Question for "Athletic Build" ladies

SaberEsPoder

If you lift heavy or were born with a more athletic/"stocky" build, what is your height and goal weight?

As a 5'4" woman, I am trying to figure out where I should set my goal weight...I'd like to be realistic, since I have always had very muscular legs and a trainer told me I had a more athletic body type (under all the fat, haha). I plan to start lifting and want to know a reasonable size to shoot for. Where are *you* at, or where are you headed?

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

greenmonstergirl

I am 5' tall. My doctor even told me I would probably be good at 150 pounds since I lift heavy. Yes I wouldn't look like I am ready for a competition at that point but I will also not he the tiny 98 pounder like my niece is at that height. Some of us aren't made that way.

A gal at work who is a size 2/4 and weighs 150 pounds and she is 5'6". She is so tiny no one ever guesses her weight right but she is a soccer player and has a lot of muscle on her.

inside_lap

I've been an athlete almost all my life. Though I did get derailed after having the baby. People are genetically inclined to build more fast twitch vs slow twitch fibers. Which explains why certain people are say better say distance runner vs sprinters. But of course training can help ensure your body expresses itself in the way you want it to. I've been mostly in strength based sports (martial arts, sprinting, etc) this went in line with my genetic predisposition (which is probably why I was attracted to these sports as I did well in them). I've been working hard the last couple of years towards obtaining a sleeker look with pretty good results. But of course I will always have broad shoulders no matter what kind of workout regiment I do as that is part of my body frame. BMI provides a good ballpark to aim for. It's what the military uses as standards for it's members. Of course, it's not fool proof and super athletic muscular people can come off as overweight even though they have a low body fat percentage. That's where taping comes in! Good luck towards your goals!!

alechua

I'm 5'3, CW:118-120lbs fluctuating, SW: 156lbs. I have muscular legs esp in the calves even though I've lost almost 36lbs, it still muscular though it slim down a bit compared before I'm not really sure if my body is athletic type but I kinda have broad shoulders too.

mccindy72

I don't lift anymore but I have an athletic build. I'm 5'8" tall and currently weigh 132#. This is a size 2/3 for me, when I calculate my BMI I'm at 19 and body fat I'm underweight. When I was using weights I was around 145#.

kenzietate

I'm 5'4" and when I looked the best, I was between 150 and 155. I have a very large frame according to the wrist measurements and I have a lot of muscular definition naturally. When I went below that, I looked like a skeleton with muscles...not a good look lol.

Jestinia

I used to work a physical job and I hit the gym pretty often. I was very strong, but like most women, you couldn't see it. I wasn't a body builder or anything.

I'm a little shorter than you, and anyway everyone is different, but I remember when I went below 115 or so, I got weaker. I started losing muscle tone and feeling like crap. So I think you'll know when you hit below a healthy weight, you'll feel it.

Of course if you're planning to compete or something, you have to cut I assume, and that is totally different from just being at your best for fitness.

CharNordie

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. The fat just takes up more space.

I'm 5'4" with an athletic build. Very strong legs and a bit wider set shoulders. I've already hit my goal weight at 130 pounds but have recently lost 5 more pounds. I found that the definition in my muscles popped right out. I wasn't trying to lose the weight but if I'm going to naturally bust through a 2.5 year plateau I probably shouldn't complain about it.

JoRocka

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. The fat just takes up more space.

thank you.

I know it's a pet peeve thing- but I can't stand when people say "a pound of X weighs more than a pound of Y."

NO IT"S MORE DENSE. dense- dense is the word for which you search.

I'm 5'8" and am around 162- and looking to add. But ideally I'd be around 150.

Saramelie

Well.... depend of your body, but being 5,4 myself I once weighed 119 without working out and I did not look that good...
The best body I had was at 140, wearing a size 7, but I was working out like crazy (for me), about 20 hours per week.... so, I will never get THAT body back, even if I go down to 140 (because now I exercice about 4 hours per week only, and I had 2 babies). Really depends of your exercice routine.

Amandainyaface

I'm 5'7 and my weight is around 124.5-126 lbs.(I don't know exactly because i no longer weigh myself)
My goal is to stay where I am, if not gain. Muscle, that is. :-)

neandermagnon

5'1" athletic/stocky build.... 140lb @ 23-25% body fat (not planning on going below 22% body fat and couldn't really give a poo what the scale says, my goal weights are of the barbell type)

my advice is not worry so much about goal weights... instead focus on a goal body fat percentage and go by what you look like in the mirror. It's hard to get an accurate measure of body fat percentage, but using more than one method can help (i.e. if you measure it 3 ways and get roughly the same number each time) and you can use it to measure change in the right direction (if you use the same methods each time, even if they're not 100% accurate you can still see if your body fat % has decreased or stayed the same)..... but ultimately go by what you look like in the mirror. You can see the difference between flab, muscle and bone quite easily, so long as you're honest with yourself. Other measures like waist circumference and waist to hip ratio can be used as a measure of health, i.e. above certain numbers there's a greater risk of obesity related illness, just as is the case for higher body fat percentages.... so there's a whole load of measures you can use to check your body composition is healthy. Weight is just one of a range of variables that can be an indicator of health risk, but the problem with weight is that strong bones and muscles are denser than weak bones and muscles, while only weight increase due to excessive body fat has a health risk.

Valkyrie28

I'm 5'6 and my goal weight is around 140 to 145lbs. I've had my lean body mass calculated and I have about 112 lbs of that. 145 lbs would put me at 22% body fat which is pretty good. I found a BodPod near me which provides a very accurate body fat measurement (within 2%). Good luck!

Arankin1992

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Arankin1992

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. The fat just takes up more space.

thank you.

I know it's a pet peeve thing- but I can't stand when people say "a pound of X weighs more than a pound of Y."

NO IT"S MORE DENSE. dense- dense is the word for which you search.

I'm 5'8" and am around 162- and looking to add. But ideally I'd be around 150.

I see your logic but I don't think the statement is completely incorrect. hypothetically if you and me both wear the same size of jeans but your legs are all muscle and mine are all fat, then you will weigh more than me BECAUSE YOUR MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN MY FAT. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can see both arguments

lisalsd1

I'm 5'3 and currently at 127lbs-ish. I'm wearing a 4. I'm thinking that I must have an "athletic build," b/c people guess I weigh like 115 lbs. My husband is also jealous of my massive calf muscles. Since I started lifting weights, I do seem to be quite a bit stronger than I anticipated.

I don't know my body fat %, but I would like to find out. I used a couple online to estimate, and it put it around 23%, which is the higher end for "fitness." I'd ideally like to cut some body fat a little (most from my butt/thighs, for real). I started cleaning up my diet at the end of Dec, and I am noticing a bit of slimming in that region.

wilsoje74

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. The fat just takes up more space.

thank you.

I know it's a pet peeve thing- but I can't stand when people say "a pound of X weighs more than a pound of Y."

NO IT"S MORE DENSE. dense- dense is the word for which you search.

I'm 5'8" and am around 162- and looking to add. But ideally I'd be around 150.

I see your logic but I don't think the statement is completely incorrect. hypothetically if you and me both wear the same size of jeans but your legs are all muscle and mine are all fat, then you will weigh more than me BECAUSE YOUR MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN MY FAT. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can see both arguments

A pound is a pound

LovenderNurse

I'm 5'8" and weight 167, but I am muscular. Granted I am not "cut" but I wear a size 7/8, which isn't half bad for someone my height. 2 years ago I was 150lbs after I had my son and I wore a size 9/10. So more weight but less density. I don't care WHAT my scale says anymore, I only care about how my clothes fit.

MarineCodie

I'm 5' 5.5" and currently 146. I'd like to be around 137 but am more focused on lowering my body fat. I'd be happy around 17-18%. I'm currently about 20%.

husseycd

Btw, I KNOW that lifting won't make me huge...but I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat.

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound. The fat just takes up more space.

thank you.

I know it's a pet peeve thing- but I can't stand when people say "a pound of X weighs more than a pound of Y."

NO IT"S MORE DENSE. dense- dense is the word for which you search.

I'm 5'8" and am around 162- and looking to add. But ideally I'd be around 150.

I see your logic but I don't think the statement is completely incorrect. hypothetically if you and me both wear the same size of jeans but your legs are all muscle and mine are all fat, then you will weigh more than me BECAUSE YOUR MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN MY FAT. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can see both arguments

No, sorry that is incorrect. A lb of muscle is simply more dense than a lb of fat, just like a lb of brick is much more dense than a lb of feathers. They still all weigh a lb.

As defined by Free Dictionary, weight is, "The force with which a body is attracted to Earth or another celestial body, equal to the product of the object's mass and the acceleration of gravity." Which is why you would weigh more on Jupiter than Earth, but your mass would stay the same.

There is no argument. It's physics.

ETA: I consider myself an athletic build. I'm 5'5" and currently 130 lbs.

MoreBean13

I'm 5'4"ish and I have a muscular build and my maintenance is 145lbs. I wear a size 2-4 clothing.