How to tone up without bulking up???

You're a woman. The chances of you 'bulking up' without putting in some serious effort are nil. And even then. . .

First get rid of the notion that toning is a simple thing to do. Start lifting on a beginners routine. Google will give you several top notch ones. Eat according to your goals. Lose fat or gain muscle. Pick one.

Report back in several months.

You won't get all swole, trust me.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

angelgreathouse9 wrote: »

I only have 2lbs left to hit my goal of 135lbs, 62.6lbs down so far, I started going to the gym 3 weeks ago for some variety in my work out, I want to tone up without bulking up... any suggestions would be great thank you

OP: I'm a woman. I've been lifting since 1996. No bulk here.
The others are quite right: unless you're specifically trying to bulk up (and following a plan designed to do that) you won't get "big". You'll just look awesome.

BAM...... / Thread

Bulking doesn't happen unless you're taking in a surplus. Bulk is muscle and fat increasing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Lol… Women don't 'bulk up.'

juliepunchak wrote: »

I know where you're coming from. People have always told me women don't bulk but I guess I am one of the exceptions that can. I'm not saying I can look like Atlas, but I used to bike up and down hills when I was young and built up some serious thigh muscles. As a result, it is very easy for a little exercise to build up my thighs now, something I do NOT want to do! The rule of thumb is to use light weights with lots of reps. Also, stretching at the end is supposed to elongate the muscles and keep them from getting bulky. I do this and so far it has worked. I am not a professional trainer or anything so this is just my experienced opinion that I am offering. Hope it helps!

What you’re explaining is what we old school guys call muscle memory. It is easier for an athlete to bring back/hypertrophy muscles that were previously well conditioned/trained. That probably isn’t the case for her. I’m guessing you don’t see the same easy gains for your upper body?

You can’t really elongate a muscle, it is attached where it is attached. But you can reduce fat and show leaner muscles if that is what you have. Higher rep schemes will help her build muscle endurance (there is a specific muscle type that responds to this training, look at the legs of well trained marathon runners).

Each of us will react to a specific program slightly differently. My advice stands that you learn the compound movements, go as heavy as you can with good form (3 - 6 reps per set, 3 - 5 sets per exercise). After a 6 - 8 weeks of this, you should see how your body responds and you can adjust your training. The lower rep range is focused on strength (a core fitness and health component). You may see some mass, but the vast majority of folks won’t gain enough mass to consider themselves bulking up.

juliepunchak wrote: »

I know where you're coming from. People have always told me women don't bulk but I guess I am one of the exceptions that can. I'm not saying I can look like Atlas, but I used to bike up and down hills when I was young and built up some serious thigh muscles. As a result, it is very easy for a little exercise to build up my thighs now, something I do NOT want to do! The rule of thumb is to use light weights with lots of reps. Also, stretching at the end is supposed to elongate the muscles and keep them from getting bulky. I do this and so far it has worked. I am not a professional trainer or anything so this is just my experienced opinion that I am offering. Hope it helps!

Yeah. no.

OP - as everyone has said - lift heavy, fewer reps. Women in particular do not bulk easily. I think this misconception may partially come from women who typically only do cardio switching to doing some lifting and seeing some swelling of muscles due to glycogen, and probably losing fat as well. So, their muscles become more defined than they're used to, but they are not getting bigger. And unless you're eating in a surplus, aside from - possibly - very minimal gains for a new lifter, your muscles will not get bigger.

I did some heavy lifting for a few months last year. I had to stop due to an injury (not caused by the lifting) - and have just got going again.

The little I managed to do before transformed my body more effectively than anything I had ever tried before! I had to stop - but I'm still seeing the benefits of the changes it made to my shape. I'm thrilled to have started again so I can finish what I started!

angelgreathouse9 wrote: »

my apologies I didn't intend on offending anyone, I asked a question and got some helpful advice yours being the most helpful, thank you. I won't be taking that bet as I don't want to attempt to win it...lol... thank you so much for your input, maybe "bulk" wasn't the right term to use...

I wasn’t offended so much as many women I’ve known over the years who would be. To build a muscular physique (body building), an athlete has to show a tremendous dedication to diet, lifting, rest, etc. And it takes years, even for the most genetically gifted.

My advice was primarily focused on helping you build a foundation of strength. Lower reps (3 - 6) tend to do this and only moderately affect muscle mass. Rep ranges of 7 - 10 are more conducive to muscle mass (hypertrophy) and Rep ranges of 11 - 25 address muscle endurance. With all of these ranges, there are improvements across the spectrum, but this focus is appropriate for 95% of trainees, especially those who are relatively new to lifting. With lower rep, heavy lifting, you’ll see good increases in strength and moderate increases in mass. And a pound of muscle takes up such a small area, it is like laying a piece of paper on your body, hardly noticeable.

For those training for mass, it takes months and years (of laying those pieces of paper) to show the musculature that you’re trying to avoid. You’ll likely never apply that intensity, volume or persistence to get to that point. Some of your body parts might react more positively to training, then you can adapt your protocol to address your specific needs. Initially, a generalized program like New Rules of Lifting for Women or Strong Lifts will give you a good strength base to start from.

OP: work as hard as you want. You won't bulk unless you're eating at a surplus.

sgthaggard wrote: »

BlackScorpio91 wrote: »

Velum_cado wrote: »

BlackScorpio91 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

BlackScorpio91 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

BlackScorpio91 wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote: »

Lift heavy things, compound movements (squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, and overhead press). Unless you’re taking steroids, you won’t bulk up.

This...idk why women still think this. At the gym I go to, I always see a bunch of hippie women constantly doing cardio and no strength training. I guess they're scared? The ones I do see in the free weight room are not bulky and some are actually fairly attractive.

Hippie women?

I mean hippie as in weak, unassertive and non aggressive...both mentally and physically. I know the term is from the 60s but a guy named PhysiquesofGreatness on Youtube uses it to describe people like that...it's funny as *kitten*. If you're not this...you shouldn't be offended right?

I'm not offended. I just wondered what being a "hippie" had to do with cardio. Apparently nothing. Apparently some guy on youtube has changed (in his mind and yours) what "hippie" means. What an unpleasant choice by Mr. PhysiqueofGreatness". He sounds rather unpleasant based on your description of him.

Thanks for explaining what you think that word means.
cheers

Well you're clearly not from my generation soo....you wouldn't know any of our slang and all of that. It's just a term used in a different, funny way...anyway who cares. Good job on the lifting since 1995

But... words mean things. I can't just refer to apples as "potatoes", because "LOL it's just a term used in a different way!" That would be stupid.

Kind of re-defining "hippie", I guess.

Who cares lol. I'm still gonna use the term if I want and other people have no problem with me using the term. You people seem older than me as someone in their 20s or even 30s and with a sense of humor wouldn't be acting like this

You don't use the term because it's common in your age group, you use it because of one guy on YouTube. It's not generational but situational. But hey, keep using 'hippie' that way and maybe it will eventually catch on. In the meantime don't be surprised if people of any age have no idea what you're referring to.