Lifting for women

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innocenceportrayed
innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is it better for me to do lower weights and higher reps or higher weights and lower reps?

This is what I'm at right now and I DO NOT want to bulk, only TONE.

Chest machine: 40 pounds, 4/20
Bicep curls: 10 pounds, 2/10
Triceps: 5 pounds, 2/20
Lat bar: 40 pounds, 2/20

Sometimes I do more, this week is less because I'm recovering from illness.
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  • BaileyBoo13524
    BaileyBoo13524 Posts: 593 Member
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    You won't get bulky. You're supposed to lift heavy reaching fatigue at 8-10 reps.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I'd go heavy/low reps. You're not gonna bulk, women don't have the testosterone for that.

    Great inspiration here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/709987-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I think it's usually better to go for heavier weights and less reps. Anywhere from 5-12 is good, with your last couple reps being really hard. More than that, I think you're just working on your muscular endurance. You're not growing your muscles or anything that would make them look any different. It's essentially another form of cardio. So there's no "toning" going on there. By toning, I think what you mean is more muscle, less fat? I'm not really sure what people mean when they say they want to tone, but not get bulky...

    Hope this helps.

    Oh, also, if you are eating at a caloric deficit, your muscles will not get bigger no matter how many reps or how heavy you are lifting.
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    Yes, I am at a caloric deficit, I eat 1200-1300 calories a day and what I mean by tone is to lose the fat and define/keep up the muscles I have. The main ones I really want to tone are my arms and thighs(doesn't every girl?). I'm going to start squats next week.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    Just be careful not to eat over 60 grams of protein a day, or you'll look like the she-hulk in a couple of weeks.



    Anyway, you should ditch those accessories/machines for compound movements. Squat. Deadlift. Bench (real bench), overhead press... that kind of thing.
  • BOLO4Hagtha
    BOLO4Hagtha Posts: 396 Member
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    Just be careful not to eat over 60 grams of protein a day, or you'll look like the she-hulk in a couple of weeks.

    Ummm, no.

    That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Just be careful not to eat over 60 grams of protein a day, or you'll look like the she-hulk in a couple of weeks.



    Anyway, you should ditch those accessories/machines for compound movements. Squat. Deadlift. Bench (real bench), overhead press... that kind of thing.

    Uh, No.

    Your muscles need protein to help repair themselves. You don't get bulky from eating protein. You get bulky from eating above your TDEE while you lift. It's actually called a "bulk cycle". And besides, women have a very difficult time getting bulky anyway. We don't have the right hormones in our bodies.

    The only thing I agree with here is that compound lifts are going to be the best way to go. Check out a 5x5 program like Strong Lifts. It's a great place to start.
  • lauren3382
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    Just be careful not to eat over 60 grams of protein a day, or you'll look like the she-hulk in a couple of weeks.

    Ummm, no.

    That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.

    Sarcasm font isn't working, apparently! I've been eating close to 200g of protein a day and I'm far from bulky.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    You need to increase the weight you're lifting and decrease the reps by about 1/2. Rep range should be 8-12 with the last couple of reps being difficult but still maintaining good form.

    ...and EAT! You'll never gain muscle on 1200 calories a day. Your body's probably in starvation mode as it is, meanly, it's holding on to the fat you have for survival.
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    My goal protein is like 105g a day. I usually hit around 80, but I'm going to try to find a protein powder I actually like.
    The reason I do the machines is because they're faster and I have a limited time to workout. I'm more about fat burning than I am about building muscles, but I understand they go hand in hand.

    And I'm on birth control, depo provera but I think that's not testosterone I think it's pure progesterone, so I should be okay?
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    You need to increase the weight you're lifting and decrease the reps by about 1/2. Rep range should be 8-12 with the last couple of reps being difficult but still maintaining good form.

    ...and EAT! You'll never gain muscle on 1200 calories a day. Your body's probably in starvation mode as it is, meanly, it's holding on to the fat you have for survival.

    Actually, your body falls into starvation in anything under 1200 calories, so I'm not in starvation mode and I do not want to gain muscle, I want to define the muscle I have.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    Lift HEAVY! You won't bulk. You would need testosterone for that. You'll be fine.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    Actually, your body falls into starvation in anything under 1200 calories, so I'm not in starvation mode and I do not want to gain muscle, I want to define the muscle I have.
    , I want to define the muscle I have.
    define

    Then we're just talking fat loss.

    You should still do some strength training. Being stronger is always good. Denser bones and stronger connective tissue is good.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I'd go heavy/low reps. You're not gonna bulk, women don't have the testosterone for that.

    Great inspiration here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/709987-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics

    *smooch*

    And after about a year of lifting with machines, this is what just 2 months of free weights did: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/744311-free-weights-vs-machines-holy-crap

    I eat around 2000 calories a day and I'm still losing. I have to up my calories more.
  • lfcutie
    lfcutie Posts: 103 Member
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    i have done chalean extreme....it works....lift heavy small reps like someone else said between 8 to 10 reps....
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Heavy weight, low rep ranges (anywhere in the range of 4-12 reps where the last rep or 2 in each set is difficult to complete with good form.

    As a woman you don't have enough testosterone to bulk up, even if you did it would take a caloric surplus to do so.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    Actually, your body falls into starvation in anything under 1200 calories, so I'm not in starvation mode and I do not want to gain muscle, I want to define the muscle I have.

    Lifting will give you a calorie deficit because you're burning calories. 1200 calories - calories burned from lifting will put you waaaay under 1200 calories.

    Again, you need to EAT to gain muscle. At your calories and the light weight/high reps you're currently doing, you're just going to be spinning your wheels.

    Also, how can you define the muscles you have if you don't want to gain muscle??? That make absolutely no sense...
  • HeavyLiftGirl
    HeavyLiftGirl Posts: 1,267 Member
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    Lift heavy, and do about 6-8 reps.
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    I'd go heavy/low reps. You're not gonna bulk, women don't have the testosterone for that.

    Great inspiration here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/709987-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics

    *smooch*

    And after about a year of lifting with machines, this is what just 2 months of free weights did: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/744311-free-weights-vs-machines-holy-crap

    I eat around 2000 calories a day and I'm still losing. I have to up my calories more.


    Another reason I am to use the machines is because the gym I belong to is part of the hospital in the community and when you sign up they give you an eval which tells you where you need to work, your %BF, etc. and you are supposed to go by their routine, so what it says on the stupid little card they give you, you're supposed to do everytime you go to the gym and in 6 months you have another evaluation. I absolutely HATE the machines, but they are there and I don't know the ways to do something for that muscle group without the machines. I'd much rather lift weights but I want to be doing the right form and I can't afford a personal trainer.
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    Actually, your body falls into starvation in anything under 1200 calories, so I'm not in starvation mode and I do not want to gain muscle, I want to define the muscle I have.

    Lifting will give you a calorie deficit because you're burning calories. 1200 calories - calories burned from lifting will put you waaaay under 1200 calories.

    Again, you need to EAT to gain muscle. At your calories and the light weight/high reps you're currently doing, you're just going to be spinning your wheels.

    Also, how can you define the muscles you have if you don't want to gain muscle??? That make absolutely no sense...

    I eat back at least 1/2 my burned calories. So yesterday, my goal was 1200, I burned 642 at the gym and ate back 350 on top of my goal of 1200, so I ate 1550 for the day.. I refuse to eat if I'm not hungry and I refuse to not eat if I'm hungry.

    The guy that works at the gym said that I could easily tone the muscle I have without gaining new muscle...so I'm just going off what he said.

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