How much should I lift to tone?

I am looking to develop and tone my muscles, especially my arms and upper body. I am just not sure how much I should be lifting or how many reps I should be doing to achieve this. I dont want to bulk up, just a nice definition of my muscle. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • TrishSeren
    TrishSeren Posts: 587 Member
    Being toned just means your body fat is low enough that you can see muscle.

    You wouldn't "bulk" up by accident, for women it requires a lot of hard work to build large amounts of muscle. As someone who aims to lift as heavy as possible, trust me, heavy doesn't mean you end up "bulky".

    A PT at your gym will be able to help create a program for you and teach you correct form etc.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited January 2019
    Sound like you want fat loss to reveal muscle definition. That will be eating at a small deficit or maintenance (for body recomp) and strength training with progressive overload.
    Pick a lifting program and lift what is heavy for you.

    Some good programs are:
    Stronglifts 5x5
    Ice Cream Fitness 5x5
    Strong Curves
    New Rules of Lifting for Women
    Starting Strength

    Bulking up isn’t easy to do. It’s also harder for women, because we don’t have the testosterone levels men have.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky
  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
    Look under the most helpful posts on this forum for a link to a list of lifting programs. Choose one, and go from there. "Toning" seems to carry a different connotation depending on the person, but generally what they want is to build muscle, so I'm going to assume that's your goal. A lot of women who are scared of heavy weights and want to "tone" tend to go for the puny dumbbells and aerobics classes and get nowhere not realizing that many women sporting the body they want are lifting heavy. With that being said don't be afraid of heavy weights, nobody accidentally gets bulky, although I do wish it were that easy. ;)
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    invest in a GOOD trainer to show you how to lift and they will also provide you with a program. Also, once you know the basics and have good form, you can then go off and do other programs that you can find for free or cheaply online. But so often I see people following a program off the interwebs and doing it all wrong and it can end up in injuries.

    You won't get bulky. If only. I WISH it were easy to get bulky.

    Work your muscles and lose the fat around them and you will get the "toned" look you want.

    Good luck! Lifting weights is fun :)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    Look under the most helpful posts on this forum for a link to a list of lifting programs. Choose one, and go from there. "Toning" seems to carry a different connotation depending on the person, but generally what they want is to build muscle, so I'm going to assume that's your goal. A lot of women who are scared of heavy weights and want to "tone" tend to go for the puny dumbbells and aerobics classes and get nowhere not realizing that many women sporting the body they want are lifting heavy. With that being said don't be afraid of heavy weights, nobody accidentally gets bulky, although I do wish it were that easy. ;)

    Handy link to the post cited, since I'm on a device where it's easy to paste it:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

    Good advice in the quoted, too.