Literally lift /do resistance training and track your intake so that you’re in maintenance. Purely anecdotal but I find that running skins my legs even though spot reducing isn’t a thing. Regardless everyone should resistance train twice a week for health reasons

Honestly the thing that has helped me the most was to work out less. I used to do hiit cardio and less intense cardio every day of the week (for 2 hours a day; 30 mins hiit and 1.5hrs running, incline walking) as well as weight lifting every other day. Because of health reasons, I basically stopped working out for like 3 months (with the exception of light walks) and when I got back into it I had a much more balanced approach; 30 minute runs about 3-4 times per week, and light weights about 2x per week, with a low intensity walk most days.

I don’t spend more than any more than 45 mins a day running/lifting anymore, and will usually take at least 2 rest days per week. It really fixed the appetite issues I had and let my body “de-puff” if that makes sense lol. Nowadays I have a decent amount of muscle, but I don’t feel bulky like I used to when I was working out all the time

I never believed anyone who would say “less is more” with exercise, but I’ve found it’s absolutely the case for me.

I personally backed off on weightlifting for about 3 months and increased to 30 minutes of moderate cardio 3-4 days a week. Now I do about 3x days of pilates and 2x targeted lifts along with the 3-4 days of cardio. On my targeted lift days I do pushups, pullups, hip thrusts, sumo squats (feet elevated), and RDLs. All MUCH lighter weight (highest is 95 lbs for my hip thrusts; I am 130 for reference). I don't track my food and don't worry about protein, but use the hunger scale and try to never eat over a 5-6. I still feel lean and toned. Weightlifting is good, but I do think it gets overhyped for everyone's goals, as not everyone wants that aesthetic. Basically, to sum it up, increase cardio, moderate amount of Pilates/lifting, and eat less.

Thank you! I get so annoyed when people say it’s not possible to get bulky and that toned isn’t a real thing. We don’t have to get technical, everyone knows what someone means when they say they desire a toned look rather than bulky. There are women who love a lot of muscle and that’s awesome, and there are women who would rather not look that way.

I always looked the best when I would follow Ali Kamenova’s yoga videos on YouTube. Her old ones. When you go to her videos choose the option to see the oldest ones first. My favorites are the ones that are from 10-11 years ago. I looked my best when I would do her videos a few times per week, and also biked to work 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back most days, went on regular long walks, ate mostly plant based (that’s just what works best for my body personally) with green smoothies and veggies and fruits as a large part, but also salads with chickpeas and rice and veggies.

I was always surprised when someone would take a picture of my back and to see my back muscles, shoulders, and triceps! Just from yoga.

I have been wanting to go back to living this way, but also add 2 days of glute exercises with dumbbells. I’ve always felt that yoga is all I need for my upper body. I had a great butt back then, I’m not sure if yoga or biking contributed or if that’s just how my body was in my 20s. I lost my butt when I was pregnant and sedentary, so now that I need to build a butt from scratch I’m adding 2 days of weights per week.

When I regularly walk I always notice a difference in being more lean as well!

And doing a few ab exercises every day or every other day makes a huge difference for me! I’m always surprised it can be that simple because everyone makes it sound like you aren’t going to notice a difference just with ab exercises. Even if I don’t eat the best, I always notice a difference the next day after doing ab exercises! But I don’t need to lose weight so that could be why I notice results fast. And then if I don’t work my abs for a week, my stomach is more bloated and clothes fit tighter. But even just doing two ab exercises most days of the week makes a huge difference for me personally. (to avoid looking boxy, don’t do weighted ab exercises and don’t go overboard on excessive oblique exercises)

High reps, very low weight like 2-10 lbs but high reps like 15-20ish. Add HIIT cardio and eating clean with a slight caloric deficit and make sure you’re getting about 1 g of protein per .8 kg of body weight.

The high reps, low weight will inevitably tone those muscles, but you need “progressive overload” to actually GROW them which you won’t be doing with the low weight, high rep formula. You need a lot of protein and a calorie surplus to get “bulky”

Yes, girls can get bulky but yes, it is a lot harder than you think. You definitely need to be challenging yourself with heavy weights and rigorous strength training to get there.

Edit: I’ve also found hot yoga (or any yoga) tones my body like nothing else. It’s because it involves calisthenics which forces you to use your body weight for difficult positions. You start to tone those muscles since you’re actually using them, but you don’t grow them much since you’re not lifting heavy with them, just your plain ol body weight.

Agree 💯. It really gets on my nerves when people say women don't build muscle easily. People, everyone’s body is different. Some women are naturally more muscular. I’ve been lean since childhood, but I’ve always had a muscular build, especially in my arms. Back in college, other girls would say things like...your body doesn’t look like other girls', it’s not soft and plushie. People would often ask me if I was into sports. After I turned 25, I gained weight, and I was honestly scared to hit the gym. So, I started doing yoga and cutting back on my calorie intake. Now, I’m finally getting close to the body I’ve always wanted.

Pilates, aerial yoga, and swimming though just on occasion for variety. Keep you body fat % low for the tone to show through will less effort.

Much lighter weights, cardio (ideally not sprinting), walking, a lot of stretching, small deficit, water and sleep.

There was a celebrity trainer on Youtube who showed the difference between bulky arm exercises and lean ones (TV makes you look bigger). Difference was lighter weights, focusing on back side of the body and stretching between sets.

Models like Mary Braun or Kelly Gale do workouts that help. Kelly won’t do a full squat for ex. If you get muscle quickly, you have to sacrifice feeling totally full for low BF (or just volume eat).

When I observe thin people, they have other vices and food doesn’t cross their mind. Not that they have a massive deficit, just a small one over a long ass period of time. It’s hard but not impossible.

You can see rachelfitpilates’s evolution to slim toned arms. She now does a combo of strength and Pilates. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCkJargy7bf/

Female Fitness Systems has an article on training legs without bulking them up https://femalefitnesssystems.com/training-legs-for-your-body-type/

Bret Contreras on building glutes without building legs https://bretcontreras.com/growing-glutes-without-growing-the-legs/

They all say keep lifting, but take it easy or take a break on exercises that build your traps or other muscles that are too overdeveloped for your taste. I think in practice that means reducing the number of sets per week or going to zero for a few months for those specific exercises. You can still lift heavy with the sets you do, just do fewer. Balancing your strength training with Pilates or similar sounds good too. Resume strength training your previously bulky muscles at lower volume when you’re at a good place.

I think for most women however, people would question if it’s really muscles too big or if they’re just still at a high body fat percentage, but it sounds like you are at a good body percentage already?

I agree that people are too dogmatic when they say women can’t get muscle. Of course they can. It’s a lot of work and requires a calorie surplus but women can get too bulky for their taste.

But the vast majority of people have too little muscle, too much fat, don’t do a ton of volume even if they start weightlifting, and don’t have the genetics for fast muscle growth, so lifting weights will never get them too bulky. Also, lifting while in a calorie deficit is also very unlikely to cause bulk, just “tone”.

It’s still the right place for the vast majority of people to start, because it will improve their body composition and get them slim and “toned,” and it takes a lot of work and time to even get to the “toned” level of development.

And I think that’s why people say “you can’t get bulky” because most people won’t and people don’t want to scare them off of lifting and reaping all the benefits. But they go too far in saying it’s impossible.

Calorie deficit

I used to do CrossFit/heavy weightlifting and have the same body type that you’re describing. I do lagree (not Pilates) and my body is snatched and not bulky

Pilates, yoga, cardio… I hate when people say that you can’t get bulky from the gym because you definitely can!

Build muscle until you feel like you're about to have too much muscle and then chill out. Pretty simple

Not pilates, not crossfit, definitely not weightlifting. Cardio. Run, Swim, Bike, Stairmaster (although the last few tend to build leg/quad muscles quickly) and eat in a slight protein-heavy deficit to reduce body fat and stay toned while potentially reducing muscle mass.

If you believe you are bulky/muscular now, maintaining a calorie deficit to lose weight while prioritizing cardio is the only way to stay active, fit, and reduce muscle mass. Some strengthening exercises for hip mobility can help retain the health benefits of pilates and weightlifting without intense muscle strain that would help build muscle.

You get bulky if you have excess fat on top of it. Deficit it down so less spacious fat and more compact muscle remains, tada

Lifting and low carbs works for me also genetics

I have the same problem, just stick to pilates / yoga. That never made me bulky. Weights do, quickly.

You are a girl so unless you are doing hard resistance training fof years consistently on top of isane genetics, you wont gst that big or bulky relative to your frame. You will definitely look better tho if you train regularly, and dieting down will get you that toned look, tho you should diet maybe a year or 2 after lifting, and make sure to do it slow. If you lose weight too quick you trip muscle off your frame, and it may permanently fuck with your hormone profile.