I know there’s a lot of information on my blog regarding how to get lean legs and slim down muscular thighs. But I haven’t talked too much about calves.
And if you’ve looked at other health and fitness-related blog posts, chances are you haven’t found what you were looking for. Most of the content online that talks about calves is focused on what you can do to make them bigger and stronger. Not a lot of fitness trainers “dare” talk about how to slim down your calves.
Why is that so? Well, for most trainers, wanting to slim down any muscle group is a big no, no. Most personal trainers I talked to believe it’s not possible to get too bulky or too muscular, especially if you are a woman. You’ve probably heard the old “women don’t have enough testosterone to get bulky” story. And yeah, while it’s true that women don’t have as much testosterone as men, this still doesn’t mean women cannot build more muscle than they’d like.
Or even if they don’t tell you you don’t have enough testosterone, they’ll tell you “You shouldn’t aim to slim down, you should train to be strong and healthy.”
That’s what I used to hear ALL the time when I would tell someone from the fitness industry that I wanted to slim down my legs.
If you’ve read any of my blogs, then you know I don’t share these beliefs and opinions that women should train ONLY to be strong. I think women should be able to train for both health and aesthetic reasons. So if you are one of these women – welcome, I’m so happy to have you here! :)
OK, but coming back to the calves. Why haven’t I talked about calves before? Well, I haven’t talked about how to slim down calves because the main reason for big calves is genetic. Genetics play a big part in the shape and size of your calves and that’s hard to change.
But since I get a LOT of questions from women on how to lose calf fat and especially how to slim calf muscles, I decided to share what I know from my personal experience and what I learned as a fitness trainer.
If you’re wondering how to lose weight in calves, what the best workouts to slim down your calves are, and which workouts you should avoid, then this blog post is for you.
Let’s start by understanding the reasons why you may have big calves in the first place.
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WHY ARE MY CALVES SO BIG?
1. GENETICS
As I mentioned, genetics are a big factor when it comes to calf size. Let me explain.
The calf muscles are a group of powerful muscles located on the back of the lower part of your leg. The primary calf muscles are the gastrocnemius and the soleus, both of which contribute to the overall function and appearance of the calf.
These muscles play a crucial role in various everyday movements, including walking, running, jumping, and maintaining proper posture. So you use your calves during most everyday activities.
Calves tend to be naturally stronger and more developed in some people. This can be especially true for 2 out of 3 body types – Mesomorph and Endomorph body types.
Mesomorph and Endomorph are 2 out of 3 main Somatotypes. Somatotyping is a technique used to evaluate our body shape and composition. In general, the Endomorph body type has a higher body fat percentage than the other 2 types, a strong build and a larger frame.
People who have a Mesomorph body type are naturally athletic, they are muscular but usually have less body fat than Endomorphs. Lastly, there is the Ectomorph body type which is naturally slender and has less body fat and muscles than the other two body types.
Studies have even shown that the Endomorph body is the most common among rugby players (especially the ones that play defense) while volleyball and soccer players have more players with the Ectomorph/Mesomorph body type.
If you don’t know your own body type, I would highly recommend doing my free body type quiz. You’ll find out your body type and you’ll get tips on what’s the best diet and workout routine for your specific body type. You can find out your body type on the link below.
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- Complete the quiz in 2 minutes
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If you were born with naturally strong calves and haven’t done much exercise that could change the shape of your calves, chances are that you won’t be able to make super drastic changes to slim them down. But even if this is the case, smaller changes may still be possible.
In this blog post, I’ll share exactly what you can do to slim down your calves. Plus, I’ll tell you the exercises you should avoid if you don’t want to make your calves bigger and more muscular. (This is a mistake I see my clients making all the time before they come to me!)
RELATED POST: READ MY POST ON MESOMORPH GUIDELINES ON HOW TO GET LEAN LEGS
2.YOUR BODY COMPOSITION – FAT AND MUSCLE DISTRIBUTION
Your body composition (body fat percentage and how much muscle mass you have) is a second major factor that affects your calf size.
HIGH BODY FAT PERCENTAGE
If you have a high body fat percentage, it’s very likely that your calves appear bigger due to the fat that is stored there.
If your calf size is due to having a higher body fat percentage, then your response on how to lose calf fat is to lose fat all over. Losing weight will definitely help slim big calves.
But keep in mind that for women, the legs are the hardest place to lose fat, so it will take more time to see the results. But if you follow my tips and stay consistent, you should see results fairly quickly. :)
LOW BODY FAT – HIGH MUSCLE MASS PERCENTAGE
High fat percentage and genetics are not the only factors that affect the size of your calves. The type of workouts you do also affect your calf size. Women who are very fit and have a low body fat percentage can have very strong and defined calves.
If you’ve done a lot of workouts, especially workouts with heavy weights and high-intensity interval (HIIT) workouts, then it is very possible your calves have increased in size due to muscle (especially if you have a genetic predisposition for more muscular calves).
In that case, you can avoid certain exercises to prevent your calf muscles from getting bigger. I’ll talk about this below in more detail.
ARE MY CALVES MADE OF MUSCLE OR FAT?
It’s important to note that it is not super easy to build calf muscles unless you are a true Endomorph body type and you build muscle extremely easily. Calf muscles are used regularly in everyday activities so they need a lot of stimulation and repetitions to increase significantly.
If you’re not sure if your calves appear bigger from fat or muscle, there is an easy test for calves: flex your calves and touch them while keeping them flexed.
The hard bit is muscle. The soft part over the hard part is usually fat. That should be your starting point.
WHY DID MY CALVES GET BIGGER FROM WORKING OUT?
As I said, calf muscles are not that easy to grow but it’s definitely possible. So yes, it is possible that your calf size increased due to the type of exercise that you have been doing (even if you were doing exercises that supposedly slim down calves).
Blog posts and videos I’ve seen online, even the ones that claim to have the best workouts for slimming down calves, often advise doing workouts that will actually target your calves more and potentially make them bigger. The more you work your muscles, the bigger they get.
But don’t worry, I will tell you exactly which workouts you should do and which ones you should avoid if you want to slim down your calves.
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HOW TO SLIM DOWN YOUR CALVES – 3 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO TO MAKE YOUR CALVES SMALLER
If your calves were previously slim and exercise was the reason they bulked up, then you can definitely get them back to the way they were before.
Or even if your calves were bigger before you started working out and they grew even more due to exercising, stopping the workouts that bulked you up, should help you reduce the size of your calves.
There are 3 things you need to do to get smaller calves:
- Stop doing whatever exercises made your calves muscular in the first place.
The main way to reduce your calf muscles is by using them as little as possible and giving your muscles a chance to reduce on their own. I’m going to list the type of training + the exact exercises that you should avoid doing below. - Do more low-intensity cardio
This will also help you lose excess fat on your lower half without building extra muscle. - Focus on losing weight overall
This will help you lose excess fat on your lower half. To do this, you need a good diet and consistent exercise that doesn’t cause calf bulkiness.
STEP 1: STOP DOING EXERCISES THAT ARE MAKING YOUR CALVES BIGGER INSTEAD OF SMALLER
All the exercises below are great for overall fitness and fat loss, but if your main goal is to slim your calves, then you should try to avoid:
1. AVOID HIGH-INTENSITY CARDIO
High-intensity cardio such as running can actually build some muscles in your calves. Of course, as we all know, running is great for your cardiovascular health and if you really enjoy it, please feel free to continue to do it.
That said, if it seems like your calves bulk up really easily, you might want to reduce your running (or at least avoid running on an incline) and opt for walking instead.
Also, running for a long duration (steady-state cardio) will not generally build a lot of muscle as much as sprinting does. So if you want to run, long-duration running is a better option.
But if you really don’t want to run and you don’t enjoy it, I have good news! You don’t have to (yay!). Walking is also great – it will slim your legs overall and won’t increase your calf size. Just make sure it’s on a flat surface! Walking on an incline will work both your calf and thigh muscles more and we want to avoid that.
RELATED POST: FIND OUT IF RUNNING MAKES YOUR LEGS BIGGER OR SMALLER
2. JUMP ROPE / SKIPPING IS NOT YOUR FRIEND
Lots of women ask me if skipping is good for slimming down legs. The answer is no, not really.
To slim big calves and legs in general, you really need to add walking to your routine.
Skipping uses mostly your calves, so constant jumping can bulk them up and can cause muscular calves. It’s one of the exercises that builds the most amount of muscle in your calves.
Don’t get me wrong, skipping is great exercise. And it’s super fun. So if you don’t care about calf size or building muscular legs – go for it! But if you do, it’s better to avoid it.
3. PLYOMETRIC (JUMP TRAINING) / HIIT EXERCISES ARE AWESOME BUT NOT IF YOU WANT SMALLER CALVES
As with skipping, jumping exercises like plyometrics and HIIT heavily use your calf muscles and can make them bigger.
If you love HIIT, then you don’t necessarily need to stop. I’m also a huge HIIT fan. And I found a way to do it so it doesn’t bulk up any part of my legs (calves included).
If your focus is on making your calves smaller, then just try to avoid HIIT exercises that involve a lot of lower-body jumping exercises. These include exercises such as jump squats, jump lunges burpees, and anything that results in you landing heavily on your feet.
I have some no-jumping HIIT workouts on my blog and Instagram. You can check out one of them below:
4. DO NOT DO WORKOUTS THAT TARGET CALVES SPECIFICALLY
One of the biggest misconceptions that I noticed among my clients is the belief that they can slim down certain body parts by doing workouts designed specifically for those parts. This is known as spot-reducing.
Let me explain. :)
Women who want to lose fat from their inner thighs often ask me if doing inner thigh workouts 5 times per week will help. The answer is no. As studies like this one confirmed, you cannot really spot reduce fat. This means you cannot reduce fat in a specific spot by targeting muscles in that area. This will build muscle here, not target the fat here.
This also means you should not do calf workouts in order to lose fat from calves. It just won’t work. If you want to lose fat from calves, you need to lose fat all over.
I also often talk to women who want to slim down muscular thighs. I always hear the same thing from them, “I wanted to slim down my thighs and my trainer told me to do squats. But this only made my thighs bigger. :(“
And you know what, these women are 100% correct! By doing squats, they were targeting their quads, glutes, and hamstrings. And the more they worked those muscles, the bigger those muscles got.
The same principle goes for your calves. If you want to make them smaller you should avoid moves that will target your calves.
Moves to avoid if you want to slim down your calves:
- Standing calf raises
- Seated calf raises
- Elevated cal raises
- Bent-knee calf raises
- Single leg calf raises, etc.
And now that you know what you should NOT do, I will tell you what you should be doing for slimmer calves.
RELATED POST: READ MY GUIDE ON HOW TO LOSE INNER THIGH FAT
STEP 2: HOW TO SLIM CALVES WITH CARDIO – DO MORE LOW-INTENSITY CARDIO
I often mention the benefits of cardio for fat loss and lean legs.
Low-intensity cardio burns fat (and in some cases, even muscle) and will decrease your overall body mass. So it should be a part of your slim calves workout.
And do you know what the best low-intensity cardio workout is for slim legs? It’s walking! Try to walk as much as you can. I usually try to walk between 7,000-10,000 steps per day. Nothing helped me to slim down my legs like walking did! I swear by it!
RELATED POST: HOW TO GET LEAN LEGS – WHY YOU NEED CARDIO FOR SLIM LEGS
USE THE TREADMILL
Some women notice that their calves get smaller when they walk or run on a treadmill.
This is due to the fact that the treadmill moves underneath you, so you don’t need to engage your calf muscles as much as when running or walking outside when you need to push off the ground harder.
You may not experience any physical difference between running/walking outside or on a treadmill. It’s really up to the individual.
IF YOU ARE A RUNNER, ADJUST YOUR RUNNING TECHNIQUE
I already mentioned that running may add to calf bulkiness for some women. But if this is not your case and you enjoy running, just make sure to adjust your running technique. Avoid running on your toes, as you will use your calves more this way. Run with a heel-to-toe strike motion and use supportive shoes.
RELATED POST: FIND OUT IF WALKING OR RUNNING IS BETTER FOR FAT LOSS AND LEAN LEGS
Bonus tips:
- Toy could try fasted cardio (walking or running on an empty stomach). For some of my clients fasted cardio seems to be beneficial. Research is still inconclusive on whether fasted cardio helps with burning more fat than non-fasted cardio. I found a study from 2014 that indicates fasted cardio doesn’t burn more fat. But then again, I also read a study from 2016 that indicates the opposite. If you want to try it out, be careful not to do it if you have any hormone issues especially issues with high cortisol. This is exactly why I stopped doing fasted cardio. Whenever I would do it, I noticed that I didn’t feel very well. When I looked into it, I found this research that shows that when we exercise on an empty stomach glucose and insulin are low but levels of cortisol (stress hormone) are high. And since I already knew I had high cortisol I thought it was better to skip fasted cardio.
- Always walk and run on a flat surface. I cannot stress this enough. Walking and running on an incline will target both your calves and thighs more and make them bigger instead of smaller.
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STEP 3: SLIM CALVES BY LOSING WEIGHT OVERALL
When you lose weight, you will lose both fat and muscle, so that automatically means you might slim big calves too.
That said, as I already mentioned, you cannot spot reduce fat, so it all really depends on where you tend to store fat and where you lose fat from first.
Most women lose fat from their upper bodies first, and then their lower bodies. However, lots of power walking can help you increase fat loss from your lower body quicker. You can’t decide exactly where from your lower body you will reduce the fat, but the areas that store the most fat are the areas that will slim down the most :)
It helps to know your body type and how well you respond to certain exercise regimes. And of course, your diet is super important too!
ADJUST YOUR DIET FOR FAT LOSS
As I always say, you can’t out-train a bad diet. If you are eating unhealthy and you are not in a calorie deficit (meaning if you eat more calories than you spend), you won’t be able to lose weight. It doesn’t matter how hard you are training.
Remember – diet is the key to slimming down calves and losing weight overall; exercise comes second.
So, the first thing I’d recommend is figuring out what your ideal caloric intake is. You can use my FREE macros and calorie calculator to figure this out.
I usually recommend being in a slight calorie deficit, which means eating 200-500 calories less than you should eat if you want to maintain your weight. So for example, if your maintenance calorie intake is 2000 calories a day, I would recommend eating 1500-1800 calories per day.
If you are getting super hungry, then your calorie deficit might be too big. You only need a small deficit (i.e. 200 calories per day) to lose weight.
Plus, if your calorie deficit is too big, and especially if you’re eating below 1200 calories per day, you can damage your metabolism. This will make weight loss even harder and can also cause other health issues. So please just be mindful of that.
OK so, now you know that you should be in a slight calorie deficit. But what exactly should you eat? I recommend focusing on healthy, not overly processed foods. If you are not sure what eating healthy means and where to start, you can download my 7-day weight loss meal plan for free. It’s designed to help you get leaner and teach you how to adjust your diet for fat loss.
BEST EXERCISES TO SLIM CALVES (AND YOUR ENTIRE BODY)
As mentioned, you cannot spot reduce fat, even though that would be great!
Instead, you should do more workouts that will keep you lean and toned without adding too much bulk in the process.
Here are some tips:
1. DO MORE STRETCHING & FOAM ROLLING
If you’re used to doing much heavier workouts for your lower body, you can often ”shorten’’ your muscles due to repeated stress.
Stretching won’t necessarily help you lose calf fat, but it will help you loosen tight muscles and get you more flexible.
If you’ve done a lot of workouts that were targeting your legs, it might be that your muscles feel tight.
As a side effect, you can feel like your thighs and calf muscles are a bit loose and they might even appear slightly thinner.
2. TRY YOGA AND PILATES
Yoga and pilates-like workouts will keep you in shape without adding too much muscle in the process.
They particularly focus on having a strong core – which will improve your overall posture and keep you toned and in shape.
3. LEAN LEGS PROGRAMS FOR SLIMMING DOWN MUSCULAR LEGS AND CALVES
I should also mention that my Lean Legs Programs are designed to help you get a lean and toned body.
They are particularly focused on getting leaner legs, so the workouts will help you slim down calves.
There are three versions of the program, one for each of the 3 body types: Ectomorph, Endomorph and Mesomorph.
It will help you get slim and it will give you leaner legs without causing bulkiness – calves included. :)
We are also doing a special bundle deal on both Lean Legs Program for a discount. Your dream legs and calves are just a few steps away!
Love Rachael xx
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SOURCES:
- Women Don’t Have as Much Testosterone as Men – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4653185/
- Calf Muscle Anatomy – https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21662-calf-muscle
- Somatotype Distribution in Sports – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7694105/
- Why Is It Harder For Women to Lose Leg Fat – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11706283/
- Fasted Cardio – Beneficial or Not – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242477/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27609363/
- Fasted Exercise and Cortisol Levels – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4500013/
- Spot Reduction – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25766455/
