Weights Question...

polar5554

If I want to tone and lose some weight and NOT bulk up, should I be lifting 5-8lb weights for longer reps (say 15)

OR

Should I be lifting more weight like 10-12 lbs. for shorter reps (say 8)? Doing this I believe will burn more calories?

Any opinions?

princesschikee

You need to lift heavier than that if you can in order to burn fat. Gaining muscle burns fat. So a combination of cardio and weights will do the trick, but you also need to eat clean too. You will never bulk up unless you take steroids. Women don't have the testosterone to do that. At best, you can get a fitness body.

It would be good to lift heavier and do 3 sets of 8. But there are so many different options. You will have to try many different options.

alliej

Lifting heavier weights shorter reps. Chalene Johnson talks about this.

dave4d

Whatever you lift, you won't bulk up. LIft as heavy as you can, to failure. If it is more than about 12 reps, increase the weight on your next set. Women don't bulk easily, and most people have to go into a caloric surplus to bulk anyway. Most people say to aim for about 8 reps before you hit failure. Failure is where you can no longer perform the lift with proper form. I hope this helps.

sweebum

Women cannot bulk. Normal women who are not body builders cannot bulk. Repeat. Ok done that one :laugh:

Less weight at high reps tends to tone more, but higher weight less reps works better for strength (more strength, more muscle=more, faster weight loss) In my humble opinion

Bump for the bodybuilders..

polar5554

I once read that there are women who CAN bulk easily and women who CANNOT...

I just don't know which category I fall under. At least not yet.

hpsnickers1

You won't bulk up. That's hard enough for men and almost impossible for women. You would need a calorie surplus, tons of protein and enhancement pills (or testosterone pills) to "bulk up". Along with hours and hours of weight lifting.

Go with 10-12lbs and less reps.

Read the link in my post "relatively light and looking to get leaner". I might have mentioned this before. He goes into detail about this. It is a very, very long ongoing post. You can even send him a message about your goals and he will respond.

But if you are to focus on weight lifting you need to set aside the scale. As you build muscle and shed fat you could gain a bit of weight due to the increase in muscle mass but your body will still be shedding fat.

This is my goal so I've been doing a LOT of research on the subject and have come across a number of bodybuilders MFP .

Vipecap

No woman can bulk easily, unless you start taking testerone, hgh, steroids, and a motley of other assorted goodies. Simply put you could do squats and deadlifts until you are doing more than guys in your gym and you will still not bulk up like a guy or she hulk, naturally.

mlb929

Women cannot bulk. Normal women who are not body builders cannot bulk. Repeat. Ok done that one.

Less weight at high reps tends to tone more, but higher weight less reps works better for strength (more strength, more muscle=more, faster weight loss) In my humble opinion

Bump for the bodybuilders..

I've TRIED to bulk up a little and can't. My dr even put me on more testosterone because I had such low levels and STILL haven't built bulk. I used 20lb weights for the most part and do 15 reps and still no bulk at all. I have strength but no bulk.

I honestly get frustrated sometimes seeing women using 2lb and 5lb weights, because they are not working to their abilities. - Not all, don't anyone jump all over me, but I work so hard with 20's and still don't look "muscular". My theory is strong is the new skinny.

hpsnickers1

Women cannot bulk. Normal women who are not body builders cannot bulk. Repeat. Ok done that one.

Less weight at high reps tends to tone more, but higher weight less reps works better for strength (more strength, more muscle=more, faster weight loss) In my humble opinion

Bump for the bodybuilders..

I've TRIED to bulk up a little and can't. My dr even put me on more testosterone because I had such low levels and STILL haven't built bulk. I used 20lb weights for the most part and do 15 reps and still no bulk at all. I have strength but no bulk.

I honestly get frustrated sometimes seeing women using 2lb and 5lb weights, because they are not working to their abilities. - Not all, don't anyone jump all over me, but I work so hard with 20's and still don't look "muscular". My theory is strong is the new skinny.

I agree 100%. I have stopped trying to lose weight - even switched over to maintenance calories and am getting ready (myself and my equipment that is) to do some serious strength training. I would rather be strong and defined than skinny. Skinny is a bad word in my book.

princesschikee

I once read that there are women who CAN bulk easily and women who CANNOT...

I just don't know which category I fall under. At least not yet.

I've been lifting heavy for 5 years and haven't bulked. Just check my picture. I can bench press 125lbs and do 3 sets of 20 pull ups. I am well defined, but not bulky.

RunHardBeStrong

Women cannot bulk. Normal women who are not body builders cannot bulk. Repeat. Ok done that one.

Less weight at high reps tends to tone more, but higher weight less reps works better for strength (more strength, more muscle=more, faster weight loss) In my humble opinion

Bump for the bodybuilders..

I've TRIED to bulk up a little and can't. My dr even put me on more testosterone because I had such low levels and STILL haven't built bulk. I used 20lb weights for the most part and do 15 reps and still no bulk at all. I have strength but no bulk.

I honestly get frustrated sometimes seeing women using 2lb and 5lb weights, because they are not working to their abilities. - Not all, don't anyone jump all over me, but I work so hard with 20's and still don't look "muscular". My theory is strong is the new skinny.

I agree 100%. I have stopped trying to lose weight - even switched over to maintenance calories and am getting ready (myself and my equipment that is) to do some serious strength training. I would rather be strong and defined than skinny. Skinny is a bad word in my book.

I agree also! I use 20-30 lb dumb bells and don't look bulky at all!

DaddyMantz

Losing weight is easier than losing bodyfat without losing lean body mass. To lose bodyfat and maintain your lean body mass, you have to do cardio, weights, and eat plenty of protein spread out through the day. Most women do great eating 5 meals/day. There is a great book called, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto.

And for your question about weights, I think you need to do weights at least three times per week while increasing the resistance or reps every workout. Then, when you plateau, change up your routine.

12by311

If I want to tone and lose some weight and NOT bulk up, should I be lifting 5-8lb weights for longer reps (say 15)

OR

Should I be lifting more weight like 10-12 lbs. for shorter reps (say 8)? Doing this I believe will burn more calories?

Any opinions?

Don't be afraid to lift heavy and feel the burn! That's the biggest mistake women make...avoiding the weights because they are afraid of bulk.

It's SO diffucult to actually gain muscle.

barefootbeautiful

I agree with the general consensus here - women have an extremely hard time BULKING up. Buildling muscle is GOOD for you; it's good for your body, it's good for your metabolism, and it's great for not only losing fat but being able to maintain that weightloss in the future.

If you're going to get serious about lifting, max out - do as much as you possibly can until you can't. Then take about 85% of that weight and start with that. Try 3 sets of 8-12. If you're not struggling on the last few, increase the weight. Again, even at this weight, you won't look like a bodybuilder (although you may feel like one!).

princesschikee

Another benefit of lifting weights....prevention of osteoporosis.

As you add muscle and work off fat, your body will be trimmer, even if the scale doesn’t move too much.

Adding muscle not only makes you leaner, it makes you stronger. You have more energy to get through those long cardio workouts, and your metabolism will work more efficiently.

You continue to burn calories even after you are done lifting weights.

kdiamond

I weigh 108 now and I used to weigh 100 pounds and I still fit into my size 0 and 1's and lift HEAVY. My body fat % went down a few % at least and I'm more compact and solid. I have no flab, no cellulite and I am pretty damn strong. I deadlift more than my weight and squat 95 pounds. I pressed 65 pounds today doing shoulder presses.

MORE WEIGHT LESS REPS! Trust me on this.

TrainingWithTonya

Lift heavy. None of the weights you are talking about are heavy. Seriously, I can squat 300 pounds for 6 sets of 12 reps and then repeat it for plie' squats and lunges and I am no where near bulky. It takes the right hormones to build bulky muscles. The bulk that most women who think they "bulk up" when lifting actually gain is because they haven't got their diet right and are actually building fat from over eating.

kt_rubino

I just read this in our forum... It answers your question, look for: 4 things women tend to skip that can deliver results

guardup

If you would like to build some muscle, check out my blog entry called "Lifting to Failure::

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/guardup/view/lifting-to-failure-60661

And don't worry about "bulking". I spend 2-3 hours a day at the gym and can bench press 200lbs... and I am not "bulky".