I'm a 19 year old female, 145 lbs, 5' 9". I just got a Gazelle elite exercise machine that I'll use to help me burn fat. I'm not overweight, as you can see by my specs, just a little bit of extra fat, but I want to start exercising everyday to help tone my body and get rid of a few extra pounds. I've also begun a 1900 calorie diet and following a portion chart I found. I take a vitamin supplement in the morning and drink Oolong tea twice a day.

Another thing I would like to do is increase strength and endurance without noticeable muscles. I don't want very noticeable abs/six pack tone (a bit of normal tone is ok) and I don't want there to be very noticeable muscles at all in my arms. So I'm wondering if there are types of exercises I can do in addition to the 30/40 minute workout a day with the gazelle machine. I'll be relocating to Germany next year, and there I won't need to rely on cars to get places, I'll be walking/riding bike (and buses, trains), etc to get places, (also endurance during sex is a plus ). I will be needing to carry groceries home most of the time from the store (15 minute walk/5-10 on bike), so strength increase in my arms is the big goal, as well as endurance during longer walks carrying things as far as my heart/lungs go.

So, anyone have any suggestions about what I can add to my exercise routine to achieve this? Also, any vitamins or other supplements recommended?

Thanks!

Actually I really don't know what to tell you because I'm not very experienced about this whole thing but at least I think I can point you in the right direction. There's this guy that just joined the forum. He's been a personal trainer for people for 20 years and he created a question/answer thread. I'm sure if you ask him he'll know what to tell you.

Here's the link to the thread I'm talking about. Good luck!

First, congrats for not falling into the trap of starving yourself. 1900 cals actually seems a bit high.... but if you're losing weight following the diet.... lucky you!

What does your diet look like?

I'm not sure I understand you.

You don't want muscle but you are still asking for exercises? Exercises for what?

Really, if you were my client, you'd be lifting weights too. If you think you're going to get bulky and muscular from it, you're wrong.

1. If you are dieting, chances are very good that you aren't going to realize any appreciable gains in muscle mass. Reason being: Adding muscle is a very energy-intensive process. This means, it requires sufficient energy above and beyond your baseline requirements for maintenance. Simply, you need to eat more than you burn.

2. Women in general are not hormonally dispositioned to add freaky amounts of muscle. The media leads you to believe that lifting weights makes muscle, regardless of circumstance. It simply isn't true though.

The endurance will come into play with your cardio routine. Progressively up the intensity and your cardiovascular system will improve. There are many ways to go about this.

Also, lifting and carrying things doesn't have much to do with arm strength. Has more to do with everything else. I'm sure you're thinking about doing a bunch of isolation work for your arms such as curls and pressdowns... those kind of things for bis and tris respectively..... but this certainly wouldn't be optimal IMO.

If I were in your shoes, I'd just as sooner stick with a full body weight lifting routine centered around the basic, compound exercises with a focus on getting stronger at them.

Well, I arrived at the attempt for a 1900 calorie diet according to a chart that determines your calorie intake amount by your age, gender, height, and weight. I haven't gained any weight by doing it this way but I don't think I'd lose anything by doing it alone either.

I meant that I do want muscle, I just don't want to look like a female boxer or something, I think females that are masculine in that way are very gross. I just want some tone and extra strength.

Thanks for the input, I'll take a look at prices for weights.

If you aren't getting the *effect* you had hoped for, don't be afraid of cutting cals a bit.

And certainly don't be afraid of bulking up.

Hey G'kar I just wanted to let you know I responded to your post at my forum. I'm still learning how to navigate this forum so forgive me if this is redundant. Just wanted to make sure that you know I was getting back to ya