Getting My Quads... Smaller

[quote]Fiction wrote:
Sarpedon wrote:
Soccergod wrote:

I would appreciate any help you can provide about lengthening my leg muscles so that they slim out, particular in my inner quad area (the part that bulges in towards the center of the body) and in my gluteal area.

Thanks!

I’m pretty sure you can’t ‘lengthen’ a muscle, it’s attached at two fixed points?

or am i wrong…?

Sarps

Yes you are wrong. Flexibility lengthens a muscle. If you left your bicep in a constantly curled position for a year (say with a sling), the muscle would shorten and you would have a constantly curled bicep (until gravity stretched it back out).

This is why people who work desk jobs all day have poor hamstring flexibility–the muscle is shortened from being in a shortened position for most of the day.[/quote]

There’s no evidence to support this. Any muscle “lengthening” incurred from stretching is of negligable degree. The “shortening” you describe is merely a case of too much tension in the muscle.

There is no change in the physical properties of the muscle, it is just in a constantly contracted state. Stretching releases the tension and -hey presto- you no longer look like a curl junkie.

I did this for climbing. When I was 16, I was squatting 405 for 8 reps at 185 lbs and 5’6". My quads were very big compared to other body parts. Then, I decided I wanted to climb.

Climbing is hard when you have big legs, so I set out to shrink them down. To make a long story short, it came to NO SQUATTING or leg work other than running.

I would run for a while until I was really sweating and then deprive myself of water for like an hour. Months later, my quads were much smaller.

so can a muscle be shortened or not?

Sarps

and I don’t know why most people think your legs have to be tree trunks to be strong. it’s just not true.

[quote]duffyj2 wrote:
There’s no evidence to support this. Any muscle “lengthening” incurred from stretching is of negligable degree. The “shortening” you describe is merely a case of too much tension in the muscle.

There is no change in the physical properties of the muscle, it is just in a constantly contracted state. Stretching releases the tension and -hey presto- you no longer look like a curl junkie.
[/quote]

…? There is a major difference between resting muscle tonus and muscle length. Muscle and ligament length accounts for flexibility. I don’t think you read what I wrote.

Are you trying to suggest that desk jockeys have poor hamstring flexibility because they have excessive muscle tone?

[quote]In the physiology of vertebrates, including humans, the measurement of the achievable distance between the flexed position and the extended position of a particular joint or muscle group is called its “flexibility”, but this is more properly called its range of motion or range of movement.

In this sense, the flexibility of a joint depends on many factors, particularly the length and looseness of the muscles and ligaments due to normal human variation, and the shape of the bones and cartilage that make up the joint.

[quote]Sarpedon wrote:
so can a muscle be shortened or not?

Sarps[/quote]

Yes. If a muscle remains in a shortened position for an extended period of time, it will shorten. This is seen in many situations in which a joint is immobilized, say, after surgery.

[quote]StevenL wrote:
and I don’t know why most people think your legs have to be tree trunks to be strong. it’s just not true.[/quote]

I think you’re trying to say that powerlifting won’t increase your leg size as fast as bodybuilding.

However, it would be incorrect to say that strength isn’t directly related to the size of the muscle. As you make strength advances, you muscle will get larger.

[quote]Fiction wrote:
Sarpedon wrote:
so can a muscle be shortened or not?

Sarps

Yes. If a muscle remains in a shortened position for an extended period of time, it will shorten. This is seen in many situations in which a joint is immobilized, say, after surgery.[/quote]

The overall length of the muscle does not change. The range of motion of the joint changes because the stretch reflex causes contraction of the muscle at a different joint position.

No. Muscle tone is caused by myofibrilis. It is a resetting of the stretch reflex.

Isnt this the 3rd or 4th soccer guy to say “O, my legs are to big! Help!” really?

Yes I would like to know your measurements at 5’10 170lb. Im 5’10 195lb with a waist of 33"-34" and do have a hard time finding jeans that arent tight around my legs. So unless your waist is 29" or 30" and you have legs that are in the 22"+ range you shouldnt be having that much trouble.