Exercise & toning

[Daniela76]

I was wondering what people know about exercising to have a more feminine figure?
I have been losing weight & am lifting weights. I am going to join a health club soon. I am wondering what the best exercises, machines, weights & reps are for getting the more toned figure I am looking to have now?
I want to build strength, but want to lengthen my muscles & look sleek & sexy. :heehee:

[dilane]

My advice is to forget about weights, unless you're seriously weak. Most male-types are excessively muscled compared to their female counterparts. Women workout for hours to get half of the muscle mass in the upper body we have naturally, just sitting around.

Stick to aerobic and diet to tone up. If you're typical, doing weights is just going to build mass (true, less mass with more reps, but you'll still add muscle). Upper body bulk is the enemy of passing (well maybe I overstate my case, but a light upper body definitely looks more femme).

Most guy-types are simply too heavy, and the best way to lighten up and tone up is running/fast walking-hiking/cycling/rowing in such a manner that you're heartrate is elevated (120+) for several hours a week, coupled with some high-intensity bursts for added weight loss.

I stay away from any upper body work (including sit-ups, which increases the size of the stomach muscles and results in a less-trim profile). I'm strictly aerobic, myself, after seeing how quickly I build muscle with any kind of upper-body weightwork.

[StevieCD]

Check this out. I have not tried it yet, but it sounds good.

http://www.reneereyes.com/Webdocs/tipsexerc.html

you might have to copy and paste this into you address bar.

[NathalieX66]

Check this out. I have not tried it yet, but it sounds good.

http://www.reneereyes.com/Webdocs/tipsexerc.html


Saw it several months ago ...and I picked up an ab roller for $5 at a yard sale because I saw this.......which btw, I hate using.
I can run five miles every other day and not feel a thing, but I hate anything to do with stomach....and it hates me back.

[JaytoJillian]

cardio, cardio and cardio followed by a good ab workout is a typical day for me. half push-ups are good for toning the arms. squats are great for building the butt and legs. If you want to hit the weights concentrate on the lower body.

[Jamie Burton]

Yoga is a great workout - I practice yoga at least once a day and am also a professional yoga teacher. You'll get stronger, your muscles won't bulk up due to all the stretching and you'll also feel emotionally and mentally stronger and more balanced!

Plus yoga pants are very comfortable and very cute! I usually wear a scarf instead of a wig but had the chance to pose for a few pics like this one.

[Tiff Rivera]

I run, and do aerobics. And swim a lot. Cycling is great for good looking legs too. I would forget the weight training unless it for toning.

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Since I've noticed recent threads on achieving a more feminine less muscular figure, I will list the exercises I do as guidline for what not to do when working out.

1. Pull Ups- Builds up the shoulders to much, Do not do these.

2. Any exercises that work the arms including curls, dumbell curls, triceps etc. The weight or reps does not matter. Most women lift heavier weight than I do at the gym. Being a guy, unfortunately muscle will develop so avoid these exercises.

3. Any exercises for the chest including Bench Press, Dumbell Press and any variation. You will get breast just the wrong kind. Again I still use a very light weight, unfortunately muscle still develops so do not do these.

4. Push ups- avoid these like the plauge.

5. As Jillian said, stick with cardio, cardio, and cardio. If you must use weight focus on the lower body and core using very light weight or your own body weight.

[sherri52]

Get far away from the weights. You are much better off running, walking and doing aroebics.

[StarrOfDelite]

losing weight is the first thing most males need to do to start looking feminine. the reason for that is that males store fat in different places than women, not that American women are any less overweight as a group than American men. men store fat around their waist line and in their chest, women in their lower abdomens, hips and thighs.

for women, it's healthy to have 75% ration between one's waist measurement and hip measurement, and for men it's 85-90%.

this is, btw, do as i say, not as i do, advice. usually, i am thin, 5-11, 150, but over the holidays i quit going to the gym because of a sore shoulder and a sore knee, and between too much booze and rich food and the lack of exercise, i gained six pounds and added one and a half inches to my waist while my hips stayed the same. in other words, i only gained a fairly small amount of weight but it was all fat, and it all went to my waist. so there go my chances for wearing my new blue jeans because of my male physiology.

after mastering your appetite, do lots of leg exercises, squats/leg presses, leg curls, leg extensions, and calf raises with lots of weight and reps. two reasons. 1. You burn tons of calories by lifting heavy weights, and getting a 'burn,' and 2. women have shorter achilles tendons than men, so most men have skinny-looking calf muscles compared to women, and since women's hips are wider proportionally they tend to have thigh muscles which look wider at the top than men.

finally, there is no such thing as spot dieting by exercise. if you have a budweiser tumor you can do sit-ups and crunches and leg lifts until your stomach muscles are so well developed you can't stand up straight, you will still have a layer of fat over the top of those great muscles if you don't diet.

don't quit doing upper body exercises entirely, but taper off. women don't have 16" biceps with 'peaks' and they don't have 17" bull necks, but most men like a woman with toned arms and shoulders and necks.

sorry for sounding so didactic/pedantic, but there is no easy path to acquiring a more feminine looking body shape unless you came equipped with the right genes at birth, some guys have natural pear shapes.

Oooh! Should also have said, that in my opinion, or at least as it seems to me, long distance running/jogging is counter-productive to producing a feminine shape. Some of the flattest, ugliest looking butts you will see on G-girls belong to woman marathoners, and don't even think about male bodies that run 5-10 miles daily. The squats will burn off just as many calories, do almost as good a job cardiovascularly, and give you a broader, curvier bottom. Plus, if you're overweight, it (jogging) is a killer long-term for your knees.

[Karren H]

cardio, cardio and cardio followed by a good ab workout is a typical day for me. half push-ups are good for toning the arms. squats are great for building the butt and legs. If you want to hit the weights concentrate on the lower body.

:iagree:

I stay away from weight lifting.... And have worn out a Lateral Thigh Trainer which is like a stepper for skaters. Builds up the thighs. Skating is damn good lower body exersize.. Ice hockey is great cardio for me...

The bigest problem we have is that weight comes off where it want to and it never comes off where you want it to... So getting to that hourglass figure is uber difficult at best..

[Daniela76]

Thank you all for your helpful info & advice.
Now to sort it all out.
I do need to do some arm strengthening as I injured my right shoulder rotator cuff earlier last year. Getting better. And my back has been better since I've lost weight & have been working out some.
I'm trying some of those Flyes from Renee's page. They are actually pretty fun to do. Put some fun dance music on and away I go. And flutter kicks are awesome. Did over 80 last night!!

[ShirleyO]

Hi Again,
Boy do I need to exercise because I feel my stamina going down the tubes. I do want to present myself well and look the best I can but I am worried about putting back on guy muscles. As a CD I find my appearance not to bad now that I am skinnier but when walking in heels you need a little bit of toning up to get past the occasional stumble or the heel caught in the crack of the cement, we have all been there girls. Any ideas on some sort exercise that won't bring back the guy bulges????? I and I don't mean that bulge, LOL

[JiveTurkeyOnRye]

Instead of focusing on weight training, focus on cardio and on less weight, more reps in your workout. That will help you tone instead of bulk and it will help with the stamina and heart rate.

[az_azeel]

Hi Again,
Boy do I need to exercise because I feel my stamina going down the tubes. I do want to present myself well and look the best I can but I am worried about putting back on guy muscles. As a CD I find my appearance not to bad now that I am skinnier but when walking in heels you need a little bit of toning up to get past the occasional stumble or the heel caught in the crack of the cement, we have all been there girls. Any ideas on some sort exercise that won't bring back the guy bulges????? I and I don't mean that bulge, LOL


Shirley i have merged your thread with an existing one covering the same subject.. hopefully you will find more answers and perhaps some new ones.. :hugs:

[jill_cd_girl]

I've always found diet and regular but light exercise to work. The biggest thing that works for me is diet. I eat a lot of vegetables, and portions are small - three meals a day. For snacks, just some veggies or something light (nothing processed). Also, drink a lot of water - if you replace juice and soda and any other beverage with just water, it'll make a big difference. (Water also seems to make the body more efficient, in my experience). (Drinking coffee should be done in moderation - but try to stay away from sugar).

As for exercising, I like doing yoga and some cardio (stairs, walking).

Weights will probably bulk you up unless you're using small weights. But even then, you might get certain muscle definition that'll look more masculine than feminine.

I hope this helps.

[KateSpade83]

I went from 205 lbs to 139 lbs by road biking; kept it off next 5 years but last year was a failure as I went up to 157 lbs by eating junk food and not biking much that year. At 41 years old, I need to weight lift to keep some muscle tone and this increases my metabolism so I can eat well and enjoy dangerous food like pecan pie or McDonald's.

Some weightlifting is ok, as it will increase your metabolism. I've been weightlifting light weights / high reps and I noticed it has controlled or lowered my weight a little. And you have to do soo much cardio just to lose weight by cardio, so a combined cardio / weightlifting routine is best.