Want that yoga/barre look over bulk....without doing Barre
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Anonymous
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I just turned 50 (F) and over the past 3 years I lost about 25 pounds. I work out a lot and love it (HIIT, Tabata, Yoga, Running/Walking, Free weights). Now I'm very fit, but starting to look bulky and would like a leaner less muscular look. Ideas for getting long/leaner looking without giving up the work outs? Thank you!
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Anonymous
Try a real ballet class. The washington ballet offers adult beginner classes. It takes a lot of work to make ballet look that easy. |
Anonymous
| Have you taken the classes? I'd like to try, but I'm a little intimidated now that I'm 50. |
Anonymous
| Pilates has made me lean and strong. I've been muscular all my life. After taking up Pilates, my arms are smaller and way stronger than they ever were. Maybe you could do a mix of classes? I think my Pilates workouts have a lot in common with Barre, BTW. |
Anonymous
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Change how you do weights - more reps at a lighter weight will give you a leaner look.
Also, you can't fight how you're actually built. Fit is fit, no matter the shape. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for these suggestions. This is a new and unexpected problem... I was long, bordering on lanky most of my life and gained weight in my 40s. I weigh about 8 pounds more than I did previously- but it's the extra muscle and how I carry it that I'm trying to tone down (my thighs in particular look very different/built up from all the squats). I will def give Pilates a try and maybe drop a few pounds from body pump. |
Anonymous
| Mind if I ask why you don't want to do barre? Just curious really, seems like you do lots of other classes. |
Anonymous
+1 I highly recommend pilates. Look for a studio that does "Authentic Pilates" or "Classical Pilates". |
Anonymous
| Op here - I actually would love to try barre but I work from home and there are only so many hours to work out. My gym is very social for me and I really love it. I just don't know how I could do justice to 2 memberships but if Barre is my only solution maybe I could be convinced... Just seems like I would need a pretty major commitmentb(2-3 days or more?). Is that about right? |
Anonymous
| For me pilates 1-2 x per week does a lot. You could try it out and see what works for you. |
Anonymous
| Increase the yoga classes or better yet develop your home yoga practice and diminish the number of lifting days. |
Anonymous
| If you're not long and lean, no exercise is going to make you look long and lean. |
Anonymous
| Op here - I was long and lean - that's the thing - I lost my extra pounds through exercise and bulked up - I in good physical shape for 50 and feel great - and additional weight loss would probably help but it's the muscle that has really changed how I look. I'm just trying to rework my routine so my body is leaner but I can continue to work out 5-6 days a week. What I'm hearing is that I need to cut down on the weight, up the reps and up the yoga and Pilates at my gym (or join outside studio-specific barre and Pilates classes). I had heard a lot about the transformative benefit of heavy weights at my age - and did that - but I need some more guidance (and yes. I worked with a trainer for 15 months and stopped because I thought I was going in wrong direction). Arms and core iare fine but I don't want to build my arms any more...legs are big issue. I'm almost to a good place just seeking to get there DIY - lots of helpful people on yet his board. Thx |
Anonymous
| You can buy barre DVDs - I might suggest going to a few classes to get the technique down with teachers in person but then I think you could easily do it at home. |
Anonymous
Ah, ok, makes sense! If you have a gym you love then do not quit that place! So hard to find. |