Bulky - What's wrong with it?

ShifuYaku

1. Your boyfriend is an idiot.
2. Tell him to prove it. Find a photo of a woman that is "too bulky" from lifting weights and DIDN'T use steroids to get that way. You'll never be able to.
3. Your life and your body are yours. Do what you think is right with both.
4. He may actually be afraid you'll end up looking better / be stronger than his tub-o-lard self and is intimidated.
4. Your boyfriend is an idiot. (Did I say that already? :bigsmile: )

Aww come on now.. he's not an idiot. But he wants me to be a smaller girl... and I should be. But I also want to be strong like I always have been... my legs are super strong, and I just want my upper body to match.

... I'll never look better than him. :bigsmile:

NatalieWinning

1. Your boyfriend is an idiot.
2. Tell him to prove it. Find a photo of a woman that is "too bulky" from lifting weights and DIDN'T use steroids to get that way. You'll never be able to.
3. Your life and your body are yours. Do what you think is right with both.
4. He may actually be afraid you'll end up looking better / be stronger than his tub-o-lard self and is intimidated.
4. Your boyfriend is an idiot. (Did I say that already? :bigsmile: )

Aww come on now.. he's not an idiot. But he wants me to be a smaller girl... and I should be. But I also want to be strong like I always have been... my legs are super strong, and I just want my upper body to match.

... I'll never look better than him. :bigsmile:

muscle tone pulls you in, smaller, do it

auroranflash

1. Your boyfriend is an idiot.
2. Tell him to prove it. Find a photo of a woman that is "too bulky" from lifting weights and DIDN'T use steroids to get that way. You'll never be able to.
3. Your life and your body are yours. Do what you think is right with both.
4. He may actually be afraid you'll end up looking better / be stronger than his tub-o-lard self and is intimidated.
4. Your boyfriend is an idiot. (Did I say that already? :bigsmile: )

Aww come on now.. he's not an idiot. But he wants me to be a smaller girl... and I should be. But I also want to be strong like I always have been... my legs are super strong, and I just want my upper body to match.

... I'll never look better than him. :bigsmile:

Don't feel too bad, when I was just beginning to learn, I had a friend of mine who used to be in the military tell me that I should use extremely low weights at high reps to get "long, lean muscles" -_-;

This is a huge waste of time, btw.

ZoeLifts

"Bulky" is usually used to describe muscle AND fat. When a body builder "bulks" he purposely tries to gain weight ,some of it is muscle, but some of it is fat. With time, his 6-pack is covered in a nice squishy layer of fat and his arms are bigger but his definition is gone.

Not "bulky" body builder:


Same guy, "bulky":



However, some women, and even men now think it means looking like this:


First, this is not "bulky". Second, this woman has used steriods and been training for years. The above look doesn't happen on accident.

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:


Even that doesn't happen on accident or just by lifting weights and being strong. This woman can deadlift 300lbs:

Awesome post!!

ZoeLifts

Bulky? I think it looks much nicer than jiggley and fluffy-empty. Smoother under clothes, too. Like your own lycra bodysuit under your skin lifting up the parts. Much sexier than bat wing arms and thighs that flatten out on the chair like melted legs.

Holy cow!! That's some awesome leg musculature right there!! I am green with envy

NatalieWinning

Bulky? I think it looks much nicer than jiggley and fluffy-empty. Smoother under clothes, too. Like your own lycra bodysuit under your skin lifting up the parts. Much sexier than bat wing arms and thighs that flatten out on the chair like melted legs.

Holy cow!! That's some awesome leg musculature right there!! I am green with envy

Thanks I'm proud of my bulk after losing 50lbs and turning 50 yrs old. I was in the age of anorexic cardio 60's 70's and 80's ideals for women. Be who you are built to be and that will make you beautiful.

ZoeLifts

Someone on here posted the following link a while back and it really helped to at least show what some women consider bulky by polls of celebrities in various fit stages: http://www.leighpeele.com/bulky-muscles-and-training-females-the-definition

It's an excellent read (if you can get it to load, I am having issues with it this morning) and she also has some followup parts as well.

ShifuYaku

Someone on here posted the following link a while back and it really helped to at least show what some women consider bulky by polls of celebrities in various fit stages: http://www.leighpeele.com/bulky-muscles-and-training-females-the-definition

It's an excellent read (if you can get it to load, I am having issues with it this morning) and she also has some followup parts as well.

This was great... it's so sad that women want to look like what society wants them to look like... and I'm in that category. I want to be in the category that I don't care what others think, that I can be who I want to be. But this isn't always the case. One day...

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I've been binge eating junk food for several weeks now during my depression and bereavement . . . making my *kitten* bulky. When my muscles show back up again I will be lean.

HeidiMightyRawr

Bulky to me is a combination of quite a large amount of muscle, as well as quite a bit of excess fat!

I personally think the reason why many do not see "bulky" as a good thing, is because in society people don't think of bulky as feminine. They see it as something men could strive for (big, strong, bulky, etc) but women are often told they should be slim, feminine, soft... Kind of the opposite.

Combine that with the fact that lifting weights is a male dominated sport / exercise, and that men often "bulk up" (usually on purpose shall I add) people equate lifting = bulking up, when in reality while that's a part of it, if that is your goal, there's an awful lot more to it.

ETA: If you couldn't tell by my pic, I love lifting weights! The only thing that got me bigger / more muscle was when I purposefully did a "bulk" eating 3000+ calories a day. Before that I just looked lean (with only a little extra muscle), even though I'd been lifting for over a year solidly.

Easywider

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:

Incredible.

porffor

Bulky? I think it looks much nicer than jiggley and fluffy-empty. Smoother under clothes, too. Like your own lycra bodysuit under your skin lifting up the parts. Much sexier than bat wing arms and thighs that flatten out on the chair like melted legs.

Holy cow!! That's some awesome leg musculature right there!! I am green with envy

Thanks I'm proud of my bulk after losing 50lbs and turning 50 yrs old. I was in the age of anorexic cardio 60's 70's and 80's ideals for women. Be who you are built to be and that will make you beautiful.

Inspirational! You look fantastic - and at 50 that is double fantastic I'm 40 and always been bulky even when lighter and with more muscle mass than I have now. I ride horses and lift weights but am still too high in fat % to look ripped in any form. But they are there.. lol

Well done!

NatalieWinning

This is what female muscles look like. Who's afraid to look like that for petes sake?

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:

Incredible.

Bentley2718

The word 'bulky' can mean different things to different people.

Bulky to me means... well.. fat. Other women think bulky means well-defined and large muscles.

I like well-defined and large muscles. I want some.

Me too! On the wanting well-defined and large muscles.

ShifuYaku

This is what female muscles look like. Who's afraid to look like that for petes sake?

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:

Incredible.

My boyfriend just said he doesn't want me to look like this.

NatalieWinning

This is what female muscles look like. Who's afraid to look like that for petes sake?

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:

Incredible.

My boyfriend just said he doesn't want me to look like this.

I'll bet it never occured to him he has to get a girl and be glad he has her. Not decide how she looks. You don't get to decide your ideal body type, either. Do whats healthy for you and reaches your goals. Then any guy that loves you will be happy for your success. Whats your ideal man's body type? Show him a picture of what you want him to look like and then you will both have some food for thought. You are what you are. Even when you are skinny and fit!

cordianet

My boyfriend just said he doesn't want me to look like this.

Sorry, but I'll just refer back to my original thread:
1. The boy's not right in the head.
2. You'd have to work for a long time really hard and eat just right to get abs like that. Casually lifting weights is NOT going to make you look that way. All it will to do is make you stronger, and help you burn more calories even at rest.

Masterdo

The next woman to get "bulky" by accident will be the first. There's just no way it will happen without tremendous and very conscious efforts, so no worries there.

And ladies should actually be encouraged to lift even more than men. It's good for bone density, and ladies are naturally inclined to lose some of that past a certain age. Lifting can add quality years to your lifetime, make no mistake about that

So tell that to your BF, and tell him that if he doesn't do something, you'll bench press more than he does soon

ericgAU

Tell your BF that you can lift weights without getting `bulky'. Resistance training is more than just bulking up to achieve a certain amount of muscle mass. Weights are great for weight loss and increasing strength. Sounds to me like maybe BF is a little envious of your achievements....

ericgAU

This is what female muscles look like. Who's afraid to look like that for petes sake?

I'm striving for the look of a natural female body builder:

Incredible.

My boyfriend just said he doesn't want me to look like this.

WTF!!! What I would give to have a girl that looks like ^^^^ on my arm lol.... (sorry folks. i am just a male after all...)