Many runners are concerned about how their bodies look when running, and then other people will run just for their mental health and don’t mind how they look. I, for one, started running to lose some weight, but now I just run to clear my head and deal with life in general. I was never concerned with the question does running make your legs bigger as it all depends on the mindset that you have when you start out running.
When I started running, I aimed to get to 5km without stopping, but I had to follow a C25k program to get me there, and I have made some great friends along the way.
I will now answer the question does running make your legs bigger?
Does Running Make Your Legs Bigger? (Revealed)
Yes, running can make your legs look bigger, but running can also tone your legs.
If you are a sprinter, running will make your legs look bigger as we deal with all your fast twitch muscles so that you can sprint as fast as possible. Fast twitch muscles are bigger, making our quads appear much larger and more muscular. These fast twitch muscles work hard for a short period. When you watch the Olympic sprinters, they have all big muscles in their legs. The four muscles in their quads are used to drive them forward when sprinting.
If you are a normal long-distance runner, running won’t make your legs bigger as you use your slow twitch muscles. These muscles allow us to run for a long period, so they don’t have to work as hard, and they don’t make our legs appear bigger.
When running, most runners notice that their legs appear more toned as the fat is converted to muscle in their legs and body.
What Cardio Exercises Make Your Legs Bigger?
We can do many exercises to make our legs bigger if that is our aim.
There are different cardio exercises that you can do.
Mountain biking – Mountain biking develops your leg muscles
Hill cycling – Hill cycling develops your leg muscles as hill cycling is generally done standing on pedals, which means our leg muscles work harder.
Jumping rope- Jumping rope makes your legs bigger as all the work comes from your legs. We must be careful about what surface we are jumping on, as a very hard surface can cause shin splints.
Sprinting – Sprinting works our leg muscles hard, especially our quads, which will get bigger over time.
Kickboxing – When kickboxing, we use our legs. All the time spent kicking in training and in contact will make our legs bigger.
Strength Training To Make Legs Bigger
The best exercises that we can do in the gym to make our legs bigger are as follows:
Back Squats – are great strength training exercises to make our legs bigger.
We do a back squat as follows.
Place a barbell with the desired weight on the back of your shoulders
Take a deep breath
Keeping your back straight, push your hips back and bend your knees to squat down.
Once you have squatted as far as you can without your lower back rounding.
Push through both legs to reverse the motion and return to the start position.
Pause briefly to re-set and repeat for the desired number of reps.
Front squats – another great strength exercise for our legs
We perform front squats as follows
Begin with the barbell across the front side of your shoulders.
Place your fingertips under the barbell outside your shoulders and drive your elbows up.
Keeping your chest and core tight, bend at your hips and knees to lower into a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
Straighten your hips and knees to drive up to the starting position.
Pause briefly to re-set and repeat the desired number of reps.
Leg presses – are a brilliant exercise to make your legs look bigger
They are done as follows:
Before you start, add desired weight to each side of the machine. Feel free to adjust the weight if this is too heavy or too light.
Sit on the seat, and place your feet hips-width apart on the footplate.
Once your feet are in place, press the footplate with your feet as you release the safety latches.
With feet on the footplate, bend your knees, letting the footplate come towards your body. Once your knees are at a 90-degree angle, press the footplate back up and straighten your legs. Don’t lock out your knees.
Repeat desired number of reps.
Deadlifts
They are performed as follows
Stand with your mid-foot under the bar.
Bend over without bending your legs.
Drop into position by bending your knees until your shins touch the bar.
Straighten your back by raising your chest.
Take a big breath and brace your core (flex your abs and glutes). Lock your elbows and arms in position.
Push your feet into the ground and lift the bar. As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward to stand up straight and lock out your glutes.
Hamstring curls
Lie face down on the lying leg curls machine, stretching your legs out fully. The roller pad should rest just above the heels, a few inches over your calves. Grasp the support handles on each side of the machine.
Exhale and flex your knees, pulling your ankles as close to your buttocks as possible. Keep your hips firmly on the bench.
Hold briefly.
Inhale as you return your feet to the starting position in a slow and controlled movement.
Final Thoughts
Now that we know that the only way that we will get bigger legs running is by sprinting, we have also looked at the various cardio and strength exercises that we can partake in if it is bigger legs that we are looking for. Essentially if it is big legs that you are after, there are plenty of exercises that you can do. If there are other exercises, you would recommend, please leave your comment below.
