Why do so many women lift such light weights?

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  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    Hmmm... well, I have no choice about the hay bales, feed sacks and firewood ( unless I want to freeze while the horses starve), so I better stick to hay bales ( 150 reps., pick up, carry to hay trailer, stack up to 4 rows high --used to be I could only do 3 rows--50 to 75-80 lbs. each) and not go near a weight rack. Don't want to end up looking like an ageing She-Hulk.

    And that's the POINT....you won't look like a she-hulk by lifting. It takes some significant effort beyond just lifting weights to get that bodybuilder physique and you have to actively pursue it. So you may want to re-evaluate adding in a strength training program, because it won't make you a she-hulk. It really, really won't -- and that's what so many of us have been saying in this thread - too many women think like you do, that you'll get all bulky and stuff, and you won't!

    Now, those lifting light because that's all they can do at that moment, that's fine - and it will be obvious to anyone with any gym experience that you are following a strength program like SL 5x5 because you aren't just poofing away for an hour on one movement with super light weights, but you are using super light weights and struggling to do your reps. No shame in the latter AT ALL....I'm a forty-something fat woman who is stronger than she looks but isn't that strong, so it's not like I've got massive weights on the bars right now! It's just obvious that I'm building up and doing the most I can.



    But if I can already do what I just described, why would I want to add strength training? What's the point? It's certainly not enjoyable......


    You are living proof that "lifting" doesn't make a woman bulky. Good for you that you use your muscles in the work you do (not being a smart azz... I mean it sincerely) and that hard work is going to do your body a lot of good.
    I am often chained to a desk. No hay bales for this city girl. So I have to supplement my workout with weights.
  • bobbiejof33
    bobbiejof33 Posts: 55
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    I was the opposite, my trainer put me on light weights to start, and I would give him funny looks, so he'd bump me up. But to be honest, i didn't want to go too heavy cause I don't want a body builders body. They are stunning bodies, but I just want a toned body, not ripply arms, legs and even abs, I want a flat tummy, but not rippled. But thats just me :)
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    Women can do whatever they like ... those that judge need to look at themselves.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    I was the opposite, my trainer put me on light weights to start, and I would give him funny looks, so he'd bump me up. But to be honest, i didn't want to go too heavy cause I don't want a body builders body. They are stunning bodies, but I just want a toned body, not ripply arms, legs and even abs, I want a flat tummy, but not rippled. But thats just me :)

    You have to have VERY low body fat to get the shredded / ripped look.

    ETA: it's cool if you don't want to lift. But if you saw many of the ladies who lift, you really wouldn't realize that they did. You'd think that they just don't look jiggly.
  • kristamarie91
    kristamarie91 Posts: 21 Member
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    OK I'm sorry but if you're on a weight loss journey the best thing you can do is lift weights... so...

    Oh, and this was for the lady who said that people don't want to or need to.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    I have so much to learn I really want to ask this dude in the gym to show me how to dead lift cuz he knows what he is doing! The prob is he is 19 and I am almost forty and I don't want to be the creepy old mom asking the kids questions.

    Please, please, please just ask the dude. He's not going to think you're the creepy old mom -- he's going to be completely flattered that someone wants him to teach her something. Especially someone older than him. Especially on a subject he's probably really knowledgeable about and probably a little proud about. Maybe especially a woman (but don't let that give you pause). Wait for a break between lifts he's doing, and then just walk up and say something like "I've wanted to try deadlifting but don't really know how to do so effectively or safely. Would you be willing to spend a few minutes helping me get my form right?"

    You'll be surprised what sorts of responses you get from complete strangers when you genuinely and openly ask for help and advice (this applies across life - not just weightlifting form in the gym). And yeah, occasionally some douchenozzle will respond rudely or negatively; but that's pretty rare; and you otherwise miss out so much if you're not willing to just speak up and ask. Get past the fear and do it -- it really is a surprising life lesson once you get started with it. All in my opinion and experience of course :flowerforyou:
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
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    i didn't want to go too heavy cause I don't want a body builders body.

    To quote the wisdom of Reddit:

    This is like saying, "I don't want to read too much because I don't want to accidentally get a PhD."
    Or maybe, "I don't want to take up jogging, because I might accidentally become an Olympic runner."
  • CelebrityStatus
    CelebrityStatus Posts: 84 Member
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    I have been telling myself to start lifting, but haven't yet.

    Because I am nervous! I'm NOT nervous of getting "bulky" or anything like that, because I know that that isn't the case. I am nervous because there is no personal training at my gym, and I don't have a workout buddy...so I am afraid to start lifting alone. How will I be 100% that my form is correct so that I don't hurt myself? What if I drop a barbell on my neck? I am very eager to start lifting, but may have to hire an outside PT, buy them a day pass, and have them come in to my gym to show me all the correct forms while I'm doing it. I could ask one of the many guys at the gym (I never see girls in the free weights) but I'm really shy and worried that no one would take "the fat girl" seriously and show her how to lift properly.

    So... until then... I will keep lifting my 15lb dumbbells lol.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    To answer for myself, I do not lift heavy, and prefer lower weight more repetitions, for the same several reasons that so do several professional trainers and athletes, female AND male btw, including a male trainer I work with who happens to also be a martial arts athlete:

    Because building muscle volume is not the goal for everyone and not everyone even likes the result
    Because circuit training, with more repetitions/duration rather than increasing weights is good exercise for toning and keeping in shape, and for many is far more enjoyable than heavy lifting

    I do not lift just 2 kgs dumbells, but I have no desire to work on 100 kgs either. Same as I do not like skiing, or dancing. It is just a matter of preference.

    And to reverse the question, I always wonder why many guys spend their days lifitng weights, and have very little to no cardio training. In most intense cardio classes, men are either completely absent or a minority, and it this is something I cannot understand at all, especially since these are the classes I consider personally really fun :)
  • LadyTalulah
    LadyTalulah Posts: 174 Member
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    Out of fear of getting "bulky" and "looking like a man". You can thank the media for that.
  • terizius
    terizius Posts: 425 Member
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    I have been telling myself to start lifting, but haven't yet.

    Because I am nervous! I'm NOT nervous of getting "bulky" or anything like that, because I know that that isn't the case. I am nervous because there is no personal training at my gym, and I don't have a workout buddy...so I am afraid to start lifting alone. How will I be 100% that my form is correct so that I don't hurt myself? What if I drop a barbell on my neck? I am very eager to start lifting, but may have to hire an outside PT, buy them a day pass, and have them come in to my gym to show me all the correct forms while I'm doing it. I could ask one of the many guys at the gym (I never see girls in the free weights) but I'm really shy and worried that no one would take "the fat girl" seriously and show her how to lift properly.

    So... until then... I will keep lifting my 15lb dumbbells lol.

    As I mentioned in my earlier post, and Cortelli also said, ASK! Its great you want to start lifting. All of your concerns are valid, but not enough to prevent you from lifting. Hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions is a great idea. But, if that doesn't work for you, ask one of the guys that you see in the gym regularly, working out more than just his pecs and biceps. I'm willing to bet that you are more likely to get his respect than his scorn, regardless of what you look like.
  • silverraiyne
    silverraiyne Posts: 683 Member
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    ....because pink weights are pretty and anything more than 3 lbs will make me bulky. duh!
  • terizius
    terizius Posts: 425 Member
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    Fine.. lift pink weights :)

    tumblr_m8r0uilHdD1r4df1po1_500.jpg
  • s_yeatts
    s_yeatts Posts: 753
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    Because I'm a weakling haha
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I lift heavy (for me). I weigh 100 pounds, so around 100 pounds is heavy for me usually. Or with dumbbells I generally use 25 or 30 pound ones in each hand. OHP is a challenging lift for some people to go heavy on. I had to work my way up, but progress is quick at first. Then at a certain point it became more challenging to progress. Most people that work at the gym expect me to lift lighter than I do. It's a stereotype I guess. I have weights at home now (a barbell and 155 pounds for now).
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    The trainers in most gyms don't help.

    I had to stipulate very strongly (at least 3 times) that I wanted to be shown how to use the barbell - otherwise I would have just got hit with the usual round of the machines 2x15 plus 20 min each on each cardio machine.

    Yet, a very overweight/unhealthy male will automatically qualify to be shown Olympic cleans etc on a first visit without asking :/
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    If you're talking dumbbells, for women it can be harder to progress simply due to the weights available. Many gyms only have increments of 5 lbs after you hit 15 lbs, so if 15 lbs is too easy but you can't quite do 20 lbs, you're kinda stuck. They don't have 17-18 lb dumbbells available, which would be challenging but manageable, and many women don't know that even a few reps at the higher weight can be beneficial, so they give up, stay at the lower weight, and just do reps all day long. It can also be because the woman is self-conscious and thinks people will laugh at her if she can only do one or two reps of a weight that is "light" compared to what others around her are lifting.

    Women need to learn progressive loading. There's no such thing as being stuck at doing a million reps at 15 but unable to do 1 at 20. Progressive loading doesn't work that way.

    To go up to the next 5 pound weight, add reps. If you can do 10 reps, you can lift the next 5 pounds. Go to the next 5 pounds, and work up again. Of course, with accessory lifts, you don't always want to progressively load, but that's a different matter altogether.

    Easy peasy.
  • GiGiBeans
    GiGiBeans Posts: 1,062 Member
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    They have three times the muscle building hormones than men. If they lift anything moderately heavy they will end up looking like Mr. Olympia contestants. Many have the astonishing ability to gain muscle in a calorie deficit or in a very short period of time.

    Yes. This is why I stay in the kitchen lifting 5 lb sacks of flour and 3 lb bags of sugar and bake cookies for my husband.
  • silverraiyne
    silverraiyne Posts: 683 Member
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    The trainers in most gyms don't help.

    I had to stipulate very strongly (at least 3 times) that I wanted to be shown how to use the barbell - otherwise I would have just got hit with the usual round of the machines 2x15 plus 20 min each on each cardio machine.

    Yet, a very overweight/unhealthy male will automatically qualify to be shown Olympic cleans etc on a first visit without asking :/

    ^^^This!

    I hired a personal trainer at my gym thinking that even though it was incredibly expensive it would be a wise investment. I stated over and over again that I wanted to focus on strength training and weight lifting, especially free weights as I already knew that the machines do most of the work for you and with free weights is uses more muscle contraction and stabilizing muscles to balance out the weights. Each time I met with him, he always had me doing fricken cardio, and not just the standard warm up, the entire hour would be focused on cardio workouts. Occasionally he would have me do calisthenics and only on a few occasions did he have me doing super sets on the weight machines or working with a kettlebell. Only one time in the eight weeks I met with him did he show me anything to do with free-weights. What a waste of money. But hey, I learned how each and every cardio machine and nautilus circuit worked! :wink:

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