A female that bulks up...

I have pretty good cut in my leg now. But I would like them way smaller.

Since I have increased my cardio I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past couple of weeks. I will keep up with that for now. I will try the higher weight with lower reps.... I would like to know why that slims the legs down.

I didn't realize that there was fat between the muscles. I don't like it, but now I know!

TY

FG
 
Mogwai...

Interesting info...thanks for sharing. I may try to do heavy squats with lower reps. I just looked in my log book and I've been doing 3 sets of lighter weight with 12-15 reps....that may be why my legs are starting to look like HeMan legs. Yuck!
 
Hiyas!
Different sources will tell you different things concerning reps/weight and their impact on hypertrophy or strength etc. For example, most people will say that time under tension is most important when training for mass (ie, slow sets), but some trainers are beginning to challenge that. However, it is generally recognized that from about 9-12 reps, you get the most significant gains in hypertrophy with some increases in max strength, but the optimal compromise between hypertrophy and strength is at 6-8 reps. All I know is that I used to think my legs were really muscular but just bulky...till I actually realized, they were a lot more fat than I thought. Training for strength/hypertrophy allowed me to build my muscle and burn the fat...like I said, the best way to burn fat is to build muscle. Why? Increased muscle mass leads to an increased metabolism (ie, you burn more calories at rest if you have more muscle)!!! I don't know if this just happened to work for me, or if it works for everyone...but you won't know till you try it, and you got nothing to lose ;)
 
yep thats what i was gettin at above! twas the same for me! Used to do high reps, got nowhere very fast.....started doing low reps and weight started droppin off. Muscle hardened up....now gettin good shape - no effort!
 
You do not want to look at ONLY hypertrophy anyways. You want to train for strength too. Why do you ask? Because you want to become stronger so in turn you can perform better on your lighter weight/high rep exersizes. Why stick to one rep combination? It is best to change your rep combinations at least every month, but you can change them each workout, or each week. Around 2-4 sets for strength, 5-8 rep for both (mainly hypertrophy), and anywhere from 8-12 for mainly hypertrophy and little strength benefits. I cycle mine out as follows
Week 1: 8-12
Week 2: 5-8
Week 3: 2-4
Week 4: 5-8
Week 5: 8-12

Change is good in weightlifting. It is good to change your exersizes and rep combinations every once and a while. I do not care who you are, you should be looking at the total package: strength AND endurance.
scott
 
Silvorus ..IMO ..I don't think I have seen my 245 lb natural bb hubby do more then 7-8 reps with the 140 lb dumbells lately on flat bench. : ( Sometimes only 6 at best!
Nor does he do more then 8 with the 100ers on shoulder press. I know, I spot him.
BB's use high wts low reps PERIOD to grow. But failure is the key! Seconded by good clean form.

Fire Girl..I am 47 next week, today I am at 18 % bf but my Dr at the gym wants me at least at this level. He would be happier for me if i was 20. I prefer to be 15% off season. I have a tiny boned frame. I would see myself as bulky too at 25 %. Like you
To lean out I start using higher reps per set, with low wts. EXAMPLE...insead of 25 lb curls for a set of 10. I will do the 20's for 14 and drop set down to the 15's for 10 more.

Oxygen Mag March 04 page 87, Kim says she runs 4 x a week to cut muscle from her bulky frame in order to do fitness modeling, as well as cut back on protein. I can't run so walk a 2 15 min miles instead 5 x a week.
Good luck. Di
 
genius said:
You do not want to look at ONLY hypertrophy anyways. You want to train for strength too. Why do you ask? Because you want to become stronger so in turn you can perform better on your lighter weight/high rep exersizes. Why stick to one rep combination? It is best to change your rep combinations at least every month, but you can change them each workout, or each week. Around 2-4 sets for strength, 5-8 rep for both (mainly hypertrophy), and anywhere from 8-12 for mainly hypertrophy and little strength benefits. I cycle mine out as follows
Week 1: 8-12
Week 2: 5-8
Week 3: 2-4
Week 4: 5-8
Week 5: 8-12

Change is good in weightlifting. It is good to change your exersizes and rep combinations every once and a while. I do not care who you are, you should be looking at the total package: strength AND endurance.
scott
Click to expand...

can I just confirm that you were talking about SETS and not REPS?!

My short-term goal is to really build my muscles bigger, so I should be looking at 6-8 reps over 6-8 sets to acheive this (hypertrophy) - correct?
 
Okay, I new I would confuse a few there, and this is actually off topic from her original post that was meant to help her LOSE muscle. Please excuse this whoever started this thread, I'll just answer his question and be done with it :).

I was talking about reps, not sets. I do not know about increasing or decreasing volume over time periods, this would not really have much to do with confusing the muscle. You missed the point of my whole cycle explanation. It is best to change your rep amounts every workout, or every month, or every week, whichever you may choose. It is good to do higher rep sets, lower rep sets, and the in between. Why? Not only is it good to keep your muscles from adapting, but different rep combinations reap different results. It is good to do the 2-4 rep range every once and a while to gain strength, 6-8 is considered by some to be the best for hypertrophy, and higher rep sets are good to prevent injury (to help the rest of your body catch up to your muscles). For the most part though, high rep sets are useless for gaining mass. High intensity, low rep, heavy weight sets I personally believe are the best for gaining overall muscle mass. I go by the theory "More weight=more hypertrophy". However, some studies have shown that it does take at least 5 reps to actually induce hypertrophy (this has a great deal to do with the speed you complete the rep in, your form, Time under pressure, and so on). I would change the rep combos you use at least monthly, and keep it under 15 if you are going for mass.
scott
 
ok I agree with you scott, but I got confused becuase in your last post you said "Around 2-4 sets for strength, 5-8 rep for both", and I beleive the word 'sets' should have been 'reps'.

All is clear now!
 
Hey FG
im so glad ive finally found someone in the same position as me... i too am 'blessed' (or not) with the genes that make it so easy to put of muscle mass...
i have to agree with MrDan
"At 25% bf, you will need to cut some fat weight before you worry about your seemingly bulky muscles "
i was on 25%... now im on 19% and im still very muscly.. but i have found that by cutting some fat % im much happier with the way i look...
Besides changing my diet, ive also changed my training programme... ive included pretty much everything!!
i have found that running has helped tremendously and when i was doing mostly cardio, i did cut the mass but i love weight training too much to not do it! I now do a combination of high reps/low weights - especially on my legs, as well as lots of a variety of interval work... no 2 months are the same!
if anyone wants more info, more than welcome to ask!
 
silvorus said:
If you want strong lean muscles high reps is not the way to go, body builders do high reps because it makes the muscles bigger. Higher reps pump more blood into the muscle making them look bigger. Lower reps, higher weight, and more sets will make the muscles stronger, before they make them bigger. Also a good stretching routing could help with some of the bulk.
Click to expand...
Um, I'm not sure where you got your information and quite frankly it is very misleading. Commom knowledge to anyone in the fitness industry knows low reps and high wts builds bulk AND strength. People who are trying to build bulk, such as body builders, are lifting 4-6 reps MAX. Higher repetetions is used to build endurance and is typically thought of as toning exercises. I think you have them backwards, my friend. In addition, stretching in no way makes your muscles look bigger. The goal of stretching is to improve your flexibility thereby increasing the ROM of your joints.

I think upping your cardio is definitely the way to go. Long bouts of aerobic activity will help cut down on your bf% and muscle mass. I think that we have very similiar body types (same bf% and build). I have a lot of muscle on me even w/o lifting. For me to drop my bf% or to slim my appearance I need to do lots o' cardio and eat only carrots (ok thats an exaggeration, but you get the idea).
 
People who are trying to build bulk, such as body builders, are lifting 4-6 reps MAX.
Click to expand...

Lex,

Perhaps I am misinformed, but I was under the impression that most bodybuilders use high volume programs consisting of multiple exercises per bodypart with a moderate amount of repetitions, let's say 6-15.

And if heavy lifts, 4-6RM is the way to go for bulking up, walk into any gym and speak to the people there trying to put on mass. Most programs I examine, over 200+ per semester of college students tend to stick with 8-15 and pack on muscle mass. Granted they are beginners, and will one day need to decrease the repetitions to make further progress...
 
silvorus said:
If you want strong lean muscles high reps is not the way to go, body builders do high reps because it makes the muscles bigger. Higher reps pump more blood into the muscle making them look bigger. Lower reps, higher weight, and more sets will make the muscles stronger, before they make them bigger. Also a good stretching routing could help with some of the bulk.
Click to expand...


Yer bollocks, high reps doesn't make the muscles grow at all, Heavy weight Low Reps does you clown. High reps are mythically mean't to firm muscles/tone. But Study suggests that actually sticking to the same heavy weight and low sets is still better for toning too.
 
While 25% fat is not bad, it really depends on how you're built. I hav measured women at 25% before and they look sooooo dreamatically different just cause of their frame,....
I have found out that the regular bodybuilder logic does not work with wanting to be lean and defined....unless supplemented with what regularly goes with bb as supplements, that is, it doesnt work for most women that I know.
I have been experimenting for a year now. Cut out all protein powders, fat burners and the like....no help, just food and workouts. I also cut cardio out for 7 monts just to see what happens. I lost 4% fat, that is from 18 to 14% and did it with high weight low reps and low sets. I was not a believer in high weights before I did that. I believe if anybody gives advice or designs workouts they should try it out themselves first.
Here is my idea: do sprints, alternating jogging with sprinting preserves lean muscle and makes your body rely on fat for energy. Women use fat for energy very efficiently. Work heavy. Do 80-90-95% of your max in sets of 3-4 reps. 3 to5 sets is good. Choose complex exercises. Squats, pull downs, saxon bends, full contact twists, swings, jerks, military press, side press, bent press....just some ideas. Rest, sleep, eat well and count calories. You might want to reduce calories on days with little activity.
It works.
Diet. No garbage in-no garbage out. Eet protein, good fats, fresh veggies and forget about carbs for a while.
YOu could also do circuit training, but it gets boring after a while. Just stay positive and think of all the things you havent tried so far. Enjoy the trip, that builds a positive body image. When you are constantly looking at your legs and bum in the mirror that doesnt make things better.
 
Diet. No garbage in-no garbage out. Eet protein, good fats, fresh veggies and forget about carbs for a while.
Click to expand...

No carbs? What's the main energy source for weight training/resistance exercises, as well as sprints?

CARBOHYDRATES! So, don't cut them out unless you want to severely limit performance.
 
I agree with you on that one Jasondragon. Carbs are your main source of energy. If you cut them out completely you will have a drag of a workout.
 
Yeah, I don't know how low I would like my bodyfat to go but definitely lower than 25%. I am the kind of person that can gain 5 or 10# even and nobody notices. I can tell because I feel differently. But I don't like the amount of bodyfat I have now.

Well, I have decided to try to lift more weight and do less cardio.. for a while anyway and see how it works out. I haven't really tried that yet so. I really want to get lean. I think I am bulking up and still not losing that extra fat and it's really frustrating.

Thanks for the advice.

FG
 
jasondragon said:
No carbs? What's the main energy source for weight training/resistance exercises, as well as sprints?

CARBOHYDRATES! So, don't cut them out unless you want to severely limit performance.
Click to expand...

For you, they are most probably "the main" source of energy.
It takes a while for your body to switch to lower carbs. We are on two opposite sides of the fence and engaging in arguments about what decrease or increases your performance is just pure speculation unless you have facts to prove it.

The body has two energy systems. Carbs are a turbo fuel, not a main fuel. If your body starts relying mainly on the turbo fuel, no fat would be utilized to the max and a lot of muscle will be broken down. A low carb approach prevents this.

Muscle burns fat quite happily. Just look at doc Ellis. Most people who work out just never have the perseverance to go without them long enough, cheat too often, or dont eat enough fat to keep thier energy levels up. Women are especially freaked out about fat. Most people I know who have decided to cut out carbs have not cranked their fat up to 50% of their diet. Its mentally difficult and most of them dont low carb properly for training purposes. Sorry.

I have had considerbale strenght gains in the last year, working out less, doing more weight, having more endurance and less highs/lows in my training routine. If carbs were that great I should have been able to pull myself up when I was eating them. Funny enough I can do more pull ups than ever on a box of sour cream than on a banana peanut butter sandwich. I am just stating facts, not saying that if I had eaten carbs I would not have been able to do the pull ups or something.

Its a matter of tweaking your body to using fat for energy, and I dont think carbs help it do that.
+ I said eat vegetables, which have plenty of carbs.

Been there done that. I enjoy my results, spare me for trying to share them with others. I also want to say that being a foreigner and definitely living outside America, I have been free of nutritional and food pyramidal brain washing. I live in a land of clean good food and I'm not afraid to use it.

A forum is a place for sharing ideas not browbeating people.
Prove me wrong, and I will go back to eating oatmeal in the morning.
 
FireGirl

Firegirl, what the others have said about increasing your cardio/aerobic workouts plus more reps and less weight is true. But I am going to come at you from a mind point of view. Be happy in whatever state you are in. It could very well be that this is the way you suppose to look. Be happy that you look good whether you are big and muscular or long and lean. Get this mindset and I am sure you will achieve what ever you desire. But personally, I love muscular women. I am sure you are a beautiful woman! And I am saying this even though we have never met. Think how much the more I would say if I did see you. And that is my highest compliment to you. I am sure others (guys) would feel the same way I do. And those that don't, forget about them. They don't deserve your time anyway.
 
I'm back....

Ok, so I started lifting heavy weights again, legs and upper body. I had avoided that because I was afraid I would bulk up. I did kind of bulk up, but I seem to have leaned out again. My thighs, which is one of the worst parts of my body (I am very short and stocky) are actually quite a bit leaner. Jeans that have been kind of snug there, now fit nicely. Plus, I think it is helping other areas, as my legs are stronger. Soccer starts next week, so we will see if it improves my game. The only problem I seem to be having is tight hams and quads. I need to stretch them out better so as not to injure myself. I just thought I would let people know that lifting heavy weights does not necessarily mean you will look like wrestler... not that there is anything wrong with that. I would like to be strong and lean but I don't want to be too bulky.

Thanks to everyone who has offered their opinions and ideas!

FG
 
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