Hi everybody,
I am one of the ones who has been posting about working out according to body type, but I never meant to give the impression that I don't think muscle is good, or that I like the waif look (like I could ever look waif-like even if I wanted to LOL!) I have a lot of muscle and I like it (well, you can't see it in my picture here maybe, but that was a while ago, before I restarted weight-lifting and discovered the Firm ;-). All I am trying to accomplish is a more balanced physique, which in my case means heavier weights for my upper body so it matches my lower body, which in my case is very muscular already with very little effort. All I really need to do there is keep it firm and sculpted, not increase the size. Due to my genetics, I am very strong and can look more muscular than some of you who do Standing Legs or Cathe tapes regularly, without doing nearly that much work. I guess I should look on the bright side,huh. But please understand that my legs are not skinny by any means, even when I am underweight. My lean body mass when weighed 120 was very high - over 100 lb. - and I am only 5 ft. 4. I have read that for my height, the average range is like 85 to 92 lb. This was prior to Firming or using any weights (upper or lower) higher than 5 lb.
If I do tallbox and weighted standing leg work, I get very, very muscular and look out of proportion (even a personal trainer told me this), and the fact that my legs are short compared to my torso emphasizes this. So when I talk about not wanting bulky legs, I mean very large in comparison to the rest of me. Like, not being able to wear slim fit or even regular fit jeans even when I was a size 3. I have to find relaxed fits with a long rise so they fit over my thighs and butt (and when I was this size, there was very little excess fat on me, so it was not a diet issue at all).
All I am striving for is a balanced, muscular but not body-builder look. I will admit that some of the girls in Muscle and Fitness Hers and on ESPN's fitness competitions are too muscular looking for my taste. I'm not after that look. I think asthetics are still important, and so are the wishes of my husband. I could put on more muscle very easily and would probably have a higher metabolism, but then I'd be hungrier and eat more so I don't see what good it would do me. My metabolism is plenty high already - that's not the problem. My appetite is the problem LOL! But my current amount of muscle allows me to eat plenty of the right kind of foods for good nutrition, so I rather doubt that my health would improve much if I added more muscle. I am strong and active, I have a large frame and probably plenty of bone mass, and except for the excess weight that I am currently in the process of shedding, I think I am in excellent health.
Hope I didn't make anybody feel bad about having muscles. I sure didn't mean to!
Shelley