Are You worried about Gaining too much Size from Weight Training?

A Common Concern

I have written about this specific topic several times in my Newsletter as it seems a very common concern among women especially. The most frequently asked questions regarding this issue are: "I would like to increase my muscle tone but I am afraid that if I use weights I will look like the body builders in the muscle magazines etc" or "I have recently begun a weight program and I am finding that I am putting on more weight plus bulking up. How do I achieve muscle tone without getting bigger?"

You Need to Train for Big Muscles to Get Big Muscles

Body Building for very large muscles or muscle mass is only achieved by training long hard hours, for many years in a specific manner to reach those goals. I myself love the physique of a body builder but it doesn't necessarily mean that I want my muscles as big as that. However I can appreciate the sheer hard work that goes into that type of training. I have often used the techniques of body building myself to gain muscle size when wanting to create a more muscular look without gaining too much size or looking masculine.

What You Eat will Encourage You to Bulk Up

One thing you need to watch out for when beginning your weight training program is what you eat. Why!? Because what you eat effects the way your body reacts to your training program. Certain foods and the amount of those foods eaten can cause you to bulk up, rather than reduce your body size or to cut up rather than bulk up.

How Eating Affects Your Size and Shape when Partaking in a Training Program

Ok. Reviewing your eating program is one of the most important things for you to do when starting your exercise program. When most people start training they find that they become very hungry, because they are expending more energy, which then leads them to eat more. The most common food people reach out for when they are super hungry is either really fatty foods, high sugar foods or foods that are extremely high in starchy carbohydrates. Eg Rice, pasta, bread, cereals, grains, etc.

Overeating to Compensate for Exercise and How it Increases Your Body Size

If you begin to "carb up", as mentioned above, you need to be training to burn off that type of food intake, which would often be more in the line of an athlete's or a body builder's etc training program. This means that any excess food you eat, and are not burning off, will most likely "store", making it harder for your body to burn off fat as fuel for energy.

Putting On Weight when Starting Your New Exercise Program

Most people when they start exercising will put on a kilo or so. This is normally due to muscle growth. Even just a small amount of resistance training can cause this, especially if you haven't trained in a while. But don't worry because this is only weight not your measurements. Muscle weighs more than fat so you may have already started losing some body fat, but because you have been performing weight training exercises you have stimulated muscle growth, thus the gain in weight. This is GREAT NEWS and means your body is reacting to your new training program. If you are doing the right thing by your program you will soon be seeing some fantastic changes in your bodyshape. So be persistant!

It is Easy to Get Confused when Trying to Choose What Food Types will Help Your Training Goals

Choosing what we should eat can be baffling. Often we tend to place it in the too hard basket and decide to start "tomorrow" on our new eating program. Honestly, once you get started you will be so impressed with yourself for making the effort to learn and educate your self further on this matter. Learning what is right for you and your body type will offer you the freedom to start experimenting with new recipes and to start seeing new results from your eating program. My advise is "give it a shot", you won't regret it.

Steps to Prevent You from Bulking Up

Eat Low Fat Foods

Reduce your fat and oil intake

Reduce your Starchy Carbohydrates - breads, cereals, potato, pasta and rice etc towards the end of the day.

Make sure you are performing a Fat Burning Program 3-4 times per week.

Don't forget about your weight program. To start with, keep your weights light and perform more repetitions per set of each exercise. eg. Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps

Use Variety in your Fat-Burning.

Reduce your alcohol consumption.

Make sure you take one day off from your low fat eating program per week.

Increase Lean Meat intake and / or low fat protein in your diet.

Eat more veggies and salads, rather than filling up on starchy carbohydrates.

Get your workout weight resistance program renewed every 12 weeks, no longer.

Measure certain parts of your body to keep track of size and fat reduction. Don't rely on what the scales say. Muscle weighs more than fat, so concentrate on taking your measurements only.

Skin fold measurements are also great for helping observe fat loss.

Just a few last words......

Weight training and exercise in general not only gives us the opportunity to change our body shapes but can also increase our fitness level, assist in rehabilitation, improve our self esteem and boost our health in general. Choosing the right program for you is important so you can benefit and enjoy your workouts plus feel confident that you are on the right track to your health and fitness goals. Always remember to check with your doctor too, before starting any new eating or exercise program.

For more info on personalised health and fitness training programs please feel free to visit my site: http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com

Happy Training!

Yours in fun, health and fitness

Mandy

http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article.

The above article (in it's entirety) is free for use on other health and fitness related web sites and newsletters on the condition that the following section below is copied and pasted to the base or top of the article.

This article was written by:

© Mandy Gibbons 2001

Personal Fitness Trainer & Consultant

VIRTUAL FITNESS TRAINER

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mandy@virtualfitnesstrainer.com

http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com