Want to be Toned but Not Ripped

In for the answer, I've been wondering the same thing.... :happy:

Don't worry, even men need to prepare specifically to look as "ripped" as you've probably seen. It's called "cutting" in bodybuilding parlance. Just eat right, get a good workout routine (I'm partial to HIIT myself). Here's a good place to start:

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Would you be happy with her after picture?

Thinking you can gain a significant amount of muscle by accident is silly when you consider a natural pro bodybuilder would be happy with 5lbs of clean muscle a year.

Anyway, start lifting now. You can't get big and muscular without the dedication or drugs to do so. By the way, toned isn't a real thing; it's a term created by women's media because it sounds sexier than lose bodyfat. Which is what you want to do.

This.

Personal preference, really.

To reach your goal you'll have to lift and you'll have to lose weight. Doing them simultaneously simply shortens your timeline. To reach body-builder physique will require years of dedicated, on-point training. You won't get to that point by accident.

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Strength training now will help you retain muscle as you lose weight, so start now. And unless you are dedicating a couple hours a day to training and following a rigid diet plan designed to bulk and cut, it is doubtful that you will develop "huge muscles". Bodybuilders, male and female, get that way because they are spending hours and hours in the gym working their *kitten* off, not 40 minutes in the gym 3 times a week.

Do both! I alternate cardio and weights to get the best of both worlds. The weights definitely helped make everything tighter and look better while I still try to lose the weight. A woman at work was amazed that she and I weighed 3lbs different and I really feel that a lot of it was because I was tighter all around, whereas she doesn't have any exercise in her life.

Getting that ripped look is an issue of how much body fat you're carrying. Lifting weights, even heavy ones, will not make you look "ripped" unless you are able to get your body fat percentage really low. And believe me, that's no easy feat. I would not wait until you lose weight to start lifting weights; instead, I'd start now as it will only make you look better when you reach your goal. You will not get "huge muscles"...it takes a really, REALLY long time to build significant muscle mass even for guys and they have heaps of testosterone you don't have.

Plus, building muscle requires a caloric surplus and since you will be eating at a deficit you will not be able to put on much muscle. Doing cardio and dieting without lifting is the best way to ensure you lose lots of muscle and end up looking flabby and "untoned" so unless that's your goal, eat at a reasonable deficit, do moderate cardio and lift them weights! By doing so you will be able to preserve your existing muscle mass and when you lose fat you will have the "toned pageant girl" look you're after.

FYI, this is a very sensitive topic around these parts and I can pretty much guarantee your thread is going to wind up in a not very nice place.

Do both.

Thinking you can gain a significant amount of muscle by accident is silly when you consider a natural pro bodybuilder would be happy with 5lbs of clean muscle a year.

Anyway, start lifting now. You can't get big and muscular without the dedication or drugs to do so. By the way, toned isn't a real thing; it's a term created by women's media because it sounds sexier than lose bodyfat. Which is what you want to do.

Truth.

I want to be Ripped, but not Toned!