Ladies..who else bulks up with weights (unintentionally)

sarahisme18

I WISH I had the magical bulking powers of so many women on mfp. I have to bust my butt, eat like a crazy man, and cut out all cardio just in the hope of gaining the tiniest bit of size. But women here, that have maybe 1/10th of my testosterone look at weight and have to cut the sleeves off their shirts the next week. A little bit of running and they sprout Popeye calves. Just one day of my life I want to be a magical creature too.

So. Much. Win.

Sarauk2sf

I also know people say "oh women don't bulk up blah blah blah" yes some do,

No they do not on a deficit.

mmapags

I WISH I had the magical bulking powers of so many women on mfp. I have to bust my butt, eat like a crazy man, and cut out all cardio just in the hope of gaining the tiniest bit of size. But women here, that have maybe 1/10th of my testosterone look at weight and have to cut the sleeves off their shirts the next week. A little bit of running and they sprout Popeye calves. Just one day of my life I want to be a magical creature too.

I'm in!! If only it were that easy.......

jetscreaminagain

I used to think like you. I had popeye calves, I thought. Then I stuck with lifting heavy and consistently while *also* keeping my food consistently on point.

That's when I realized muscle and muscle gain didn't make me bulky. Excess fat made me bulky.

You are probably like me and carry your fat in your lower body. Until your body fat percent is below 25% there's really no need to be concerned about muscle mass. The problem is fat distribution. That's not the iron's fault.

RobynMWilson

I bulk up quite a bit with weights. ESPECIALLY in the legs. It's unreal, and it makes me mad everytime I hear people say say that women don't bulk up (especially if they also add that I'm probably just overeating). I think genetics plays a role in that and there's nothing I can do about it.

When I used to stop doing weights, and just focused on aerobic, I slimmed down tremendously, but after a few months I don't like my shape so I always went back to weights.

So what I do NOW is focus my lifting on upper body and allow the aerobic activities I do (running, zumba etc) to work the lower. I still do lower body work from time to time (with things like CrossFit) but that's not the mainstay of my workouts.

Best wishes to you!!

If anyone else has this problem, feel free to friend me!

Jeez! I WISH I could bulk up! Like someone said above, it could be you have higher testosterone levels than most girls. For me heavy lifting has revved my metabolism and leaned me out...

mustgetmuscles1

It really is just water weight being added to the tissue. The muscle swells up under the body fat and give the appearance and feel of added mass but it is not permanent. Trust us. Even if you were juicing you would not gain muscle that fast. It is a long slow process that takes a ton of work and a calorie surplus for MONTHS.

If you continued the lifting while in a calorie deficit the body fat would start to burn away and the muscle swelling will be less severe as your body adapts.

Believe it or not. Wont hurt me. : )