Weightlifting - how do I do it without bulking up?
October 5, 2006 12:41 PM Subscribe
Weightlifting - how do I do it without bulking up?
Yes, I know that women are not supposed to get bulky muscles when they lift weights, but I do.
I had been doing 3 sets of 15 reps, twice a week, along with aerobic activity. In order to reach the exhaustion point, I had to continuously increase the amount of weight I was lifting, to the point where I was lifting as much as some of the men around me at the gym. And had the big muscles to show for it.
I stopped lifting about halfway through August and now find myself a dress size smaller (I kept up with the aerobic stuff).
However, I miss having tone and would like to start including some sort of resistance training, or anything, to get some (but not too much) definition.
Oh - and I'd like to avoid spending too much time in the gym! I'm sick of that place!
Yes, I know that women are not supposed to get bulky muscles when they lift weights, but I do.
I had been doing 3 sets of 15 reps, twice a week, along with aerobic activity. In order to reach the exhaustion point, I had to continuously increase the amount of weight I was lifting, to the point where I was lifting as much as some of the men around me at the gym. And had the big muscles to show for it.
I stopped lifting about halfway through August and now find myself a dress size smaller (I kept up with the aerobic stuff).
However, I miss having tone and would like to start including some sort of resistance training, or anything, to get some (but not too much) definition.
Oh - and I'd like to avoid spending too much time in the gym! I'm sick of that place!
Get a set of resistance bands. With a little bit of creativity, some stationary objects like trees or pillars or heavy furniture, and a set of two or three bands of differing lengths, you can replicate every single free weight exercise from the gym. I always keep a set handy if I can't get to the gym to get me through. You can alter the weight/tension by simply increasing the distance the band has to move. They are especially useful for doing exercises targeting the delts/lats/biceps/triceps, and it is easy to use them so that they don't provide SO MUCH resistance that bulk/weight gain is the resulting development.
posted by vito90 at 12:55 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by vito90 at 12:55 PM on October 5, 2006
LunaticFringe has it. Tone means light weight very high reps. Or, pilates is very good for tone, as long as you keep up the aerobics. Also, something like kickboxing or swimming are both very good for overall muscle tone without bulk. You do not need to reach exhaustion to maintain tone. Reaching exhaustion means tearing the muscle so that it will be forced to rebuild. This is how you get bulk. To keep tone, you just need to keep the muscle working to keep the heart rate up to burn fat and make the muscle leaner.
posted by spicynuts at 12:57 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by spicynuts at 12:57 PM on October 5, 2006
I would not worry, unless you notice yourself bulking up a la Jessica Biel. Without steroids you won't look like Miss Olympia. Women simply (99% of them) cannot bulk up and look all muscle-y armed. Don't worry you won't wake up one day and look like a freak of nature. Keep with the weight lifting and it will increase your tone until you reach the upper limits of your genetic limitation to grow muscles naturally.
posted by geoff. at 1:15 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by geoff. at 1:15 PM on October 5, 2006
Women simply (99% of them) cannot bulk up and look all muscle-y armed.
That's false - women certainly can bulk up every bit as much as men, if they hit the gym hard. Most women opt for more cardio and exercises that build more tone, though.
posted by chrisamiller at 1:18 PM on October 5, 2006
That's false - women certainly can bulk up every bit as much as men, if they hit the gym hard. Most women opt for more cardio and exercises that build more tone, though.
posted by chrisamiller at 1:18 PM on October 5, 2006
I might suggest doing excercises like pushups, pullups, dips, situps, etc that use your own body weight as resistance.
posted by ro50 at 1:21 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by ro50 at 1:21 PM on October 5, 2006
Use a pulley.
posted by pierrepressure at 1:22 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by pierrepressure at 1:22 PM on October 5, 2006
When you say "bulked up", how bulked up do you mean? Do you mean you have tone, or you are seriously, seriously developing ripped-ness?
Anyway, Pilates and Yoga are the mainstays for developing long, lean muscles (toned ones) as opposed to bulky ones. Body-weight exercises are also good for this--if you're lifting that much weight, you may be able to do pull-ups. Pull-ups, push-ups, squats, kip-ups . . . Useful thing is, you can do these most anywhere and don't need a gym.
posted by Anonymous at 1:22 PM on October 5, 2006
Anyway, Pilates and Yoga are the mainstays for developing long, lean muscles (toned ones) as opposed to bulky ones. Body-weight exercises are also good for this--if you're lifting that much weight, you may be able to do pull-ups. Pull-ups, push-ups, squats, kip-ups . . . Useful thing is, you can do these most anywhere and don't need a gym.
posted by Anonymous at 1:22 PM on October 5, 2006
;)
posted by pierrepressure at 1:23 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by pierrepressure at 1:23 PM on October 5, 2006
The routine you describe - constantly upping the weight you lift, lifting to exhaustion, is designed to build muscle. You're constantly pushing your body and strengthening it.
I think not bulking up is as simple as turning your routine down a bit; lift less often, don't increase the weight, do fewer reps.
posted by crabintheocean at 1:24 PM on October 5, 2006
I think not bulking up is as simple as turning your routine down a bit; lift less often, don't increase the weight, do fewer reps.
posted by crabintheocean at 1:24 PM on October 5, 2006
Um, I don't think this is complicated. You worked to exhaustion until your body said, "Oh, we're working hard, looks like we need more muscle."
Once you have the amount of muscle you like, don't make your body work harder. Maintain the regime you'd been doing, even if it doesn't exhaust you. That's the point, actually. Your body is building muscle so it can handle what you throw at it without getting tired. By continually throwing more at it, you make it build more muscle. Am I missing something here?
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 1:29 PM on October 5, 2006
Once you have the amount of muscle you like, don't make your body work harder. Maintain the regime you'd been doing, even if it doesn't exhaust you. That's the point, actually. Your body is building muscle so it can handle what you throw at it without getting tired. By continually throwing more at it, you make it build more muscle. Am I missing something here?
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 1:29 PM on October 5, 2006
This is very simple.
You have fat and you have muscle.
More muscle/less fat = more tone.
Stimulate the muscles, they grow.
Have a deficit of calories in a day, less fat.
You've lost a dress size due to a reduction of hypertophy of the muscles (a fancy way to say you lost some muscle mass.) If you want to maintain your strength...don't increase the load.
If you want to look more "tone" - this really means that you liked the definition (from the larger muscles). Since you've lost some of that, you'll have to lose more fat.
posted by filmgeek at 1:50 PM on October 5, 2006
You have fat and you have muscle.
More muscle/less fat = more tone.
Stimulate the muscles, they grow.
Have a deficit of calories in a day, less fat.
You've lost a dress size due to a reduction of hypertophy of the muscles (a fancy way to say you lost some muscle mass.) If you want to maintain your strength...don't increase the load.
If you want to look more "tone" - this really means that you liked the definition (from the larger muscles). Since you've lost some of that, you'll have to lose more fat.
posted by filmgeek at 1:50 PM on October 5, 2006
Tone vs. Strength By Diane E Gagnon, M.Ed., PT (Physiotherapist)
"Fitness experts and health clubs will tell you they are "improving muscle tone", when they are actually reducing the amount of fat to lean body mass ratio."
posted by jacobjacobs at 1:58 PM on October 5, 2006
"Fitness experts and health clubs will tell you they are "improving muscle tone", when they are actually reducing the amount of fat to lean body mass ratio."
posted by jacobjacobs at 1:58 PM on October 5, 2006
I'm going to have to disagree with the assertion that women can bulk up just as much as men. Women lack testosterone in the amounts that would allow them to bulk up and become ripped. If she works out hard everyday by weight lifting she will look like the average woman in a fitness magazine. Toned and fit but not ripped. I don't know what she means by "bulking up", but she will by no means have arms of a quarterback. I would not consider this bulked up but I am going to guess that is the outer limits of what one can do if they work out like crazy. Again I doubt the poster works out nearly as much as a celebrity (I've heard of crazy amounts of time in the gym and diets that only those who can devote their entire day to such ventures can achieve).
posted by geoff. at 2:03 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by geoff. at 2:03 PM on October 5, 2006
In order to reach the exhaustion point...
I think you need to stop trying to do that with weights. Get that buzz from your aerobics instead.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:13 PM on October 5, 2006
I think you need to stop trying to do that with weights. Get that buzz from your aerobics instead.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:13 PM on October 5, 2006
Oh my. Be careful when people start talking about muscle tone and long, lean muscles. filmgeek and jacobjacobs gave good answers, though. Don't drop the weight training. Everyone should really do some strength training for health and well-being (helps with bone density, too!). If the muscle you're building is making you larger than you'd like, you'll need to address diet. Eat less and you'll lose fat, not build as much muscle, and get smaller. Lifting weights while eating less will help to ensure that you predominantly lose fat and gain the definition you're looking for.
posted by Durin's Bane at 3:49 PM on October 5, 2006
posted by Durin's Bane at 3:49 PM on October 5, 2006
Wow, I can't believe that article on Jessica Biel. I don't know what the people who publish that site want her to look like, but they don't want her looking fit and strong apparently.
Without heavy supplements, training for hours a day and possibly steroid use, you're not going to turn into a vein popping flat chested professional bodybuilder type.
Focus more on cardio, stop increasing the weights, and stop pushing yourself to the limits when you do weights. Smaller weights, lots and lots of weights.
I know a couple of women who hit the gym but worry about bulking up, and they are not bulky at all.
My partner trains for athletics for 3 hours a day, hard weight training. She's very muscular, but not mannish.
Some of her fellow athletes worry about being perceived as not being feminine because they have strong upper bodies and you can tell they do a lot of strength training, but I have to admit that I (and many people I know) find athletic musculature highly attractive.
posted by tomble at 4:16 PM on October 5, 2006
Without heavy supplements, training for hours a day and possibly steroid use, you're not going to turn into a vein popping flat chested professional bodybuilder type.
Focus more on cardio, stop increasing the weights, and stop pushing yourself to the limits when you do weights. Smaller weights, lots and lots of weights.
I know a couple of women who hit the gym but worry about bulking up, and they are not bulky at all.
My partner trains for athletics for 3 hours a day, hard weight training. She's very muscular, but not mannish.
Some of her fellow athletes worry about being perceived as not being feminine because they have strong upper bodies and you can tell they do a lot of strength training, but I have to admit that I (and many people I know) find athletic musculature highly attractive.
posted by tomble at 4:16 PM on October 5, 2006
It's a lot simpler than you think. Have you ever noticed how much work men have to put into bulking up? How much time they spend in the gym, how much work they do there, how much they spend on supplements, and so on? How many of them end up turning to steroids to get where mere hard work couldn't take them? That's because it's really hard.
You will not accidentally bulk up. If you don't work your ass off at bulking up then it is not going to happen and you don't need to worry about it.
But don't take my word -- ask Krista. Specifically, read her stuff on the myths of weight training for women. Then read the rest of her site.
posted by mendel at 4:31 PM on October 5, 2006 [1 favorite]
You will not accidentally bulk up. If you don't work your ass off at bulking up then it is not going to happen and you don't need to worry about it.
But don't take my word -- ask Krista. Specifically, read her stuff on the myths of weight training for women. Then read the rest of her site.
posted by mendel at 4:31 PM on October 5, 2006 [1 favorite]
I find it improbable that the *only* change you made was to stop weightlifting for a month, and that caused you to lose a full dress size. Did you replace that weight lifting stuff with more cardio? Did you start eating less? Did your life get more active? 15 rep sets, even to exhaustion, shouldn't cause that much muscle gain, and to have a full dress size of muscle to lose, and lose it in such a short period of time...
Anyway, if you are the sort of person that sees those pictures of Jessica Biel and thinks she is extremely buff, then do some yoga or pilates or whatever and eat fewer calories. "Tone", after all, is a matter of visible muscle, which means low body fat. In general, even if you lift heavy, if you don't eat enough calories to gain weight you won't gain much muscle. If you find yourself "bulking up", check out your diet. You are probably eating too much.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2006
Anyway, if you are the sort of person that sees those pictures of Jessica Biel and thinks she is extremely buff, then do some yoga or pilates or whatever and eat fewer calories. "Tone", after all, is a matter of visible muscle, which means low body fat. In general, even if you lift heavy, if you don't eat enough calories to gain weight you won't gain much muscle. If you find yourself "bulking up", check out your diet. You are probably eating too much.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2006
im with mendel, everyone seems to be scared of becoming bulky.
but actually try and actively bulk for a period of time. it is VERY difficult. the amount of food you have to consume to get to a decent size is unreal.
if you aint eating the cals you are never gonna get big.
pushing yourself to the limit all the time probably aint the best route either.
toned = low body fat, its as simple as that
just get on a good diet do loads of cardio and a simple weight routine.
posted by moochoo at 12:46 AM on October 6, 2006
but actually try and actively bulk for a period of time. it is VERY difficult. the amount of food you have to consume to get to a decent size is unreal.
if you aint eating the cals you are never gonna get big.
pushing yourself to the limit all the time probably aint the best route either.
toned = low body fat, its as simple as that
just get on a good diet do loads of cardio and a simple weight routine.
posted by moochoo at 12:46 AM on October 6, 2006
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posted by LunaticFringe at 12:46 PM on October 5, 2006