Women getting bulky!??

Game8
Game8 Posts: 442
in Fitness and Exercise
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.
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Replies

  • Game8
    Game8 Posts: 442
    No female lifters in the house?
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    lol@3-5lbs a year
  • peuglow
    peuglow Posts: 684 Member
    lol@3-5lbs a year
    Agreed. I've heard this stat, but I've never seen anything conclusive.
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
    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
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    iriskyle.jpg
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    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
    salubriousliving Posts: 62
    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
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    iriskyle.jpg

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

    NOT. :happy:
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    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
    Game8 Posts: 442
    iriskyle.jpg

    That's what happens when women inject male hormones. If you think this is bad, look up "Renee Toney"
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
    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
    Game8 Posts: 442
    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
    belladonna786 Posts: 1,165 Member
    Amen!!
  • faireplay
    faireplay Posts: 126
    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
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    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
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
    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
    Game8 Posts: 442
    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
    hjfischer Posts: 250
    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
    hjfischer Posts: 250
    Just googled Renee Toney. Really that is a female? Wow. I just see zero 'feminine' qualities in her physical appearance.
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
    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.
  • Game8
    Game8 Posts: 442
    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.


    To help you with joint pain make sure to warm up your joints/ muscles properly before you start lifting and keep your rep range between 8 - 12 or even up to 15 on some short-range motions. You should also supplement fish oil, make sure you're getting enough calcium and Vitamin D (especially in Winter when you don't get much sunlight)
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Sigh, it's true many females do think this. I had a girl call me bulky the other day at the gym; I politely gave her a piece of my mind. She seemed scared at first but has since moved her way slowly into the weight section. :)
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    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

    So anyone that disagrees with you = not worthy to be taken seriously. How does it feel to be always right?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    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 debate it considering you've given no context to this statement.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html

    ^ Here you can get different estimations from several well respected authors.
  • Delicate
    Delicate Posts: 625 Member
    Muscle takes alot to appear, it just doesnt 'appear' overnight

    everytime i hear 'i dont want to get bulky' a kitten cries
  • xxXcaraXxx
    xxXcaraXxx Posts: 58 Member
    i lift weights, it doesnt making you manely i have found the opposite, however muscle work is slowish but worth it
  • Bernadettetoo
    Bernadettetoo Posts: 97
    iriskyle.jpg
    I don't THINK so!!
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
    All I have to say is that I ♥ lifting, I ♥ eating, and I ♥ the fact that no matter what I do its a win win! Lift with a deficit, lose mostly fat. Lift with extra calories, gain muscle and fat.
  • Game8
    Game8 Posts: 442
    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 debate it considering you've given no context to this statement.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html

    ^ Here you can get different estimations from several well respected authors.

    I know you can put on more, and probably will especially during the 1st few years. I'm not arguing that. Please reread my claim:

    "3-5 lbs a year of actual contractile tissue a year is pretty impressive by all measures"
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    my uninformed view...

    I don't lift heavy. I don't lift weights.
    I do lift myself (i.e. working on chinups), and push myself (doing pushups)
    All my exercises are body weight, with maybe a 15lb medicine ball for squats and leg ups.

    I box.

    And I look pretty ripped. (Check my profile if you'd like)

    Personally I love it, but some may find me too muscular. I think I am just lucky in genetics? I don't know.

    I do think I could look freakin awesome if I had time to lift heavy!

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