How Can You Get Toned But Not Bulky?

Can You Lift Weights To Get Toned But Not Bulky?

When many women think about lifting weights, they instantly think about getting big and bulky. While this is the look that some women want to achieve, most women want to get toned but not bulky.

The weights section of the gym is often full of men trying to build muscle and severely lacking in females. However, lifting weights doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically become a big and bulky person. No matter what your gender is, you should embrace the weights and add strength training into your workout routine.

What Should You Do To Get Toned But Not Bulky

Some women have been losing weight for a few months and just want to tone up their bodies rather than build any substantial muscles. Since your skin is elastic, it’s able to expand and retract with the changes your body makes, such as gaining or losing weight and changing shape when you are pregnant.

Lifting weights is a key part of not only helping your skin to retain its elasticity, but also helping to prevent any loose skin after you have lost weight.

Free Download: 10 Muscle Toning Mistakes Women Make

Start Small

If you’re worried about developing big muscles and you want get toned but not bulky, start off by lifting small weights (around 2-3kg). You can even lift smaller than this if you feel it’s too heavy for you. The key with toning is to lift smaller weights but do more repetitions, while building big muscles requires fewer reps but heavier weights.

That’s why many toning exercises will encourage you to lift 1-2kg weights around 15-20 times, rather than 20kg for 8-10 reps.

What If You Don’t Want To Use Weights?

You don’t have to use weights in order to tone your body. They are many exercises which will help you to tone up different body parts, such as squats for improving your thighs and butt, or various arm movements if you want to get rid of the hated bingo wings (upper arm fat).

I’m Doing Toning Exercises And Not Seeing Results

In order to see the results you want from toning at the gym, you need to also eat a healthy balanced diet. Drinking plenty of water will help a lot with your skin and its elasticity. Try to cut out soda and other sugary drinks and replace them with water.

What is Functional Strength Training?

In order to decide which strength training exercises are best for you, it’s important to understand functional strength training.

Functional strength training is a type of strength training that uses regular everyday movements to help your body get into peak physical condition. For example, sitting down is a movement which we all do every single day. Squatting is an exercise movement designed to mimic this movement while training the muscles in the calves, thighs and buttocks. It’s therefore part of functional strength training since you will be building muscle and strengthening parts of the body which are used every day for regular movements and tasks.

Incorporate Functional Strength Training Into Your Workout

You can incorporate functional strength training by doing movements such as squats, kettlebell swings and planking as part of your weekly workout routine. When you use weights in your workouts, simply add them to the new functional strength training exercises. For example, squatting with a barbell or planking with small weights attached to your ankles.

Free Report:  How Women Get Toned But Not Bulky

Strength training is an important part of any regular workout routine. It’s an umbrella term for the types of exercises we do which incorporate weights and resistance. This enables the body to build its strength and get toned but not bulky.

When women try to tone muscle they often end up making a variety of mistakes that make the job of muscle toning much harder than it needs to be.  Download my free report, 10 Muscle Toning Mistakes Women Make  to help you get the results you want.