Cardio vs. Strength Training

Hello,am Andre Crayton from Body By Crayton, and I would like too say hi and what an "Awsome" job in your quest for total fitness.
For over 20 years,I have been one of the leading authorities in human performance and nutritional weight-loss. Starring nationally on ESPN’s “American Muscle”, Fox59 Overtime, (Gary Mendelow), The Indianapolis Recorder on Air “Hosted by Carolene Mayes and Connie Gaines”, WAV53 Indianapolis, Channel 13 WTHR “Hosted by Dave Calabro, reporter Chris Stoute and the Dave’s Team Club Member, Real Women “Hosted by WTPI’s Kelly Vaughn”, Sports Corner WAV53 Indianapolis “Hosted by Jennifer Coffman”, Sports Extra WALB10 Albany,Ga., TBN’s Public Report Channel 42 Greenwood, Indiana “ Hosted by Kathy Nikou and Barbara Presutti”, WTLC Radio Indianapolis Breakfast Club “Hosted by Guy Black and Linda Clemons”, The Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper (freelance writer), also featured in Muscle Magazine International, National Physique Committee Magazine, and Indianapolis Recorder Weekly.

Andre is a graduate of Albany State University with a BS in Kinesiology with distinction, major in Exercise Science, and minor in Psychology. Andre was awarded Indiana’s Personal Trainer of the Year 1993-1998. He is also a National Physique Bodybuilding and Fitness Judge.

As a former teacher of physical education, Andre taught at St.Francis DeSales catholic School in Cincinnati, Ohio and John Marshall High School in Indianapolis, Indiana where he was an Assistant Girl Track and Field Coach.
Earlier in his career, Andre was Georgia Track and Field Champion, a Semi Professional Football Player, Academic All-American, and 1984 Olympic track and field Candidate 800m, 1 mile.

Andre became involved in bodybuilding in 1986 where he won many awards including: 1990 Musclemania, BW Division; 1990-1997 Mr. Indiana, BW & LW Division, Mr. Indianapolis BW & LW Division; Natural Indiana Champion; placed in top 10 at Nationals and Jr. and IFBB North America; Pro World Bodybuilding Championships and a host of numberous awards and titles.
crayton_andre@yahoo.com

you won't look too mannish - women don't have enough testosterone to get that bulky. doing lighter weights is better than not lifting at all, but if you do the same number of repetitions as you would normally with a heavier weight, it will be virtually ineffective. you need to pick a weight that you can do 8-12 repetitions of. if you can do more than 12, you need to raise the weights; if you can't do 8, then the weight is too heavy. you need to fatigue the muscle until it can't do any more repetitions.

you really need to do strength training, though. it's important to build muscle, for the calorie-burning benefits (the more muscle your body has, the more calories it burns), for bone-density benfits (strength training prevents osteoporosis), and for maintaining overall strength. as you age, your muscles naturally atrophy, so you must do strength training to counteract that.

if you are really concerned about "looking mannish," then I would highly recommend pilates. it lengthens the muscles, like a ballerina's. but even pilates should be used in conjunction with strength-training, not instead of it.

I have the same worry because I have a rather muscular build too. I have very muscular calves, in fact I was once told by a FOOTBALL PLAYER no less, that he would like to trade calves with me. From then on I have been self conscious about them

But I heard that using lighter weights but doing more reps will give you the tone and lean look, rather than bulky. I just use little 3 pound weights, sometimes holding both in one hand to increase weight but that's it.

Thanks for your help. My problem is that when I flex, I actually have a muscle that comes up (like a man). I hate it. I mean, it is better than flab, but I would rather just have toned arms. My mid-section and thighs are where I gain most of my weight.

I'm trying to be more balanced in my exercises. Sometimes I am so drained from running that I skip the other stuff. Not good! :grumble:

Unless you're suffering from some muscle wasting degenerative disease, you will always have a bicep muscle. It's generally a good thing since it's useful when bending your arm. There's nothing 'like a man' about having muscle--it's human.

You're currently in a caloric deficit. What will you build muscle mass with? You won't. Resistance training may help maintain your current muscle mass, but it takes a highly specific diet and very intense resistance training to gain anything in a caloric deficit, especially one as large as 500 calories. It will help maintain bone density though, and it will also improve your metabolism by changing the number of special organelles that use energy in your muscle cells. It won't, however, cause growth.

No resistance training will make your muscle smaller. It can stay the same size, or it can get bigger. If you want it to stay the same size, use very heavy weights and very low repetitions to avoid lactic acid buildup that will promote growth hormone to be released. High reps with light weights and a lot of 'burn' (lactic acid) creates a prime growth environment--and I speak both from a physiological perspective and from personal experience. Nothing will make your muscle longer--you are born with a given muscle origin and insertion, you'll live with it, and you'll die with it. Your bicep will always be the same length, and the belly of the muscle will always be in the same place.

It's important to be happy with your body---you really can't do much to it but get bigger and get smaller.