Exercises and Tips for Thick Legs Small Upper Body Body Types

If you have naturally thick or bulky legs but your upper body is small and narrow, it’s not the ideal body aesthetic for most of us. This requires balancing the top and the bottom, where you build your upper body strength while defining your legs without excessive muscle. This article explores the best exercises and training techniques that can help you achieve a well-proportioned physique, so dive in to learn more about these workout tips!

Understanding Your Body Type

Having thick legs and a smaller upper body usually means that you might have a lower body-dominant physique. This is influenced by genetics, muscle distribution, and lifestyle factors and people with this body type may naturally store more muscle or fat in the legs and hips while having a leaner torso and arms.

In some cases, people also have a long-term condition called lipedema is a long-term where there’s an excess buildup of fat in your butt, thighs, and calves which results in big thighs and wide legs. . It may also affect hips and upper arms sometimes, but not the hands or feet.

So if you’re looking to create a balanced physique, the two things to focus on are lower body training to tone your legs without inducing too much muscle hypertrophy, and upper body development where you incorporate strength training for muscle growth in your chest, shoulders, arms, back, etc. Once you better understand your body and its type, you can tailor workout routines and plans for the most efficient outcome.

Related article:

Transforming Skinny Legs Big Upper Body: Tips for Balanced Proportions

Upper Body Workout for Women With Broad Shoulders: A Slim and Reduce Guide

Building Strength and Muscle in Upper Body

Adding some muscle to the upper body is one of the major steps to achieve a more proportionate physique, and below are some of the most effective exercises that target different muscle groups.

1. Push Ups

How to do:

1. Start in a Plank Position – Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, keeping your body in a straight line from head to heels.
2. Lower Your Body – Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor while keeping your core engaged and back straight.
3. Push Back Up – Press through your palms to straighten your arms and return to the starting position.

2. Overhead Press

How to do:

1. Starting Position – Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell or dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing forward.
2. Press Up – Engage your core and press the weight straight overhead until your arms are fully extended.
3. Lower Slowly – Control the weight as you bring it back down to shoulder height.

3. Bent-Over Rows

How to do:

1. Starting Position – Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell or dumbbell with an overhand grip. Slightly bend your knees and hinge at your hips, keeping your back straight.
2. Row the Weight – Pull the weight toward your lower ribcage, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
3. Lower Slowly – Extend your arms fully to return to the starting position in a controlled motion.

4. Bicep Curls

How to do:

1. Starting Position – Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells or a barbell with palms facing forward.
2. Curl the Weight – Keep your elbows close to your torso and lift the weight toward your shoulders by bending your elbows.
3. Lower Slowly – Control the descent as you straighten your arms back to the starting position.

You may also like:

Master the Incline Push-Up: A Guide to Building Upper Body Strength

Upper Body Toning Workout

Creating a Balanced Look for Your Lower Body

When it comes to the lower body and especially your legs, you should focus on toning and defining them without adding on excessive muscle mass. To accomplish this, train in higher-rep and lower-weight exercises.

1. Lunges

How to do:

1. Starting Position – Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and hands on your hips or holding weights at your sides.
2. Step Forward – Take a big step forward with one leg, lowering your hips until both knees form 90-degree angles. Keep your back straight and core engaged.
3. Push Back Up – Press through your front heel to return to the starting position.

2. Deadlifts

How to do:

How to Do Deadlifts

1. Starting Position – Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of your thighs with an overhand grip.
2. Hinge at the Hips – Keep your back straight and push your hips back as you lower the weight down your legs, slightly bending your knees.
3. Lift Back Up – Drive through your heels, engage your glutes, and return to a standing position by extending your hips and straightening your back.

3. Squats

How to do:

1. Starting Position – Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly pointed out, and hands in front of you or holding weights.
2. Lower Your Body – Push your hips back and bend your knees, lowering yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground while keeping your chest up.
3. Push Back Up – Drive through your heels and extend your legs to return to the starting position.

Lower-body exercises:

Easy Lower Body Workout Routine

Guide to Mastering Cossack Squats for Flexibility and Strength

Healthy Lifestyle Habits

There are certain healthy lifestyle changes that you can make to help you develop and maintain your ideal physique:

Focus on balanced nutrition that includes a high-protein diet for muscle growth in your upper body, along with complex carbs and healthy fats for energy boost

Incorporate upper-body resistance training in your routine while maintaining lean, defined leg muscles with high-rep, low-weight exercises. Aerobic exercise can also help with reducing body fat to lose weight and improve overall health.

Train in moderate-intensity cardio like cycling, incline walking, or swimming to tone the lower body without excessive muscle growth and also help with managing weight gain.

For proper recovery, it’s essential to prioritize rest, sleep, and stretching so you can prevent muscle imbalances and also improve flexibility.

Achieving a balanced physique takes time so you need consistency and patience, so stay committed to a structured workout routine and healthy eating habits.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped understand your body type better. A healthy lifestyle with regular physical activity and a balanced diet is important for any physique you hope to achieve, whether it’s for weight loss or bodybuilding. You can also create a more balanced look by incorporating some styling and fitness tips which can also reduce the appearance of leg fat. For more tips and resources that can help you in your fitness journey, check out the JustFit app!