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How can I get tone without getting BIG??
I've always had this issue in the past…Whenever I hit the gym, unless I do only cardio…I always gain a lot of muscle and get "bulky" from any strength training…Is there any way to avoid that?? Does this have to do with how often you do strength training?? Or does it depends on how many rest-days in between??
I tried searching the forum but I don't see topic related to this. =(
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31 Replies
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It has nothing to do with rest days and everything to do with genetics.
How do you define "bulky"? The only women I have ever seen that get "bulky" is usually body builders, the rest of us I think imagine things that are not there.
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Well, when I said bulky I mean more like "chunky", not really muscle with nice cut…. If I do a lot of strength training I can feel myself getting stronger but not slim (unless I starve myself). I really want to be able to get tone muscle and getting strong at the same time.
PS. I'm not "fat".. 5'4, 115lbs…just not toned and slim.
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I agree with Chem, it has so much to do with genetics, and those generally determine how your body reacts to things like exercise.
I know that, generally, if one would like tone and less volume, one should go for higher reps and lower weight, but I can't say if that's an old wive's tale or not.
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I get "bulk" when I strength train. I've never really have tone, but I hate cardio and I think you need to burn the fat away to see the tone. For me as my muscles get bigger, it just seems to push the fat more to the surface and almost buries any tone I did have. I know I'm getting stronger and leaner, but I totally don't look like it.
However, my butt looks awesome. Butt muscles + lack of butt slimness = some really great complements when you wear tight jeans. So look on the bright side 😉
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Yes Genetics have a lot to do with it, and so does body fat. Low body fat will always make a person look more "cut" but it is not necessarily a healthy thing to strive for. Also as Runemist mentioned if you are lifting for bulk to gain, then you want to go real heavy with the weights and use low reps. If you are looking to increase strength and improve your over all health stick with higher reps and less weight. When doing higher reps don't go beyond 20 reps or you risk overuse injuries. BUT its good to mix it up a bit and not ALWAYS do one or the other, there is a time and place for both. I love my muscles https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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I have the problem of I retain my chub over my muscles, so when I bulk up I look fat. Grrrrrrrr.
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I love that I am getting stronger, however, my non existant boobs are just nipples and skin now and my arms got huge. My arms do not fit in tops that fit my chest and I have to get bigger shirts for my arms and the shirt looks like a bag on my chest. LOL! I will get this fixed w in the next 2 yrs but for now, I am unsure how I feel about my are muscles. It is hard to find tops and my old ones do not fit right anymore.
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Yes, I DID NOT want to get "bulky" at all when I started pole. Because I love to do photoshoots as well and if they're not going to be fitness photoshoots, they want girls that are not bulky. By the time I started inverting I began to gain more mass in my shoulders that were quite noticable. Till this day, I don't really like them, but I feel it's something that comes with the territory of pole. I keep tabs on my caloric intake and output also, to assure I'm not consuming an excess amt of calories. And yes, I think genetics has a lot to do with it. I'm genetically prone to muscle hypertrophy. But there's a way that you can gain strength via stronger neural firing as well, which I've read in my personal training book but have not forgotten lol.. sorry 🙁
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I've been struggling with the same issues recently… I started poling a little over a year ago and this summer i was almost forced (oh bummer 😉 ) to buy new shirts and tops, because nothing fit on my arms and shoulders… thats when i realized how "bulky" i've become.. that freak me out a bit, my body haven't been trough so much changes since puberty! also never felt very feminine to begin with and now my super small boobs have more muscle then fat… not happy with that… it took me a while to adjust but overall its woth it. I mean, i absolutely love poling and want to become the best poler i can be, for that i need strengh so.. its a fair trade 😉 most of the polers i admire have muscle and are still very feminine so you dont need to sacrifice one thing for the other. Poling changes all your body, posture and even perception of beauty… embrace it 😉
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I also have small boobs and I am muscular but I just LOVE my muscles!!!! Finding tops is hard but I think strong women are sexy!
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Quote: I also have small boobs and I am muscular but I just LOVE my muscles!!!! Finding tops is hard but I think strong women are sexy!
Amen, sister! I have been so happy to discover so many other polers with my kind of physique–small chested, muscular, ballerina type physiques that are so damn strong and sexy. I get comments on my arms all.the.time. They are feminine but ripply. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cool.gif
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Ok I’m probably going to get eggs thrown at me for saying this- but I’m a former personal trainer and know a bit about this subject.
Usually when women are experiences this problem it is due to too much food / wrong type of food consumption.
For example- there are two main phases that body builders go through. Bulking and cutting.
In the bulking phase (gaining more muscle) they eat plenty of carbs and protein.
In the cutting phase (reducing body fat) the carb intake is much lower.They cycle through these stages deliberately in order to change their shape.
Veena made a very good comment about how to do your workouts. By increasing your reps and lowering the weight you are working on strength and endurance. While less reps and heavier weights is working on gaining actual muscle.
I would definately start by having a close look at your diet, in my experience it affects everything!
Hope I helped 🙂 -
I have heard that stretching after training also makes difference. Your muscles don't get as big if you stretch really good. Don't know if that is true or not. I stretch for about 10-15 minutes after every practice and I have pretty toned muscles. But I dont know why that is. I eat pretty unhealthy though :S
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I'm gonna have to agree with Alesha84 here. Whether you look "bulky" or "cut" depends on your body fat level … and the main factor for this is nutrition. If your fat covers the muscles they'll look bigger and not cut.
Short interval training several times a week might also help reducing the body fat. But in my experience it's all about what and how much I eat https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif
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You guys are awesome~~ I was down in NYC for the long weekend and didn't have any internet connection. When I came back there's a long list of respond…lol
I think I'll take up some of the suggestions….I'm going to increase reps and lower weight plus cut down on carbs (gosh…I LOVE rice!!)…I'm not sure if I can cut down on my ice-cream intake but for pole…I'll give it a shot…lol
@ Veena – I don't mind nice tone muscle…just not bulkiness of fat!! (Oh…I have small boobs too..https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
@EvaRut – I normally only stretch on days where I don't pole…but I think I'll incorporate 10-15 min of stretching from now on https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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