weight lifting for strong ladies... (muscles, lifting weights, gym, legs)

[PhoenixRT]

OK I began lifting weights when I was 15 and from then I was always bulky (it has always been more apparent in my upper arms). I just tended to be one of the few woman that pack on muscle. When I was 23 I stopped lifting weights and all my tone has turned to nothing....flab i guess. I am almost 26 now and getting back into lifting now that I have the time. I wanted to be sure i didn't get bulky like I was before so i wanted to stick to low weight and higher reps but they are just too light for me to get a true workout.
I can follow behind alot of guys on the machines and use the same if not more weight than they are using...and this tends to be the only way I can feel "worked out" at the end of my hour sessions. Otherwise i feel like I did not even hit the gym.

Any suggestions as far as getting back into lifting and not gaining as much muscle mass as I did before? I always thought my arms looked out of proportion to me with the way I packed on muscle up top and I really would like to tone them down so they look proportional to my size. I can wear a size 10 top if it is sleeveless but in order for my arms to fit into sleeves I would have to buy a size 18 top...which then looks sloppy on my size 10 torso.

so any weight lifting suggestions for a girl who bulks up quickly?

[Twinkle Toes]

It depends on the exercises you do. For example, if you want toned legs but you don't want them overly muscular and manly, do squats rather than the leg press machine. There are a lot of alternate exercises you can do to target the areas you want to work on that will tone your body in a different way so that instead of having bulky, masculine muscle you can develop lean, toned feminine muscle.

If you want to DM me, I can have my son, who is a certified personal trainer (he trains me) give you some exercises.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

First of all let applaud you as a woman for not being intimidated by weights, this is by far the best method to actually lose weight and to improve your overall health and fitness.

The only way anyone can "bulk up" when lifting weights is if you pack in lots of protien and take in more calories than you burn. If you dont mind my mentioning a post you made about a month ago here, you mentioned that you are about 210lbs (at least in December 2007) and that you have small waist but curvy in the hips and thighs. What I would suggest is for the next two weeks, try a cutting diet along with your weight training, but dont do light weight high reps. I suggest a cutting diet of about 1500 - 1600 calories per day, drink lots and lots of water and do at least three days per week of cardio exercise.

You need to still build muscle but more importantly, you need to burn fat so a two week cutting diet along with your workouts would be a good start. You want to eat health and about 400 calories each for breakfast lunch and dinner and an afternoon and evening snack of about 150 cals.

[citybythebay]

No offense poster above, but women do not get "masculine muscle". That is the biggest myth out there in the world of womens fitness.
I'm not even going to get into that myth.

I've been doing it for over 25 years and I'm no where near being masculine.

I digress.

There are many resources online I'll list two where I feel you could gain
some valuable information and resources.

Bonnie Pfiester

Bodybuilding.com's Main Page - The Largest And Most Complete Bodybuilding Site Online! Bodybuilding Info.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

citybythebay, you are correct. I tried to give you rep points on your post but I must have given you some recently, need to spread it around more first.

There is no way for women to build "masculine" muscle by lifting heavy. I think the OP based on some of her earlier posts, should concentrate on cutting first to get lean(er) and most importantly to limit the daily calories to 1600 minimum but keep up with the weight training. After getting a bit leaner after two weeks, she can then concentrate on a program to help lose additional weight.

[Reyven]

To help yourself not get 'bulky' ensure you do some cardio during your workouts (or on your off days. Doesn't have to be running, can be biking, jump rope, etc). I use 'light' weights with many reps (use the lowest weight that you can get a workout doing about 15 reps 3 times) and always incorporate heavier lifting once a month to vary my routine a bit.

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by citybythebay

No offense poster above, but women do not get "masculine muscle". That is the biggest myth out there in the world of womens fitness.
I'm not even going to get into that myth.

I've been doing it for over 25 years and I'm no where near being masculine.

I digress.

There are many resources online I'll list two where I feel you could gain
some valuable information and resources.

Bonnie Pfiester

Bodybuilding.com's Main Page - The Largest And Most Complete Bodybuilding Site Online! Bodybuilding Info.

That's not true. I saw a woman just the other day who had these HUGE quads! She looked just like a man. That's the look you definitely want to avoid. You can target your quads and other parts of your body with different exercises that aren't going to give you that look. The woman I saw was probably hopped up on all kinds of steroids though. Not a good look!!!

[LaoTzuMindFu]

PhoenixRT, here is the cutting diet plan I mentioned. I am actually starting this myself tomorrow so I can get leaner for some events I have planned. Im currently 194lbs and 6' 1". You mentioned that you are about 210 lbs so if you follow this diet while still lifting and doing cardio, you should be down to about 190lbs in 2-3 weeks.

Breakfast = Approx 400 Cals
1 Bagel - blueberry, plain or oat bran (210)
1 ounce light cream cheese (60)
4 dried pitted prunes (80)
1\2 cup orange juice (55)
Noncaloric beverage - water, tea

Lunch - 400 Calories Sandwich
2 slices whole grain bread (140)
1 tbsp light mayo (50)
1 tbsp sweet pickle relish or 1 tbsp red horseradish (20)
2 tomato slices (14)
4 oz white meat chicken or turkey (160)
Noncaloric beverage

Dinner - approx 400 calories
3 oz chunk light tuna (water drained) (75 cal)
4 oz whole kernel corn (canned) (60 cal)
4 oz dark red kidney beans (canned) (65 cal)
1 tbsp sweet pickle relish or red horeradish (20)
1 tbsp light mayo (50)
2 slices whole grain bread (140)

Or, you can have a Lean Cuisine or Health Choice frozen dinner.

[PhoenixRT]

Originally Posted by DaBeez

First of all let applaud you as a woman for not being intimidated by weights, this is by far the best method to actually lose weight and to improve your overall health and fitness.

The only way anyone can "bulk up" when lifting weights is if you pack in lots of protien and take in more calories than you burn. If you dont mind my mentioning a post you made about a month ago here, you mentioned that you are about 210lbs (at least in December 2007) and that you have small waist but curvy in the hips and thighs. What I would suggest is for the next two weeks, try a cutting diet along with your weight training, but dont do light weight high reps. I suggest a cutting diet of about 1500 - 1600 calories per day, drink lots and lots of water and do at least three days per week of cardio exercise.

You need to still build muscle but more importantly, you need to burn fat so a two week cutting diet along with your workouts would be a good start. You want to eat health and about 400 calories each for breakfast lunch and dinner and an afternoon and evening snack of about 150 cals.

haha, I went back and read my post from a month ago and cringed at all the spelling errors! I think I had a glass or two of wine before I went surfing that night!
Anyway yes I fluctuate between 200-210 and size 10-12 essentially. I just started lifting again in the past few days and have changed all my eating habits to match what I was doing before (I am vegetarian and have been for 20years now) so it is unlikely I would get too much protein. I have actually been sticking to just what you mentioned 400 cal meals with smaller snacks twice daily. The majority of my food is raw veggies and fruits with hardboiled eggs thrown into salads. I should be getting plenty of water and i have nothing else to do with go to the gym so no excuses there. Sometimes you just need "the plan" to get you going

so whats my plan?

Cut cal intake to 1400-1600 daily of good healthy real food
ignore weight lifting for now and just do cardio for a few weeks. I cant run due to a knee condition so anything I do must be low impact...like biking. Do cardio for some time and then bring lifting back into my life...and when i do that should i do the weights I know I can lift in a set of 10 or do i stick with the tiny weights that I have to do 75 of to get any effect

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

That's not true. I saw a woman just the other day who had these HUGE quads! She looked just like a man. That's the look you definitely want to avoid. You can target your quads and other parts of your body with different exercises that aren't going to give you that look. The woman I saw was probably hopped up on all kinds of steroids though. Not a good look!!!

If her quads were THAT big, she's probably a competing bodybuilder or fitness person which usually means 1) She's taking some type of growth hormones; 2) She has certain genes that allows her to compete; 3) She's on a very high protein diet and spending 3 hours per day in the gym or 4) She's on the HGH, Creatine, or steriods.

To the original poster, could you post a picture of someone who has the type of masculine muscles you are talking about? Thanks.