Though muscular gains should be the goal of most any exercise program, including those directed toward weight loss, there are some concerned with looking overly muscular. This is often for aesthetic reasons, but carrying around very bulky muscles can also use a lot of energy. For a person hoping to lose weight and thus burn more calories than he or she consumes, this would be good. For an athlete hoping to be more competitive, too much muscle can be a hindrance to performance.What’s most important to note is that muscle is not only needed to move the body and keep it alive, but having generally stronger, denser muscle tissue has a whole host of positive effects on the body. Maintaining and growing lean muscle is the key to weight management, because healthy muscle tissue not only increases calorie consumption but can improve other processes such as insulin resistance.
Overall, I suggest you try to put aside your fear of gaining an extreme amount of muscle. For most people engaging in a typical resistance training program, this is not something that can realistically happen. To start to look like a bodybuilder, you’ll need to train at least every day, possibly twice a day with heavy resistance and long rest periods.
For women, who seem to pose this question the most, it’s unlikely you have the necessary levels of testosterone to naturally produce a great deal of muscle without supplementation (steroids/growth hormone/etc).
But, if you want some training tips to keep the muscle size down, while still keeping your body healthy and strong, try cutting your rest time between sets. Reduce the amount of weight you’re working with and increase the number of reps. Work on multiple exercises back to back without a break, and be sure to incorporate interval training into your workout routine.
