My suggestion is that higher reps with lower rate will work more on a balanced tone and "firmness" that people seek. Lifting heavier weights less repetitions is better for building bulkier muscles.

I would suggest jogging or some other kind of anaerobic activity combined with some lower weight high repetition lifting and a sensible diet should help you get the weight off in time.

Sometimes I wonder why this myth is still floating around. Muscle only grows or shrinks; regardless of what type of weight training you do, it's going to grow. If you do higher reps to exhaustion, however, you're not really working the muscle tissue itself. What you're doing is training the energy system and depleting intramuscular glycogen. Your body compensates for this by trying to stuff even more glycogen into the muscle (increasing capacity for work), which in turn causes more water to be pulled into the muscle (called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy). This makes the muscle appear more full and "toned," but you really haven't increased the metabolic advantage of the muscle.

Lifting heavier weights for fewer reps directly taxes the muscle fibers themselves. The body responds by adding more fibers, which are the contractile units that enable you to lift the weight (myofibrillar hypertrophy). The muscle doesn't actually grow in size that noticeably, but strength skyrockets. Muscles that look dense and hard are usually ones that have been built this way. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy creates bloated muscles that just aren't as great to look at.

For example look at the difference between a bodybuilder like Dexter Jackson (sarcoplasmic) and the gents from the movie 300 (myofibrillar). Which ones look like they could actually build a brick wall with their bare hands?

preparin for a 5k
 

I have seen the post for coach to 5k run. I don't run yet, but would like to get there eventually. I would like to know what people do to prepare and how to start. when is it a good time to exercise outside. I have to in med mornings, 1030 0r 1100 am and sometimes at late evenings. is this good to do this at different times? can I please get some input on this. :):cool::confused:

I have not personally done the couch to 5k but I have never read of anyone having a bad experience. When you exercise is less important than just exercising. If you are trying to lose body fat then cardio first thing after waking has been shown to be the most effective. If you are trying to build muscle cadio after weight lifting is best. Any exercise is better than none no matter what time you do it. We all work with limitations and time constraints. Do the best with what you have. Good luck.

In order to have any long term benefits, any UT2 work should be exceeding 1 hour, and UT1 work should really be in excess of 30minutes. Anaerobic work also shouldn't last much less than 20minutes, I find. When doing anaerobic work, I do it in intervals- something like 1 minute max effort, 30seconds light, and repeat until the time reaches at least 20mins.

I row for at least 12 hours a week. I also tend to get two 1 hour UT1 ergs in, at a speed of roughly 15 km per hour. More often than not, I also do a couple of 2km test ergs. I also try to get in at least two 2 hour circuit sessions in; this involves cardio, (medium with fast reps) weights, and core strengthening exercises. Occasionally I'll do heavy weights, but only to test my current level of strength; they don't work well for me as strength training.

right? I think that until the "myth" of women bulking with weight training will cease once it has been proven to the individual person experiencing this feeling. For instance in order for me to start lifting heavier weights i would have to be A)pounds lighter than I am now bc then I don't get the omg i've gained weight reaction when I start to...well gain mass...well swell. B) someone gives me a suggestion and workout and swears by it. otherwise I think there really are women out there who have more testosterone just there are more men out there who have difficult getting the tone look as the guy next to him at the gym. to those who experience this feeling, go with what works for you...i go back and forth all the time...i've been hearing the "women can't bulk" myth since 2001 (high school) and each time i hear it i say yay! and then start lifting...but then i find that i do feel bulky and friends have told actually told me i look buff! not what I wanted...so then i cool off by using light weights and plyometrics and i slim down....

DB, do you find that when your friends say that you look "buff" they say it in a way that means its a bad thing? Because honestly, I don't mind women with a bit of muscle... Victoria's Secret models train with heavy weights and do compound movements like squats and deadlifts. Do this: pick 3-4 different lifts, out which at least one should be a compound movement like squat, deadlift, or bench press. It's perfectly alright if you can't use a lot of weight at first. Do each exercise for no more than 5 reps, no more than 5 sets. You can decide how many sets you want to do for each. It won't feel like a lot (won't feel like you did "enough") but as long as you feed your body enough protein the fat that you carry will melt off.

I'm not saying this just because it's how I work out and I swear by it. I'm saying it because I've told at least half a dozen people and they've experienced something similar. You might be predisposed to carrying a little more muscle than the next girl, but is that really a bad thing (no)? Trust me, you're not going to look like Iris Kyle without some serious chemical help. :p

I am soo sick of this myth.. I lift and have been lifting for a long time... and the fact is I am a whole lot smaller! I am not a skinny fat chic. I am toned which makes you look a whole lot better.
I love the fact that I look strong. Im in a gym full of people and the girls are on the treadmills, and the weight room full of guys. I love being able to lift like the rest of them. Don't get me wrong I do cardio 2 times a day but I would rather be In the weight room.

Stop saying girls will get bulky if they lift!

@Dianna
 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I found this helpful because I have always been scared to lift and get 'bulky.' I am going to start taking a body pump class because just like your gym, my gym is separated with the girls on the treadmills and the guys by the weights. I am not ready to enter the weight room, so I hope Body Pump works!

I am not overweight, but I have no definition. I hope weightlifting is the way to go!