I get bulky from weights...

nomeejerome

Worst pic ever but nobody will know it's me in dirty gardening wellies, shorts and a t-shirt. Ha! I have no need to impress internet strangers.

And where are yours? No full body pics I guess. sigh...

no need to impress internet strangers? and changes profile pic?

y u no leave this thread?

iulia_maddie

I get so tired of reading that women can't get bulky if they lift weights. Yes they can and I have in the past. I used to wt lift 3x a wk, and got up to 15lb dumbells for arm work like bicep curls, and 20lbs for lower body work. All my clothes were getting tighter, esp in the butt and thigh area. I don't think I would get as big as a body builder of course, but for me, the muscles get bigger easily. Now I only lift wts twice a week and change up my wt work, doing weight workout DVD's like Jari Love and Kelly Coffee Mayer, and body weight workouts like barre style and ballet workouts. It is a good balance for me and works well. You should find what works for you and that gets the results you are looking for. And of course watch your caloric intake. Good Luck!

That's so funny. I do lower body work with up to 185 pounds and my thighs just won't bulk up. Please let me in on your secret.

rml_16

I'm only 5'3". I've been doing yoga and ballet for many years. Why have I not grown longer legs????

Or would I be 4'5" if I didn't do those things?

Anyway, OP, listen to people like BeachIron and Sara and the rest. They know their stuff.

CrankMeUp

Worst pic ever but nobody will know it's me in dirty gardening wellies, shorts and a t-shirt. Ha! I have no need to impress internet strangers.

And where are yours? No full body pics I guess. sigh...

who are you asking?

Achrya

I get so tired of reading that women can't get bulky if they lift weights. Yes they can and I have in the past. I used to wt lift 3x a wk, and got up to 15lb dumbells for arm work like bicep curls, and 20lbs for lower body work. All my clothes were getting tighter, esp in the butt and thigh area. I don't think I would get as big as a body builder of course, but for me, the muscles get bigger easily. Now I only lift wts twice a week and change up my wt work, doing weight workout DVD's like Jari Love and Kelly Coffee Mayer, and body weight workouts like barre style and ballet workouts. It is a good balance for me and works well. You should find what works for you and that gets the results you are looking for. And of course watch your caloric intake. Good Luck!

Wow. A whole 15 pounds for upper and 20 for lower. I knew I was doing something wrong but this confirms it! Here I am sweating buckets and making the ugly "I WILL LIFT THIS" face with 100 pound deadlifts and trying to push my squat weight past 70 (It's a form thing. I'm a touch bowlegged and for some odd reason when I go past 70 I start looking like I have no idea what I'm doing.), while seeing no bulk, but all this time it was a mere 15 pounds I needed to be hefting to get my booty a little tighter/more muscular.

Note: I am not bragging about my lifts. I actually feel woefully inadequate compared to a lot of the beautiful heavy lifting women here. But one day, one day! I'll have something to actually brag about.

vjohn04

I would like to see what this woman looked like before the photo was photoshopped to hell and beyond. Because I even at my absolute skinniest with very, very low muscle mass, I didn't have concave biceps.

I thought the same thing when I saw it....

LMick1986

That is curious OP: You describe yourself as "short and curvy" usually building muscle with such genetics leads to something like this: does this look like a bad "bulky" to you?

there are women who have a more masculine bone structure that tends to get exaggerated with more muscle mass. for reference:



(both of these women have been training for years btw and don't seem to be on anabolic steroids so its not possible to look either way by accident.)

so are you sure it was muscle you gained?

Both of those pictures are what I was talking about.....and assuming the OP was too. I do not like this look and do not wish to achieve either. That's what I took away from what the OP said also. Maybe I'm way off with what she was asking/saying, but I don't like these looks.

anemoneprose

Okay so back to OP who may have starved to death by now, since we all got sidetracked with yoga and pictures of nobody who's here....

I think she may be actually eating TOO FEW calories rather than too many which paleo may have led the conclusions too. Anyone else see her diary and come to a similar ideas? Please explain why or why not as I might as well get some learnings out of this thread. And hopefully OP is just napping or sunbathing and might find useful info here later.

- In the absence of more information re her food, I'm giving OP the benefit of the doubt and guessing she ate somewhere at or just below or just above TDEE for both the bodyweight & Crossfit phases, and that the calorie burn would have come exclusively from her workouts.

- I am guessing she got more of a calorie burn from her bodyweight resistance classes; that they did enough for her to hang on to some muscle; that that effectively was a kind of cut.

- I am guessing that when she lifted weights, she was at or slightly above/below TDEE, burned fewer calories - fat didn't move - and got a short-term 'pump' from water, creating a greater girth and overall 'bulkier' look. & when people lift and get that temporary pump, or even real muscle gains *while retaining that bit of fat*, it freaks them out - especially if they start off with a higher body fat percentage.

That's why a lot of people advise first concentrating on losing body fat, and then bulking - it's faster and less psychologically hard for most women. (I also think OP happened upon the first part of this, when she did her calisthenic thing. I think that experience has been roundly discounted in a really patronizing way.)

Some people don't want to bulk at all, and I think that's ok. (I also think that 'built' bodies are beautiful. But they are not the only kind of beautiful body. I did not mean, as I think was suggested, to shame anyone.)

hungryhobbit1

I lift weights.. I make sure I do more reps and lighter weight so I don't end up bulky. So my arms are solid yet slimmer than they have ever been.

? This actually causes hypertrophy and will make you look "bulky," in the short term.

In the 10 pages already posted here I'm sure people have already said it, but if you are looking bulkier than you like after weight training:

1) Your body fat% is higher than you like, count calories. ("Eating right" is not enough. Need to keep track of your intake.)
and/or
2) You are experiencing some temporary "bulk" due to water retention/muscle repair or doing a gazillion reps and looking in the mirror the next day, saying "ermagerdz, ahm bulky." These are temporary things.

mareeee1234

YES! happened to me toooo... I am also short and curvy

I realised this about 3 weeks ago, it was so frustrating.
I've CUT my calories and doing less heavy weights with my legs, and am adding some more cardio/walking, and not focusing so much on having to lift SUPER heavy!

But yes, eat less!!!!!

Sarauk2sf

That is curious OP: You describe yourself as "short and curvy" usually building muscle with such genetics leads to something like this: does this look like a bad "bulky" to you?

there are women who have a more masculine bone structure that tends to get exaggerated with more muscle mass. for reference:



(both of these women have been training for years btw and don't seem to be on anabolic steroids so its not possible to look either way by accident.)

so are you sure it was muscle you gained?

Both of those pictures are what I was talking about.....and assuming the OP was too. I do not like this look and do not wish to achieve either. That's what I took away from what the OP said also. Maybe I'm way off with what she was asking/saying, but I don't like these looks.

We get that you do not like those looks - you mentioned it a few times.

However, those are not bulky - they have a higher muscle mass than average and have a lower BF% than average, so their muscles show.

I highly doubt either got that muscular, particularly the top one, on a caloric deficit.

You don't want to look like those women, don't do progressive loading weight training in the medium rep range while at maintenance or at a surplus, and don't get that low of a BF%.

MisterDerpington

I like how everyone ignores that resistance training is needed for health as much as cardio. *sigh*

LiftAllThePizzas

I get huge muscles from eating pizza hut and chinese take-out. Last weekend I gained 4 lbs of muscles from my weekend of eating, but then lost that precious muscle during the week, so I ate more pizza and sweet/sour chicken this weekend to get my muscles back.

anemoneprose

I like how everyone ignores that resistance training is needed for health as much as cardio. *sigh*

who's everyone?

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

I like how everyone ignores that resistance training is needed for health as much as cardio. *sigh*

I haven't forgotten this. I'm sure a few other posters haven't, either. But the thread got derailed by someone who pretends to be semi-famous to her co-workers or something and posted pictures of a yoga instructor, anonymous chick and a porn star.

Back to topic, resistance training also aids in keeping bone density up and lean mass up, which comes in handy for a woman as she ages and doesn't want to have osteoporosis or walk with a bowed back. Higher lean mass as we age is important because once we hit menopause, muscle mass plummets. And we all know about osteoporosis.

Also back on topic, there are many, many women I see working out in a gym with heavy weights, and when you look at them, you'd never guess that is what they do for exercise. They just look "fit."

dbmata

I just want to bring this conversation back to the OP:
Eat less.

shutupandlift13

I'm just going to drop this here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zvqNHDTf8Y

0OneTwo3

That is curious OP: You describe yourself as "short and curvy" usually building muscle with such genetics leads to something like this: does this look like a bad "bulky" to you?

there are women who have a more masculine bone structure that tends to get exaggerated with more muscle mass. for reference:



(both of these women have been training for years btw and don't seem to be on anabolic steroids so its not possible to look either way by accident.)

so are you sure it was muscle you gained?

Both of those pictures are what I was talking about.....and assuming the OP was too. I do not like this look and do not wish to achieve either. That's what I took away from what the OP said also. Maybe I'm way off with what she was asking/saying, but I don't like these looks.

We get that you do not like those looks - you mentioned it a few times.

However, those are not bulky - they have a higher muscle mass than average and have a lower BF% than average, so their muscles show.

I highly doubt either got that muscular, particularly the top one, on a caloric deficit.

You don't want to look like those women, don't do progressive loading weight training in the medium rep range while at maintenance or at a surplus, and don't get that low of a BF%.

exactly, it's A LOT of muscle mass! like i said years training with the goals of gaining muscle.

i was just trying to demonstrate that women who have a feminine bodytype (like curvy, hourglass or pear shaped) don't need to worry about geting "bulky", "stocky" or "masculine". Muscle actually enhances their female features further.

maybe it was wrong to choose these examples. again: no one gets there without wanting to and lifting for years with that specific goal.

Fozzi43

I LIKE lifting and having a strong looking body.......it will help keep brittle bones at bay when I'm a little ol lady too.

kimbtaylor1

I just hope the OP knows that if something isn't working for her to do what is best for her. Everyone can say that women don't get bulky by lifting I know that not to be the case and from what the OP said so does she. Do what it best for you and forget the ones who think they know how your body works because that is the "norm".