The treadmill is no longer an unfamiliar term to people who work out daily. Though it’s training indoors, it can support running activities and strengthens our muscles. Such a safer and private training option!
Despite bringing about great health benefits, many people doubt it can affect their body shape. So, does treadmill make your legs bigger? If this thought ever crossed your mind, you’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll unveil the secret behind this fact for you.
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Does Treadmill Make Your Legs Bigger?
No, it doesn’t. Running on a treadmill will increase the strength of your leg muscles, but it won’t cause them to become larger. Rather than muscular building, this exercise tones up your muscle by burning fat and offset any gains in muscular size from running. The body builds a slower twitch fiber with long, lean body mass overall through aerobic exercise such as walking, running, and cycling.
The more regularly you train with physical activity or any exercise, the faster your pace gets rewarded by visible results. You will see yourself with increased leaner legs, stronger glutes, and abs after hours of exercise workouts. Weeks later, these improvements manifest themselves most clearly.
Generally, your muscle will become bulky if you overload it with heavy resistance. People often use specific programs of progressive overloading, lifting weights for seconds to make it grow. It would not be the case on a treadmill since it doesn’t meet the requirements.
Instead, running on a treadmill will help you improve your legs’ fitness and make them stronger. The running session would enhance your muscular endurance – the contracting ability of the muscle through long periods.
Thereby enables muscular activity to contract and expand without getting them exhausted. Repeatedly running on this equipment will get your muscle adapted to long-hour training and become much stronger than it is.
Why Do I Still Feel My Legs Become Bigger When Using A Treadmill?
If your legs are larger than you want them to be, one possibility is that they are carrying more fat. It can appear on certain areas like thighs and hips rather than just under the belly button as well.
Our bodies prefer different areas to store fat, making us not lose weight and fat where we want. Thus, you might have difficulty reaching the body goal in the target zone. Some areas might carry more fats than others. So, you may notice the precise change in another unexpected area.
When you practice your legs, they will grow a little bit. The swelling effect occurs immediately because you’re replacing waste with nutrients inside. Then, it goes away after 30 minutes to an hour.
Once the swelling has recovered, your muscle will start building new fiber, and use that fiber wiser. Hence, you won’t see it become larger but more toned and leaner.
If you want to make your legs smaller while building muscle, the combination of exercise and diet is the key. Once they burn enough fat, you can notice your lean muscle defined.
What Factors Do Affect Your Leg Getting Bigger?
If not because of the treadmill, what are the reasons for increasing your leg size? The unexpected factors below might surprise you.
It Depends On Your Body Type.
Whether you can get those bulky legs or not depends on which body type you have. Let’s look at the three types: Ectomorphs, Mesomorphs, and Endomorphs.
Ectomorphs are those who find getting bulky muscles extremely hard. The task would seem impossible if they did not put great effort into heavy lifting. Meanwhile, Mesomorphs tend to build muscle and lose fat easily. In some cases, not all of them can achieve bulky muscle that easily.
These two body types would be jealous of the final type, Endomorphs. People with this body type have had muscular legs since their birth. Thus, they can build bulky muscles easier than ever.
Even so, training with a treadmill will surely help you lose fat and gain muscle in your legs!
It Also Depends On Your Muscle Fibers
There are two different muscle fibers. The slow-twitch muscles allow for longer endurance workouts. Fast-twitch ones, on the other hand, provide short bursts in energy like sprinting or HIIT sessions.
The number of fibers you have will determine your leg size. People who have lots of fast-twitch ones might build more mass than those who don’t have just by walking. Yet, someone with more slow-twitch fibers finds it more difficult to gain muscle. No matter how much effort they put into the heavy exercises, it all seems useless.
Genetics is one of the most important factors that impact how your legs will respond after running. Some people never gain muscle mass and lean out, while others build up significant strength with a short period of active engagement.
Hence, finding what works best for you by designing your exercise intensity level is key since there are no set rules.
How To Build Bigger Leg Muscles
If you want to gain bulky legs, let’s get right into the weight room. Do 12 repetitions or lesser per set with heavyweights and targeting exercises in this area. The National Strength Conditioning Association highly recommends performing 3-6 sets of 6-12 repetitions working out to stimulate their growth.
The best way of gaining more muscle is by upgrading the level of strength and resistance training program. Building bulk starts with breaking down muscle tissue through pushing against weights or other resistance exercises before it repairs itself using input energy. It then grows back stronger than ever.
Many people choose weight lifting to increase leg strength. It includes movements that target your fast-twitch muscles. These exercises can be squats with heavyweights, lunges, or jumping.
Resistance bands are another popular and affordable form of training. It’s ideal for those who don’t have much space at home or much time to go to the gym but still want a stronger lower body. You can use it anywhere to add intensity with minimal equipment.
These rubber pieces are well-designed to make workout sessions more intense by enhancing the resistance to a higher level. It’s like how chains work on weights machines or dumbbells in exercise classes available near you!
The problem of little leg muscles can come from an illness, lack of fitness, or other factors. If you are in this situation and want to improve it, walking and running on a treadmill might be a good start.
Yet, this exercise only works up to a certain point of leg growth limit unless we do strength training. The extra beneficial exercises may help you break it to make your legs bigger.
Conclusion
Now that you know the answer to the question – Does Treadmill Make Your Legs Bigger? The treadmill is not the reason, so don’t worry about being tired or sore after working out on it.
The key is knowing what types of exercises will work best for you and having a plan in place so you can stay on course. Make sure to read through all of these helpful suggestions, and then you can get healthier and more toned!
Good day, readers! My name is Jason Gwinn, a 35 years old man who specializes in physical fitness. With 15 years of experience being a personal trainer, I will help you conquer the fitness challenges. Besides guiding you through my unique workouts, I can also help you choose the best fitness equipment to assist you in achieving your goals and exercise regimen.
