Q. I have big, muscular legs (both calves and thighs). I know the bulk of it is muscle, not fat because they are solid when you pinch the area. I want to become a flight stewardess but the airlines here are strict when it comes to physical appearance. Is there any way that my calf muscles and thigh muscles could be made smaller with training? I know there are a lot of exercises for muscle-building, but I'd like to ask you for exercises for muscle-shrinking or any activity that can help reduce muscle mass.

There certainly are ways of decreasing the size of your muscles through exercise.

The best way you can do it is by utilizing very high rep sets (50 - 100 reps per set). This type of training can be done with pretty much any exercise you choose.

For exercise technique information, click here.

To properly explain the reasoning behind this training, you should first know that there are two basic types of muscle fibers: fast twitch and slow twitch. Fast twitch fibers are responsible for high-power, short-duration activity while slow twitch fibers are responsible for low-power, long-duration activity.

The basic idea behind this is to work the muscle fibers that are responsible for endurance activity (the slow twitch fibers). The fast twitch fibers are the ones that get bigger with training. From your description, I am guessing that you probably have a lot of fast twitch fibers.

The good thing is those fast twitch fibers can be converted into slow twitch (endurance) fibers with high rep training, such as I've
recommended.

Another thing you may wish to try is decreasing your protein intake (such as meat, milk, eggs, etc.) somewhat. Your muscles require protein to rebuild and recover. By decreasing protein, you will force your body to eat up some of it's own muscle tissue for this, further helping to reduce muscle size. This is especially important after a workout. Eat only carbohydrates such as grains, fruits, and vegetables after exercise.

Another option is to do the exercises then go for a jog. Running, coupled with the exercises and protein depletion, will help reduce muscle size.

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It does take a bit of time for the muscle fibers to change but it will happen if you stick to high rep training and lowered protein intake. How long it takes depends on how well you stick to your training but it will work.

You are not alone in wanting to diminish the size of your muscles. There are others out there!

Here is a simple test you can perform on yourself that will give you an idea of your muscle fiber composition. Do the test now and do it every two weeks or so after that.

• Find your one rep max for an isolation exercise for that muscle group. For example, if you want to test your quadriceps on your front thigh, do leg extensions, to test your hamstrings, do leg curls, and to test your calves, do standing calf raises.
  
• Find the weight that you can only do for 1 rep and remember that number.
  
• Take 80% of that weight and do as many reps as you can. Say your one rep max is 100 lbs. You would then use 80 pounds for the test.
  
• If you can do only 4 to 7 reps with that weight, you have mostly Fast Twitch fibers in that muscle.
  
• Around ten reps is the typical mix for a muscle.
  
• Doing 15 to 20 or more reps will be mostly slow twitch fibers.
  
• I would guess that your legs will be in the low, 4 to 7 rep range. With proper training, the numbers should start climbing up as some of your fast twitch muscle fibers convert to slow twitch fibers.