together with tape. To begin, take three bottles. In subsequent workouts, we increase the load, gradually attaching one bottle at a time with tape.

Squats with dumbbells

Squats are a great way to work the area we need. There are as many as 7 types of different squats. How to pump up a girl’s calves even more effectively? Squat with weights. The main load goes to the soleus and calf muscles. You cannot enlarge your calves without developing your soleus muscle.

Therefore, be sure to use this exercise in order to work out the lower leg muscles well and give them relief.

1. Take dumbbells in your hands.
2. Start squatting with a straight back until your knees form a right angle.
3. Hands with dumbbells move from the hip joint to the knee joint and back.

Also check out the effective 30-day squat routine.
Carefully! The buttocks should not be lowered too low, otherwise the main load will go to the knee joint, which can create a risk of injury. Also, the emphasis of the load will be shifted from the lower leg to the gluteal muscles.

Pistol Squats

The main load falls on the gluteal, calf and soleus muscles.

We perform squats first on one leg, then on the other. If you haven’t done physical exercise for a long time, then you won’t be able to do it the first time, but with subsequent training you can successfully master the “pistol.” To do this, it will be necessary to work out the leg muscles well, using exercises for all muscle groups of the lower extremities.

Watch the video for more details:
Caution! When performing the exercise, there is a very large load on the knee joint! Exercise of a high level of difficulty. Included in the training program of professional athletes.

Jumping rope

Gives a good workout of the main muscle groups and helps to lose weight of the calf muscles in women and reduce the appearance of thighs. The main load goes to the lower leg muscles. We train the cardiovascular system, increase the overall tone of the body, and improve metabolism!

How to reduce inflated calves

Over-pumped calf muscles are an equally serious problem that arises from excessive stress on the legs (you can pump up the calf muscles if you set aside minimal time for stretching). How to reduce calves if they are overly pumped:

• Exercise 1: sitting on the floor, tilt your legs towards your toes, pull your toes towards you, then away from you. Hold them in each position for one minute. Perform 3 approaches - this way you can reduce the volume of the problem area by 1 - 2 centimeters.
• Exercise 2: In a standing position, bend one leg, put the other one slightly forward, pull the toe towards you, bend towards the straight leg, stand in this position for 30 seconds, then change legs. This exercise will help reduce the problem area after 5-6 sessions.

You can reduce inflated calves if:

• reduce the load on your legs;
• exclude long-term performance of the same type of exercises;
• Replace running with walking;
• Before each workout, stretch your muscles well;
• periodically resort to drying.

Massage

Regular calf massage will help release congestion, which will reduce the volume. It is used not as an independent measure, but to increase the effectiveness of stretching, proper nutrition and exercise. To obtain the desired result, you should undergo at least 9-10 sessions.

The direction of smooth, leisurely massage movements is from the feet to the knee. Before the session, you must use massage oil. The procedure is performed like this:

1. The massage begins with light stroking of the calf muscles for 3-4 minutes from bottom to top.
2. They move on to kneading the muscles, grabbing them one by one with their hands, stretching and relieving tension.
3. Start the drainage movement: grab the ankle with both hands and pull it upward with tension. Repeat 3-4 times.
4. Finish the treatment by stroking for 2-3 minutes.

How to quickly lose weight in your calves

If the calf muscles appear thick due to the accumulation of excess fat, it is recommended to go on a diet to reduce them. In addition, it is recommended to exclude fatty and spicy foods from the diet, foods containing carbohydrates, vegetable fats, climb the stairs every day, and control the amount of water you drink per day. A set of specially selected exercises that can be performed at home will also help you quickly lose weight in your calves.

Wraps

To reduce the volume of calves, wraps are used. Such procedures are recommended to be carried out in the evening for complete muscle relaxation. Before wrapping, you should take a warm shower/bath, cleansing the skin and opening the pores. Afterwards you need to apply the composition in a layer of medium thickness. For wrapping, cling film is used, with a towel on top. Leave for 30–60 minutes, rinse, apply any moisturizer to the skin.

Wraps accelerate metabolic processes, stimulate the removal of excess fluid from the body, and accelerate the breakdown of fat deposits. To reduce the volume of calves at home, you can prepare the following compositions:

• Mustard-honey. Mix 2 tbsp. l. mustard powder with 2-3 tbsp. l. water. Enter 3 tbsp. l. honey, 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.
• Honey-sea. Steam 2 tbsp. l. honey, mix with 2 tbsp. sea ​​salt. The composition is not recommended to be used more than once a week.
• Honey-butter. Mix 2 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. grape seed oil. Before use, warm up using a water bath.

Exercises for calves

Pay attention to the beautiful legs of ballet dancers or gymnasts - their calf muscles do not contain anything superfluous and can be considered the standard of beauty and perfection. The following exercises to reduce your calves will help you quickly solve the problem:

• you need to stand up straight, spread your legs hip-width apart, take a deep breath, and as you exhale rise on your toes (at first it is recommended to perform this exercise for the calves 20 times, over time the number of repetitions can be increased to 30 to reduce the problem area by a few centimeters);
• Having taken the same position, spread your feet to the sides, transfer your body weight to one leg, bend the other at the knee, inhale, rise onto your toes, do the exercise alternately on each leg at least 15 times.

Causes of full calves and features of working with them

To reduce the size of your calves, you need to try to understand the causes of this problem. The matter may be a hereditary predisposition and a particular physique, in which the entire figure will be dense and stocky. In this case, you will have to work for a long time, but you can still get results.

Also, the shins may increase in size due to varicose veins and fluid retention. Pay attention to symptoms such as severe fatigue in your legs in the evening, a feeling of heaviness and burning in them.

Too full calves can be a consequence of excess weight, as well as uneven weight loss. First of all, volumes disappear from the arms, chest and abdomen, but problem areas in the lower body may remain rounded, despite constant efforts.

Having determined what is causing the fullness of your calves, you must fight the cause. Most often, you need to reconsider your diet and lifestyle, move more, and drink enough clean water.

In addition, if you want to reduce your shin, you can't do without exercises aimed specifically at this area. There are special complexes that are recommended to be supplemented with stretching exercises, thanks to which the muscles will become elastic and toned. The calves themselves are strong and resilient muscles, it is thanks to them that we can move throughout the day. Because of this, they are difficult to correct. To achieve results, you need to exercise regularly - at least 2-3 times a week . It is also important to choose the right set of exercises.

Calf stretch

How to remove calves on legs using this method? To begin with, as experienced trainers advise, you need to thoroughly warm up your muscles to prepare them for intense exercise. Otherwise, you may get injured or sprained. It is recommended to perform the following exercises daily:

• exercise 1: stand facing the wall, step back with one leg, fix the heel, roll the body forward so that the knee moves towards the wall, hold the position for thirty seconds, repeat with the other leg;
• exercise 2: sit on the floor, stretch your legs, bend over, straighten your back, lean on your hands from behind, fix the pose for thirty seconds (this stretching of the calves will help relax tight muscles and make them more flexible).

Helpful Tips for Reducing Calves

Properly selected exercises for losing weight in the calf muscles and a balanced diet will help give you relief and remove fat deposits. To reduce the volume of the lower legs, it is recommended to follow some recommendations:

• take regular breaks from training;
• After exercise, stretch;
• start your workout with a warm-up;
• do not wear high-heeled shoes;
• step on your foot correctly when walking: the weight should move from heel to toe.

Drying the calf muscles

How to reduce calves this way? It is necessary to change the mode of water consumption and nutrition. At the same time, do not forget that drying the calf muscles is not losing weight, but getting rid of subcutaneous fat while maintaining muscle mass. Fats and carbohydrates, which are deposited in the form of liquid, creating unnecessary volume, should be excluded from the diet. The fewer carbohydrates a person consumes, the faster fat is burned. To improve the effect, it is important to use various aids and vitamin complexes.

A little anatomy

The posterior group of muscles of the lower leg is represented by:

1. External and internal parts of the gastrocnemius muscle;
2. Soleus muscle.

The gastrocnemius muscle (also called the triceps muscle) is located above the soleus muscle and is attached to the heel using the Achilles tendon. These muscles perform important functions: the back surface of the lower leg produces forward and backward movement of the foot , and the anterior group of lower leg muscles provides it with a stable position while walking. These muscles, working together, bend the foot when walking. The calf muscles flex and extend the ankle joint and rotate it.

TOP 10 best exercises for legs - the most complete review in RuNet!

The calf muscles receive the greatest load during jumping, as well as when raising toes using weights. The soleus muscle gets a load when the knee is bent, so squats are a good way to train it. The gastrocnemius muscle is located above the soleus muscle - it is they who create the volume and shape of beautiful calves.

Calf liposuction

Before reducing your calves in this way, you need to evaluate all its pros and cons. What is calf liposuction? This is a surgical operation during which the shape of the calf muscles is corrected, allowing you to quickly reduce their volume without grueling training. It involves preliminary liquefying subcutaneous fat with a special solution and removing it from the body. Disadvantages of liposuction:

• the need to use anesthesia, which will help facilitate the operation and reduce pain;
• the presence of a number of contraindications;
• long recovery period;
• high cost of the procedure.

Causes of thick calves

In order to quickly and correctly get rid of large calves, first of all, you need to find out the main reason for their appearance and try to eliminate it.

The main “culprits” are an excessive layer of subcutaneous fat, too bulky muscles that appeared as a result of training or are a hereditary feature.

Genetics

If large shins are your genetic feature (you can verify this by looking at your parents and closest relatives), then it will be extremely difficult to reduce the muscles in your calves.

You can try to slightly change the proportions of the body and adjust the features of the anatomy.

For example, if you have a short Achilles tendon, which connects the back of your heel to your calf muscle, your calves will appear larger. This is due to the fact that the muscle has to stretch far downward to connect to the short tendon.

If the tendon is long, then the place where it connects to the muscle is located higher. As a result, the calf muscle “sits” high, the lower leg looks thinner and more graceful.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to lengthen the tendons.

The only thing that can be advised in this case is to avoid loads that provoke the growth of the calf muscles.

Gait and movements

Repeated activities day after day can affect the shape of your legs. For example, constantly walking on your toes, with your body weight resting on the forefoot (as when wearing heels), can cause your calf muscles to build up.

It is also worth analyzing your gait: if the rest of the leg muscles are weak, especially the tibialis anterior, the calves can compensate for the entire load, increasing over time.

The solution to the problem is comprehensive strengthening of the leg muscles.

Fat deposits

Another very common reason why calves look big. Each person has their own specific problem areas, from which fat is lost last.

If it's your calves and ankles, you'll have to be patient and persistent to achieve the legs of your dreams.

easy-lose-weight.info

Video: how to lose weight in your calves

The information you can get from the videos below will help you get skinny legs in a short time. The set of exercises and general rules that are recommended to be followed will be useful to all women who at least look perfect. If you follow these recommendations, you can achieve excellent results in one to two months.

Exercises for losing weight on calves

How to make your calves smaller.

How to lose weight in the lower leg

how to make shins thinner

Nutritionist advice

In addition to mandatory exercise, you need to reconsider your diet. Stick to your diet strictly.

If a woman dreams of slender legs, then first of all it is necessary to burn the existing fat, and not lose what comes back every day as a result of poor nutrition.

Completely avoid: fast food, mayonnaise, sauces, ketchup, fatty meats, alcohol, carbonated drinks, dairy products with a high percentage of fat, fried, smoked, salty, spicy foods

• You can't eat before bed. The last meal should be taken 3-4 hours before going to bed.
• Breakfast must be nutritious in order to activate the metabolic process and give the body a boost of energy for the whole next day.
  Ideal for a morning meal are oatmeal with bananas and honey, buckwheat with dried fruits or whole grain bread with boiled meat and cottage cheese.
• Lunch should also be moderately high in calories, since there is still a lot of time left until the evening. It is not advisable to eat a variety of sweets at this meal. It's best to eat fresh vegetables, a stew, boiled poultry, or a bowl of vegetable soup.
• Dinner should be given special attention and treated most strictly. It is best if the evening diet is protein, for example, steamed poultry fillet, low-fat boiled fish, cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, egg whites.
• Drinking should be plentiful. The best option is still mineral or filtered water.
• Snacks between main meals are highly undesirable. If you begin to feel severe hunger, you can drink no more than a glass of kefir and natural yogurt

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Nutrition adjustments

There is no special diet for reducing calves. You can choose a diet yourself or with the help of a nutritionist, but take into account several important nuances:

1. Counting nutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) and calories for each meal. Your goal is to burn fat. Therefore, the menu should contain more proteins and less fats and carbohydrates.

1. Carbohydrates are consumed in the first half of the day. Only vegetables and protein foods 2-3 hours before bedtime.

1. To lose weight, you need to maintain a daily calorie deficit. For example, the average daily calorie intake for girls aged 20-30 years is 2000 calories, for girls aged 31-50 years – 1800. It needs to be reduced by 300-500 calories.

To improve metabolism and prevent excess calories from being deposited in the fat depot, you need to increase the number of meals. This is 4-5 times at the same time.

What can you eat

Eat slow carbohydrates. These are those that slowly break down and gradually feed the body with energy. These include brown rice, buckwheat, durum wheat pasta, whole grain bread, bran bread, and almost all types of cereals.

Your menu should include enough protein. These include meat, fish, nuts, eggs and dairy products. Eat lean meats: rabbit, chicken (fillet), turkey, veal and beef without fatty layers.

Include fiber in your diet. It coats the walls of the stomach, prolonging the feeling of fullness in the body, and also helps remove toxins and harmful substances. The main sources of fiber are greens, vegetables, fruits (no more than two, as they contain a lot of sugar), bran, and whole grain bread.

Eat the right fats. Many people think that fat makes them fat. In fact, fats play an exceptional role for the body; without them, the absorption of many vitamins and other beneficial substances is simply impossible. But this applies to the right fats. Nuts, seeds, fatty fish, flaxseed and olive oil, and avocado are especially useful.

Don't forget about water balance. Drink more clean, unboiled water. Avoid coffee, alcoholic and carbonated drinks.

What not to eat

Avoid fast food, salty, fatty, fried and smoked foods. Steam, bake or boil foods.

Avoid mayonnaise, sauces, and ketchups. Instead, use natural yogurt as a dressing.

Forget about unhealthy sweets. Replace sweets, pastries, desserts with honey, dried fruits, dark chocolate, fitness bars and plain ice cream.

Fighting excess leg size

Before you start studying the question of how to reduce the volume of your legs , be sure to identify the key reasons that led to such an unpleasant phenomenon. It is no secret that the muscles in the calves are the most powerful and frequently used, since they take an active part in our daily life in almost any physical activity. For example, if we simply walk or run, such muscles provide vertical holding of the torso and balance. If the condition of the calves is not good enough, the problem can be solved in different ways. However, it is important to find the predetermining factor in advance and only then begin to fight against voluminous legs.

With the right approach, every willing lady can quickly burn excess weight and reduce the thickness of pumped-up calf muscles, which will make her more attractive, beautiful and slender.