fat in to muscle?

i would do cardio and weight train, light weight a lot of reps

Absolutely! Light weights with multiple reps will tone, heavy weights will build muscle.

Fat does not turn into muscle when you lift weights...and lifting weights will not make you bulky. I lift heavy and love it. You can incorporate the cardio with lifting and you will get amazing results! People love to argue about the weight of weights, but I go heavy and it works!

i would do cardio and weight train, light weight a lot of reps

Absolutely! Light weights with multiple reps will tone, heavy weights will build muscle.

This is not true...I lift heavy low reps and am not building bulky muscle. Women are not built that way.

Hello all,

I need some help, so I want my arms to get toned, not bulky....My husband says I need to do cardio to burn off the fat and then start doing light weight lifting to tone, but he say's if I start weight lifting now that the fat will turn into muscle and I could look bulky.

People at work say to start weight lifting now, less weight/more repetitions...?

My arms do jiggle, and I just want them to get toned, not bulky...so I'm not really sure what the proper way is.

THANKS for your help!

That's not true! The more muscle you put on the higher your metabolism is. You will still need to do cardio to burn fat (but weight lifting burns fat as well). You can do cardio and toning at the same time, and your results will be quicker. You can tone your arms with body weight exercises, light weights, or heavy weights. They are all effective.

Oy, the misconceptions around women lifting...it kills me!! First of all, women don't have enough testosterone to get "bulky". Second of all, fat doesn't turn into muscle. You gain "tone" by breaking down the muscle fibers, and rebuilding them. As you burn and shed fat, you can see your muscles better.

Lift heavy, low reps. Check out the book New Rules of Lifting for Women...it has some great info for people just starting out.

^^ THIS THIS THIS!!!! Listen to her

Fat cannot turn into muscle any more that lead can turn into gold. They are two different substances.

Nope. Your fat won't turn into muscle. The muscle beneath the fat will grow stronger and while you might look a little 'bulky' at first because they will swell {they get injured with lifting, small micro-tears that must be repaired, hence the soreness, swelling, and slight water-weight gain), if you stick with it, you'll get the look you want.

I suggest lifting HEAVY actually, not light, and lift for fewer reps. I do 5 sets of 5 reps each, but I've also done 3 sets of 8 reps each. Both can work for you. Check out the book New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. You can probably find it at the library. Even if you don't do the program, it's got some great info in there explaining why you should lift heavy weights. You might pass it on to your husband too, so that he can revise his out-dated ideas (no offense meant to him, but he is using old-school info and passing on some myths).

Cardio will help burn calories. It will burn fat AND muscle. It's not a bad thing. There are lots of reasons to do cardio. It's just not a 'fat burner'.

Good luck!

Do both...you do need the cardio to burn off the fat laying over the muscle, but muscle burns more calories than fat (and keeps burning post-workout). Light to medium weight, but higher reps. You won't bulk up

Hello all,

I need some help, so I want my arms to get toned, not bulky....My husband says I need to do cardio to burn off the fat and then start doing light weight lifting to tone, but he say's if I start weight lifting now that the fat will turn into muscle and I could look bulky.

People at work say to start weight lifting now, less weight/more repetitions...?

My arms do jiggle, and I just want them to get toned, not bulky...so I'm not really sure what the proper way is.

THANKS for your help!

It's physically IMPOSSIBLE for fat to turn to muscle. It's also a MYTH that women get BULKY. This is an ongoing myth that doesn't go away because many women and men who are unfamiliar with lifting weights thinks that lifting will ALWAYS put muscle on people.
First a little education. I am assuming when you say "bulky" you actually mean "muscular". If you looked "bulky" you would actually look fatter and bigger at the same time. If you looked more "muscular" you would see much less bodyfat with muscle definition.
You don't "gain muscle" on calories deficit with the exception of newbies, returning athletes and obese/very overweight people and even with them it's minimal gains.
So to "tone up" (tone is the wrong terminology) the muscle underneath, lift weights that will challenge them for about 6-8 reps to strengthen them. DON'T buy into the low weight/high reps method. This would build "muscular endurance" and doesn't condition the muscle to make it more firm than a low rep/higher weight program.
Lift heavy (relative to you). You'll get much better results.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Lift weights, heavy ones. And do your cardio.

The only thing that makes a woman bulky is a lot of FAT.

i would do cardio and weight train, light weight a lot of reps

Absolutely! Light weights with multiple reps will tone, heavy weights will build muscle.

Again, misconception. Calorie surplus along with "progressive overload training" builds muscle. And it's a LONG PROCESS.
Lifting "heavy" on calorie deficit DOESN'T produce muscle gain.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

i would do cardio and weight train, light weight a lot of reps

Absolutely! Light weights with multiple reps will tone, heavy weights will build muscle.

No no no, you are a woman and don't have enough testosterone to get bulky arms, especially in a caloric deficit. doing light weight for multiple reps will only increase insurance, not strength, and will not help retain the muscle you already have under the fat.

OP: fat does not turn into muscle, they are a different type of tissue. I suggest lifting as heavy as you can for 5-10 reps depending on preference. You will not get bulky as that takes years, a caloric surplus, and as a woman possibly drugs (steroids).

unless you have testicles, a steroid addiction, or a serious petuitary problem, it is not possible for you to get "bulky". estrogen will keep you looking like a lady, even if you lift like a lunber jack.

fat cannot turn into anything but energy and waste.

muscle builds by ripping during strenuous activity and rebuilding bigger and stronger.

muscle is EXTREMELY hard to build up. eating at a deficit and working out hard will burn fat faster than it can build muscle. this is why you need to make sure your macros (protien and good fats) are right to keep your muscles building and not damage them.

men, who are full of testosterone, have to eat at a surplus of the right foods and work HARD to build even an inch of muscle. take that word "bulky" and throw it out the window.

go out and pick up New Rules of Lifting for Women. or go to stronglifts.com to learn how to do it right. you'll look like a goddess in no time.

Hello all,

I need some help, so I want my arms to get toned, not bulky....My husband says I need to do cardio to burn off the fat and then start doing light weight lifting to tone, but he say's if I start weight lifting now that the fat will turn into muscle and I could look bulky.

People at work say to start weight lifting now, less weight/more repetitions...?

My arms do jiggle, and I just want them to get toned, not bulky...so I'm not really sure what the proper way is.

THANKS for your help!

If only it were that easy to get "bulky..." Guys with natural testosterone work hard in the gym and eat a ton for years to try to get bulky, and yet girls think if they touch something heavy they'll immediately get bulky.

Lift heavy weights and ignore the "lift light weights for a lot of reps" crap. Do cardio to help lose fat. Try to become as strong and fit of a person as you can be. You won't get "bulky." You'll get fit looking. To get bulky, as a girl, you'd need steroids.

"tone?" it's either muscle or fat. high weight.low rep. high weight meaning what you can do for about 8-12reps with failure, sometimes 15 I think depending on the exercise