Muscular calves!!

**Jerzeebabie04** · 04-01-2009 02:51 PM

I've always been overweight & my calves have always been somewhat muscular. I just recently joined a gym & started a diet... I've been doing lots of cardio (they say do cardio to lose weight) but no matter what type of cardio I do (the tredmill, elliptical, aerobics classes) I feel like my calves are getting more muscular. They are just so big & rock hard & now I'm noticing when I put my jeans out... I have a harder time pulling the leg part over my calves. I dont want real muscular or masculine calves, but I want to continue with my cardio & diet.
If I keep losing weight will my calves get smaller? Or are they going to continue getting bigger with exercise? Someone please help!!!!

**sourpuss** · 04-01-2009 04:27 PM

What kind of exercise are you doing?

**Jerzeebabie04** · 04-01-2009 04:46 PM

I take an aerobics class, I do the elliptical machine, & the tredmill.

**ghanie** · 04-03-2009 01:53 PM

Female ballerinas and gymnists prevent muscle build-up by stretching a lot ... and they are super strong!

**caterpillar79** · 04-03-2009 10:11 PM

Know your body type/shape (pear, hourglass, ruler...) - you can search the net about it too. G is right about gymnasts and ballerinas, so go and stretch more. Make sure that you vary your routine. Consult a gym trainer, he should know how to help you.

**WildChild** · 04-04-2009 12:53 AM

You need to stretch and to stretch in the right way. Go online and look up Classical Stretch with Miranda Esmonde White. We get the show on PBS but you can order her DVDs. She is a former ballerina and trainer. She works with olymipic atheltes and pro sports players and teams. As part of her program she explains how to stretch to build long lean muscle rather than short bulky muscle. One thing I look for in a show or trainer, is does her body like what I want? She has a lovely, realistic shape, is an older woman in fantastic condition and her adult daughter is on some of her shows.

**Jerzeebabie04** · 04-04-2009 06:50 AM

thanks all! I will definitely have to stretch more & hope that it helps with these big calves. I hate having to struggle to pull jeans over calf muscles!

**WildChild** · 04-04-2009 08:23 AM

You have to stretch in the right way to do what you want. Check out Classical Stretch - that's the only way she does the stretch.

**ghanie** · 04-04-2009 10:57 AM

You might find Classical Stretch on youtube because she is broadcasted on PBS. It really isn't anything like those stretch warm-ups you might be doing on your own. It's also a workout that you can count as "mild stretching" on MFP because you are burning calories doing these stretches.

In her stretch for "High Performance Atheletes", she goes over which muscles are connected and how stretching or strengthening one muscle can relax another ... very useful information. I skip the first 3 minutes of the workout (arm stuff that wont apply to us). The rest I've been doing every other day this week but I'm switching back to every day because it really improves your performance and minimizes the after-workout ache.