HALP! Heavy Lifting Made Me SUPAH Bulky!!!

cmeiron

DAT BACK!!! Inspirational!!!

SpeSHul_SnoflEHk

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Pure awesomeness. That goes to all of you who posted, and even those who didn't who lift heavy, and work it hard! Keep up the good work.

PikaKnight

Bulky is a subjective term. An opinion. Your after pic is not a look I aspire to for myself. You're not as bulky as some of the women on here with weight lifting progress pics, but yes, my *opinion* is that you look bulky *to me*.

Is it a "bad" look? Am I "body shaming" you to say that I don't like that particular look? NO.
Just as it is not body shaming to say I never want to look like Peta Wilson. She's a beautiful woman, but I find her too thin. Again, not a look to which I personally aspire.

Congratulations on achieving a look that YOU want, and feel is attractive. Congratulations again on finding a fitness activity that you enjoy.

But can we please stop with the constant lulz at women who do not enjoy weightlifting? We get just as tired of hearing about how pathetic we are for not lifting "heavy" as you get of us saying we don't want to be bulky. It's not hard to share your success without poking fun at the people with a different view of success.

Haters gon' hate.

^Agreed.

And I want to know which woman you thought was bulky. I'm seriously wondering and confused. Is it because someone has some definition and shows some muscle they are bulky? Is that your subjective definition of that?

Also, no one has poked fun at anyone with a different view of success...most certainly was there any "lulz" at women who do not enjoy weightlifting NOR any mention that those who don't are "pathetic".

Either you are deflecting your own insecurities on Lea and the other's for their beautiful hard work, or you truly are just starting to start drama. Neither which are appreciated.

Stop taking something positive and twisting it into something negative.

kthanxbai

PikaKnight

OP and so many others who posted here, seriously... Ah mazing. One of the best threads for body change ever on MFP.

Body comp is so freaking important but so many women are afraid to lift. Well done!

Edit: Even as a guy for the longest time I didn't think lifting helped. I've been casually lifting for the past 6 months (twice per week) and I can't believe the results. I'm going to bump it up to 3-4 times per week, though I'll never stop cardio because I LOVE running

They are amazing. I'm hoping in another year I'll be putting up some awesome progress pictures like these

PikaKnight

Double post

chubby_checkers

kar328

Wow! thank you ladies for the pictures and stories. They're all incredible, you all look wonderful. The word "bulky" would never enter my mind on any of them. Healthy, fit, strong, powerful, wonderful and more would. I've got a lot of weight to lose, I've been seeing a trainer once a week and asked him to show me the Stronglifts program next week. This is a great reinforcement that I'm not doing something beyond my reach at my current (and still pathetic) fitness level.

Thanks for sharing!!:flowerforyou:

redheaddee

What is nice to see is people whose weight on the scale has changed only a little, but the difference is freaking huge. That is very encouraging. There is so much awesomesauce in this post I am going to pass out.

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

Oh look, heavy lifting made me bulky, too!


No heavy lifting, after losing 23 lbs:


One month of heavy lifting, 5/3/1 program
The weight difference from the first to second photo is one pound.

You look amazing! You have the perfect body.......not hitting......just sayin' :flowerforyou:

bobbietaylor733

bump to read later

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

While I was a cardio junkie:


After I started lifting:

WOW!!! AMAZING!! :bigsmile:

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

LOVE that more and more women are starting to realize the benefits to lifting heavy and move past the myth!! I absolutely love being strong!!

Here are my pics (lifting pic was taken about 3 months ago so I've gotten a little bit more definition since then but you get the idea). Still not at goal but getting there

Before 323lbs


Current 183lbs

You've given me hope! THANK YOU!!:flowerforyou:

Sarauk2sf

Threads like these are what convinced me to try stronglifts. I did weight machines in college and never saw any visible improvements from them. I'm less then a month into stronglifts and I can already see changes for the better.

This thread has also reminded me that I still haven't taken any "before" pics. Need to suck it up and get that done.

My biggest regret is not having a good before pic. I have a sort of "before" pic but I had lost some weight at that point already (its in my photos) And I really avoided full body shots back then.

I totally am with you on that. I basically avoided the camera and only recently found some pics of me bigger - and they are fully clothes vacation shots. My first pics I posted were when I had already lost about 20lbs.

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

So funny you mention the 3s... my gym has a 'women's only' room. I went in looking for a squat rack but was met by 3 pound dumbbells instead. And they were pink (for real). Ya think I should do 20 or 30 reps with them? Or will that bulk me up too much? LOL.

There would be so much mad going on if my gym had that. You want to give me pink weights? Fine. but they better be these:

Exactly!! :laugh: :laugh:

Mainebikerchick

Maybe I missed the point, but this thread was started so that:

A) The myth that heavy lifting for women would make them bulky is busted
2) Was trying to get more women to post some before and "during" pics of what lifting has done for them

and

III) Was NOT designed to be a progress thread or motivational "look at me and what I lost" thread, she already posted that one so it's kinda pointless to do a repeat.

The pictures are there and if you don't like the pics, read the measurements, they tell the story as well. IF you don't like the way the OP did things, this is a public forum so you can start your own threads, I'm sure you'll get glowing reviews.

:flowerforyou:

juliemouse83

Jeebus, women! Y’all look amazing…I mean REALLY FREAKING AMAZING! You make me GLAD I pick up heavy things and put them down!!!

I am only a couple months into Strong Lifts. The “during” picture in March was taken right before I screwed up a set of rows with bad form and hosed my back and the doc benched me for a month, so I got to start basically from scratch less than 2 weeks ago…but I’m glad to be back again, cuz I MISSED my weights:



The first shot was me just starting 30DS after coming off of a couch potato regimen, and the second was after having lifted about a month. I haven’t taken any recently, but will at the end of May.

ETA: I’m getting into jeans I haven’t worn, literally, in years. I weigh more than I did when I wore them originally, but the body comp is changing.

JezziedotM

OP, you aren't bulky. I've looked that that picture and all I really see are long, lean, and toned muscles. You look like what the dancers in my head look like. You might have body dysmorphia if you think you're bulky. I recommend talking to a specialist.

With love,
Burt

*whispers*

---

> she was being sarcastic/ironic (whatever the right word is)....

jofjltncb6

OP, you aren't bulky. I've looked that that picture and all I really see are long, lean, and toned muscles. You look like what the dancers in my head look like. You might have body dysmorphia if you think you're bulky. I recommend talking to a specialist.

With love,
Burt

*whispers*

---

> she was being sarcastic/ironic (whatever the right word is)....

BurtHuttz

OP, you aren't bulky. I've looked that that picture and all I really see are long, lean, and toned muscles. You look like what the dancers in my head look like. You might have body dysmorphia if you think you're bulky. I recommend talking to a specialist.

With love,
Burt

*whispers*

---

> she was being sarcastic/ironic (whatever the right word is)....

I read what she wrote!!

JezziedotM

OP, you aren't bulky. I've looked that that picture and all I really see are long, lean, and toned muscles. You look like what the dancers in my head look like. You might have body dysmorphia if you think you're bulky. I recommend talking to a specialist.

With love,
Burt

*whispers*

---

> she was being sarcastic/ironic (whatever the right word is)....

I read what she wrote!!

So you understand she was being sarcastic/ironic?