Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
This is exactly wrong, although it parrots what you'll get from most weekend certified PTs.
Higher reps with lower weight will tend to promote sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and result in more local inflammation, which gives the kind of bloated, puffy look the OP eschews.
Heavy, low volume lifting with a narrow exercise menu promotes neurogenic tone, i.e., taut, wiry muscles, without doing enough tissue damage to cause a lot of inflammation. As hypertrophy is primarily a function of training volume, heavy, low volume lifting tends to result in much less of it. Undereating or consistently eating at maintenance calories will ensure little to no tissue is built.
Anonymous wrote:And can someone explain to me wtf "long" means in the context of long and lean muscles?
Muscles have attachment and insertion points that can't be changed without surgery. Nor does a muscle change shape; it either grows, shrinks, or stays the same size. So you can't actually make a muscle longer or change its shape.
You also can't really make a muscle "lean," for that matter, beyond the fact that as you get leaner overall the muscle will store less intracellular triglyceride. This won't much change the muscle's appearance assuming the same level of fat covering it.
So when people say "long and lean," they really just mean losing bodyfat, right?
Anonymous wrote: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 wrote:in addition to Washington Ballet, both Joy of Motion and Capitol Hill Arts Workshop offer adult ballet classes.
Anonymous wrote:OP--own the muscle. It will serve you well in coming decades as others get that saggy, old lady physique--flapping ass in yoga pants.
You will naturally lose muscle as you age. I am sure you look better than you think.
Toothpicks aren't sexy.
Anonymous wrote:OP--own the muscle. It will serve you well in coming decades as others get that saggy, old lady physique--flapping ass in yoga pants.
You will naturally lose muscle as you age. I am sure you look better than you think.
Toothpicks aren't sexy.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
NP here. Thanks! I didn't think of DVDs. If you can recommend any specific ones, that would be great.
Anonymous wrote:If you're not long and lean, no exercise is going to make you look long and lean.
Anonymous wrote: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.