Am I going to look manly?????

124

Replies

  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Like most women, the OP needs to ditch the idea of a target weight and start focusing instead on a target composition.

    Wanna see your abs in bits and peices? Target about 20% bodyfat. What you weight when you get there...who cares.
  • Ascolti_la_musica
    Ascolti_la_musica Posts: 676 Member
    We all have different ways of defining this. Lift what you want until you feel strong, but cut back when you stop liking the way you look. A little muscle is good for you, but a lot of the women on this website fit my definition of "manly" or "bulky" looking. So I lift enough weight to keep my muscles strong without a goal of looking like those women. (I'm still in the weight loss phase of my journey, but I know how much muscle I want to have when I reach my goal weight.)

    The lifting community here is very vocal, but don't let them bully you into anything you don't like. You know your body, you know what you want it to look like, and no one else is qualified to define that for you.

    The most important thing, as always, is to do the exercise you can stick with and enjoy.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    You'll probably end up looking like Schwarzenegger (early buff Schwarzenegger, not manboob politician Schwarzenegger). I'd get out while you can!
  • operation_cute
    operation_cute Posts: 588 Member
    We all have different ways of defining this. Lift what you want until you feel strong, but cut back when you stop liking the way you look. A little muscle is good for you, but a lot of the women on this website fit my definition of "manly" or "bulky" looking. So I lift enough weight to keep my muscles strong without a goal of looking like those women. (I'm still in the weight loss phase of my journey, but I know how much muscle I want to have when I reach my goal weight.)

    The lifting community here is very vocal, but don't let them bully you into anything you don't like. You know your body, you know what you want it to look like, and no one else is qualified to define that for you.

    The most important thing, as always, is to do the exercise you can stick with and enjoy.

    Thank you :)
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Seriously though, if you're lifting in a calorie deficit, you're not going to be getting stronger by packing on a load of extra muscle. You'll make your existing muscle mass more neuro-muscularly efficient. You'll teach your body to fire more muscle fibres in a movement.

    You'll persuade your body to keep hold of your muscle mass and drop fat instead. You'll reveal muscles you already have - you'll gain definition. If you feel you've gained too much definition, you just need to eat a bit more and put on a bit more fat again and you'll have a "softer" look again - if that's what you're going for.

    Remember, ultimately you are in charge and can take your foot off the proverbial gas any time you want........
  • frood
    frood Posts: 295 Member
    A little muscle is good for you, a lot of the women on this website fit my definition of "manly" or "bulky" looking.
    Women who want small amounts of muscle are beautiful. Women who want muscular bodies are beautiful. Whatever. :)

    OP, two suggestions: 1) get a more accurate body composition test if you can. if not, or in addition 2) track your lbm on those calculators as you progress. Just like a scale that is 5 lbs off, you can still track changes. Good luck!
  • Nessiechickie
    Nessiechickie Posts: 1,392 Member
    I <3 heavy lifting.
    Onto 12/15lbs for biceps.
    and 8lbs for triceps.

    Oh and I don't look manly.
  • atynk
    atynk Posts: 400 Member
    Lifting doesn't make you look bulky, cupcakes do !

    I lift heavy and i wouldn't say I look bulky
  • IronFiend
    IronFiend Posts: 44 Member
    I have been lifting heavy for over six years, and eat a very specific diet to add muscle...I wish women would realize what it actually takes to put on muscle...it's hard, hard work and requires a proper diet. It doesn't happen magically.
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
    Progress, starting and (almost) present: cardio + strength training. No "bulking", just toning:

    New_front_compare_zps7a3a58e9.jpg

    New_side_compare_zps377ffdfb.jpg

    new_rear_compare_zps88d9e75a.jpg

    042113_muscle1_zps3bb92fdd.jpg


    Unless you're taking some crazy supplements or rrhoids, you needn't worry about becoming bulky. :smile:
  • GoTeamMeaghan
    GoTeamMeaghan Posts: 347 Member
    I am betting you do not have the correct bf%. It is highly unlikely you have 140 lbs of lbm.

    This is what I was thinking...try going to bmi-calculator.net and click on body fat calculator. The online calculators aren't 100% accurate, but it's more practical/cheaper than getting hydrostatic body fat testing every couple of weeks.
  • lavieboheme1229
    lavieboheme1229 Posts: 448 Member
    stop what you are doing ...you will get bulky and go into starvation mode....

    ??? are you being sarcastic?

    yes. for the love of god. of course he is. why would you pick out the one person who says something stupid to reply to. Listen to everyone else. Please.
  • skyblu263
    skyblu263 Posts: 91 Member
    Muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh 16 ounces each The difference is that a pound of fat takes up five times the amount of space as a pound of muscle.
    Okay, I just have to say, this is the most stupid thing I've ever heard. If you use that logic, than there is no such thing as weight. a pound of rocks and a pound of feathers weigh the same, yet we definitely know that feathers weigh less than rocks, right? because it will take much more MASS of feathers to make that pound than it will take rocks. Thus, the same is true for fat and muscle.

    THIS IS CORRECT!
    People think muscle weighs more than fat because that is what they grew up hearing. However, that is INCORRECT! They both weigh the same. Lift weights and focus on lifting heavy!
  • sarahz1442
    sarahz1442 Posts: 136 Member
    wow, it's amazing to me that women actually think this will happen. it is extremely hard for me to build any sort of muscle. i have absolutely no fear of ever looking too manly.

    oh and online calculators of body fat percentage are incredibly inaccurate.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    lifting-weights-bulky.jpg

    QFT...

    /thread
  • Nikita839
    Nikita839 Posts: 10
    How about.. stop stressing on the number.. Use measurements and your clothes as guidelines. Weight fluctuates too much daily for the scale to be much help. Its just one tool. Too manly? Never.. Lift as heavy as you can.. It is Impossible to look like a man.. we don't have the testosterone in our bodies that is needed..
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    If you look manly now, you'll still look manly then.
  • missADS1981
    missADS1981 Posts: 364 Member
    i really wish it was that "EASY" to get big and bulky and manly.

    pffft.
  • shellbatronic
    shellbatronic Posts: 193
    No one ever got super ripped by accident.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Am I going to look manly?

    Unless you plan on growing a mustache I think the chances of you looking manly are slim to none. If you do decide to go this route then make it a handlebar mustache because those are so cool.

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