The fear I suppose is in the fact that I have no idea how to utilize any sort of weights. While I understand that a person's routine is highly individual, I just never know what is too little or too much for me.
Based on my experience, especially when it comes to women..... very rarely is it a problem of being
too much.
I've never really been pushed to do anything "extra" for exercise outside of playing sports or running on my own...it's a real gray area for me.
If you turn it into something that you feel you MUST do, I doubt you will adhere long. The secret is finding the right combination of good/proper goals, a set plan that can be adapted overtime, and transformation of lifestyle habits. It's a process that is ongoing. KWIM?
I know that a lot of girls and women (from what I know...my knowledge is limited though) just use small free weights to tone up?
Let's get a few things straight:
1. There really isn't such a thing as toning up with weights. Getting lean is a function of fat loss. You lose the fat that is covering up the muscle (subcutaneous fat).
2. Weights don't build muscle in isolation. Weights+rest+NUTRITION=hypertrophy. Any one of these variables in isolation is going to do very little in terms of muscle growth (hypertrophy). Nutrition is the most important varialbe.
3. In order to lose fat, you must be in a caloric deficit.... meaning, burning more calories than you are taking in through food. In order to build muscle, you must be in a caloric surplus.... meaning, taking in more calories through food than you are burning.
4. If you goal is to "tone up," it will take a some form of caloric manipulation where you are burning more than you are eating. However, the closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to lose it and it sometimes requires non-traditional methods of "faking out" your body. If this is the case, I can help you. Your best bet is to start tracking your calories using something like to get a feel for what your working with currently.
5. At the same time, you are going to have to start lifting weights. This isn't as important when there is a lot of weight to lose. But it becomes critical as you get closer to your goal. Your body needs a reason to hold on to the muscle mass it currently has. If you don't give it that reason (strength training), chances are, the closer you get to your goal weight, the more muscle mass you will lose. Most don't care, as long as the number on the scale is falling. However, that is stupid. If you lose muscle, you will end up being a smaller, still fat version of your current self..... follow me?
6. Even if you were doing everything correctly, and eating in caloric surplus, you are a WOMAN. Women don't have the hormonal propensity to build big muscles. Heck, most guys have enough trouble building up any apprecialbe level of muscle mass. Trust me, women can't do this. And if you are going to focus on dieting (caloric deficit), you certainly don't have to worry about this anyhow.
Mostly I'm focused on my arms. I don't really need to "build" muscle"...just define what I already have.
Again, defining/toning is going to be a function of fat loss.
And you really can't focus on one specific bodypart. It doesn't work like that. You have to train your body in a systemic way. And losing fat does not happen in isolation. It comes off in a predetermined genetic pattern. Your "trouble" areas are normally the LAST place the fat will leave your body. Basically, the first place it starts to accumulate is the last place it will start to leave, generally speaking.
And you can't turn fat into muscle.
And to answer your question I guess that there is no limit to "enough". I just wanted to know if it was possible to become nice and toned without the use of weights. But I suppose that can be likened to climbing a ladder with no rungs or something like that.
This really depends.
Some fortunate people lose a high ratio of fat to muscle no matter what. If that is the case with you, which I doubt, then it could be possible. However, most need to do some weight training in order to preserve the muscle they currently have while dieting. Not to mention, strength training has many benefits that go beyond building muscle.
Anytime, really.
