Help! Will Shadow Boxing Make Me Gain Muscle?

[K Style Addiction]

Hi,

I've asked about this before to a certain extent, i want to lose weight very badly and i've been eating healthier (still eat bread and egg whites and ocassional cereal) and i *feel* like i've lost weight but i don't really see it.

I want to lose more weight especially on my arms, the rest of my body is not skinny but it isn't FAT yet, actually screw it i do want to lose overall, i want to add exercise to it but this is very important i DON'T want to go out of the house to exercise, so today i did some shadow boxing because that is the only thing i can do that's mentally stimulating and an exercise because i find it hard to do an exercise that is not mentally stimulating...now the big question.

Will i grow muscles from it or will i just be lose weight? I'm 5'11 and i don't want to look all muscular and gross.

lastly here is a picture of me, i just want to know (honestly) how far do i have to go in this journey?



Said Arms

[K Style Addiction]

Ok like why isn't anybody replying i need help on this issue? i really want to lose weight!

[Renee]

I can't be of any help. I can lose weight by just breathing in and out, so I've never educated myself on weight loss or anything like that.

[bethany]

I don't see how shadow boxing would hurt you in losing weight. Its a cardio exercise, so you wouldn't bulk up though you may gain more tone.

[Jess42]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with your body. As a matter of fact everything looks proportioned right to me. As for the exercise part though, dancing is pretty good. I really don't know about the shadow boxing or how much that would help.

[K Style Addiction]

Thanks for the replies, doesn't anybody know if this will make me gain muscles? please help it's the only exercise i feel comfortable with but i don't want gross manly arms with all my hard work.

[Renee]

Thanks for the replies, doesn't anybody know if this will make me gain muscles? please help it's the only exercise i feel comfortable with but i don't want gross manly arms with all my hard work.

I think its mostly weight training that builds big muscle. What you are talking about will likely help tone and burn some calories off.

[K Style Addiction]

Now when you gals say tone, how big/muscular will my arm be exactly 

[bethany]

I don't think they will be bigger per-say just more defined, Google toned arms and view the photos so you can see what we are talking about. You will only bulk up muscles by working out with heavy weights, or pushups/ chinups where you are working against gravity and using your body as the weight.

[K Style Addiction]

I searched tone arms and found this;



Will it be like that?

[Kia]

You won't be like that at all. Those are toned but also super bulky in order to build muscle like that you need to use some form of resistance training like weights or a bowflex type thing. shadow boxing will just define your muscles, i.e. burn off the fat around your muscles. When I was practicing judo and karate the only muscle I added was from doing upper body exercise the sparring and kata (essentially shadow boxing) are more cardio/endurance and therefore burn fat all over arms included.

toned arms are more like this:



and those arms are probably achieved through some more arm centric exercises like pushups, tricep dips and maybe some light free weights.

Diet is the real secret to losing weight and you say your eating healthier and that'll do you a lot of good, but I honestly think you look good. You look fit and that BMO dress rocks. But self-image and staying healthy is important and from what you've said here you'll be looking great and not at all like a bodybuilder.

[Azusa John]

In general all excercise can add to your muscle mass.  But muscle gains are different for different types of excercise.  In weight lifting for bodybuilding. (Musclemen)  The growth of muscle is usually tied to using heavier and heavier weights usually in low or medium number of repetitions.  Here they exhaust the muscles, damaging at a microscopic level, and the body responds with repairing and adding new muscle to the muscles one has,  The other type of training is called cardio or heart training.  This is low weights or resistance and many many repetions (reps)usually in sets to exhaustion, this builds stamina, tone and definition to the muscles.

[K Style Addiction]

The other type of training is called cardio or heart training.  This is low weights or resistance and many many repetions (reps)usually in sets to exhaustion, this builds stamina, tone and definition to the muscles.

So will my body be slim or muscular?

[Jess42]

So will my body be slim or muscular?

It's really hard to say. Building muscles usually require the tearing of the muscles and letting them heal. When you weight train to bulk up its usually lower repetions with heavy weights on the verge of the maximum that you can lift. This tears the muscles and adds more mass through the somewhat healing process. This is evident while working out and feeling the "burn" and soreness for a couple of days afterward. Usually this does not do too much for the tone. Look to football players, some wrestlers and the famous strongmen that lift weight for competition that have great mass but not very much definition to the muscles. Body builders have to lift heavy weights in order to build mass and then do higher repetitions with lower wieght to build definition to the muscles. Now to define the muscles that you already have use lower weights or no weights at all and just do repetious movements to work those muscles and eventually you'll have defined muscles. Be careful though because too much definition can give a person a wiry sinewy look to them and the feminine softness will dissappear. Same way with being too skinny.

As for how far you have to go in your journey, I personally think you're already there. I know people have different preferences to body types and all but again I see nothing wrong with your body. You actually look more feminine than a lot of the supermodels that are waif thin.