What size weights to tone with?

Honestly, what are bulky muscles? Do you have a link or a photo of someone "bulky?"

As a woman, I'm so tired of hearing this.

The point of lifting weight is resistance. After a while, whatever weights you lift will become too easy. You will have to increase weights or you'll just be wasting your time.

Do not be afraid to lift heavy. You will not get bulky, I promise. I lift heavy(6-12 reps per set for 3 sets), and I am not bulky at all, just very toned. Pick a weight that you can do between 8 and 12 reps with.

You won't get "bulky" lifting heavy weights.

You won't get "bulky" lifting heavy weights.

Unless you use steroids

You won't get "bulky" lifting heavy weights.

Unless you use steroids

and eating way over your maintenance calories and working out for years and hours of practice...

i dont understand how women think they will pick up a heavy weight and magically they will have muscle gains that grown men with higher testosterone levels than then take years to get.

Ones heavy enough to offer resistance. You should feel contraction at the end of the workout. Some women lift heavier grocery bags than the weights they attempt at the gym. Like some have said, go ahead and don't be afraid to lift. Your chemical make up will not allow you to bulk like a male. That being said, if you start seeing something you don't like, you can always back off.

First off.....lifting heavy won't make you bulky... Second thing...you can't 'tone' what you don't have. You have to lift heavy to build muscle. Otherwise your not going to be 'toning' anything. You have to build some muscle first which won't happen using light weights.

The weights should be as heavy as you can lift through a full set of 8-12. When you absolutely cannot make another rep, then you know your using the right weight. If you could lift it longer then bump it up.

I put on half a pound of muscle!

Now I'm huge!


OP: A good starting book is New Rules of Lifting for Women. If you want further convincing that lifting will give you the look you want, look up bikini competition workout on youtube and you will see a lot of little girls lifting heavy stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWH0TQJzA18

I don't want to build bulky muscles by using too heavy of weights. I would just like to tone my arms and get a little definition. What size hand weights would u recommend in achieving this?

You don't have to use weights to get tone arms. You can do body weight exercises and get tone arms. If people watch the Insanity infomercial they will see what I'm talking about. Any size weights can tone a person's arms, if it was not so, then professional trainers(Jillian Michaels, Chris Freytag, Terry Simpson, Billy Blanks, etc.) wouldn't make workout strength dvds having people use smaller weights, such as 3lbs or 5lbs weights. A person can use a heavier weight if they want to, but I know that a person wouldn't use 20 or 50 pound weights doing a cardio/strength workout. I know that people wouldn't use 20 or 50 pounds weights trying to do Billy Blanks Cardio Sculpt workout. They would not last a few seconds using those size weights.

Since you want to sculpt your arms, what kind of workouts are you looking to do? Workout dvds or gym?

Why do so many women think they are going to bulk up from lifting some weight?? I don't get it, you do not have a man's testosterone. lifting heavy will not make you bulk up. someone else mentioned it - check out new rules of lifting for women.

I always thought lifting heavy would cause me to get bulky (but I was wrong hand I hold my hands up to that) as previous posters have put lift heavy and eating at a sensible deficit and you'll get subtle muscle definition!! I am slowly seeing a bicep which I never could see before yet I've lost over an inch on each arm! Go heavy!! Good luck x

It's already been stated, but here it its.

Most women do not have the testosterone levels to bulk. I would say that a large chunk of men do not as well. If you want to get that tone look, eat a nice balanced diet and eat back your exercise calories. Do some cardio and lift weights, anything you lift, try for it to be heavy enough that you can do it 8-10 times. That's the most simple explanation.

But also know that a lot of these super toned women you see, like Jillian Michaels or fitness competitors often cut carbs weeks before their photo shoots, and then dehydrate right before so you can see their definition. So what level of tone are we talking here?

People keep saying "You absolutely, positively WILL NOT bulk up from lifting heavy..." But when you get down to the real low body fats where you can appreciate the muscles you're building, don't your boobs disappear completely?

Can someone show me a picture of a non-bulky female body builder who does not have breast implants?

I will agree... ones own body weight does wonders... do pushups ...everyday.. this alone will "tone" your upper body

You will NOT bulk up! It takes a lot of time and effort to bulk up and build muscle. It doesn't happen overnight, and it certainly doesn't happen by lifting heavy alone, if anything lifting heavy creates a more toned look than lifting light weights, endless reps.

What you need to do to bulk up:
1) Lift heavy over a long period of time, specific exercises, sets/reps etc to maximise muscle growth.
2) Eat A LOT, when I say a lot I mean, above maintenance. A purposeful amount of calories to put on weight / muscle.

Even then, while it's hard to bulk up for anyone, men have it a lot easier than women. They have roughly 10 times to testosterone levels we have! More testosterone = easier to build muscle.

Go youtube female weight lifters and powerlifters (not the really overweight ones, look in the smaller weight categories) and you will see they are small, look toned and athletic but definitely not bulky and they're lifting HUGE amounts of weight, because they train for strength, not size, which comes through heavy lifting. 6-8 reps is usually seen as a good point, but really anywhere up to 10-12 should be fine, just push yourself! You'll get better results in terms of toning when you work hard, and progress to heavier weights. So many times I see "light weights, low reps to tone" and it makes me so frustrated because it's just not true!!

To "see" what I mean, I've been lifting heavy for around 2 years now. I even did a "bulking" phase to gain muscle from July to Jan this year, eating 3000+ calories a day, and did well, I did put on muscle, and fat, as well as getting loads stronger. I still wasn't "big and bulky" though.

My arms, as of 5 minutes ago:


...and a similar one but with my biceps flexing a little so it looks even more "bulky":


I have a few videos on youtube of my most recent lifts, so you can see what lifting heavy for me is. I know women who lift way more than me though, and still don't look bulky! My youtube account name is "heidi9410"

ETA: Pics came out MASSIVE when I posted, anyone know how to fix this?