What kind of workout do you do with weights to lose but not build bulky muscle...

Light weights and high reps (anywhere from 12 - 20 reps, whatever fatigues your muscles).

Light weights and high reps gives you more slender, toned muscles, while heavy weights and low reps are for people (like me) who need to bulk up.

I use heavy weights and low reps. My muscles haven't gotten any bulkier in the 9 years following this rule, they just get leaner. You can't get bulky muscle if you have normal female hormones, and don't take steroids, it's just that you still need to loose the fat around and inside of the muscle. This takes time. Initially you will feel and look like you bulked up, but eventually the heavy weights will benefit you faster than light weight. Just keep doing cardio and eat right.

When I say heavy weight, I mean by the 8-12 rep it should be very hard to almost failure per set.

You can try switching it around by doing high reps sometimes. It is always good to keep your muscles guessing.

It is very hard and time consuming to explain all of this. I hope this helps.

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Posted by Capulet72

What about machines? What machines do I use at the gym?

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Oy, that would take a lot of explaining! The butt blaster is one of my favorites. The pull-up assist is also really good. There are plenty of machines that I use but I don't know if your gym has the same ones and it would take too long to explain what they were.

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Posted by Snowboardgirl

I use heavy weights and low reps. My muscles haven't gotten any bulkier in the 9 years following this rule, they just get leaner. You can't get bulky muscle if you have normal female hormones, and don't take steroids, it's just that you still need to loose the fat around and inside of the muscle. This takes time. Initially you will feel and look like you bulked up, but eventually the heavy weights will benefit you faster than light weight. Just keep doing cardio and eat right.

When I say heavy weight, I mean by the 8-12 rep it should be very hard to almost failure per set.

You can try switching it around by doing high reps sometimes. It is always good to keep your muscles guessing.

It is very hard and time consuming to explain all of this. I hope this helps.

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Wow, I was pretty much going to say what you said. LOL Yea, but do the heaviest weights you can for 8-12 reps. Don't worry about bulking up because women don't have enough testosterone to bulk up (unless they do steroids) . . .All you'll do is increase your lean muscle mass and decrease the fat!

alot of reps with lighter weights
resistance bands are really good too and they are inexspensive

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Posted by tanielle5k

How long have you given wieght lifting a chance for? I would be surprised if you were really getting bulkier that quickly, because as others have said, wieght lifting for women is not going to give you bulky mass. In fact, just the opposite. By lifting weights (especially heavy) you are creating metbolically active muscle. This means that your bodys ability to burn calories even when you are NOT working out increases. I highly recommend giving a weight training program a try, and mixing in a healthy dose of cardio. A trainer might be a good investment for you to get started.

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I havent done any at all. I used to do it years ago with my cardio and step classes and noticed I was bulking up so I cut out the weights. I obviously was doing something wrong because I know alot of girls who do some weights and look fine but I also know some girls who do weights and now are starting to look like men, this being why I asked what I should do not to have this happen.

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Posted by Capulet72

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Posted by tanielle5k

How long have you given wieght lifting a chance for? I would be surprised if you were really getting bulkier that quickly, because as others have said, wieght lifting for women is not going to give you bulky mass. In fact, just the opposite. By lifting weights (especially heavy) you are creating metbolically active muscle. This means that your bodys ability to burn calories even when you are NOT working out increases. I highly recommend giving a weight training program a try, and mixing in a healthy dose of cardio. A trainer might be a good investment for you to get started.

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I havent done any at all. I used to do it years ago with my cardio and step classes and noticed I was bulking up so I cut out the weights. I obviously was doing something wrong because I know alot of girls who do some weights and look fine but I also know some girls who do weights and now are starting to look like men, this being why I asked what I should do not to have this happen.

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you say you noticed you were bulking up? how long did you continue with weights once you noticed this? I ask because sometimes you might appear to be 'bulking up' when you gain muscle and haven't lost the fat yet, but once you continue to lose the fat, you will notice that you are lean and that any bulking up was just a temporary appearance that disappeared with the fat.
It's like, you're adding muscle to fat, and you look bigger, but once you lose all of that fat, you'll look great - slim, toned, etc etc.

Women who get big (as in their muscles get big and bulky like bodybuilders) from working out spend a LOT of time devoted to working out.
As far as lifting heavy weights or light weights, you have to see what works for you - I would still recommend light weights/high reps. The last rep should be very hard.
You can switch this off with heavy weights/low reps to change this up occasionally.

I do heavy weights 4 - 5 times a week and have done this for years and I'm not bulky at all. But I have a very slender build and it's very hard for me to build muscle. You might be the opposite. Some women build muscle more easily; it depends on your body type. There are 3 body types:

ECTOMORPH (that's me!)
Definitive 'Hard Gainer'
Delicate Built Body
Flat Chest
Fragile
Lean
Lightly Muscled
Small Shouldered
Takes Longer to Gain Muscle
Thin

MESOMORPH
Athletic
Hard Body
Hourglass Shaped (Female)
Rectangular Shaped (Male)
Mature Muscle Mass
Muscular Body
Excellent Posture
Gains Muscle Easily
Gains Fat More Easily Than Ectomorphs
Thick Skin

ENDOMORPH
Soft Body
Underdeveloped Muscles
Round Physique
Weight Loss is Difficult
Gains Muscle Easily Like the Mesomorph


Ectomorph Training
The ectomorph's first objective is gaining weight and muscle mass.Strength and endurance will need to be developed and muscle mass develops very slowly. Stay with the basic exercises and include power moves that build maximum mass. Do an entire training workout, but take longer rest periods if you need to. Take in more calories than you are accustomed to and use weight-gaining and protein drinks to supplement your food intake. Try not to expend to many calories by keeping cardio to a minimum saving them for muscle building.

Mesomorph Training
The mesomorph will find it easy to build muscle mass but will have to include a variety of exercises in their program so that the muscles develop proportionately and shapely rather than bulky. A combination of heavy power moves and a variety of shaping exercises and a more varied for better quality, proportion and symmetry of the physique. Long workouts and short rest time. The mesomorphic type responds well to training so super-long sessions are not needed. A balanced diet with a good amount of protein and maintain an even calorie level all time.

Endomorph Training
The endomorph will not have much difficulty building muscle but will have to be concerned with losing fat weight and be careful not to gain the weight back. High-set, high-repetition training with short rest periods to burn off as much fat as possible. Additional aerobic exercise for calorie consumption. A low-calorie diet that contains the necessary nutritional balance with the minimum amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Make sure that you are getting the right amount of vitamins and mineral supplements the body needs.

That's probably WAY more than you wanted to know