Lifting Heavy

MichelleLaree13
MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
edited November 24 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I have to say that I was always worried lifting heavy would make me bulky. After a year of heavy lifting, I found some of my worry was not unfounded. I am at the point that I don’t want certain muscles to get any bigger, like my biceps, triceps or traps. I have stopped increasing weight when I do those workouts. Besides that, lifting heavy has made losing weight a lot easier and has made my body way more shapely. Is anyone else in the same predicament where you love the results but find you don’t want to gain more muscle in certain areas??

Replies

  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    Are you eating at maintenance? That will change your muscle growth.
    Personally I love muscles
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    Yes, I had this issue. I made gainz in my arms/shoulders/upper body and I didn't want that. I like my figure when it's more slender-athletic (see profile picture). Right now I'm in a cut and lifting when I can but not sticking to a strict schedule, which is giving me the body I like.
  • rckeeper22
    rckeeper22 Posts: 103 Member
    edited January 2018
    For awhile I stopped doing direct bicep work, because I felt that they were getting enough stimulation as part of other exercises, and I wasn't pleased with how they looked proportionally. That seemed to do the trick for me personally.

    Now I'll do curls if they're included in my HITT class's programming, but they rarely come up anyways so it hasn't been an issue. We don't tend to do as much isolation work as I used to include in my workouts, and I find that I like the results better this way. To each their own though.

    Edit: Isolation work aside, I do enjoy aspiring to go as heavy as I can on 'main' lifts.
  • guitargirl55
    guitargirl55 Posts: 258 Member
    I just started lifting in Febuary, 5x5, mostly combination lifts. I love being stronger and having a little definition in my muscles. My arms are definitely bigger, but the only issue I really have is that my traps have gotten HUGE. I absolutely look like I have hulk shoulders. I am trying to adjust my workout to fix this.

    So yeah! I hear ya! It is a balance, but I think overall this has been great for my health and fitness.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    I kind of feel that picking certain muscle groups to not work as hard as others is asking for muscle imbalances and injury. I get the conflict though when you are looking at lifting from more of an aesthetic purpose and not from a health/fitness perspective.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I train for aesthetics so I focus my training around the muscles I want to grow/retain the most. I do many compound lifts so most muscles will get hit, but I don't do any isolation work on things like my calves, traps, biceps, obliques, even quads (I don't squat that much and when I do it isn't as progressive as my other lifts and I make sure to keep the glutes involved at all times).
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    https://bretcontreras.com/how-to-attain-a-slender-look-like-jessica-alba-zoe-saldana/
  • guitargirl55
    guitargirl55 Posts: 258 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I train for aesthetics so I focus my training around the muscles I want to grow/retain the most. I do many compound lifts so most muscles will get hit, but I don't do any isolation work on things like my calves, traps, biceps, obliques, even quads (I don't squat that much and when I do it isn't as progressive as my other lifts and I make sure to keep the glutes involved at all times).

    This makes a lot of sense to me! Do you have recommendations for targeting core muscles and glutes? I am pretty new to this, and just kinda fumbling my way towards something that works for me, so I would love any suggestions :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    guitargirl55 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I train for aesthetics so I focus my training around the muscles I want to grow/retain the most. I do many compound lifts so most muscles will get hit, but I don't do any isolation work on things like my calves, traps, biceps, obliques, even quads (I don't squat that much and when I do it isn't as progressive as my other lifts and I make sure to keep the glutes involved at all times).

    This makes a lot of sense to me! Do you have recommendations for targeting core muscles and glutes? I am pretty new to this, and just kinda fumbling my way towards something that works for me, so I would love any suggestions :)

    Strong Curves program by Bret Contreras
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    I get it. During my last bulk, I gained almost 3" around each quad (23.5"). I don't fit in any pants or shorts without stretch in them, which is annoying, but luckily I have lots of cute dresses and skirts. I'm hoping they lean out a bit during my recomp; but if not, I'm okay with it. I'd rather see my lift numbers go up than worry about how big my legs and butt are getting LOL
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I purposely do not train my arms other than bench press. I'm a rather tall muscular guy and my arms grow like weeds if I give them stimulas.
  • dalerst
    dalerst Posts: 174 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I purposely do not train my arms other than bench press. I'm a rather tall muscular guy and my arms grow like weeds if I give them stimulas.

    I wish I could say the same, my progress is slow but I can see the difference from this time last year.
  • Katiebear_81
    Katiebear_81 Posts: 719 Member
    I still want all the gainz. Give me the large arms, the big quads, the hammy hamstrings. I want it all.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    dalerst wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I purposely do not train my arms other than bench press. I'm a rather tall muscular guy and my arms grow like weeds if I give them stimulas.

    I wish I could say the same, my progress is slow but I can see the difference from this time last year.

    Good to hear.

    Personally I don't care about aesthetics, it's just a byproduct of my training.
  • DanSanthomes
    DanSanthomes Posts: 135 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I purposely do not train my arms other than bench press. I'm a rather tall muscular guy and my arms grow like weeds if I give them stimulas.

    And now I hate you... :-)
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