Jump to content

how do I NOT bulk up and be muscular?


chrisdazed
 Share

Recommended Posts

Okay I know that sounds really weird but my body type is naturally husky and muscular, I've been that way all my life even when I was thin. Guys always wanted to arm wrestle me and they would joke that I could beat them up. I have big man hands, my wrist bones are so big I can't wear women's braclets or watches and am very barrel chested. I always envied slender petite women. After my last surgery I put on about 50 pounds and I'm wanting to work out. I want to lose weight but whenever I have worked out in the past my muscles get huge right away

 

http://i56.tinypic.com/2wp599j.jpg

 

So my question is what should I eat or do to possibly achieve being slender without bulking up?

I eat a vegan diet, Thanks for your help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chris;

 

A lot of women get confuse their muscles toning up, getting firmer and getting more shapely for GROWTH. Be sure you don't make the same mistake. Testosterone is the muscle building hormone. Women only have about 1/10 of what men do, so unless you take drugs there will be a limit to how you can grow. Losing fat is all about creating an energy ( calorie ) deficit by reducing your intake and increasing your output (cardio). Doing some resistance training on a weight loss regime helps minimize lean tissue loss. You will lose both fat and muscle when you reduce your weight. Lastly, you can hire a coach and read up on your own. Bodybuilders do different routines from strength trainers. You can do strength training routines and not grow as much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of women get confuse their muscles toning up, getting firmer and getting more shapely for GROWTH. Be sure you don't make the same mistake.

 

When your bicep goes from ten inches to thirteen inches and it's solid as a rock, that's growth. No mistake.

 

Testosterone is the muscle building hormone. Women only have about 1/10 of what men do, so unless you take drugs there will be a limit to how you can grow.

 

The theory of testosterone is only the tip of the iceberg, as they are discovering. Just because you have a chemical, condition, or gene in your body does not make it active or applicable. Despite all our modern discoveries, allopathic medicine hasn't really looked all that deeply into just how the human body works, predominantly because there is little funding for it from companies who want to know how they can market it to their advantage (read: get a return on all that research money). And unless the medical community can take a tally of every single human body on the planet, they don't have all the facts in yet. Truth be told, they tend to form their conclusions on rather biased observations of limited populations.

 

Just like only 3% of the female population is physically able to attain supermodel proportions, only 3% or less are natural bodybuilders, according to the current medical belief. I am one of those women and I think the numbers are actually higher. Being one of the "impossible" statistics has given me insight into the validity of certain widely held truths. It's inspired me to do my own research. The most important thing I've learned is that by the time you hear it broadcast on the health segment of the evening news, it's been heavily marketed. The evening news becomes the commercial for it. I also know why people with "normal" levels of testosterone can be impressive bodybuilders while others can't seem to grow even with injections of the stuff. Hint: it all starts from the neck up and I don't mean attitude.

 

I put on a lot of muscle very fast. Let me repeat that--I put on a lot of muscle very fast. I have been like this since childhood, beating all the boys and girls in the Presidential Fitness Program year after year. I have been courted by the armed forces, boxing gyms, and professional body building trainers. They all wanted me to train for them and represent them. At my old Denver gym, everyone walked up to me with their questions instead of going to the weight room manager. Most of the men in my current gym are intimidated by me; I have to hang out with the big dudes just to feel like a chick.

 

Chris and I were separated at birth. I have all her physical characteristics except my fingers are short. I have never taken drugs in my life other than antibiotics, am mostly a raw vegan, and I even run. Yet, I can still put on muscle so fast that it makes my head spin, and I've been doing it for 22 years. Chris, my advice to you is to experiment with raw vegan recipes and reduce your reps while upping your weights--basically try a form of power lifting. If you still get mass, just lift fewer times per week and/or in shorter segments. Do interval cardio instead of prolonged stuff and get outdoors for some good, deep breathing every chance you get.

 

You'll learn as you go, don't worry. You'll figure it out.

 

Baby Herc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of women get confuse their muscles toning up, getting firmer and getting more shapely for GROWTH. Be sure you don't make the same mistake.

 

When your bicep goes from ten inches to thirteen inches and it's solid as a rock, that's growth. No mistake.

 

Testosterone is the muscle building hormone. Women only have about 1/10 of what men do, so unless you take drugs there will be a limit to how you can grow.

 

The theory of testosterone is only the tip of the iceberg, as they are discovering. Just because you have a chemical, condition, or gene in your body does not make it active or applicable. Despite all our modern discoveries, allopathic medicine hasn't really looked all that deeply into just how the human body works, predominantly because there is little funding for it from companies who want to know how they can market it to their advantage (read: get a return on all that research money). And unless the medical community can take a tally of every single human body on the planet, they don't have all the facts in yet. Truth be told, they tend to form their conclusions on rather biased observations of limited populations.

 

Just like only 3% of the female population is physically able to attain supermodel proportions, only 3% or less are natural bodybuilders, according to the current medical belief. I am one of those women and I think the numbers are actually higher. Being one of the "impossible" statistics has given me insight into the validity of certain widely held truths. It's inspired me to do my own research. The most important thing I've learned is that by the time you hear it broadcast on the health segment of the evening news, it's been heavily marketed. The evening news becomes the commercial for it. I also know why people with "normal" levels of testosterone can be impressive bodybuilders while others can't seem to grow even with injections of the stuff. Hint: it all starts from the neck up and I don't mean attitude.

 

I put on a lot of muscle very fast. Let me repeat that--I put on a lot of muscle very fast. I have been like this since childhood, beating all the boys and girls in the Presidential Fitness Program year after year. I have been courted by the armed forces, boxing gyms, and professional body building trainers. They all wanted me to train for them and represent them. At my old Denver gym, everyone walked up to me with their questions instead of going to the weight room manager. Most of the men in my current gym are intimidated by me; I have to hang out with the big dudes just to feel like a chick.

 

Chris and I were separated at birth. I have all her physical characteristics except my fingers are short. I have never taken drugs in my life other than antibiotics, am mostly a raw vegan, and I even run. Yet, I can still put on muscle so fast that it makes my head spin, and I've been doing it for 22 years. Chris, my advice to you is to experiment with raw vegan recipes and reduce your reps while upping your weights--basically try a form of power lifting. If you still get mass, just lift fewer times per week and/or in shorter segments. Do interval cardio instead of prolonged stuff and get outdoors for some good, deep breathing every chance you get.

 

You'll learn as you go, don't worry. You'll figure it out.

 

Baby Herc

 

Totally agree. I think in regards to the sex of an individual and sexuality (which I know isn't the subject but anyway) is more "fluid" than "males can only this" and "females can only that". Not everyone fits into a cookie cutter. We are all different, some of us very different. Under the right conditions I too gain muscle very easily, even though I'm technically an "ectomorph" and not supposed to.

 

I see nothing wrong with a female gaining muscle easily (without unnatural supplements) but then if she doesn't want the extra muscle then I suppose that has to be worked around.

 

The higher reps you do the less size you are going to gain and the more calories you are going to burn. In fact if you can get your calories right at maintenance and do cardio and/or high rep/circuit style weight training you will lose weight and have nice healthy muscle tone that is right for your genetics without gaining muscle size, or much of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You want to drop some amazing weight and tone up? Don't want to be overwhelmed with what and when to eat and exercise? Well it takes some research, and will power but you can make incredible strides in a very short time. Four friends including myself have done this and the results are amazing. First read up on the anti-candida diet. Who cares if you actually have candida, just stick with the diet for 2 weeks. By then you will have lost 10-15 lbs and be hooked. Let me tell you it is not an easy diet for a vegan, but doable. Then for the next 2 weeks maintain the diet and start getting light exercise, just getting your muscles used to being pushed a little. When that month has passed and you are 20-30 lbs lighter check in here for a suitable workout plan. If the workouts and diet are still going well you might look into intermittent fasting. That is just basically eating all of your calories for the day in an 8 hour window. After a month of intermittent fasting, sticking to your diet and exercise program you will be visibly on your way to where you want to go and you will never look back. The hardest part is the diet. I hope you like tasty salads with a homemade dressing of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. If you refuse to remove wheat, corn and sugar from your diet, your goal will be 10 times harder to accomplish. Always keep in mind that the diet is temporary and you will be adding foods back into it in the future. But you might choose not to...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow thank you for everyone for your input! I will have to read through this again to take it all in.

I don't know what to think about testosterone, I don't think I have more than I should, I mean I'm not growing a beard or anything, I'm not even that hairy at all lol, but I can tell you my arms, pecks and thigh muscles get massive if I do anything at all, I'm not sure about the science behind it but it's there. In the spring when I start working in the backyard with the plants I notice right away my forearms grow and those muscles that connect your neck to your shoulders are so predominate I try to hide it with my hair. The ironic part to me is I don't eat meat, even when I was a kid my mother said I hated meat. I never was much of a milk drinker either or eggs for that matter. I always thought eating a lot of protein bulked you up. Unfortunately I eat too many carbs, then I eat lots of veggies, not as much fruit as I should....

I will re-read what everyone wrote, thanks again

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The higher reps you do the less size you are going to gain and the more calories you are going to burn. In fact if you can get your calories right at maintenance and do cardio and/or high rep/circuit style weight training you will lose weight and have nice healthy muscle tone that is right for your genetics without gaining muscle size, or much of it.

 

Horse is right, and thanks for reminding me: high reps (10 and up) are the toning zone. I never do it because those tiny little weights freak me out! I can't even feel them in my hand. Ghost weights. I enjoy lifting heavy, it's like an internal massage for my muscles, bones, and organs, I swear. Plus, it's very similar to that famous relaxation technique where you tighten a muscle group, then let it relax, tighten another group, then let that one relax, all the way from your head to your toes. I say, why not get a hard bod while you're doin' it?

 

 

Baby Herc

 

PS: Glad to hear you're a gardener, Chris. That takes care of the deep breathing outdoors! I'm already looking forward to next year's tomatoes and sweet corn. Mmmmmmmmm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

PS: Glad to hear you're a gardener, Chris. That takes care of the deep breathing outdoors! I'm already looking forward to next year's tomatoes and sweet corn. Mmmmmmmmm.

 

Yes I love being out with the plants, I also zone out when I'm doing art it's like the whole world disappears. I'm very conscious of deep breathing because I use it often when I feel anxious or stressed. It really works! Yoga and meditation have really helped me a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tone muscle? What does that even mean?

 

Surely a muscle does one of a few things - gets bigger, gets stronger or loses the fat around it.

 

Lift heavy with a caloric deficit and you're not going to become a musclebound woman?

 

Just lift heavy and if you start getting bulky - change things up! Its 100x easier to lose muscle than gain it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, reps between 10 and 15 are in what is considered the 'hypertrophy' zone. This area of reps induces muscle production/synthesis. as you are damaging the muscles whereas, lower reps 3-6, sometimes 3-8 are focusing more on increasing your strength and overall power. This puts more stress on your CNS as opposed to your actual muscles.

 

In saying this, it does slightly differ for each individual, as each individual is unique and each individual responds accordingly.

 

Eating plays a major part too. (If you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight, if you are in a surplus, then you will gain weight, (this is base science).

 

Although, again, this is slightly different if you arent 'lean' in a sense. If you have excess or unwanted weight and you are still in a defitcit, you may gain some muscle despit being in a deficit (as your body is recomposing itself, rather than just cutting). Recomposing is a combination of both fat loss and muscle gain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, reps between 10 and 15 are in what is considered the 'hypertrophy' zone. This area of reps induces muscle production/synthesis. as you are damaging the muscles whereas, lower reps 3-6, sometimes 3-8 are focusing more on increasing your strength and overall power. This puts more stress on your CNS as opposed to your actual muscles.

 

 

Can you link to studies that prove a hypertrophy zone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, reps between 10 and 15 are in what is considered the 'hypertrophy' zone. This area of reps induces muscle production/synthesis. as you are damaging the muscles whereas, lower reps 3-6, sometimes 3-8 are focusing more on increasing your strength and overall power. This puts more stress on your CNS as opposed to your actual muscles.

 

 

Can you link to studies that prove a hypertrophy zone?

 

 

 

 

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/periodization-for-bodybuilders-part-2.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, reps between 10 and 15 are in what is considered the 'hypertrophy' zone. This area of reps induces muscle production/synthesis. as you are damaging the muscles whereas, lower reps 3-6, sometimes 3-8 are focusing more on increasing your strength and overall power. This puts more stress on your CNS as opposed to your actual muscles.

 

 

Can you link to studies that prove a hypertrophy zone?

 

 

 

 

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/periodization-for-bodybuilders-part-2.html

 

 

Thats not a study though is it? Just one persons theory?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I'm trying to make sense of all this info I still am very confused....to get leaner muscles in my arms instead of bulky I should do more reps with light weights or less with heavy? Sorry I'm really new to all of this, I've only done aerobic type exercises and just recently bought some 3 lbs weights wondering if that would help.

 

Thanks for your help! It's a dream of mine to eventually post an "after" picture, I can't tell you how much it would mean to me.

 

Just as an interesting side note my 7 year old son seems to have the same build as me if not more pronounced. This is him last week with santa, no santa is not a small man my son is huge! He is 4'3" and 83 pounds. I have to buy teen pants and cut a foot off the bottom because I can't find pants to fit him. He has huge thigh muscles, even pecks and is super solid. When I bring him to the doctor they like to joke that he's going to be a football player for sure. He's much bigger than all the children in his class and I am grateful that he is a gentle giant because when he gets to rough playing I think he will hurt the other children. Lucky for him he's a boy and won't feel odd like me.

 

http://i53.tinypic.com/wbew0p.jpg

 

also I forgot to mention he was born vegan and is vegan now. That pretty much blows the scrawny vegan theory doesn't it!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to get leaner muscles in my arms instead of bulky I should do more reps with light weights or less with heavy?

 

In a nutshell, doing a lot of reps with light weights will make you strong-ish and lean. Doing few reps with very heavy weights will make you very strong but not as bulky as a bodybuilder. Doing a mid-range number of reps with weights about 50-75% of what you can lift comfortably will increase the size of your muscles. This is a general rule only and varies from person to person, body to body. The number of reps will vary from person to person as well within the three weight lifting types above. Because you have an original body type, it's best to experiment rather than just do what they say "women" should do. Think of your muscles as muscles, not female or male.

 

That's one of the bigger payoffs of weight training: it trains you to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Well, if you're listening. Not all do. But you will have a much richer experience, happier and easier, if you move forward at your own pace, check in with your body at all times, and practice taking pleasure from the activity, not the results. The results will come, anyway. But if you're enjoying the whole experience, your mood won't be tied to the scale or the mirror, you'll just be looking forward to the next time you get to go to the gym because it feels so good.

 

My experience has been that taking on one or two things at a time until they are habit is the best way to go. Don't worry about overhauling your entire diet, exercise regimen, and attitude overnight. Pick a few things you can do now without strain and do them until they feel natural, then add some more things. For instance, learn half a dozen moves you can do with your 3# weights and get a little program going that you can do in fifteen minutes. Practice doing it in such a way that it feels good so you don't dread doing it. Maybe add a half hour walk or hike on the end of it. Treat yourself afterwards with a vegan protein smoothie, maybe a slightly different recipe each week. Top it all off with some visualization exercises, like imagining the clothes you are looking forward to wearing or seeing yourself doing a sport you've always wanted to try or pretending that a whole bunch of people who haven't seen you in a while are coming up and complimenting you and asking what you've been doing to look so good. That's a five-minute exercise you can do standing in line at Safeway. Better for the soul than perusing the covers of those tabloids, anyway.

 

 

Your son is a cutie. I'll bet he gives awesome hugs. All the lovable big guys give awesome hugs.

 

Baby Herc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, reps between 10 and 15 are in what is considered the 'hypertrophy' zone. This area of reps induces muscle production/synthesis. as you are damaging the muscles whereas, lower reps 3-6, sometimes 3-8 are focusing more on increasing your strength and overall power. This puts more stress on your CNS as opposed to your actual muscles.

 

In saying this, it does slightly differ for each individual, as each individual is unique and each individual responds accordingly.

 

Eating plays a major part too. (If you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight, if you are in a surplus, then you will gain weight, (this is base science).

 

Although, again, this is slightly different if you arent 'lean' in a sense. If you have excess or unwanted weight and you are still in a defitcit, you may gain some muscle despit being in a deficit (as your body is recomposing itself, rather than just cutting). Recomposing is a combination of both fat loss and muscle gain.

 

Yea, I should have specified. I meant reps beyond that. I'm currently training in the 15 rep range myself and I always gain a little in that range.

 

I meant more in the 20-30 rep range with light weights.

 

But if you're only interested in losing weight and not interested in toned muscle, I would skip the weights altogether and just do exercise/cardio with a maintenance diet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eating plays a major part too. (If you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight, if you are in a surplus, then you will gain weight, (this is base science).

 

Not quite. There are numerous physical conditions that actually defy this rule rather powerfully. I have intimate experience with one of them: hypothyroidism. You see, it's not as simple as energy in, energy out. There are endless chemical processes that take place in your body the second food passes your lips and all of them must work correctly for you to actually benefit from the food you eat. If even one of those processes is out of whack, the whole system can tumble and the body can suffer.

 

Most people are blissfully unaware of the elegant biological firestorm that's activated by eating because it's working okay for them. But some of us get a painful wake up call. Some people's stomachs don't break the food down well enough, others can't absorb the food from their intestines in an efficient manner (talk to CellarYeti in here, he's got a ton of information on this one), still others can absorb the food but they can't eliminate wastes correctly so all their bodily energy is spent fighting illnesses created by a build up of toxins in their bloodstream.

 

The most sneaky and annoying stage for things to go wrong is at the cellular level. It's the cells of your body that you're eating for and they receive the benefit of it by allowing nutrients to pass through their cellular membranes to be processed in their mitochondria and other organelles. If they aren't absorbing, you aren't taking in energy. You may be eating but you aren't receiving the benefit. The energy just moves around the body until either several types of immune system cells destroy it as imposters or fat cells take it in and store it. So, you can eat and eat, receive no energy from it, starve on a cellular level while all your organs suffer (including your brain, which needs lots of energy), and still put on fat.

 

That is exactly what happens in hypothyroidism and it is a living hell. A (not)fun fact about hypothyroidism: it can hit you in degrees. You can have a mild form of it, it's not all or nothing, and doctors miss most of the mild cases. I was lucky enough to be the type who never gives up and after doing years of my own research and experimentation, I figured out which stressors were causing my cells to reject nutrients. I reversed it and have been healthy ever since.

 

Are you ready for the kicker? The cellular level is where most diseases begin. You start with some sort of stress, usually mental, it puts pressure on your cells, they buckle after a while and manifest a disease or condition, and then a doctor tosses MORE stress at your body in the form of drugs or cutting into you. The whole mess can be put to rest if the person simply addressed and eliminated the original stress months--or decades--ago.

 

I'd like to start a movement wherein people stop bragging about how much they suffer more than the next guy and instead clap for one another when each one of us wins. My god, the hospitals would be so empty, they'd have to come up with new diseases and new drug treatments just to keep the revenue flowing in. Oh, wait a minute....

 

Baby Herc

Edited by Baby Hercules
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...