Great results without heavy weight training?

MissGamerGirl

Right now I do not use heavy weights because I can't afford the gym membership, but I am not adverse to trying them. I am left to my own devices with what I can do, so my routine right now is C210k three times a week, Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones twice a week (it is not cardio based at all, focuses on strength training with light weights/high reps and your own body weight w/ push-ups, planks, etc; I plan to increase the weights as I progress), yoga once a week and one rest day.

I hear all the time from those who lift that cardio will only get you so far, and will leave you "skinny-fat" but not toned/tight all over. HOWEVER. I have seen success stories of women who do a lot of cardio and have what I consider GREAT bodies (flat and tight stomaches, not much jiggle, etc) and without starving on a 1200 calorie a day diet.

I don't understand this. Why is it that some women get great physical success with cardio and others do not?

rybo

That likely boils down to genetics and just naturally having/carrying more muscle than another. When the fat is lost one will look more "toned" than the other.

As much as it is touted around here lifting heavy isn't the end all be all. And I also think people believe you have to already be strong or go to a gym to lift heavy. Body weight progression can still tax you and be considered heavy if you are doing challenging moves.

As to the light weight/hi rep work, its still not really building much muscle. You are building muscle endurance and burning energy but you'd probably be better served raising the weight & lowering your reps some.

MissGamerGirl

That likely boils down to genetics and just naturally having/carrying more muscle than another. When the fat is lost one will look more "toned" than the other.

As much as it is touted around here lifting heavy isn't the end all be all. And I also think people believe you have to already be strong or go to a gym to lift heavy. Body weight progression can still tax you and be considered heavy if you are doing challenging moves.

As to the light weight/hi rep work, its still not really building much muscle. You are building muscle endurance and burning energy but you'd probably be better served raising the weight & lowering your reps some.

Thank you for your response!

I just find it incredibly interesting how some bodies adapt differently than others depending on exercise.

Even with the low weight/high reps, it definitely burns and I feel the soreness the next day. This wouldn't result in at least some muscle toning? I definitely feel the "pain"!

Mr_Knight

Why is it that some women get great physical success with cardio and others do not?

"Cardio" covers a wide range of exercise, and says nothing about diet, nor does it say anything about exercise intensity. It absolutely is possible to get a fantastic body doing crap loads of (for example) running and supplementing with basic bodyweight exercises (pushups, pull-ups, etc).

meshashesha2012

I don't understand this. Why is it that some women get great physical success with cardio and others do not?

not everyone begins with the same amount of weight to lose

missyont

I have girl friend who is a big time runner and doesn't go to the gym. As far as I know all she does is run...like mad. She has abs and killer toned legs!

asaffell

I've seen really great success with bodyweight exercises and cardio, but I think you just have to find what works for you personally.

MissGamerGirl

Okay. I just kept hearing "unless you lift heavy you won't get that toned tummy you want, or those toned arms" and that frustrated me. I got discouraged because I really started to believe that that was the only way. But I've seen toned bodies of people who havn't lifted a barbell in their life, so it MUST be possible.

I want to be able to do it without heavy lifting.

missyont

I have muscle...But my body fat isn't low enough to see it lol

cafeaulait7

It takes much more time commitment to get it without lifting heavy, imho.

Also, some muscles (like my inner thigh muscles) don't respond well without heavy weight. That's probably the genetics they are talking about, I'd think. My hams need nothing special at all to be big (they start out big), so running or anything will make them look like I lift some. Just different body types, I guess!

mustgetmuscles1

Heavy lifting is not the only way. You could call it strength training or resistance training as well. Anything that works the muscle enough to convince your body to not get rid of them is what you want. When you are first starting this can be almost anything but you want to try to add resistance. This is easy with "weight lifting". With other exercise like body weight it gets a little trickier.

The person that does only cardio can definitely get lean and look great but there is nothing stopping a lot of the weight loss from being muscle as well as fat. That is not good. It can take longer to see results and muscle is very valuable and hard to replace once its gone.

There are also other benefits to "heavy" resistance training that dont have anything to do with appearance. Strength, bone density, joint strength and so on.