HALP! Heavy Lifting Made Me SUPAH Bulky!!!

Just wondering, how do you lovely lifting ladies feel about girls like me who don't lift and don't have any interest in lifting ever? :P

I know its been answered but I wanted to chime in anyway.

While I have lifted for a long, long time (not always with any particular goal), and shared pics here that would make people think that I am a "lifter", my main passion is running/triathlon. I would be more of a runner who lifts as opposed to a lifter. About 1/3 of my friend's list are strict lifters, 1/3 who are just cardio and the rest do both. I feel no different about those who aren't interested in running (or triathlon) than I do about those who aren't interested in lifting.

I do have to say that I am a huge proponent of exercise in any way shape or form. You don't want to, that's fine, but there are so many health benefits to getting active. What it is doesn't matter just move.

Just wondering, how do you lovely lifting ladies feel about girls like me who don't lift and don't have any interest in lifting ever? :P

I honestly don't care what sort of exercise others do. Everyone should do whatever they love doing. I love to lift and train with kettlebells, so that's what I do.

That said, I do love to see all the enthusiasm for women lifting heavy here on MFP! I find it really motivational and contagious. Makes me happy!

I encourage everyone to do some sort of strength training. It doesn't have to be "lifting heavy". It could be a body weight strength training program, kettlebell training, or whatever it is that floats your boat. Just do something to work on your strength--it's important!

Keep going.

Just wondering, how do you lovely lifting ladies feel about girls like me who don't lift and don't have any interest in lifting ever? :P

You sound just like me about a year ago. In my case, it was because I thought lifting would be harder do to than cardio and would turn me into mini Hulk. Then i started reading into it, found out that you need testosterone and lots of food to even get remotely big, and I gave it a fair shot. Turns out I love it!
I would encourage everyone to try it,you may not have the same experience, and that is totally fine. Stick with whatever you like, like they say, the best exercise is the one you actually do!

Thanks! I always feel so stupid when I read threads like this, because I've also recently starting doing SL 5 X 5, but find it really hard to up the weights. So, the weights I lift are really very light compared to most of the other lifters I read about.

All you need to do is worry about comparing you to YOU.

In my experience keeping the 5x5 while in a calorie deficit can be really taxing and tiring...Starting Strength is 3x5...so i kind of merged the 2 and do 2 warm up sets, one at half the weight, and one at 75% of the weight, then 3x5.

Also you could buy fractional plates...i am looking into this right now! As the weights get heavier it id difficult to go up 5 pounds, especially in OHP. So increasing in smaller increments may be the way to go.

Also, make sure you deload for a week here and there! do the same program with lighter weights, then return to the program the next week..I have really responded well to this.

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently slightly stuck on the OHP and BP. I'll try the deloading. I'm getting very good results and love my muscle definition that is starting to show ever so slightly (well, at least I can see it...) Also, I love the psychological effect that it has - "better not mess with me, I'm strong because I lift heavy:grumble: !" And I do feel that it has huge benefits on my health, as my back and core is generally much stronger and I have less problems with backpain.

Thanks! I always feel so stupid when I read threads like this, because I've also recently starting doing SL 5 X 5, but find it really hard to up the weights. So, the weights I lift are really very light compared to most of the other lifters I read about.

All you need to do is worry about comparing you to YOU.

In my experience keeping the 5x5 while in a calorie deficit can be really taxing and tiring...Starting Strength is 3x5...so i kind of merged the 2 and do 2 warm up sets, one at half the weight, and one at 75% of the weight, then 3x5.

Also you could buy fractional plates...i am looking into this right now! As the weights get heavier it id difficult to go up 5 pounds, especially in OHP. So increasing in smaller increments may be the way to go.

Also, make sure you deload for a week here and there! do the same program with lighter weights, then return to the program the next week..I have really responded well to this.

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently slightly stuck on the OHP and BP. I'll try the deloading. I'm getting very good results and love my muscle definition that is starting to show ever so slightly (well, at least I can see it...) Also, I love the psychological effect that it has - "better not mess with me, I'm strong because I lift heavy:grumble: !" And I do feel that it has huge benefits on my health, as my back and core is generally much stronger and I have less problems with backpain.

Adding to the above commentary.

I basically do not other sports, never have pretty much since I hit puberty. It's just something I was not interested in. I tried ju jitsu for a while - loved it but it was too hard to keep up with and I was not very good at it, as well as being a bit hard on my body. I find lifting gives me that sense of accomplishment that people get when they do and progress in something they love, whether it be running, martial arts, soccer etc.

A few years ago I was very ill and contracted a really bad staph infection while in hospital which then led to osteomyelitis of my upper spine. I was in virtually constant pain as a result of it. Since engaging in doing compound lifts I have not had any pain from it. It is a wonderful thing to be pain free all the while knowing you are helping preserve bone density as you get older as well as helping body composition...all while doing something you love.

:blushing: People are all so concerned about the zombies, but reavers need awareness too!

I agree, reavers are like zombies' even meaner cousins. I am coming out firmly against reavers.

thank you all so much for this thread! I saw dontstopb_leakin's original thread, and i have kept that tab open for probably 2 weeks now because she inspires me. i have started SL 5x5, about a week ago, and i already feel stronger and more capable. it is scary as hell walking into golds' free weight section as a fat girl (well, anywhere in gold's lol, those are some toned people!), but after some initial dirty looks, it feels right.

i don't have any progress pics yet - again, only started a week ago - and since i'm still carrying so much weight it's hard to see progress until i drop more. i'm eating a calorie deficit, but i still have quite a bit to lose before my muscle shows up.

oddly enough, it has also made my cardio easier. first time i did like 2.5 minutes on the bicycle before i was ready to die, a week later it was 10 and i was good after. i only really did it to loosen up after lifting - my muscles get so sore from the squats especially.

although after i work out i get all uppity and make the bf poke my legs and squeeze my biceps... he was impressed by the base of firmness below the jiggle.

tl;dr, you all are SO inspirational, lifting for strength has changed how i work out, bye bye fat

I am happy that you're inspired and enjoying this! Also...

HAHA!
Love the weights! You look like a lean mean fightin' machine! ;-)

I have a question:

Can I still achieve the same/similar results using the circute machines rather then free weights? After reading this thread (as well as the several others that have popped up over the past few days), I realized that the way I WANT to look cannot be achieved by the low weights I am doing now, so I upped everything today.
Please feel free to critique my work out/weights and let me know what I can do differently or better:

Stats - 179lbs, 5'7"
I started really working out at the end of March 2013 and my starting weight was 192lbs.

I have upped all my weights today by 10lbs and my cardio has stayed the same:
Cardio - 400 cal., hill climb on the treadmill at max height, brisk walk (no running), not timed, I stop when I reach 400 cal. burned.

Upper Body:
Pectorals - 40 lbs, 1 set of 15 reps
Shoulder Press - 20 lbs, " "
Arms (the machine where you pull the weight downs) - 50 lbs, " "
Chest Press - 30 lbs, " "
Arm Curl - 20 lbs, " "
Vertical Traction - 80 lbs, " "
Rotary Torso - 50 lbs, " "

Lower Body:
Abduction - 90 lbs, " "
Adduction - 90lbs, " "
Glutes - 60lbs, " "
Leg Press - 140 lbs, " "
Leg Curl - 70lbs, " "
Leg extension - 50lbs, " "

Back/Abs:
Low Row - 70 lbs, " "
Lower Back - 70lbs, " "
Upper Back - 50lbs, " "
Abs - 50lbs, " "