I'm confused

Can someone please explain to me how lifting heavy makes you lean? When I lift heavy my legs get huge so I stopped and started to do an hour of cardio every other day. I'm trying to lose 10-15lbs and I'm really confused should I start lifting again if I want to lose that much weight and look toned and slender? Help me please!!

Another thing I don't understand is how girls who are way smaller than me can lift and squat the same amount of weight as I can and their thighs don't get huge like mine.

Please help, I want to be tall and lean with muscle tone.

This is what I want my body to look like but with a little more muscle tone. This body belongs to Tanaya Henry. She's 5'7 and weighs 120-125lbs.

Since I am a 5'7 20 year old female and I have the same body shape and height like her, I want advice on how to achieve this body type.
My Stats
HW: 145lbs
CW:135lbs
GW:120-125lbs

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unknown

Lifting in a defecit to preserve muscle

you aren't going to build huge muscles easily as a woman

that picture you posted - do you really have her body shape - she looks rather light framed with long sinewy muscles - is that you?

Lifting heavy is the best revelation to me in terms of making my body tight and high

That picture has a low body fat % on a thin frame

I think this image explains it well

unknown

Trying to look like someone else is just a losing battle, for all of us. Why not focus on just being the best YOU that you can be

Our bodies are not only beautiful for how they appear but what they can do. Also, we tend to judge ourselves much harder than we would judge someone else, so I would have to ask: are you legs really that big and muscly or does it just seem that way to you?

unknown

rabbitjb wrote: »

Lifting in a defecit to preserve muscle

you aren't going to build huge muscles easily as a woman

that picture you posted - do you really have her body shape - she looks rather light framed with long sinewy muscles - is that you?

Lifting heavy is the best revelation to me in terms of making my body tight and high

That picture has a low body fat % on a thin frame

I think this image explains it well

I don't know if this helps but this is my body.

unknown

I doubt your thighs got "huge"....you just aren't seeing yourself as you really look which is quite common for young women.

I am 5 ft 7 and currently weigh 150lbs...I lift too...I wear a size 4 and will never strive to be 120-125lbs and in fact that model weighs about 114 per an article I read which puts her underweight.

It's not about scale weight most of the time it's about how you feel, how you view yourself etc.

Stop comparing yourself with something that is photo shopped and look at yourself in real light.

unknown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlVyUJw3TM&safe=active

unknown

rabbitjb wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlVyUJw3TM&safe=active

how does this get flagged for abuse? you have got to be kidding me...

I think the mods should take whomever flagged this and put them behind bars.

unknown

cherellenjohnson9 wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

Lifting in a defecit to preserve muscle

you aren't going to build huge muscles easily as a woman

that picture you posted - do you really have her body shape - she looks rather light framed with long sinewy muscles - is that you?

Lifting heavy is the best revelation to me in terms of making my body tight and high

That picture has a low body fat % on a thin frame

I think this image explains it well

I don't know if this helps but this is my body.

wow...

Yah you aren't seeing yourself the way you really are...

unknown

SezxyStef wrote: »

cherellenjohnson9 wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

Lifting in a defecit to preserve muscle

you aren't going to build huge muscles easily as a woman

that picture you posted - do you really have her body shape - she looks rather light framed with long sinewy muscles - is that you?

Lifting heavy is the best revelation to me in terms of making my body tight and high

That picture has a low body fat % on a thin frame

I think this image explains it well

I don't know if this helps but this is my body.

wow...

Yah you aren't seeing yourself the way you really are...

I appreciate your opinion on body image and you make a lot of valid statements about photoshopped images and how the media effects the minds of young women.

But I didn't come on here to fish for compliments or to have people tell me that I'm crazy and should just be satisfied with my current weight. I'm not satisfied and I won't be until I reach my goal. I want to be lean and weigh between 120-125lbs and I won't be satisfied until I'm there. I came here for advice on how to lose weight and have a leaner body and I reached another dead end. I've looked all over the Internet for answers and still I don't have a solution, so I thought coming here with my questions would be helpful.

No one will give me any fitness advice so I can reach my goal. So fine I'll just settle for less and continue to be confused and keep asking myself why other women are able to get lean all over from lifting and I keep getting bulky.

unknown

Some is genetic. Hubby has muscular calves to die for and the dedicated body builders keep asking him how he does it. He shrugs.

But he also can't build a six pack.

Perhaps you are built to be a great sprinter.

unknown

rabbitjb wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlVyUJw3TM&safe=active

I actually showed this to my daughter months ago. So many younger kids think what they see in the magazine or ads is real or at least close to real. They have NO idea how manipulated most of those photos are. It's sad and sets impossible expectations for them. Nobody looks perfect, not even those models in the pictures...that's not even them.

unknown

rabbitjb wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlVyUJw3TM&safe=active

Eew...that just looks so creepy. She has an overly-long brontosaurus neck and her eyes look seriously odd. I would expect something with eyes like that to shine an unnatural light into my bedroom at night, beam me on board and probe me before dissecting my uterus and then depositing me nude on a farm somewhere in Nebraska in the dead of night with memory loss.

Not that I'm anyone to talk...I'm not about to win any awards either...OTOH, I'm not Photoshopped.

ETA: She was a real cute-pie before.

unknown

Some things are just genetic. You don't get to pick your muscle shapes off the shelf like you are in a store. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth, and the sooner you accept it, the less you will torture yourself. That being said, I know you're not fishing for compliments, but you don't appear to have bulky thighs. In fact you look great.

Lifting builds muscle (or maintains it if you are eating at a deficit). 1 lb of muscle takes up less space than 1 lb of fat, therefore 125lbs on one body may look different than 125lbs of a different body with a different body fat percentage. Focusing on the number on the scale is not going to be helpful for you. If you want definition in your muscles, use weight training to build lean muscle, and cardio to burn calories and lose the fat that is covering the muscles. It is extremely difficult for females to bulk up from lifting because we simply don't have the level of testosterone that is necessary for that. There is little danger of lifting and becoming huge. Muscle also burns more calories than fat cells, so the more muscle you build, you will increase your metabolism and burn more calories overall. That is why lifting leads to a leaner looking body.

I think what you may want to focus on instead are your feelings of self worth, and distorted body image. You may want to take some time to explore where these feelings are coming from, and whether these goals of yours are a) realistic b) really going to improve the quality of your life and c) are healthy (both mentally and physically). I fear that they will get out of hand and you will never be satisfied. What makes you think looking a certain way will make you happier anyways?

ETA: This thread makes me sad.

unknown

*blinks*

What's wrong with thighs? Strong muscular thighs are great!

unknown

rabbitjb wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlVyUJw3TM&safe=active

Love this! Just made my 15 year old watch it.

unknown

jgnatca wrote: »

Some is genetic. Hubby has muscular calves to die for and the dedicated body builders keep asking him how he does it. He shrugs.

But he also can't build a six pack.

Perhaps you are built to be a great sprinter.

I'll tell you...I have gigant-o calves too. Seriously, as my grandmother from Poland would say, I make a good wife because I'm built to pull the plow. And I think I could do it, too, I can just see myself with a yoke around my neck going on my 40th row with my giant legs while the horses all around me are dropping from the strain.

I do a lot of stretching/lengthening/Pilates on my lower half (this is for the OP's benefit now that I'm mentioning this) and I can see muscles developing, but they're longer and less "bulked-out". Not that there's anything wrong with bulked-out, some women aim for that and do an amazing job. But if that's not what the OP's looking for, I get that because I'm not, either.

Sadly, my giant calves are the ONE place that I seem to gain mass, even when hardly trying. As for the rest, it's status quo for the average female, it takes quite a bit to "build up".

unknown

OP, I think your bod is bangin' as is.

unknown

cherellenjohnson9 wrote: »

SezxyStef wrote: »

cherellenjohnson9 wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

Lifting in a defecit to preserve muscle

you aren't going to build huge muscles easily as a woman

that picture you posted - do you really have her body shape - she looks rather light framed with long sinewy muscles - is that you?

Lifting heavy is the best revelation to me in terms of making my body tight and high

That picture has a low body fat % on a thin frame

I think this image explains it well

I don't know if this helps but this is my body.

wow...

Yah you aren't seeing yourself the way you really are...

I appreciate your opinion on body image and you make a lot of valid statements about photoshopped images and how the media effects the minds of young women.

But I didn't come on here to fish for compliments or to have people tell me that I'm crazy and should just be satisfied with my current weight. I'm not satisfied and I won't be until I reach my goal. I want to be lean and weigh between 120-125lbs and I won't be satisfied until I'm there. I came here for advice on how to lose weight and have a leaner body and I reached another dead end. I've looked all over the Internet for answers and still I don't have a solution, so I thought coming here with my questions would be helpful.

No one will give me any fitness advice so I can reach my goal. So fine I'll just settle for less and continue to be confused and keep asking myself why other women are able to get lean all over from lifting and I keep getting bulky.

Whoa, that escalated!! Not one person said you were crazy btw. Also, you might try posing in the fitness and exercise forum for more responses on how to achieve your goals through exercise.

unknown

OP, no one can tell you why you're getting bulky. It's either in your head, or you're eating at a surplus and rocking some heavy lifting and building muscle. If you're in a deficit and lifting, you are only maintaining muscle mass as you lose fat. That should give you a lean look, you won't be bulking up in a deficit.

unknown

cherellenjohnson9 wrote: »

Can someone please explain to me how lifting heavy makes you lean? When I lift heavy my legs get huge so I stopped and started to do an hour of cardio every other day. I'm trying to lose 10-15lbs and I'm really confused should I start lifting again if I want to lose that much weight and look toned and slender? Help me please!!

Another thing I don't understand is how girls who are way smaller than me can lift and squat the same amount of weight as I can and their thighs don't get huge like mine.

Please help, I want to be tall and lean with muscle tone.

This is what I want my body to look like but with a little more muscle tone. This body belongs to Tanaya Henry. She's 5'7 and weighs 120-125lbs.

Since I am a 5'7 20 year old female and I have the same body shape and height like her, I want advice on how to achieve this body type.
My Stats
HW: 145lbs
CW:135lbs
GW:120-125lbs

Cardiovascular and muscular endurance (less weight more reps) is the way to go.

unknown

maybe you just think you look bulky because when you workout your muscles (that you have and should want to keep) swell with glycogen and water to repair themselves. You may feel sore/swollen and look "bigger". That combined with the fact that you have a layer of fat ontop of your muscles makes them look "bulky".

The best thing to do would to be keep lifting and eat in a calorie deficit to lose fat and retain as much muscle as possible. This is what'll give you the "tight, toned, lean" look you want once you reach your goal weight.

The thing with fat is you can't sculpt fat and decide where it goes (without surgery), but you CAN build muscle or retain muscle and lose the fat. The "shape" of the beautiful legs are given by the amount of muscle they have.

Skinny-fat legs (aka dem cardio legs. notice high fat percentage and little muscle mass)

Fit legs (aka legs with very little fat covering the muscles)

You may go through the inital phase of feeling like you "look bulky" but after you lose that fat you will just look tight and solid.

Of course you could just have Body Dysmorphia.