Awhile ago a group member posted this question to me about making long lean muscular look. i thought i should post it here.
Hope you like it!
Question:
Hello Ryan
I am having a bit of a dillema and im hoping that you can help me out online.
i really want to slim down and get fit again.
I want thin slim toned legs, A flat ripped stomach, and tight thin arms hahah
Ive started bike riding to work so im getting about 1 hour of cardio a day 4-5 days a week. A lot of it is uphill riding as well.
However i noticed my leg and arm muscles are getting stronger to the touch but also noticably BIGGER.. when i clearly want to be smaller. I ve only just started riding.. for maybe a week now.. any tips on how to get smaller vs bigger? what other exercise could i be doing to get what i want?
weights? yoga? running ?
i swim a bit as well but also notice the same thing.. bigger not smaller.
is it because muscles expand before they slim down? will i eventually start to slim? or am i just gonna be huge 😐 haha my goal would be to look like kate hudsen, or someone of that fitness level.
im hoping you can give me some sort of insight?
thanks for ur time.
thanks !!!
Answer:
awsome!
you asked a mouthfull!
here’s what i wanna say,
1 -for some people any dynamic exercise, like cycleing(worse to cycle up hill) can cause hypertrophy. thats when muscles get bigger.
lots of people are going to tell you that it is genetic and there is nothing you can do about it. i personally believe that intention is more powerful than genetics but be prepared for hard work. there’s gotta be something we can do…
2- eat less more often. just a guess but if you are active i bet you can eat about 1100-1300 calories a day and loose weight. the trick is to do it in 5-6 small meals. this is hard. i have a lot of clients who after a year of trainng with me still don’t do this.
3- isometrics(pilates-yoga-rehab based exercise etc.) can strengthen a muscle in a certain postion. and stabilise joins etc. without makeing a muscle neccessarily bigger. i’d say hot yoga is good (based on what i’ve seen of it )but be careful cause there a lot of dangers involved in that as well.
4- blood plasma increases with exercise. it can result in “water weight” gain when you begin a program. this weight gain can amount to 5% of your total body weight.this is why sometimes people don’t loose weight for months after starting a program, not cause they have increased thier muscle. this “plasma resonse” is lessened with interval training, and with lymphatic draning that comes with 1- masage 2-contrast therapy(heating yourself up, then cooling yourself down at least 10 degrees-like hot yoga… go figure…)
5- easy answer: reduce your calories to 1300/day(yes you have to count!) and do isometric based exercise at least 3 times a week. keep your cycleing long and flat. stretch!
one more thing i should probably add. for some people doing light weights slowly for many reps is the best way to add size. so many women tell me that they get too big when they train with weights. i say:”how many reps do you do?” they say: “15-20”.
that is wrong! for women looking to strengthen and tone but not increase size, it is better to keep the weights moderate and do 4-8 reps.
one more thing, celebrities take a bunch of drugs to be able to look that way in pictures and they do not look that way year round. i have been doing this for a long time and can tell you it is an imposible image to try to live up to. these training principles are sound and may get you into the ballpark but there is nothing wrong with having muscle and good posture. it is better for you and will make you healthier as you age.
good luck!
yours in fitness’
ryan
UPDATE:
Wow how times have changed… I swear when I write this stuff, I try to give the best advice I can. If I was answering this question now it sure would be different. I would have a longer look at the diet in question. I would create a strength training plan with intervals(not too far off from what was suggested above). Don’t get me wrong, most of this is still good. The writter of this question looks amazing. She is probably couldn’t eat much more than I recommended if she tried. I just would not go into a calories in/out approach as I no longer believe in it after what I have read.
Please keep in mind that this info was designed for one person. What works for her may not work for you.
