How to have a firm body!

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

assuming you are not a man or on hormone therapy, you wont have enough testosterone to have a masculine body.

begin a progressive weight lifting program.

dont worry, you are not going to EVER look like a man.

The second part of a firm body is a low enough fat percentage.
Depending on your current situation, one of these may or may not be appropriate for you:
- recomp (aiming for weight maintenance - building muscle mass while losing bodyfat (a slow process)
- calorie restriction to lose bodyfat (preferable a small/moderate deficit, to avoid losing muscle mass)
- bulk and cut cycles (alternating periods of a calorie surplus to build muscle and then a calorie deficit to lose bodyfat)

PS: even if you have the exceptional genetics to build muscle 'like a man', the solution is simple: reduce your resistance training when you think it's getting 'too much'. Muscle is gained slowly, you don't end up 'looking masculine' overnight

It's true that you won't get a bodybuilder look - even a female bodybuilder look, let alone a male one - without serious bodybuilder efforts (both exercise and diet) over a loooong time period.

Different people, even women,

(1) want different levels of muscularity from mild to major (describing this as "masculine" or "feminine" isn't very clear, honestly too subjective), and
(2) are genetically inclined to build muscle more easily or less easily under the same stimulus (type/amount of training).

Regardless, nothing happens quickly, so lift some weights, and go to a maintenance routine when *you're* happy with your look.

In women in particular, the level and distribution of body fat can make a big difference in how muscular we look. We tend to hold a thin layer of subcutaneous fat all over our bodies. It has a softening effect on appearance.

Oversimplifying, female bodybuilders deliberately deplete this fat in order to get to competition "look": Low body fat, also some dehydration probably. When not getting ready for a comp, some will look surprisingly "toned but not muscular" in everyday life.

Most of us will look softer and rounder with a slightly higher body fat percent, than at a very low one. I'm not talking mega fat layer, but the difference between maybe somewhere in the lower to mid 20s percent (softer look, yet slim, "toned") vs. teens to maybe lower 20s (more cut, more muscular look), all at the same level of underlying muscle mass.

But no muscle, no "toned" or "cut"/"muscular" either one, just kinda skinny, bony if at lower body fat.

Good strength routine, faithfully performed; adequate protein in your eating; sloooow fat loss if you need some fat loss; don't get so thin or so muscular that you don't like the look. It'll happen very slowly, so you'll have time to notice, switch to maintaining when it's time. Even if you were to overshoot, you can reverse, to some extent.