I get bulky from weights...

jennifershoo · June 2013

Awesome!!!

ironbutterf1y · June 2013

Bump!

BeachGingerOnTheRocks · June 2013

Pear shape, apple shape, inverted triangle, hourglass --- whatever shape is all about fat distribution.

If you strength train on a deficit you're going to change.

I am a true pear.

When I started I was a 36-30-43

Now I'm a 36-26-36.

Did I miraculously become an hourglass? No. I lost body fat and started lifting very heavy weights at a deficit.

I dead lift 183, working sets using 155 pounds of weight all the time. I weighed in at a whopping 120.8 this morning. That 183 PR was hit when I weighed in at 122.

Does anyone really believe that you're not going to change shape when training on a deficit? Yes, we are all genetically different. But it doesn't change that I lost almost all my inches from my pear-shaped hips.

AnvilHead · June 2013

But science doesn't apply to special snowflakes. I wonder if there are also people to whom the laws of gravity don't apply.

Nobody said you're not going to change shape. Certainly you can/will. But you're not going to build muscle. Science.

jellab · June 2013

Wow, some of you are just mean. Whatev. I just had a question, sheesh. I'll be sure not to put it out here next time.

You're right, I don't look like a body builder. But I'm only 5'2" so when I put on any size at all you can tell. We did a lot of heavy lifting at our CrossFit box - it wasn't just WODs. I did eat Paleo style while I was CFing, but I didn't eat to my hearts content - again, I'm small so every little bit makes a difference. I don't need anymore advice, obviously this isn't the right place to go for it. Thanks to the cool people who didn't jump all over me.

Have a great day!

BeachGingerOnTheRocks · June 2013

We don't disagree. All the women crying "pear" disagree. They will change shape too if they lose body fat. Because. Um. Science.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks · June 2013

People aren't being mean by saying bulk comes from eating. Not from training. Do what you want with exercise. But don't blame it for your physique. If you do Crossfit and eat at a deficit, you can't bulk.

jellab · June 2013

Right, that's not mean at all. It's the condescending comments that aren't necessary. Not a big deal, I just don't know why people have to be that way.

anemoneprose · June 2013

she might not bulk, but, she might not like the result, whatever mechanism's behind it..

dbmata · June 2013

Eat less. It's not muscle that is causing bulk.

dbmata · June 2013

Both of those are amazing.

metacognition · June 2013

4'11" here.

Lifting heavy causes water retention as the muscles repair themselves.

You'll look slightly bigger for a few days. Also, the shape of the muscle changes how the fat layer appears over it. This is not evidence of weight training working too well, just evidence that it's working ! It takes way more work and effort to put on muscle than most people, especially women (we have such little testosterone) would assume. I used to think I was getting bulky but I wasn't even training for strength, rather endurance with weights too low to create a difference in size. Then I lost 30 pounds of additional fat and realized how small my muscles really are.

If you put on muscle while eating at a caloric surplus chances are that you will probably put on some fat weight as well.
A definite sign is if your clothes get tighter. If you put on muscle and lose fat, you WILL look smaller in most cases because fat takes up 3 times more space than muscle, pound for pound. If there's a specific muscle group that looks large and it is as lean as it will get, then you can de-emphasize training that specific muscle or emphasize training muscles around it to detract attention (for example some women build up the muscles in their upper back so their waists look smaller with a v - tapered effect)

Weights are the gold mine for women who want to look trim and lean - if you cut body fat % at a deficit after developing a good base (muscle) to work with you will get smaller and see more definition at the same time.

I lift as heavy as possible and have only gotten smaller because I was eating at a deficit or maintenance for a long time. My strength gains stalled after a certain point and I had to start eating more - almost 2000 calories - in order to keep making improvements. That's close to maintenance, and just a few hundred calories less than what I ate when I was obese. Heavy weights and interval training (intense stimuli forcing the body to adapt) will keep your metabolism strong and make it easier to stay a lower weight.
I do have chunky thighs as a short person, but continued attention to body fat % will help them lean out.

I have a natural apple or banana shape.
I was around 40 - 35 - 39.

After lifting weights and eating at a deficit, my body is 33.5 - 26 - 31.5.

bumblebums · June 2013

You didn't actually ask questions--you made a couple of presuppositions in your original post that people corrected for you.

Presupposition #1: you got bulky because you were lifting weights.

See the posts on what causes people to bulk up. It ain't lifting weights that does it, it's eating more calories than you consume.

Presupposition #2: you got bulky because of your body shape.

See the posts on whether your body shape has anything to do with your ability to gain muscle mass.

If you want people to answer your questions nicely rather than ridicule your assertions, don't answer them yourself first.

anemoneprose · June 2013

she said she liked her body when she did calisthenic/bodyweight type workouts*, and didn't like it after cross fit + maybe eating over maintenance, maybe not.

**which, might well be like the kind of conditioning people do for martial arts, and god, those are ugly, unfit bodies, aren't they

BeachIron · June 2013

Again, if she understands the mechanism behind what is happening she can better manage it. It is very difficult to get big muscles. Even for men. Let me say that again, even men have trouble getting big muscles. If you look at (in person) natural male bodybuilders you will be surprised that they are not nearly as big as you expect. The truly large men are either very unusually gifted with awesome genetics and have been training for years, OR they are using drugs. If you look at natural competitive female lifters you will see smaller women who are ripped but ARE SMALL. It is fat that makes most people big. Cut the fat and you will be much smaller.

I have a friend on here (I'm not naming her because I don't want to annoy her with this) but she just finished competing and placed quite well in a bodybuilding competition. Her boss actually asked her if she was eating and needed help because she got so SMALL. This is a woman who placed in a bodybuilding competition. Please stop talking about weight lifting making women bulky. It just doesn't happen naturally by accident.

Matt_Wild · June 2013

We aren't jumping all over you. We are simply not agreeing with you. We are stating science. Please tell me the mechanism where the dietary intake of protein and overall calories to allow growth in a negative calorie state? I want to know as I'm a bodybuilder, and bodybuilding coach. Of men and women.

I've never encountered the process you are stating ever.

anemoneprose · June 2013

i'm not for a second opposing science. i am not saying lifting on a deficit creates muscle mass, it patently doesn't. that lowers body fat, which leads to a more defined look. i am saying that the look achieved by lowering body fat that way may not be one that the OP prefers.

She has her own training experience, her own sense of her body and preferences. She liked it better when she did whatever calisthenics she was doing.

in other words: to the extent that the OP meets basic health guidelines and likes herself and feels good, the mechanism behind those outcomes DOESN'T MATTER

**when I said 'she might not bulk', did not mean to imply that she theoretically could. ambiguous use of a conditional phrase, sorry.

another way of putting it would be 'even though she would not bulk, she might not like the result'

Momjogger · June 2013

"But doctors and physical therapists agree that it's a vital part of keeping your body fit and able. "Flexibility is the third pillar of fitness, next to cardiovascular conditioning and strength training," says David Geier, the director of sports medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, and a spokesperson for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

In fact, flexibility can help your body reach its optimum fitness level, may play a role in injury prevention, and can even contribute to staving off conditions like arthritis and more serious illnesses.

Here's how it works: When you stretch a muscle, you lengthen the tendons, or muscle fibers, that attach it to the bone. "The longer these fibers are, the more you can increase the muscle in size when you do your strength training," says Geier. That means that a more flexible muscle has the potential to become a stronger muscle, too."

Research it people. Or watch a dancer or gymnast work on getting their split. Duh. Increasing flexibility does lengthen muscles. Pilates was created for ballerinas and dancers to help increase strength and flexibility. It's also good for body builders.

I get bulky from weights...

Replies

Categories