"TONING"

I understand. I don't have an issue with the word "toned" ... I use it sometimes. Don't really know what else to call it. But I do think it's very silly when women only want to use 3lb weights because they don't want to get bulky or big. Seriously, c'mon. You wont. And why is having muscles a bad thing anyway?

I saw a youtube video of this girl who was giving a review for a Jillian Michaels video (No More Trouble Zones) and she said Jillian recommends 3 pound weights but she only used 2 pound weights because she "didn't want to get super big." ?? 3 pound weights aren't going to make your arms look like the Incredible Hulk's, my dear.

My boyfriend is kind of leery about me using heavy weights and doing a bunch of squats and stuff because he's afraid of my butt getting hard. I think he's being so silly! My *kitten* wont get hard. I'm not planning on becoming a body builder.

Granted the responses, but that is not the whole deal.

It is about people not understanding what is related to the term and how to achieve what they want, and then going out and lifting 1 pound dumbbells for 15 reps.

The purpose of lifting ANY weight is to tax the muscles. If someone is just lifting 1 pound, that isn't a lack of understanding. That is just laziness.

This lady lifts heavy weights for low reps:

Waannnnt! (In an envious way, not a sexual way lol)

I understand. I don't have an issue with the word "toned" ... I use it sometimes. Don't really know what else to call it. But I do think it's very silly when women only want to use 3lb weights because they don't want to get bulky or big. Seriously, c'mon. You wont. And why is having muscles a bad thing anyway?

I saw a youtube video of this girl who was giving a review for a Jillian Michaels video (No More Trouble Zones) and she said Jillian recommends 3 pound weights but she only used 2 pound weights because she "didn't want to get super big." ?? 3 pound weights aren't going to make your arms look like the Incredible Hulk's, my dear.

My boyfriend is kind of leery about me using heavy weights and doing a bunch of squats and stuff because he's afraid of my butt getting hard. I think he's being so silly! My *kitten* wont get hard. I'm not planning on becoming a body builder.

HAHAHA! I can totally understand the BF part.. My husband is afraid of me getting a hard bum too and sometimes if hes near me at the gym he will watch me like a hawk as to what weights I pick up. he is afraid of me havinglosing my women parts, its like im going to develop the male anatomy if I lift more than 7.5 pounds...

Granted the responses, but that is not the whole deal.

It is about people not understanding what is related to the term and how to achieve what they want, and then going out and lifting 1 pound dumbbells for 15 reps.

The purpose of lifting ANY weight is to tax the muscles. If someone is just lifting 1 pound, that isn't a lack of understanding. That is just laziness.

i don't think it's necessarily about being lazy. for one thing, some women mistake that burn they feel when they do a zillion reps of an exercise as the same type of burn they feel if they lifted 1 heavy weight a few times. i've definitely heard this as an excuse before from people not having access to super heavy weights so they think well what's the difference between lifting 5 pounds 60 times or 30 pounds 10 times if i still get the same muscle burn.

also some women think that if they pick up anything larger than a 5 pound weight they will magically have mr universe arms. heck i just ran into that myth last night at my cardio kickboxing class during our "strength" section. the instructor had us get 10 # weights to do things like 1 armed DB snatches, and upright rows and several of the girls were whining about not wanting to get bulky :laugh:


considering that these people also tend to spend FAR more time in the gym than i do i wouldnt call them lazy. after all, doing 3 sets of 20 reps of an exercise takes WAY more time than 3 sets of 8. i'm definitely too lazy for their routine.

This lady lifts heavy weights for low reps:

adding her to my visual inspiration list. but i dont think skipping rope in those shoes is a good idea

I'm never quite sure when reading these threads whether I am lifting in a good way or not. All my dumbbell exercises are done with 13-18 pound dumbbells. I squat 66# and deadlift 77# (yeah lame but I'm working on it) and I do 3 sets of 12 of each exercise, 30 second rest between sets.

Should I be increasing the weight and decreasing the reps or is this OK until I get stronger?

you get stronger by increasing the weight and strong is kinda relative, so dont feel lame about anything you're lifting. what's lame is not doing it at all

for instance, i try to increase my weight with every set. so if i start the 1set of squats at 135, i do the next set at 145. if i can get through those rep without stopping or falling down then increase again to 155. next time i do squats, i'm going to start at 165 and do the whole thing over again. i really only stay at the same weight if i have a hard time completing all my reps of a set.

not sure if this is the right way, but this is how i was taught to lift when i powerlifted for rugby. i've always stuck with doing it this way because i like the idea of my workouts being a bit different every time i do them, plus i like the feeling of being able to see that i'm getting stronger

8-12. i'm doing NROL4W at the moment

The problem is when people think they can do something different to their muscles rather than making them grow. "Toning those muscles with lots of reps! Don't want to look bulky!"

I think it is largely down to misinformation. Before I started using MFP I has a lot of the same misconceptions that we are talking about here.

Also, I am a girl who would like to start using weights more effectively but have no idea where to start. I think there is a lot more out there on routines using tiny weights with high reps, and not so much for heavier weights, especially for women. There probably is a lot of stuff out there but its not in-your-face as much.