"Long, Lean Muscles":

Wishful Thinking or Factual Distinction?

For starters, to say a given workout will deliver “long, lean muscles” suggests that the undesired opposite is a workout that causes short, bulky muscles. From an exercise physiology perspective, this makes no sense, as our bodies are naturally made up of both long and short muscles. These varying lengths are pre-determined anatomically; they cannot be altered through a select type of exercise. Your rear deltoids (back shoulder muscles) are short, yet no one, I can assure you, has ever looked bulky because of an over-developed rear deltoid! On the other hand, the longest muscle in the body is the sartorius (hip/thigh). Not only is this long and relatively slender in shape, it is likely to remain so….even if you train it with a high amount of resistance.

Truth be told, women (for the most part) lack the biochemistry to achieve the "bulky" muscle appearance of, say, a body builder.….in the world of competitive body building, steroid use is quite high for this very reason.  I have to chuckle when I overhear a woman scoffing at lifting 5-lb. weights, once a week, fearing her shoulders will overdevelop! Honey, don’t we all wish. Getting those “popped out” shoulder muscles requires many sets, extremely heavy (think: 15, 20, 25 lbs. and more) weights, a clean diet, and a genetic tendency towards building a muscular appearance.

Which leads to point #3, your pre-determined genetic body type—a major factor in predicting whether “long and lean” is in the cards for you. If you’re inclined to attain a more athletic, solid, muscular appearance, you’re of a body type (mesomorph) that is utterly disinclined to develop the so-called “long, lean” look. Whether you gain the same amount of lean muscle mass through free weights or Pilates, the look of that muscle will be identical—one will not be “leaner” or “bulkier” in appearance than the other. By contrast, the tendency of the ectomorphic body type is towards that aforementioned “long, lean” look; however, ectomorphs will struggle to gain a measurable muscle mass in the way that the mesomorphs do. In that regard, it would be just as disingenuous of me to claim that merely switching from, say, Pilates to free weights will “make” the ectomorph’s body look more substantial and sculpted. Endomorphs, the third body type, are predisposed toward a curvier body type; they can develop some muscle mass, but an inclination towards a higher body fat percentage will mean those muscles won’t be especially pronounced or chiseled in appearance. Oprah Winfrey is a good example of an endomorph.

While I'm on the subject of body type, I may as well put that claim--a distant cousin to the "long, lean muscles" concept--to rest once and for all.  If you haven't yet had the pleasure, this is another claim tossed about in the Pilates and dance community.  Now, I come from a professional dance background; indeed, in the height of my ballet career, I had the so-called "long, lean lines of a dancer."  Yet, I'm a mesomporph--one look at this website's home page will tell you that.  So how did I achieve the "long, lean lines of the dancer," when clearly I'm not of that inherent body type?  Simple!  I ate very little so that my weight dropped way below its current level....not smart.  Pathetically, my directors and teachers "loved" the look.  Fortunately, I've wised up plentifully since then.  The point I'm making is that if you're body isn't inclined to have "the look of the dancer" already, chances are you won't be able to achieve it with modified ballet or Pilates movements alone......you would need to embark on more extreme--in some cases, unhealthy--measures in diet and exercise.  Trust me, your health is far more important than chasing that waterfall.

It would be nice if becoming lean were as simple as switching to a different form of exercise, but it isn't.  Really, I think part of the appeal of exercise programs which claim to deliver "long lean muscles" is that such a claim implies that your current appearance--if it isn't long and lean--is merely the result of "bulky" muscles.  Let's face it, it's much more emotionally comfortable to blame one's appearance on "bulky muscle," when the real culprit may be excess fat.  It's not easy to be the one to call it like it is, but I'm of the attitude that the only way you will ever take care of a problem is to meet it head-on.  If you have excess weight, your chances of resolving that weight issue solely through exercise--even the "long, lean muscle" variety--are not good; you'll also need to take stock of your eating habits, and be prepared for a long battle.  Depressing, yes, but achievable....with grueling honesty and unyielding hard work.

Despite everything I've laid out, I guarantee you'll still encounter folks who "swear" by a given activity, citing the reasons that "nothing else worked."  While it's always helpful to solicit feedback from satisfied participants, for the "converts" that insist that "only this type of exercise will bring this result," keep in mind that there's almost always more to the story than meets the eye--both yours and the storytellers.  Maybe this person was finally ready to commit long-term; maybe this person began eating less in conjunction with the new exercise; maybe the activity is low enough in intensity (read:  more than 20 repetitions are able to be performed per exercise) that there has not been significant gains in muscle mass.  One way or another, you need to listen to anecdotal testimony--whether in person or on an Infomercial--with a grain of salt.