lean and toned body

Hi everyone. I am by no means a 'bodybuilder' but I would really like to get that healthy, lean and toned look like those women on the cover of fitness magazines. the thin skin, no blubber and no more jiggly thighs! but i don't want to get too buffed up and muscular.

I'm 5'4" and i weigh about 110 lbs. i'm not fat per se but i just can't get rid of my stubborn tricep and thigh fat!!! i've always been very active since childhood and i'm now 31. since i am familiar with the laws of gravity, i would like to grow older gracefully.

I do Tae Bo for 45 minutes about 4-5 times per week and Pilates/Yoga 2x per week about 1 hour each time. sometimes my Tae Bo workout includes upper body weights and if not, i'll do a full upper body workout along with Tae Bo.

I don't eat any greasy, fried foods and hardly any sugar. my diet is pretty healthy. lots of fruits, veggies, water, lean meats, carbs and fiber and i seem to be following all the advice that's out there. but i just can't seem to lose any inches! i don't think i'm overeating but i've been working out quite a bit for the last 2 months and i haven't seen any results. i've measured! I'm stronger and more energetic, but still the same size with tight jeans at the butt. what am I doing wrong??? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

THANKS!!!

Good news for you as a woman is that you will not get buff, only one in a couple hundred thousand or maybe more, of woman have the genetics to get buff. So along with your pilates and tae bo, I would recommend some gym time with machines and some free weights. For those arms, I would recommend some tricep extensions. 3 sets of 10. Then a couple sets of overhead dumbell presses. For the thighs, some squats could be good. use a smith machine or a squat rack to do them, once again try 3 sets of 10. But if you want a better complete body, do your whole body during the week. This would include the following excersies.

Chest- flat bench press with machine or barbell, pec dec machine or flyes
Shoulders- machine military press or free weight dumbell presses
Arms- Dumbell curls for biceps, Tricep press downs and overhead db raises
ABS- crunches flat or at a decline if flat ones are too easy, leg raises for lower abs
Back- some cable rows and lat pull downs
Legs- Squats, leg extensions and leg curls, calf raises for calves

This should get you started, if you are unsure on wha tthe excercises are, look them up on the internet, there are usually good pics of them.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

Good news for you as a woman is that you will not get buff, only one in a couple hundred thousand or maybe more, of woman have the genetics to get buff.

Just to clarify this a little- You won't get buff unless you eat to get buff. Gaining large amounts of muscle requires you to eat like an animal, which I'm sure you don't do- So you don't need to worry about gaining too much size.

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot for your advice. i guess my main concern was why am i not losing that little extra bit of flab?

problem is - i actually DO do all those exercises you mentioned. i use free weights and do 3 sets of 15-20 even! I've been told that if i want to get lean, i should do more reps and keep the weight lower ie: i now use 5lb weights.

i do all the exercises you mentioned along with the leg exercises too as well as the cardio and can't seem to get that really lean and toned look i'm after.

what am i doing wrong?

thanks again!

What is your diet? How much and how often do you eat? Do you drink a couple of litres of water per day? As far as arms go and flabbyness or whatever, I will say that seeing as I have tendinitis in my right bicep I have not worked out in about 2 months heavy, 2 weeks ago I just started back light, ie 9 lb dumbells and my excersise weights cut to no more than 50 lbs per excercise. My muscle fibers have shrunk quite a bit and my arms have become alot softer from lack of heavy weight to work them. So the maintenance I am doing just is not heavy enough to recruit the muscle fiber to grow and become tight and hard. So what I am saying is you might want to up that weight to get your muscles tightened up and firmer.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

I eat a bit of everything really, lots of veggies, fruits, lean meats (all but beef), carbs and yes, i do drink a lot of water. hardly any refined sugars and very few sweets except for chocolate. no alcohol.

I eat about every 3-4 hours, breakfast is usually a ham, egg & cheese toasted sandwich with a cup of coffee, lunch is maybe noodles or pasta salad and dinner is usually lean meat with veggies either steamed or stir-fried. interspersed with snacks throughout the day, maybe crackers, wheat thins, baby carrots or fruits.

i can try increasing the weight, but then my reps would be much less than 15-20. would that matter? And i find that with heavier weights, i'm more inclined to use momentum and swing the weight which is not what i want to do.

i also do lots of squats, calf raises, kicks and stuff with the Tae Bo but the calves are not getting smaller and the fat off the thighs is not decreasing. what can i do to rid the thigh flab?

as for arms, i do 3x 15-20 reps of these exercises (not sure if they're the right names) all with 5lb weights for now.

shoulder presses
all 3 detoid lifts front/middle/back
bicep curls
forearm lifts
tricep dips
tricep kickbacks

most of all to the point of burn and exhaustion, which is what i read in the magazines.

i don't do much chest or lat pulldowns because i don't have the equipment and don't want to join a gym so i do all these exercises off DVDs at home.

i can try increasing the weight, but then my reps would be much less than 15-20. would that matter? And i find that with heavier weights, i'm more inclined to use momentum and swing the weight which is not what i want to do.

Doing 15-20 reps isn't really challenging to the muscle, you're really just training the muscles for stamina when you work in that rep range. Try going down to ten reps with a weight you can handle at that range, you'll most likely see more results. When it comes to swinging the weights up, there's an easy remedy there- Don't do it. If you can do an exercise with good form at fifteen to twenty reps, then you should be able to drop the reps down, and find a weight you can still use with good form at your new rep range- Definitely do not swing the weights, stick with proper form. It might take you a while to find the right amount of weight to use for each exercise, but you'll get there-

most of all to the point of burn and exhaustion, which is what i read in the magazines.

Burn and exhaustion have nothing to do with progress really- You can reach all your goals without them, so don't rely on them to know whether or not you've had a good workout- Rely only on your results. Yes, it can take time to see results, I'd recommend waiting three or four months when you start a new program to see if it's really working for you- The body takes time to adapt.

I was gonna say that to firm up muscles, you have to work them hard, not just light weights, I have been doing light weights for my upper body and my muscles are way softer than they were before. And this I believe is because they are used to twice the weight that I am using now.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

thanks a lot guys! I will definitely give it a try. i was hoping to get results in 1-2 months, but now i guess it's gonna be more like 3-4.

I'm sorry, i have another question. I've just started a new workout DVD - the Firm Upper Body and i really like it a lot. I took your advice and the advice on the DVD and i'm using heavier weights. Actually 3 different weights - light 5lb, medium 8lb and heavy 12lb for all upper body exercises.

If I do this 40-minute workout every other day along with 45 min of Tae Bo, any ideas on how long it will take to see some results? in terms of workouts or weeks/months. Do i really have to wait 3-4 months?? I'm now about 115lbs 5'4" i think my BMI is 18 and it feels like it's taking a really loooong time to see the results i want to see - a nice and defined, lean upper body. I still have my 'gobble gobble tricep flab' I seem to have only lost like 1/4 of an inch on my legs after 6 weeks of workouts 5-6days every week. I'm getting a bit discouraged...

Just keep plugging away.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

Run

i can't run, i've tried but the knee kills. what's the best results-oriented cardio exercise other than running?

elliptical trainer.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

don't have gym membership. i workout at home. aerobics dvds and tae bo is my current choice, but i don't seem to be seeing any results even after 6 weeks. none at all. i've measured. it's frustrating cuz the workouts are really tough but still no results. it's like working really hard without any payoff.

AARRGH!!! I was just told by 2 people today that i look 'fatter' than before!!! THIS - after 6 weeks of (in my opinion) intense training and working my butt off!! is this normal???

Is it true that when lifting weights, you bulk up first and then because of the muscle strength and faster metabolism the fat layer begins to burn more effectively? Or am i doing something wrong? please help!! anybody??

you might look more built,


who the **** is saying you look fat?

I think someone is full of shiat! There is no way that in 6 weeks, as a woman you have put on enough muscle to make you look (so called fatter). Just keep working out hard, doing cardio or whatever you have been doing, and don't give two shiats what others say. Be happy with your progress, be the judge of yourself.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

ORIGINAL: sunshine

AARRGH!!! I was just told by 2 people today that i look 'fatter' than before!!!

I hope you used your Tae Bo to kick them both in the butt. Seriously though, is there any reason why you don't want to go to a gym?

hey guys. thanks for the words of encouragement. well, i live in Hong Kong and the gyms here are really small, super packed and expensive. And i just prefer to exercise at home and have been doing so for many years. I recently stepped up my exercise regimen, i used to exercise 2-3 times per week and now i'm up to 5-6 time per week.

in HK, there's an obsession for being super thin and these 2 girls i know remarked that i look 'fatter' so i assumed they meant ' bulker' because i've kept track of my progress and know i've lost inches on my legs, but nothing on my arms. i'm not even losing any fat on my upper body.

that's why i'm wondering if the weight lifting is causing my muscles to grow beneath my flab layer therefore causing me to look like a butch?

i know i'm stronger because i'm lifting heavier but my ultimate goal is to get lean and toned and it just feels like it's not happening despite my efforts.

do cardio, cardio and more cardio. lifting will tighten the muscles you have and build them a bit, but losing fat by doing cardio will get rid of the fat that doesn't tighten no matter how much you work out.

AGE 23
Height: 5'9"

Arms 14 5/8"




"TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL"

I can completely empathize with your situation as Im basically in the same boat.

Bottom line is that if you are doing weights everything is going to firm up a bit, but if you have a layer of fat its still going to be there, with a more defined musculature underneath but obscured by this layer.

This is not to say that you shouldn't lift weights, as weights will help you optimize fat burning over a longer period of time, but cardio is your best bet to burn flab. That being said, the flab that goes first is not necessarily going to come off the spots you want it to. Its a waiting game - I always find that "problem areas" are the last to go. Legs, boobs, everything before the damn arm and stomach fat. Anyway, maybe you've plateaued in terms of your cardio intensity. 45 minutes is ample time for a cardio workout so it is likely that if you are doing this amount of time and not seeing results, that your body is used to that level of exertion and needs a jumpstart with a more intense (shorter if necessary) cardio session.

On the adivce of DBB people, I recently started splitting up my weight lifting and my cardio (one morning, one evening) so I can give full attention and energy to each and really get the most out of my cardio workouts - the most possible exertion in the least possible amount of time. It is difficult waiting for the pay-off, but I find weights (3 sets of 12-10-8 reps at the highest weight I can manage) keep me happy short-term as I see everything tighten up. The arm fat isnt so bad when its not quite so jiggly! It makes waiting for it to come off alot easier.

Thanks a lot for the clarification. I guess now I'll have to step up my cardio like you said. I'm going to split up my workouts like you suggested too swilson - funny you should mention it cuz i was just thinking the same thing today.

I just get confused cuz there's so much information out there. For example, if you do cardio, your heart rate should not be too intense because then you'll be working your cardiovascular muscle rather than burning fat. when i do my 45 min of tae bo, i'm sweating like a pig and i honestly feel like i've exhausted myself. but after 6 weeks and still no change? no wonder i'm getting frustrated. but it's good to know that i'm not the only one.

btw, someone ELSE said i looked fat today too! what the hell is up with these skinny chicks all calling me fat?? ok - fat-ter than before (my exercise regime). can you believe people are actually telling me to NOT exercise too much? they're saying my arms are too bulky.

anyway, back to my point. i posted this question in another thread, but received hardly any replies. is there a particular level of exertion i should do in order to maximize fat burn? or is it just the intensity level and caloric expenditure?
i'm hoping if i follow all the rules, i'll finally see some results! tae bo is okay, but maybe i should mix up the cardio too right?

don't even get me started on nutrition. that's a whole other thread altogether!!

It could be possible, depending on what time of the day they saw you. I look much thinner in the morning than I do in the evenings after my workouts. I believe thats because it has something to do with the stored fat being broken up by the exercise, so it settles into my body form, before being absorbed back up during rest periods. I bet I look 20 lbs heavier in the evenings than I do in the mornings. Its also possible that you are building muscle, and before where the fat used to be marbled in with the mass, its now being forced to the outter layers and is more visable. Should make it easier to burn off that way, too.

If you have a friend with a pool, Sunshine, I would say thats almost as good as running. As long as you're swimming laps and stuff, not just floating around and/or doggy-paddling.

It might have been mentioned, I didn't see it, by if you have the time, try tracking your calorie intake at a site like www.fitday.com . Find out what you should be consuming based on your body composition (there's a great outline here in one of these forums) for maintenance, and then you can calculate what you should be eating daily to lose weight (1-2lbs per week, safely).

Hi again everyone.  Just wanted to give everyone an update on my current workout situation:
 
In my quest for a lean and toned body, i've now entered into week 9 of my exercise regime.  I've taken photos of myself every 4 weeks and am totally discouraged to find that I can see no visible results even after 5-6 days/week workouts. 
 
I follow all the rules with 30-45min of cardio daily and 45min of weights every other day.  My diet is not super healthy, but it's not unhealthy either.  lots of fruits, veg, water, protein, nuts.  hardly any sugar, fat etc etc..
 
is this normal to not see any results even after 9 weeks?  i feel stronger, but how can i get rid of the layer of fat obstructing my muscles and seriously - how long before i can see any results??? 3 months?  4???
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  thanks again guys.

By the way, thanks for the fitday.com referral, it's great.  i hope this will help track my fitness & diet regime.
 
 

Today is the beginning of my 9th week of training too. IMO you’re in to much if a hurry to see results. This will lead to discouragement and a lack of motivation to continue. I too would like to be lean and toned but I know that it’s not going to happen over night. Looking in the mirror I can’t see to much change but I know I have changed. I’m quite a bit stronger, my muscles are firmer and I feel much better (which is the most important part). Fitness is a way of life that I am just now adopting; I know that I will reach my goal through hard work and determination.
 
I hope these are not “friends” that are telling you that you look fatter. If so you might want to look elsewhere for the support you need.
 
If you have been doing the same exercises for the last 9 weeks, it’s probably time to mix-up your workout. Try something new. Maybe take a week off and let your body relax so you can hit it hard again when you come back. You have to keep your body guessing.

[img]http://img10.echo.cx/img10/5676/goldenfrog5th.gif[/img]

No, those people aren't friends. just people with an opinion. 
 
You have a point about me being impatient.  I guess you're right, consistency and patience.  Good advice. 
 
Well, good luck on your training too & hope you had a happy week 9.  I'm on workout #50, is it weird to actually count?  I just want to see how many workouts it takes before i see some visible results.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I don't count but since i use http://www.bodybuildingjournal.com it counts for me, i am on workout 26 since i started logging them

if you want to lose fat you might want to drop back the cardio to 2 or 3 times a week and just do HIT training which is meant to be up to 9 times better for losing fat than normal cardio..... and start doing full body workouts with maximum of 30 sec rest between sets... the rest is up to your diet ..

Height : 5 11
Weight : 70 KGs
Body fat: 13%
Aim : 10%