Can a women get a really toned body without using weights or going to the gym at all? What are the keys / tips and good online resources?
You can definitely make a start.Despite many women’s fears, toning of the body is achieved by building muscle mass and decreasing body fat. Both of these are done optimally through resistance (weight) training - the reason for this is because your body will develop adaptation to the increased resistance that you are working against, and strengthen your muscles in response. This in turn will burn more body fat, and give you a toned, athletic appearance.Contrary to popular belief, and the impression some women are given by looking at female bodybuilders and athletes, 99% of women do not have sufficient free testosterone levels to get “bulky” as a result of weight training. That myth infuriates me and always will.Those women who most out there don’t want to emulate train every single day to be strong. That is their goal.This is Brooke Ence. She is a Crossfit Games athlete and probably my #1 “celebrity” (I use that word loosely, she is a known name within the Crossfit community) crush. A lot of women I ask say she’s too muscly, too lean.But the “toned” result that most women desire from training is just a less extreme, and therefore less athletic, result of the training Brooke does. It requires weight training and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).I digress.In answer to your question, you can make a start at home. Master the press up, the sit up, the air squat, the burpee and, in time, the pull up. Buy yourself a kettlebell, learn to swing, snatch and clean it. Buy some dumbbells and begin to use them for your arms, shoulders and chest development.But in time, you will realise that the answer to your goal is found in the iron. I’m sorry to have to break it to you like this. But it’s the truth. Catabolic cardiovascular training is not the way to a toned physique. Body weight training however will start you on the route, and the best resource I can think of from the top of my head is workouts such as Insanity. High intensity. But don’t forget the exercises listed above - they are the basics!
What are the benefits of having a muscular, toned body?
I guess it depends on your definitions of muscular and toned. You can be well toned without being muscular, and you can also have large, but not-toned looking muscles. But I digress. Muscle is like a fat furnace; always burning fat for the energy stored in the fat. Muscle is self-serving, as the more of it you have, the heavier you are, and the more you are keeping yourself toned by having to move that weight around. You even burn energy when you are sleeping with more muscle. It's been suggested that people who are in good physical fitness tend to recover from both illness and injury a lot faster and with better overall return to "normalcy" than those who are not. Self-esteem is a big factor. Feeling good about the way you look does immense things for your mind. Both from a "vanity" point of view, and from a hormonal and physiological point of view. You've heard of endorphins, right? Endorphins can have both a pain relieving effect, and can positively affect your mood. Exercise promotes the production of endorphins. Wow. So many more I can think of to tell you, but I'll stop there. The bad? Well, too much of ANYTHING is bad for you. Not much to say beyond that. It's individualistic. Hope this helps!
How can a woman develop decent muscle mass without looking too bulky?
Humans are a sexual dimorphic species, meaning that women and men have some different traits that define them. You might be asking, so what? Why is this important?Its important because one of the dimorphic traits is hormone production. Women, on average produce 7 times less testerone then men. So why does that matter?Well, testosterone is the muscle building horomone. It signals the muscles to grow through protein systhesis and also increases recovery time and strength. In other words, the more testosterone you have, the stronger you will be and the faster you will recover and gain muscle mass.So, for a woman do not worry about getting too bulky. I can promise you unless you are a genetic freak you will not get bulky even if you trained for multiple years. You will become slim and toned and have a very nice musculature. (Thick legs and butt and toned arms and back)Most of the big, bulky women you see fit into two categories. First one being the genetic freaks, who have a higher level of natural testosterone and better insertion points etc.. The second way is through taking performance enhancing drugs (eg. Testosterone).In conclusion, I can promise you that you can lift weights often and have no fear of getting bulky simply because humans are in fact sexually dimorphic. In my opinion women who lift weights have more attractive physiques than women who focus solely on cardio.Hit the weights! Have fun and enjoy yourself while doing it!Good luck!
How do I tone my arms without them getting too big?
Hey Jane, i have had this question asked so many times over the past 10 years of working in gyms. i understand what you mean and feel about getting to big, what i can sugguest are a few options for you hopefully one will suit what you are looking for. 1) find a weight and start doing higher reps around 3 sets of 20 rather than 12-15 this will start to tone and define your muscles rather than get them big. 2) this way will be faster but watch out... use heavy weights to gain size in your arms until you are at/near your goal size and once you are then go back to option 1 and drop the weights to something decent and start doing higer reps. i know this next part is going to sound a bit strange, but dont forget to work your legs such as sqauts,bent/straight leg deadlifts and leg press because your legs have the biggest muscle groups in your body the stronger they are the more calories you will burn during your day to day life and will help burn the extra fat in your arms faster :D hope this helped
Men - do you think muscular women are sexy?
OK - this jerk at the gym really hurt my feelings today. I was doing curls (I only do them with 20 lbs, so I don't know what he was talking about) - and he said "Woah - chill out, Popeye - use the 5 lbs - sheesh!" and walked off. I am not mannish looking at all - just toned up and fairly defined. What's your opinion? Do men really find muscular women a turn-off? I have also heard people describe my body type as 'jock-y'. I don't get that. I have curves, I just have muscles, too. He really hurt my feelings. :-( My BF thinks I'm hot, but he's a gym-rat too, so I think he's biased.
Building muscle mass and toning muscle?
You are correct, for mass and strength building you need to do low reps with high weight. The most important aspect will be your diet though. You need to take in 1-2 grams of protein for every pound of your body weight. So if you weigh 200lbs you need to take in between 200-400 grams of protein every day. This is only if you are serious and training serious. If you are not, then it will be a waste of your time and money. If you are serious about your training, and you are doing heavy weight with 6-8 reps per set, then you will notice the difference immedately. The most common mistake I see is people that train very hard, but their diet sucks and they are not giving their muscles enough protein to grow. I promise if you train hard and get 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight every day, you will explode in muscle mass and strength. Also, remember that you want to constantly progress. So as soon as you can do a weight for 8 reps, add 2.5 lbs. Then when you can do that weight for 8 reps, add another 2.5 lbs. Just a little at a time, the key is to keep moving forward. Additional--- Remember, your muscles grow while you rest. So when I say serious training, I dont mean training the same muscle groups 5 times a week. I mean that you train hard when you are at the gym and you make it to the gym at least 5 times a week. Unless someone is doing steroids, they can not train the same body part more then 2 times a week, 3 at the very, very most depending on the person and their age. I personally like to train chest, tricepts, and shoulders on mon and thurs. Then do back and bicepts on tues and fri. Then do legs on wed and sat and take sunday off completely. Last thing, I know that most people dont like to do legs but there has been study after study after study that shows people that train their legs gain anywhere from 10%-21% more UPPERbody strength then people that just train their upperbody. I know it sounds crazy, but its the truth. It is your body trying to remain in a state called homeostasis. Your body likes everything to be equal and balanced and does much better when everything grows equally.
How do I tone my arms but not look masculine?
You are already building muscle so you need to lower your bodyfat percentage to make them appear more "toned". The best way to do that is to eat a clean diet. You wont end up looking masculine overnight. It will be a slow process. As a female you would have to have the right genetics to look masculine and few woman are capable of that.