Terrified of being "bulky"

xokristiiinxo

I've played sports my entire life, but I was overweight. HS sports always out an emphasis on building muscle, but I did very little cardio and ate HORRIBLY. When I first tried losing weight (years ago) I just did a lot of strength training. Now that I actually have some kind of understanding of weight loss, I'm so afraid once I lose fat that I'll be bulky with muscle, especially my legs since I played a lot of sports that focused on legs and my legs are my strongest part of my body. Does anyone else have this concern or some advice? Thanks!!

monty619

u wont get bulky muscle you are a woman with not enough testosterone to build tons of muscle quickly... only way you will look bulky is if u over consume calories while weight training which in turn you will put on fat and muscle which will create a bulky appearance.. weight training will make you hungrier, just track calories and eat a little over matinance and you will be fine and not bulk up.

ironanimal

Strength =/= Size.

You can't really get bulky unless you have some kind of hormonal imbalance because women have about 1/16th the testosterone of men. A lot of women get scared off when they first start exercising because the muscles swell up temporarily to facilitate repair and misinterpret it as growth.

If you reduce bodyfat, your muscles will become more visible but they won't be large necessarily - the large muscle look is usually a combination of muscular development COMBINED with excess fat and the muscle swell following exercise.

To give you some perspective, men are doing well if they can put on 1lb of muscle a month.

ninerbuff

You're afraid of being overly "muscular" looking. Higher body fat solves that.

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Spanaval

It's generally more difficult for women to get "bulky", and look the way body builders do. Even assuming that you do in fact have overdeveloped muscles, unless you get towards the lower end of the spectrum on body fat, they won't show as much (or rather, look well defined).

HeidiMightyRawr

Everyone else has answered it perfectly You'll be fine. You don't have the right hormones to get bulky. Putting on fat as well as muscle can give a bigger appearance (or bigger than you may wish) but this is only achieved through a calorie surplus anyway, which you shouldn't be on if you want to lose weight.

Rae6503

Lean legs with muscle = hot. It's the fat that's on top of and mixed in with the muscle that is making you look bulky. Keep losing weight. Do a good mix of lifting and cardio and I'm sure you'll be happy with your results.

EvanKeel

I'm so afraid once I lose fat that I'll be bulky with muscle, especially my legs since I played a lot of sports that focused on legs and my legs are my strongest part of my body. Does anyone else have this concern or some advice? Thanks!!

You won't be any bulkier than you are now. Which would you rather see on yourself, the fat or muscle definition? That said, if you do end up thinking you're too bulky, it's something that can be dealt with

SweetSammie

I don't tend to get bulky, per se, but my legs DO "muscle up" more quickly than the rest of my body -- however, they also gain fat first. They are just bigger than my upper body, I'm pear shaped. I have come to the conclusion that my thighs are going to be larger than what is "balanced" one way or another -- with fat, or with muscle. That is just me.
I can tell you that when I was younger, I would avoid any exercise that I thought would make my legs larger, but I've decided that rather than work so hard to get healthy, lose weight, get fit ... then dislike my body over something I can't change, I need to work on making my body IT'S best - not trying to make it something else entirely. Just my opinion.:flowerforyou:

jadedone

As some one who already has bigger thighs and arms, I know what exactly what the OP is concerned about. If you have to go up a size in clothing to fit your thighs or arms, the last thing you want is extra size there. Some women do increase in muscle size more than others. And some are starting with a bigger base, covered in fat or not.

Some people are just experiencing some swelling, and their size isn't changing significantly.

The good thing is, it takes time to build size, so take measurements often, and if you aren't getting the results you want switch your routine. You can accomplish a lot with body weight exercises, and that is a great place to start.

Capt_Apollo

this is staci. she is awesome. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/



on the left she is 131 lbs. on the right, she is heavier at 142 lbs. look at those legs!! and her dead lift was a little over 300 lbs. and i've seen some more recent pictures and she looks great, and is currently trying to get her dead lift up to 500 lbs.

don't fear the barbell.