Myth: women can't bulk up

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  • jayche
    jayche Posts: 1,128 Member
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    Shes all natty for sure.
  • peacefulsong
    peacefulsong Posts: 223 Member
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    Ok...bulked up and strong. This does NOT equal "manly" (whatever that means). It means a strong muscular woman. Your objections say a lot more about your prejudices than about muscular women.

    THIS. I get so annoyed by the idea that a muscular woman is "manly."
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    I just wanted to prove to everyone out there that women CAN build muscles and bulkup WITHOUT steroids. The only difference between men and women is in the rate of bulking. Men have more testosterone and therefore it takes them less time to bulk. A muscle is a muscle. If you lift heavy weight low rep, you will gain mass.

    Here is an example:

    Becca Swanson> held the world record with a 551-pound lift (bench press) in 2006

    http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyuqkcgbhV1qfqkngo1_400.jpg


    Please don't tell me this doesn't look manly. Now, I know that this doesn't happen overnight but what I am saying is if you train like a man long enough, you can bulk up and look manly.
    The OP is so filled with ignorance it's difficult to know where to start.

    First, muscles will only grow if you eat enough.

    Next muscles will only grow enough to meet the challenges placed on them. So if you lift 50 lbs over and over, your muscles will only get big enough to do that. They won't just keep growing forever. That is why marathon runners do not have hulk legs.

    Finally, anyone who has ever had a broken limb knows how quickly an unused muscle shrinks and turns into jello. It's not like once your muscles get big they are stuck that way forever.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
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    Ok...bulked up and strong. This does NOT equal "manly" (whatever that means). It means a strong muscular woman. Your objections say a lot more about your prejudices than about muscular women.

    THIS. I get so annoyed by the idea that a muscular woman is "manly."

    That totally annoys me, too. :mad:

    The Stephen Hawking comment is full of WIN, though!
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
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    If you lift heavy weight low rep, you will gain mass.

    IF you're in a calorie surplus and work really damn hard on it for a very long time and happen to be genetically predisposed to it.

    Becca Swanson is 5'10 and 240 pounds and touted as the world's strongest woman. It's her goal to be that way.

    Avoiding lifting because you fear you'll look like her is like being afraid to read a book or you'll turn into Stephen Hawking.

    ^^Just because this needs to be quoted on every page of this thread, at least once....:drinker: :flowerforyou:
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    Although why one wouldn't want visible muscles I can't understand.

    It's not everyones ideal, that's why.

    I can understand why people don't want visible muscles, just like I can understand why people would.

    You clearly do.. others clearly don't. So do you and leave them alone.. it's that simple.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    And you believe she is a lifetime natural? Why?

    Cause she's a competitive athlete. You can take a look at some of the olympic weight lifters.


    I'm late to this thread, and this has probably already been covered, but got a good chuckle out of her assertion that competitive athletes by definition have always been 100% natural.

    Okay, now to get completely caught up.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.
  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
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    I did mention that I understand this doesn't just suddenly happen, but it CAN happen and people should stop lying to women

    Way to mis-quote people.

    If a woman trains like a lunatic and eats lots of surplus calories, it's entirely possible to be huge.

    Going to the gym two or three times a week with a calorie deficit and never once lifting to failure is not going do that for anyone.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.

    I naturally have big hips and butt, and 2 months of heavy lifting has only made them smaller. Your advice is wrong and you do a disservice to everyone by telling them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. To make them bigger they have to eat at surplus as well as lift heavy.

    You seem like a stuck record, someone who refuses to learn from others and continuously gives out poor information. :noway:
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    If you lift heavy weight low rep, you will gain mass.

    IF you're in a calorie surplus and work really damn hard on it for a very long time and happen to be genetically predisposed to it.

    Becca Swanson is 5'10 and 240 pounds and touted as the world's strongest woman. It's her goal to be that way.

    Avoiding lifting because you fear you'll look like her is like being afraid to read a book or you'll turn into Stephen Hawking.

    :drinker:
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Jillian makes a good bit of her bread and butter from that body. Her training does have to be as specific to her life as a female bodybuilder's. She's not staying in that shape by being inactive, so it makes sense that she'd have to be careful to keep her exercise in a certain range. She's walking a fine line with American women--she has to keep looking amazing enough to make women want to look like her but not so "big" that women get afraid of being bulky or think she looks masculine. Women on MFP who are afraid of bulking are not going to have Jillian's "problems" in this area. If they do, they should be consulting their own specialized team, not relying on advice from an internet message board.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.

    I naturally have big hips and butt, and 2 months of heavy lifting has only made them smaller. Your advice is wrong and you do a disservice to everyone by telling them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. To make them bigger they have to eat at surplus as well as lift heavy.

    You seem like a stuck record, someone who refuses to learn from others and continuously gives out poor information. :noway:

    So lets say a "pear shaped" woman starts lifting weights, including lower body. Lets say her thighs increase by an entire inch each (this is a good deal of muscle actually). So what? Is 1 inch that bad? (My thighs have increased an inch lately due to fat gain. My pants all still fit.) Lets say her knew bigger thighs give her the ability to move furniture by herself, ride her bike better, snowboard better, live long, avoid broken hips in her old age, etc. Is the 1 inch still bad?

    "Accidently" gaining a "little" bit of muscle isn't a bad thing at all.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.

    I naturally have big hips and butt, and 2 months of heavy lifting has only made them smaller. Your advice is wrong and you do a disservice to everyone by telling them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. To make them bigger they have to eat at surplus as well as lift heavy.

    You seem like a stuck record, someone who refuses to learn from others and continuously gives out poor information. :noway:

    So lets say a "pear shaped" woman starts lifting weights, including lower body. Lets say her thighs increase by an entire inch each (this is a good deal of muscle actually). So what? Is 1 inch that bad? (My thighs have increased an inch lately due to fta gain. My pants all still fit.) Lets say her knew bigger thighs give her the ability to move furniture by herself, ride her bike better, snowboard better, live long, avoid broken hips in her old age, etc. Is the 1 inch still bad?

    "Accidently" gaining a "little" bit of muscle isn't a bad thing at all.


    Couldn't agree more :drinker: Should have added that in my post. :flowerforyou:
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
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    Becca Swanson is NOT natural, and doesn't claim to be. It's well-known in bodybuilding circles that she juices, and there's many places you can verify that.

    1) She endorses pro-steroid documentaries;

    2) She advises others on cycles: http://www.steroidology.com/forum/womens-general-discussion-forum/587175-few-questions-about-female-aas-use.html

    3) Heck, just looking at ANY picture of her should confirm to anyone this is NOT a natural athlete. Her goal is to be the strongest female powerlifter, period - this does NOT come naturally.

    Nobody should ever believe that Becca got that big naturally, because it's simply not true.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.

    I naturally have big hips and butt, and 2 months of heavy lifting has only made them smaller. Your advice is wrong and you do a disservice to everyone by telling them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. To make them bigger they have to eat at surplus as well as lift heavy.

    You seem like a stuck record, someone who refuses to learn from others and continuously gives out poor information. :noway:

    This exactly!! I have always had big legs/hips/butt. After I put on weight (from inactivity due to an accident) I did strictly cardio - running mostly. Last year I got back into strength training and made a huge change. My before and after pics are in my profile. Lifting heavy made my bottom half smaller. It changed my body for the better far more than two years of running alone ever did (I am not anti cardio I love to run).
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
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    This thread is just pure lols
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
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    And you believe she is a lifetime natural? Why?

    This^^^^ unless she is genetically gifted, have a testosterone imbalance ( like I do) ....she is on something. This is what a natural bodybuilder look like

    8605468115_89f6bfc434_m.jpg
    image by yanicka.hachez, on Flickr

    She's absolutely lovely and I know I'll never look anything like her because I know I would go completely insane if I spent enough time in the gym to build that much muscle. But if I could wish myself a body like that, you better believe I'd do it. It would be a waste, though, I wouldn't be able to keep it looking that way. Use it or lose it is the rule.

    That is not a 1 hour a day, 5 days a week gym body so everyone can stop worrying now.

    That chick is sexy.. what's wrong with that???
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    It's not a myth, which is why if someone writes with a specific concern, say, they naturally have big hips and a butt and don't want to get bigger, I tell them to avoid direct weight resistance on those parts. This is common advice for women concerned about aesthetics. (More accurately, I should say, "currently prevalent aesthetics.")

    How a woman looks is a combination of her genetics and training choices. But some people persist in arguing that weights never increase size and that everyone responds the same way. It's not true.
    Right. Just look at all those cautionary tale threads, the ones where women lament how hideously huge their legs and butt got because they did deadlifts or squats. There have to be at least a million such threads on the forums here.

    Oh wait, there aren't any. Nevermind.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I'm naturally pear-shaped, too. My hips are narrower now that I lift.

    My thighs aren't skinny. They stopped being skinny the second I hit puberty. No matter what I do, I'm going to have trouble finding jeans that fit my thighs, hips and *kitten* without gaping at the waist.

    I'd much rather my jeans be tight on my thighs because of the firm muscle I have now than jiggly fat I used to have.

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