If lifting is the way to get that 'toned' look, then why...?
xtxtxtx
Posts: 83 Member
I keep reading that the only way to get that sought-after 'lean, tight, toned' look is in fact to lift heavy and that muscles cannot be 'toned' or 'tightened,' they can only get bigger. But if this is true, then why do the women who lift that I know have bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc, while the runners and yogi and dancer women I know who have never touched weights have the lean, tight, toned look I want, and a completely different look altogether--narrow hips, thin legs, etc? Their muscles don't look big, they just look tight. Even if they aren't particularly thin...they have visible muscles, but not boxy ones like the lifters. We can't deny that the type of exercise you do matters--it's obvious that swimmer bodies are different from, say, runner bodies. So why do people claim that lifting is the only way to get that look?
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Replies
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the busting women are on other "supplementation"7
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maybe try lifting lighter weights for more reps. instead of the traditional heavy weights for fewer reps6
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They say not to do that and that it's a myth! @merrysailor88 IDK anymore!0
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Not the ones I know @SpotLighttt
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Not the ones I know @SpotLighttt
..then they are gifted with an abundance of testosterone.4 -
merrysailor88 wrote: »maybe try lifting lighter weights for more reps. instead of the traditional heavy weights for fewer reps
Lighter weights for higher reps are shown to have an equal if not greater hypertrophic response opposed to heavy and fewer reps.
Chances are they aren't as big as you view them to be. Many people look at a fitter person and see more than their truly is. The leaner you are, the more muscular you tend to look. The runners are just lean but have very little underlying muscle and tend to look now where near as good as the lifters. But if these women truly are shredded and huge with 16"+ arms then yeah, they're taking some extra "supplements"
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Because your 'runners etc' have very low body fat levels and are exposing muscles. We all have muscles, whether you lift weights or not.
Drop your bodyfat low enough and you'll reveal them. The training you do will dictate the shape and mass of those muscles.
You answered your own question. The exercise is the tool to gain the look.
Want to look like a swimmer train like a swimmer.
Want to look like an Olympic weight lifter, train like an Olympic weight lifter.
Want to look like a long distance runner, train like a long distance runner.
Etc etc etc.42 -
Lots of factors here but it depends on the level you train at. The heavier you lift, the more muscle you build and the less fat you have so you get that tight look. The women who are 'ripped' probably work out more than the average person. Runners and yogi's, same thing depends on the amount they train. I run 4 times a week and I lost loads of weight and got lean but not tight so I've started lifting and I am now achieving the tight look. Try a combination and see what works for you.7
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1. Runners have lower body fat and to me that is not a look I'm seeking
2. Lifters have extra body fat unless they're doing a show and are cutting down. I'm a lifter, I've got about 19% body fat
3. beauty is in the eye of the beholder if the body of a runner is what you want, then run. If you want muscles and curves then lift. It's simple really
And ouch.. "bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc" Well to me that's a beautiful look. To you it might be bulging, big and unfeminine but as a viking dottir who's surrounded by strong women with that look I'd take that over the runners body everyday.41 -
I run and lift. I like the way that combination looks on my frame. To each her own.
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And ouch.. "bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc" Well to me that's a beautiful look. To you it might be bulging, big and unfeminine but as a viking dottir who's surrounded by strong women with that look I'd take that over the runners body everyday.
I honestly think both types are awesome. In fact, fit bodies are cool in general.
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"toned" is having muscle definition,which happens when you're lean. It has nothing to do with muscle size.
Your yoga/dance friends may have less muscle, but be leaner than your lifting friends.6 -
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And ouch.. "bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc" Well to me that's a beautiful look. To you it might be bulging, big and unfeminine but as a viking dottir who's surrounded by strong women with that look I'd take that over the runners body everyday.
I honestly think both types are awesome. In fact, fit bodies are cool in general.
I actually do both and I agree. Fit bodies are the best bodies. Specially if the combine weight training and running.
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Different goals.
Your yoga friends may want to look more like Jessica Alba and your lifting friends may want more muscle mass, like Erin Stern.
If you want a more slender look you won't chase progressive overload as much.
https://bretcontreras.com/how-to-attain-a-slender-look-like-jessica-alba-zoe-saldana/
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I have never read that is the only way.
Before I started lifting, I was into bodyweight and lots of cardio work. Now I will say, I like how my body looks better with lifting.. but both got pretty awesome results. However, lifting really helped get rid of that stubborn fat, and of course it helped to build up areas of my body where muscle was lacking (in an easier way with set progressive overload). If you have the muscle base and just want to look lean/toned/fit..some type of stimulation and weight loss will get you there.
Also I want to add, the women you see lifting weights.. perhaps their goal isn't to look "lean/tight/toned" .. maybe they are training for competition, maybe they want to have bulging muscles (which I will add will NOT happen by accident.. lots of hard work and calorie surplus cycles)10 -
The difference is probably not limited to just different exercise programs. You have to factor in genetics and diet. When I just ran, I was "skinny fat," never "toned with long lean muscles." My build and genetics play a role in how I look...I'm never going to have "long, lean muscles."
I also lift heavy and eat somewhere between 2300-2600 calories a day. Women with smaller looking muscles probably aren't consuming that many calories daily.6 -
I keep reading that the only way to get that sought-after 'lean, tight, toned' look is in fact to lift heavy and that muscles cannot be 'toned' or 'tightened,' they can only get bigger. But if this is true, then why do the women who lift that I know have bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc, while the runners and yogi and dancer women I know who have never touched weights have the lean, tight, toned look I want, and a completely different look altogether--narrow hips, thin legs, etc? Their muscles don't look big, they just look tight. Even if they aren't particularly thin...they have visible muscles, but not boxy ones like the lifters. We can't deny that the type of exercise you do matters--it's obvious that swimmer bodies are different from, say, runner bodies. So why do people claim that lifting is the only way to get that look?
Genetics and body composition/body fat levels will largely determine look. If you are comparing professional, a lot of them have been chosen based on their specific genetics. But many pro ballet dancers do lift. Whats interesting, the majority of the yogis and runners I know, aren't nearly as lean as the women lifts I know. The below thread might help.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1120789/females-only-lifting-weight-training-results/p15 -
"Toned" is generally used to describe poeple that have a low bodyfat percentage and some amount of muscle. The "big and bulky" women probably have higher levels of bodyfat and LBM.5
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Partly cause genetics, and maybe partly because people gravitate towards things that they are naturally talented at.
If you took a person who is a great marathon runner and made them stop running and start lifting weights, they would a) probably never be as good of a weightlifter as they were marathon runner and b) wouldn't get "bulky". Sure their physique may change somewhat, but you aren't going to change from Paula Radcliffe to Dana Linn Bailey. And vice versa.
But unless you are looking to do either professionally or at least at a high level competitively, it doesn't really matter.5 -
You don't need to lift heavy as in deadlifts, bench, squat, to look lean and toned. There are plenty of men and women who look that way from just regular exercise combining bodyweight exercise, yoga, TRX, cycling, running etc.
I don't like the big thighs and shoulders and arms you get from heavy lifting either. And there are plenty of women who do get that bulky look naturally without gear and just from lifting. I like the slim, low body fat, evident muscle, "toned" look on women.2 -
keep in mind...
Terms like tight, toned, lean, big, bulging... those are all subjective. What you think of as big vs toned vs whatever else may or may not be what someone else means when then use those same terms. So when someone says that "____ is the best way to get big", or "to tone up you should _______"... make sure you're both talking about the same thing.5 -
I keep reading that the only way to get that sought-after 'lean, tight, toned' look is in fact to lift heavy and that muscles cannot be 'toned' or 'tightened,' they can only get bigger. But if this is true, then why do the women who lift that I know have bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc, while the runners and yogi and dancer women I know who have never touched weights have the lean, tight, toned look I want, and a completely different look altogether--narrow hips, thin legs, etc? Their muscles don't look big, they just look tight. Even if they aren't particularly thin...they have visible muscles, but not boxy ones like the lifters. We can't deny that the type of exercise you do matters--it's obvious that swimmer bodies are different from, say, runner bodies. So why do people claim that lifting is the only way to get that look?
what look.
because it sounds like you and i have very different ideas about what is/is not an ideal look.3 -
Isn't it a combination of both? Running or any cardio acivity that increases the heart rate will help shed the pounds (and keep it off) and bodyweight workouts using weights will tone and tighten? This is what I've been doing for the last 2months and I can see more definition in certain areas of my body and have lost inches but not pounds.
If the physique you're after is more of a runner, dancer type etc why don't you give that activity a try and see if you get results?1 -
keep in mind...
Terms like tight, toned, lean, big, bulging... those are all subjective. What you think of as big vs toned vs whatever else may or may not be what someone else means when then use those same terms. So when someone says that "____ is the best way to get big", or "to tone up you should _______"... make sure you're both talking about the same thing.
Agreed. I have a picture in mind of what I think that people who want to be "toned" are thinking about. But it doesn't necessarily match what the next person might think it is.
Same goes for bulky. People will say "women can't get bulky" because they think of this as bulky but often the woman who is saying she doesn't want to be bulky is thinking of this as bulky. There's this image floating around (which I cannot find now) that says something like "what women think lifting weights will do vs what it actually does" and I think it's meant to reassure women that lifting won't make them "bulky" but even the non-bulky woman has too much muscle in a lot of women's eyes.
Anyway, all of these terms are subjective as said above.8 -
define "bulging"...I pretty much run in fitness circles and I can count on one hand with multiple amputated fingers the number of women who are actually "bulging" or "jacked" and they are genetic freaks of awesomeness and they also specifically train to look that way...i.e. they run bodybuilding programs that are very high volume and spend a lot of time in the weight room 5-6 days per week and they eat like there's no tomorrow.
Most women I know who do some combination of resistance training and cardiovascular work look fit and "toned".
I lift in a variety of rep ranges as a supplement to my cycling...I am fit and look fit...I don't look jacked because I'm not jacked...if it was as simple as just picking up some heavy weights and putting them down, I'd be all kinds of jacked by now.8 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I keep reading that the only way to get that sought-after 'lean, tight, toned' look is in fact to lift heavy and that muscles cannot be 'toned' or 'tightened,' they can only get bigger. But if this is true, then why do the women who lift that I know have bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc, while the runners and yogi and dancer women I know who have never touched weights have the lean, tight, toned look I want, and a completely different look altogether--narrow hips, thin legs, etc? Their muscles don't look big, they just look tight. Even if they aren't particularly thin...they have visible muscles, but not boxy ones like the lifters. We can't deny that the type of exercise you do matters--it's obvious that swimmer bodies are different from, say, runner bodies. So why do people claim that lifting is the only way to get that look?
what look.
because it sounds like you and i have very different ideas about what is/is not an ideal look.
I think what OP is saying that when women post here about desiring that specific lean, narrow, slim-thighed look (the Victoria's Secret special, basically) the answer given is always LIFT HEAVY and she feels that anecdotally, the women she sees who have that shape don't lift and the ones who do have a shape she doesn't find desirable.
I'm not touching whether or not any of that is objectively true or whatever, just trying to clarify as I think I understand what the OP was trying to say based on her own observations.4 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I keep reading that the only way to get that sought-after 'lean, tight, toned' look is in fact to lift heavy and that muscles cannot be 'toned' or 'tightened,' they can only get bigger. But if this is true, then why do the women who lift that I know have bulging arm muscles, big thighs (muscular, but still), big butts, etc, while the runners and yogi and dancer women I know who have never touched weights have the lean, tight, toned look I want, and a completely different look altogether--narrow hips, thin legs, etc? Their muscles don't look big, they just look tight. Even if they aren't particularly thin...they have visible muscles, but not boxy ones like the lifters. We can't deny that the type of exercise you do matters--it's obvious that swimmer bodies are different from, say, runner bodies. So why do people claim that lifting is the only way to get that look?
what look.
because it sounds like you and i have very different ideas about what is/is not an ideal look.
I think what OP is saying that when women post here about desiring that specific lean, narrow, slim-thighed look (the Victoria's Secret special, basically) the answer given is always LIFT HEAVY and she feels that anecdotally, the women she sees who have that shape don't lift and the ones who do have a shape she doesn't find desirable.
I'm not touching whether or not any of that is objectively true or whatever, just trying to clarify as I think I understand what the OP was trying to say based on her own observations.
oh, well i don't think anyone advises to lift heavy if you want to look like a victoria's secret angel. That's why i was asking.
You acheive a dancer look by being... a dancer. Or a model by training like a model. ..And eating low calories of course.
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Different goals.
Your yoga friends may want to look more like Jessica Alba and your lifting friends may want more muscle mass, like Erin Stern.
If you want a more slender look you won't chase progressive overload as much.
https://bretcontreras.com/how-to-attain-a-slender-look-like-jessica-alba-zoe-saldana/
I forgot about that article.. awesome stuff. OP just in case you missed it, please give it a read1 -
You need to look beyond what they do in the gym/studio and look at what happens in the kitchen. I can guarantee that you will see a drastic difference between the diet of a Power Lifter and a Yogi.3
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I lift and run and do yoga. I have long, lean muscles and it would take a lot of work for me to ever get a "bulky" look. Genetics has something to do with it, of course, but you'll never "accidentally" get giant muscles by lifting. You'd need to intentionally work at it.6
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