Help 😪

JanetReyna

I tend to hold more fat in my back and arms and I feel lifting heavy from my upper will result in me looking even more wide which I don’t want that. Should I just lift light? Losing weight but wanting to tone up at the same time is freaking confusing.

jdog022

Nope. Lift “heavy”. Lifting light doesn’t give you tone. What creates the so called tone is having adequate muscle with a relatively lower body fat percentage

Cahgetsfit

what he said.

sardelsa

If you carry fat in certain areas lifting will not make them more fat. It can help you retain muscle in those areas as you lose but how you lose fat is a result of genetics.
For example I carry most of my fat in my lower body and work it twice as hard as my upper body and the result in a deficit is more definition and reduced measurements as I lose over time.

Follow a progressive lifting program. Lift according to the weight and reps prescribed. Get adequate protein. Eat in a not too aggressive deficit.

ImSoSquishy

you don't have to lift heavy, to me lifting heavy is lifting in the range of 80% to 95% of 1 rep maxes. lifting light would be below 60%. around 60 to 80% range, with 5 to 8 reps per set, is the most ideal amount of weight to use for most standard situations. it isn't too light that you can dish out a bunch of reps effortlessly, but also not too heavy that you can't rep out.

although you can't spot reduce fat, you would still want to exercise as much muscle groups as you can to maximize the amount of calories being burned, even just by building lean strong muscles all over, your body will still burn calories even if it's your rest day. basically the more muscles being used, the more fat loss, and over time fat will disappear all over your body, you don't even have to care much about it, just do what you gotta do and let nature takes its' course and then like every 2-3 months you'll be complaining about your clothes not fitting anymore and have to go out for clothes shopping until your body weight becomes stable. if time is limited on your daily schedule, then compound exercises like squats, bench press, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and etc. will quickly become your favorites as can can utilize and targets a bunch of muscles throughout your body per exercise.

rest assured that it won't result in you looking more wide. as you start to build up lean muscles, the fat will also start drop off at the same time throughout your fitness journey. note that muscles are heavier than fat so if you step on the scale a lot, and it seem like the numbers are going down slowly, or you seem to be on the same weight for weeks. it is just that you are building muscles and gaining muscle weight. right now it's the fat weight outweighing the muscle weight, but as you lose fat weight and the muscle weight starts going up it just kind of like counterbalancing each other out, so don't be worried about the number on the scale, rely more on the mirror, other people like friends and family members, and your clothes to see your results instead.

instead of becoming more wide, you will start to slim down, and your body will look more tapered in. it takes a longer time for females to gain muscles compared to males due to the lower amount of testosterones produced naturally. another thing is without the use of things steroids, sarms, or whatever, natural lifters only gain about a total of 1.5 lbs to 3 lbs for females and 5 lbs for males of muscles per month throughout the entire body depending on your style of lifting and assuming that you don't skip out on working certain muscle groups like how some guys would skip out on every leg day. that amount is actually very little, and it takes a lot of months, dedication, researching on proper form, diet/nutrition, and hard work for naturals to get "big".

lin_be

You will not get accidentally gains or bulk in a calorie deficit. It takes serious work and you’d need to be in a calorie surplus. If you want to shape your muscle, you should lift heavy.

lkpducky

You lose the back and arm fat (and other fat) by eating less than you burn. Losing weight without enough muscle work (if you lifted only lightly or not at all) would mean that you'd be more likely to lose muscle along with fat. You'd wind up smaller but still look soft and shapeless.
Lifting heavy plus calorie deficit = eventually losing fat and looking smaller and more compact. And it's harder to gain muscle back after losing it, so it's better to keep the muscle as you lose fat.

lkpducky

YIKES sorry I see this is an old thread.

Silkysausage

You can lift 'light' as long as you have time under tension

JanetReyna

Silkysausage wrote: »

You can lift 'light' as long as you have time under tension

I’ve seen this a lot on Instagram, what in the world is time over tension lol?

Silkysausage

JanetReyna wrote: »

Silkysausage wrote: »

You can lift 'light' as long as you have time under tension

I’ve seen this a lot on Instagram, what in the world is time over tension lol?

It's the length of time a muscle is under strain during a set of exercises. A slow 'up and down' action of a dumbbell curl for instance in a controlled manner with a 'squeeze' of the bicep at the top of the lift is just as good as a quicker paced set with heavier weights.

Increase load or increase time!