Toning Tips-
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I've really noticed a difference in my arms since doing standing overhead presses 3x per week - 5 reps, 5 sets, a dumbbell in each hand as heavy as I can go! Currently at 44lb, which feels like a lot for my weak little arms :bigsmile:0
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can i ask a add on question here please too... :blushing:
How long before it starts to build muscle? if you do the wieghts daily?
Well for one, you shouldn't be doing weights daily (If you are doing a full body program... Split body programs are a different story)... each muscle group needs at least a 24 hr rest period between workouts.
Two, you don't build muscle in a calorie deficit.. you need a surplus of calories before you can build muscle. Even then, for a female, it's quite hard to build muscle as we don't have the hormones for it.
that's not entirely true. You can "build" muscle while on a relatively low calorie intake if you're on a really high protein level. Well, actually what happens is that you don't lose any of the muscle tissue you already have because the protein helps to build it up but instead you lose the fat. though, too much protein can also cause problems for the kidneys, i hear so... everything in moderation
ETA: I put "build" in quotation marks because you're not actually gaining muscle, but the muscles youhave become more visible. Heavy people actually have a LOT of muscle that's needed to carry all that weight around; so if you're smart about it (which I wasn't when I first started), you can retain and tone the muscle you have while losing the fat, thus ending up with a nice toned body.0 -
you all are very helpful
thank you so much! 0 -
can i ask a add on question here please too... :blushing:
How long before it starts to build muscle? if you do the wieghts daily?
The reason you lift while dieting is to ensure that the weight you lose is mainly fat. If you don't do strength training then a large % of your wight loss will be lean muscle.
Yeah this ^^^^
You'll be surprised at how great this actually is though!
At 200lb with a typical (for a woman) body fat of 35%, one is considered obese
You still have 130 lbs of lean muscle mass though
Maintain that whilst shedding the fat and if you dieted down to 160 lbs you would then have less than 20% body fat with the appearence of bigger, more defined muscles!
Keeping all your muscle whilst dropping the fat is damned hard though! Heavy weights on a calorie deficit is the only answer0 -
can i ask a add on question here please too... :blushing:
How long before it starts to build muscle? if you do the wieghts daily?
Well for one, you shouldn't be doing weights daily (If you are doing a full body program... Split body programs are a different story)... each muscle group needs at least a 24 hr rest period between workouts.
Two, you don't build muscle in a calorie deficit.. you need a surplus of calories before you can build muscle. Even then, for a female, it's quite hard to build muscle as we don't have the hormones for it.
that's not entirely true. You can "build" muscle while on a relatively low calorie intake if you're on a really high protein level. Well, actually what happens is that you don't lose any of the muscle tissue you already have because the protein helps to build it up but instead you lose the fat. though, too much protein can also cause problems for the kidneys, i hear so... everything in moderation
ETA: I put "build" in quotation marks because you're not actually gaining muscle, but the muscles youhave become more visible. Heavy people actually have a LOT of muscle that's needed to carry all that weight around; so if you're smart about it (which I wasn't when I first started), you can retain and tone the muscle you have while losing the fat, thus ending up with a nice toned body.
Right but your not building new tissue, which is what the OP meant.
So what I said was entirely true.0 -
can i ask a add on question here please too... :blushing:
How long before it starts to build muscle? if you do the wieghts daily?
Well for one, you shouldn't be doing weights daily (If you are doing a full body program... Split body programs are a different story)... each muscle group needs at least a 24 hr rest period between workouts.
Two, you don't build muscle in a calorie deficit.. you need a surplus of calories before you can build muscle. Even then, for a female, it's quite hard to build muscle as we don't have the hormones for it.
that's not entirely true. You can "build" muscle while on a relatively low calorie intake if you're on a really high protein level. Well, actually what happens is that you don't lose any of the muscle tissue you already have because the protein helps to build it up but instead you lose the fat. though, too much protein can also cause problems for the kidneys, i hear so... everything in moderation
ETA: I put "build" in quotation marks because you're not actually gaining muscle, but the muscles youhave become more visible. Heavy people actually have a LOT of muscle that's needed to carry all that weight around; so if you're smart about it (which I wasn't when I first started), you can retain and tone the muscle you have while losing the fat, thus ending up with a nice toned body.
Right but your not building new tissue, which is what the OP meant.
So what I said was entirely true.
Yes
Maintain the muscle you have whilst losing fat and you are almost certain to end up with a strong, lean, defined phisique
Easier said than done of course as hard, heavy lifting is tough!0 -
My arms LOOK better after heavy lifting despite a calorie deficit. Don't really know (or care) if I built any muscle (newbie gains) or what, but it's probably looks that you're going for anyways. Shoulder presses, squats with an overhead press, lat pulldowns until I could do chinups (now I do 3-4 chinups in a set), bicep curls, lateral raises, pushups, bench dips, and rows. I did 50-65lbs for the presses (65 on a barbell or two 25lb dumbbells), 40 or 2x20 on the curls, 10-12 on the lateral raises, 30lb dumbbells on the rows. 3 sets of 6.
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If you're putting a lot of focus on arms, maybe it's that there's now more muscle underneath, but it's still got some fat on top.
The classic one is people that are going for toned abs so do a lot of core-work; however because they haven't lost enough fat, they are just bulking up under the fat, making a bigger belly!0 -
My arms LOOK better after heavy lifting despite a calorie deficit. Don't really know (or care) if I built any muscle (newbie gains) or what, but it's probably looks that you're going for anyways.
Yeah that's exactly right - doesnt matter if you're not building muscle so long as the results are right
Looking at your stats (hope you don't mind)
Starting Weight 149
Current weight = 126
Current BF = 20.4% so your lean muscle mass = 100.3 lbs
If your lean muscle mass was the same as when you started then:
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 100.3
Body fat = 32% (obese!)
I would have said something more like
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 112
Body fat percentage = 25%
Losing about 10lbs of muscle0 -
My arms LOOK better after heavy lifting despite a calorie deficit. Don't really know (or care) if I built any muscle (newbie gains) or what, but it's probably looks that you're going for anyways.
Yeah that's exactly right - doesnt matter if you're not building muscle so long as the results are right
Looking at your stats (hope you don't mind)
Starting Weight 149
Current weight = 126
Current BF = 20.4% so your lean muscle mass = 100.3 lbs
If your lean muscle mass was the same as when you started then:
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 100.3
Body fat = 32% (obese!)
I would have said something more like
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 112
Body fat percentage = 25%
Losing about 10lbs of muscle
I don't know what my body fat was when I was 149. I started MFP at 142 and 25.5% which would have put my LBM at 106. There's some variation in the body fat measurement though (I've measured as low as 19% which would put me at 102 instead of 100).
Not to say, though, that I couldn't have build a little muscle in my arms while losing it elsewhere (like my legs, since I was running quite a bit the past year too) and having a net loss of a couple pounds of LBM. I did increase my biceps measurement by about half an inch.0 -
My arms LOOK better after heavy lifting despite a calorie deficit. Don't really know (or care) if I built any muscle (newbie gains) or what, but it's probably looks that you're going for anyways.
Yeah that's exactly right - doesnt matter if you're not building muscle so long as the results are right
Looking at your stats (hope you don't mind)
Starting Weight 149
Current weight = 126
Current BF = 20.4% so your lean muscle mass = 100.3 lbs
If your lean muscle mass was the same as when you started then:
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 100.3
Body fat = 32% (obese!)
I would have said something more like
Starting weight = 149
Lean muscle mass = 112
Body fat percentage = 25%
Losing about 10lbs of muscle
I don't know what my body fat was when I was 149. I started MFP at 142 and 25.5% which would have put my LBM at 106. There's some variation in the body fat measurement though (I've measured as low as 19% which would put me at 102 instead of 100).
Not to say, though, that I couldn't have build a little muscle in my arms while losing it elsewhere (like my legs, since I was running quite a bit the past year too) and having a net loss of a couple pounds of LBM. I did increase my biceps measurement by about half an inch.
Running won't make you lose muscle from your legs and not elsewhere though???
Anyway the point is that your picture is testimony to the fact that you don't need to put on lots of muscle to have a profound effect on how defined and lean you look. Keep it up0 -
Try skull crushers!0
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Agh! My worst exercise! Aggravates all my little injuries. Tried a straight bar and an EZ bar, no good at all! - swore I would never do these again.Try skull crushers!
I'm not saying that they aren't good for triceps though!0 -
Just need to keep eating in a calorie deficit..and eventually they will shrink.
Also, 100 reps of Arm rows is a bit ridiculous. Drop the reps, drop the weight, and mix up the arm exercises.
I think you mean drop the reps and INCREASE the weight.
^This. You are wasting your time if you are doing 100 reps. Also don't ignore your triceps. It's 2/3 of the muscles in your upper arms. Do skullcrushers, tricep dips, tricep push ups, etc. I would actually suggest doing full body exercises like bench presses, rows, deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses. Can't go wrong with compound lifts that work the whole body.0 -
increase the weight and lift between 8 and 12 reps. Congrats BTW. Don't give up - it will happen.0
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Lift Heavy! only 10 to 20 reps of a given lift using the max amount of weight you can.0
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Yep I think you definetly need to drop the reps and increase your weight!!!! Tons of reps like that is pointless. Do a few sets of each arm exercise - like 3 sets or so. And do 8 reps, but do the HEAVIEST weights you can do to just complete 8 reps with good form.0
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Lift Heavy! only 10 to 20 reps of a given lift using the max amount of weight you can.
20 reps is not considered heavy, if you can do that much you are lifting light which is for endurance, not strength or muscle retention.0 -
Well for starters; "toning" doesn't exist. (its a myth sold to women by the fitness industry circa 1980)
You can build the muscle or decrease the amount of fat stored in a fat cell (can't create a muscle cell or remove a fat cell outside of cosmetic surgery).
I'd suggest hitting the arms once or twice a weeek but as always with everyone who stands round in gyms constantly hoggin the squat rack to do bicep curls, try doing a heavy compound movement first, for stimulating the Biceps try the deadlift (not that much stimulation) the bent over row (not strictly a complex movement).
personally If I was going to do an arm routine I'd do it once a week after hitting 5x5 heavy sets of deadlifts and I'd do
5x8 Ez bar curls (60%)
5x8 hammer curls (60%)
5x12 Reverse Curls
3x12 forearm curl (light warm up weight [sitting on a bench, fore arms resting on knees, palm facing up, curl the weight down to your finger pads then curl back up)
5x8 forearm curls (heavier weight)
5x12 Single arm over head tricep press (warm up)
5x8 double handed tricep press (heavier)
5x8 Cable pull down
5x5 close grip bench press
5x5 military press (really light weight)
Pull ups/dips 5:10 x3
Lat raises 3x10
Shoulder press 3x10
Thats what I'd do; if I trained arms. Not saying you should do it.
If your not eating a decent meal an hour/45 minutes before training I'd suggest getting a bcaa powder and having 5g before training.0 -
Thank you so much for the tips everyone Didn't expect a lot of responses. I love it. Have a beautiful day! 0
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