OMG lifting heavy made me so bulky!!

hypallage

OP - you look HOT!!

Your legs are amazing

kcragg

you look amazing- so envious of your legs!

HeidiMightyRawr

I would suggest you buy "Starting Strength" and look into the Stronglifts 5x5 program. Regarding not doing cardio. If you really want to get lean you're going to have to do cardio. Period.

And why is that?

3. As I stated before, very view can get away with doing no cardio and getting really lean. The rest of us are going to have to suffer with doing some extra form of cardio outside of weight training. Oh, and I don't mean walking.

Clear enough for you?

I can't judge really as I haven't got really lean yet, but I do practically no cardio, and am under the impression that all you need is a calorie defict. Cardio greatly helps with a deficit, and obviously has many health benefits, but you can also get that deficit through food, or other exercise such as lifting. I certainly sweat and get my HR up just as much in squatting/lunging/deadlifting than in traditional cardio.

I'm not going to speak for everyone else,but I am going to test it out. My aim is to get really lean, but I have no intention of doing more cardio (I hate it) I walk a lot, as you mentioned doesn't count anyway, and do 1hr of bodypump a week on top of regular lifting, just for fun. Will have to see how it goes.

SamanthaD23

You look amazing.

Yes my trainer recently told me this (as I told him I did NOT want to end up looking like a russian shot-putter) that the "lifting heavy makes you bulky" is a myth. Actually lifting heavier makes your body work harder to recover i.e. burn more calories. Though thee must be some truth in it otherwise how to bodybuilders do it.

It's ballet-type strength-look I'm after though have a LAWNG way to go.

SamanthaD23

And yeah, legs. Your ARMS are about as long as my stumpys lol

HeidiMightyRawr

Though thee must be some truth in it otherwise how to bodybuilders do it.

Bodybuilders work for years and years doing bulk/cut cycle and eating waaaay more food than you could imagine to build muscle. The females have to work especially hard because their body doesn't produce as much of the muscle building hormone as men.

A lot of pro female bodybuilders are taking steroids as well.

I've done a bulk myself, and that is how I got the majority of the muscle I have now (still not loads, or like a man's) I ate 3000+ calories a day for 6 months last year as well as lifting heavy, and gained 16lbs, I'd say approx 6lbs of that was muscle based on my bf%.

The average female isn't going to do that, even when she takes lifting seriously. Also, seeing as most people on here want to lose weight, it's almost impossible to gain muscle on a deficit, aside from small newbie gains. What you will do is maintain your muscle better.

Also,how one looks when they are flexed and competition ready, is completely different to how they look normally. A really low body fat % shows more muscle than somebody with roughly what I have (around 20% I haven't measured it in a while) They diet down to extreme levels for comps, are usually dehydrated, have tans to show their muscle better, and have a "pump" as well.

Capt_Apollo

joannafarrer

I actually look better when I lift heavy and do zero cardio hahah.... eat good and lift heavy!! i dont think you need cardio unless you want the RIDICULOUSLY shredded look. but me, nah i dont need 2 hrs of cardio per day thanks haha

Same here! My cardio is bodypump once a week! I know people say that's lifting, but I'll never ever think of it as lifting, not properly. It's more like endurance training than strength training, which is why I see it as my cardio

I absolutely agree with lifting weights/resistance work to shape and tone up. But don't forget the benefits to your heart and lungs with cardio. The stuff you don't see that makes you live longer! You don't have to do much of it to get those benefits.

HeidiMightyRawr

I actually look better when I lift heavy and do zero cardio hahah.... eat good and lift heavy!! i dont think you need cardio unless you want the RIDICULOUSLY shredded look. but me, nah i dont need 2 hrs of cardio per day thanks haha

Same here! My cardio is bodypump once a week! I know people say that's lifting, but I'll never ever think of it as lifting, not properly. It's more like endurance training than strength training, which is why I see it as my cardio

I absolutely agree with lifting weights/resistance work to shape and tone up. But don't forget the benefits to your heart and lungs with cardio. The stuff you don't see that makes you live longer! You don't have to do much of it to get those benefits.

I agree
I am quite active in my daily life from walking everywhere, and heavy squats/deadlifts certainly get my heart going! I used to be very unfit before I started exercising, and didn't walk very much then either, I'm definitely a lot fitter now.
I don't believe it has to be traditional cardio though (treadmill, elliptical etc) to have a positive effect, as long as you are active and working heart / lungs too, because your heart is a muscle also.

Lolli1986

lol, great thread. XD you look great!

Angellore

Amazing. I definitely want to start lifting. Great to see someone eating well and looking so fit.

lindaw66

Thank you for posting this!!!!! I just started lifting weights last week on base (airforce base) with a personal trainer. She is 60 y/o and probably a size 0 with no body fat. She has no bulging muscles. She has me lifting heavier weights than I have ever tried before. It is kinda fun and challenging. All my tennis friends are horrified and keep telling me I am going to bulk up!!!! Today several of them mentioned how much thinner I am looking!

I just started lifting too a week ago and I feel smaller in my clothes! I need to measure myself so I can keep track of the inches lost. I'm not lifting heavy right at the moment, I'm lifting what I can.

Stefanie7125

You look amazing! I am wanting to start heavy lifting, got the NROLFW, but nervous to go into the mostly male dominated area of the gym. I need a lifting partner...

emhargs

so in regards to 'needing to do cardio to get lean' and not relying on diet alone to create a deficit - i'm interested to know - how much of a deficit are you talking about per day, to get lean.
i do minimal cardio and don't intend on increasing really, but obviously i want to hear about this. i am not sure i understand the difference between looking hot (my goal) lol and being lean.... sorry im new to it all, really keen to hear what sort of a deficit from cardio is needed. could't you just modify your diet to create a smaller deficit and get the same result over a longer period of time? (so not starving yourself of what you need?)

HeidiMightyRawr

Ok...the reason he says you NEED to do cardio, it that if you rely on diet alone, you will have to eat VERY LITTLE calories to get that lean. This is counter productive to maintaining your muscle mass, and does not give you enough food to supply the nutrients you need to be healthy. It's better to eat more and burn off with cardio than not eat. Even if you burn off calories..you don't burn off the nutrients of the food you ate...just the energy storage in fat. Starving will force your body to lose fat..but also force you to lose muscle, and deprive your body of essential vitamins in sufficient quantities.

I'm far from starving, and firmly believe in eating enough. I eat 2300 a day, and on exercise days (4-5 times a week) this works out at around 1800-1900 NET. Strength burns calories too, even if it's not as much in that particular session.
- Around 140g protein, 250g carbs, 70g fat.
- I also get around 20-30g fibre, and try and get 5 fruit & veg a day.

I'm fairly active in daily life with walking everywhere, but not excessively so. This combined with regular strength training activity allows me to still lose weight (albeit slowly) at the amount I'm on. I don't support 1200 calorie diets at all, unless you're tiny, and completely sedentary.

HeidiMightyRawr

so in regards to 'needing to do cardio to get lean' and not relying on diet alone to create a deficit - i'm interested to know - how much of a deficit are you talking about per day, to get lean.
i do minimal cardio and don't intend on increasing really, but obviously i want to hear about this. i am not sure i understand the difference between looking hot (my goal) lol and being lean.... sorry im new to it all, really keen to hear what sort of a deficit from cardio is needed. could't you just modify your diet to create a smaller deficit and get the same result over a longer period of time? (so not starving yourself of what you need?)

My deficit is around 200-300 a day. It's small, and I lose slowly, but I lose inches still, and am eating enough to sustain adequate muscle mass.

You look amazing! I am wanting to start heavy lifting, got the NROLFW, but nervous to go into the mostly male dominated area of the gym. I need a lifting partner...

Don't be afraid of that section, I was at first too, but once you get stuck in there, they treat you like everyone else and are really nice Lifting partners are great though, for spotting etc, but most guys will give you a hand with that too if you ask nicely (and don't interrupt in the middle of a set!) haha!

lindaw66

You look amazing! I am wanting to start heavy lifting, got the NROLFW, but nervous to go into the mostly male dominated area of the gym. I need a lifting partner...

I felt and still feel the same way as it's only been a week in male part of the gym! I've just decided that this is important to me and I'm not there to impress anyone. I've actually had to ask for help a couple of times to try and find the machine I needed and so far everyone has been so nice and helpful. I wish I had a partner too. I'm hoping I will meet more people and mayble I can find someone to lift with:flowerforyou: