Women getting bulky!??

Game8

Do women realize that it's almost a physical impossibility to lose their feminine features and start looking too bulky just from weight training and lifting heavy weights (relative to their strength)?

So many women are paralyzed by this fear that they never get to reach their potential of physical strength and muscularity and all the benefits that come with it: better fat loss, faster metabolism, injury prevention, better immune system, a better looking body, etc, etc.

Natural men as is have a hard time putting on muscle. If a man does everything right, if he eats, sleeps and trains right, he will be lucky to put on 3 - 5 pounds of pure lean muscle tissue in a year! So compare that to females, who have up to 20 TIMES LESS testosterone than men! That translates into a fraction of 1 lb of lean muscle gain in a year in comparison.

So please know that it's a mere fantasy that you will ever look "too bulky" from weight training, because your body simply can't give you the type of muscle gains needed to look bulky. If you ever see a "bulky" looking woman, it's either because of high body fat percentage or because she's injecting male hormones into her body.

Game8

No female lifters in the house?

FullOfWin

lol@3-5lbs a year

peuglow

lol@3-5lbs a year

Agreed. I've heard this stat, but I've never seen anything conclusive.

jenniferinfl

There are very, very few women naturally gifted to get bulky without added hormones. It is definitely not something to be afraid of!

I have a cousin who is a triathlete (like completes ironmans) and she is a bit bulky, but still nothing like female bodybuilders. To say someone could get like that recreationally lifting weights without hormonal supplementation is demeaning to female bodybuilders. The effort that a woman has to put into actually bulking up is insane! No woman is going to do that without hormone injections and just some heavy lifting at the gym every week. Most women who lift heavy on a regular basis are just going to see some definition and that's about it..

Used to lift, will again one day when I can afford a gym membership again and a babysitter.

Chief_Rocka

lizziebeth1028

In agreement! I started working out doing compound moves with 'heavy' weights (for me anyway) and I dropped inches in my belly! I had been busting my butt doing cardio and just maintaining.....start lifting weights I finally started to see the changes I was working for!!!

Squats, lunges, pushup, pullups, overhead presses, bench presses.....these are the moves ladies!!!!

salubriousliving

when i first started working out, my friend told me never to lift anything heavier than 5lbs or else i'll get "bulky". i ended up lifting heavier anyway and have gained muscle definition. glad i didn't listen to her ^__^

bcf7683

This is what happened to me... Now I just run on the treadmill everyday :blushing:

NOT. :happy:

bcf7683

when i first started working out, my friend told me never to lift anything heavier than 5lbs or else i'll get "bulky". i ended up lifting heavier anyway and have gained muscle definition. glad i didn't listen to her ^__^

^ya.......she should never be allowed to give advice ever again.

Game8

That's what happens when women inject male hormones. If you think this is bad, look up "Renee Toney"

jenniferinfl

when i first started working out, my friend told me never to lift anything heavier than 5lbs or else i'll get "bulky". i ended up lifting heavier anyway and have gained muscle definition. glad i didn't listen to her ^__^

LOL, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard that advice! Get this, I used to hear that all the time from random guys at the gym.. lol I think they just didn't want a girl in their 'boys only' side of the gym.

Game8

lol@3-5lbs a year

3-5 lbs a year of actual contractile tissue a year is pretty impressive by all measures. No one who lifts would debate that.

belladonna786

Amen!!

faireplay

Gah Renee Toney needs to show me child hood pics for me to believe she is really female. That is just hard to believe.

Chief_Rocka

lol@3-5lbs a year

3-5 lbs a year of actual contractile tissue a year is pretty impressive by all measures. No one who lifts would debate that.

I would, and I just lifted this morning

jr1985

I actually want to get bulky... I mean not disgustingly body builder bulky... which can only really happen for men or women if they are on steroids... but yeah... Can't wait for the day when in can throw down 100 pull ups like it's nothing.

Game8

lol@3-5lbs a year

3-5 lbs a year of actual contractile tissue a year is pretty impressive by all measures. No one who lifts would debate that.

I would, and I just lifted this morning

Correction: no one who lifts whom I would take seriously

hjfischer

After reading a post on here a few months ago, I got The New Rules for Weight Lifting for Women. Now I lift heavy and hard 3 days a week. I lost an additional pound (on maintenance) and feel great. I have more definition with less fat. I have to say I am not bulky in any way, but I look and feel BETTER!

hjfischer

Just googled Renee Toney. Really that is a female? Wow. I just see zero 'feminine' qualities in her physical appearance.

RedHeadDevotchka

I lift, er, I was until I needed to take a break, what with my joints hurting and having some other pains. But ya, it's not gonna make ya bulky. I get tired of hearing that from so many people.