Cardio > sit ups?

Hotfitmess
Hotfitmess Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question and I'm hoping all you lovely people could help me out:)
So for right now in the beginning of my journey I want to lose weight not tone up yet.im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle. Any body have experience with this?

Replies

  • jenfoxjercha
    jenfoxjercha Posts: 51 Member
    I have been doing situps, squats, and pushups all along my journey. I have been doing this for almost two years and I am just started to really see muscle definition. When you build muscle it takes more calories to move your body around in general.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    If putting on bulky muscle was easy, don't you think there would be a lot more bodybuilders? Putting on muscle is really hard. Even at a calorie surplus and with a good hypertrophy program women gain about .5lb of fat A MONTH! You will NOT get bulky from doing a few sit ups lol. I'm eating at a surplus and on a good hypertrophy program and I'm nowhere near bulky yet.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    First, fat doesn't turn into muscle. You lose fat and gain muscle, two completely different things. Fat makes you bulky, muscle makes you lean. Most women do not have enough testosterone to turn into She-ra with out supplements and extremely heavy training and eating at a calorie surplus. You will not build new muscle in a calorie deficit (you may have a newbie gain the first month or two but it won't be more than a lb of pure muscle) You do however want to preserve the muscle you have to keep your metabolism from lowering. You want as much as muscle aka lean body mass as possible, the more LBM you have the more calories you burn making it easier to burn away the excess fat.
  • melw2910
    melw2910 Posts: 73 Member
    Women aren't designed to bulk up, female body builders have to train an insane number of hours to achieve the bulk. Add a mixture of weights and cardio to your regime and you will get stronger.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    No, you wont get bulky from doing sit-ups. Especially not if you're eating at a calorie deficit which I assume you are as you say you want to lose weight.

    There are many, many people that wish it was that easy to build muscle. It's not.
  • Hotfitmess
    Hotfitmess Posts: 7
    thankyou guys:) really appreciate the advice. good luck on all your journeys:)!
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
    Getting body-builder-bulky takes a lot of work. Don't worry about getting huge doing sit-ups :)
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I have a question and I'm hoping all you lovely people could help me out:)
    So for right now in the beginning of my journey I want to lose weight not tone up yet.im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle. Any body have experience with this?

    No. None of us have experience with this. Because it's never happened in human history.

    *fat doesn't turn into muscle
    *you will not get bulky no matter how many situps and pushups you do, i promise
    *the time to start "toning up" is right now. combine strength training with your cardio
    *your diet is going to determine your weight loss, not cardio.
    *if you start strength training, errrr, I mean toning, right away, you will lose a higher percentage of fat during your weight loss. that's a good thing, if having a better looking body is they type of thing that interests you
  • sheepgirl44
    sheepgirl44 Posts: 35 Member
    I have a question and I'm hoping all you lovely people could help me out:)
    So for right now in the beginning of my journey I want to lose weight not tone up yet.im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle. Any body have experience with this?

    No. None of us have experience with this. Because it's never happened in human history.

    *fat doesn't turn into muscle
    *you will not get bulky no matter how many situps and pushups you do, i promise
    *the time to start "toning up" is right now. combine strength training with your cardio
    *your diet is going to determine your weight loss, not cardio.
    *if you start strength training, ehem, I mean toning, right away, you will lose a higher percentage of fat during your weight loss. that's a good thing, if having a better looking body is they type of thing that interests you

    yes
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    I have a question and I'm hoping all you lovely people could help me out:)
    So for right now in the beginning of my journey I want to lose weight not tone up yet.im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle. Any body have experience with this?

    I have math for this, because what you're saying doesn't make sense.

    Muscle is denser...1 lb of fat by volume is more lbs of muscle. So ignoring the fact that its incredibly hard to try to gain muscle on a calorie deficit, if you gained 'bulky muscle', that area would still be thinner then what it was before, so you wouldn't be bulky...not to mention that won't happen...and if it did you would have to be on a surplus to get that much heavier to get that much muscle). You have to be on a calorie surplus to gain any noticeable amount of muscle. Take me for example. This is me (at a calorie surplus somewhere over 2300 calories a day I might add) after doing the Spartacus workout 3 times a week (up to 40lbs=2x20lb dumbbells) for a few months. Many squats, lunges, pushups and arm exercises later:

    528720_10152565150090607_1439223811_n.jpg

    p.s. if you tell me I'm bulky I'll punch you.

    Oh and note: that blouse is nowhere touching my stomach and the skirt is thick and I have a shirt pulled down over it on top of that. My stomach is 25 inches wide, not bulky. With that being said, I wouldn't suggest just situps. Do something that works everything. YOU CAN NOT SPOT REDUCE.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle.

    This misconception happens so often that it has become a running joke. Not a chance. As a woman who is not taking steroids, you will not build bulky muscle. Not with heavy squats, not with deadlifts, and absolutely, positively not with pushups and situps. :noway:
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    im afraid if I do sit ups or pushups or anything but cardio for the first few months in the fear that my fat will turn into bulky muscle.

    This misconception happens so often that it has become a running joke. Not a chance. As a woman who is not taking steroids, you will not build bulky muscle. Not with heavy squats, not with deadlifts, and absolutely, positively not with pushups and situps. :noway:
    This

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