How can I get toned with strength training without looking bulky?

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  • sunnydays851
    sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
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    Well I don't want visible muscles (although if they are poking out
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    Oh geez! Again! I can't believe this is still an issue. Yeah, all I did was LOOK at a dumbbell and I just bulked up like you won't believe.
    I am pretty new at this. I usually have more common sense and assume correctly. I'm only human. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to make mistakes or be a bit ignorant once in a while. No need to be sarcastic.

    Don't feel bad. My now-fiancé had the same concern when we started dating and I mentioned lifting weights at the gym.

    Don't let the snark-monsters chase you off :)

    Your snark monster sentence cracked me up. I appreciate the support.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    ar9179 wrote: »

    Cathe Friedrich, not bulky.
    http://cathe.com/should-you-train-your-abdominals-every-day

    You have to train and diet rigorously to get that really muscled look. It's not going to happen by accident. Ok, I'll add the caveat that it won't happen to most. We are a species of rare exceptions.

    I second the "Body by You" or "You are Your Own Gym" recommendations for your circumstances.

    I think it really depends on your definition of bulky. For me, that's bulky, and I don't want to look like that.

    And right now I'm at the limit of what I'm ok with my arms to look like, but I still have too much fat around my midsection, so oh well.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    I'd call http://cathe.com/should-you-train-your-abdominals-every-day toned rather than bulky, but different strokes and all that.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Cathe Friederichs BULKY???? Now I have heard it all....LOL.....
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    Well I don't want visible muscles (although if they are poking out a little I won't mind) but I guess that would be a bit of an exaggeration. In case you are wondering, I don't look good with muscles so therefore I don't desire them. I just want to look toned.

    You know that 'toning' is lowering your body fat to reveal the muscle underneath, right? You can't be 'toned' and not have visible muscles.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
  • sunnydays851
    sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
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    yusaku02 wrote: »
    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    Well I don't want visible muscles (although if they are poking out a little I won't mind) but I guess that would be a bit of an exaggeration. In case you are wondering, I don't look good with muscles so therefore I don't desire them. I just want to look toned.

    You know that 'toning' is lowering your body fat to reveal the muscle underneath, right? You can't be 'toned' and not have visible muscles.

    If they're not too big I won't mind.
  • sunnydays851
    sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
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    astrampe wrote: »
    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
    I don't look very good with muscles... like I said, if they're little I won't mind. It's better than fat or bones.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
    I don't look very good with muscles... like I said, if they're little I won't mind. It's better than fat or bones.
    Do you have a pic from when you had big muscles?

  • sunnydays851
    sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
    I don't look very good with muscles... like I said, if they're little I won't mind. It's better than fat or bones.
    Do you have a pic from when you had big muscles?
    No, I never liked pictures.
    I hated then more after I got fat.

  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
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    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
    I don't look very good with muscles... like I said, if they're little I won't mind. It's better than fat or bones.
    Do you have a pic from when you had big muscles?
    No, I never liked pictures.
    I hated then more after I got fat.

    Then to rephrase. Have you ever had big muscles and not excess body fat, at the same time? If not, you can't claim to not like how you look with big muscles.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    sunnydays851 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    I don't understand what people mean by not wanting "visible muscles"..... Skin and bone or skin, fat and bone? I love my visible muscles, and I'm sure I will love them even more when I am 80 and want to get out of my bathtub without help.....
    I don't look very good with muscles... like I said, if they're little I won't mind. It's better than fat or bones.
    Do you have a pic from when you had big muscles?
    No, I never liked pictures.
    I hated then more after I got fat.
    Well, I guess the answer is to lift until your muscles get as big as you like and then stop progressing. It's not something that happens over a weekend.

  • Nerdycurls
    Nerdycurls Posts: 143 Member
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    Is it really true the not getting bulky part applies to all women, regardless of health issues?

    With PCOS and all that you know, free testosterone floating around in my system, I've noticed I DO get bulkier when I lift. Even light weights. Isn't it true if you lift to the point of muscle exhaustion, you will end up getting bigger to some degree? Even if it's lighter weights?

    One of the reasons why I am somewhat wary of upper body weight work is because of how chunky I look. My legs and butt could certainly use more mass, but I don't want to end up with some thick upper body where I have a fused shoulder/neck thing going on.
  • Nerdycurls
    Nerdycurls Posts: 143 Member
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    Btw I would love to have Alix Newton's arms. They look slender and sleek, but I'm sure she's very strong. My arms always get this weird muscled bumpy look going on.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    Nerdycurls wrote: »
    Is it really true the not getting bulky part applies to all women, regardless of health issues?

    With PCOS and all that you know, free testosterone floating around in my system, I've noticed I DO get bulkier when I lift. Even light weights. Isn't it true if you lift to the point of muscle exhaustion, you will end up getting bigger to some degree? Even if it's lighter weights?

    One of the reasons why I am somewhat wary of upper body weight work is because of how chunky I look. My legs and butt could certainly use more mass, but I don't want to end up with some thick upper body where I have a fused shoulder/neck thing going on.

    Guys have much more testosterone than women on average and even we are hard pressed gaining more than a pound per month or so. And that's when actively trying to gain more muscles.

    There's no way, I repeat, no way, that you could accidentally get bulky. Not as a woman, not even as a man.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
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    Nerdycurls wrote: »
    Is it really true the not getting bulky part applies to all women, regardless of health issues?

    With PCOS and all that you know, free testosterone floating around in my system, I've noticed I DO get bulkier when I lift. Even light weights. Isn't it true if you lift to the point of muscle exhaustion, you will end up getting bigger to some degree? Even if it's lighter weights?

    One of the reasons why I am somewhat wary of upper body weight work is because of how chunky I look. My legs and butt could certainly use more mass, but I don't want to end up with some thick upper body where I have a fused shoulder/neck thing going on.

    What do you think it takes women to get "bulky"? If your answer is not: years of dedication, an amazing diet, and a ridiculous amount of lifting, then you are mistaken.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Nerdycurls wrote: »
    Is it really true the not getting bulky part applies to all women, regardless of health issues?

    With PCOS and all that you know, free testosterone floating around in my system, I've noticed I DO get bulkier when I lift. Even light weights. Isn't it true if you lift to the point of muscle exhaustion, you will end up getting bigger to some degree? Even if it's lighter weights?

    One of the reasons why I am somewhat wary of upper body weight work is because of how chunky I look. My legs and butt could certainly use more mass, but I don't want to end up with some thick upper body where I have a fused shoulder/neck thing going on.

    We are all different shapes and some people tend to build easier in some areas than others but even with PCOS you have to be very dedicated to lifting and do it for quite a while (and not while eating at a deficit) to build muscle. And even that amount of muscle isn't necessarily going to make you bulky. I'm saying necessarily because clearly everybody has different ideas as to what is bulky. But avoiding upper body work and only doing lower body work is likely going to have you ending up looking pretty soft on top.

    And do you really have that much testosterone floating around? I have PCOS too and like to dream that any extra testosterone I have may help with lifting but I'm pretty sure that even a PCOSer with elevated levels has only a fraction of what a man has. (Trying to find a source for this.)

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