Want a body like Jessica Biel?

I can understand everything he's saying, but I'm still scared to lift. As a female who is 5 foot 9, the idea of doing something that might challenge my femininity is a real mental block.

I'm 6ft.
Lifting is making my body more toned but also more feminine looking. I've always been very slender, but I'm gaining more shape and curves without looking 'bigger' at all.

5'9" is NOT just above average. The average woman is five foot four.

Yes, I'm 5'6. I wear 3" heels and I can see over the majority of women's heads and a lot of the men. I used to be self conscious about being "taller than average", but I love it at concerts :bigsmile:

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Oh hai, fellow bellydancer! Is that a Bella?

I'm mostly retired now (kids ruined my stomach, so unless I get a tummy tuck, I won't be able to gig professionally again), but when my husband and I met, I was gigging 5 or 6 nights a week, 9-10 gigs a week.



Anyway. As you were.

yes- but lets not side track ze lifting thread with belly dance mumbo jumbo. just showing- my lifting- doesn't make me look like less of a woman- and I get plenty o tips to prove that they like what they see

Awesome. I didn't lift when I was gigging all the time, but I wish I had - might have helped even out some of my muscle imbalances. But I know several of the top dancers in my area are also lifters, and yeah, doesn't seem to hurt them any!

keep in mind not everyone WANTS to be fit.

Some people just don't want to be fat.

And it's fair and reasonable to let them have that. I personally don't like that idea- but it is what it is.

I couldn't agree more. This is an important thing that many people fail to consider.

I can understand everything he's saying, but I'm still scared to lift. As a female who is 5 foot 9, the idea of doing something that might challenge my femininity is a real mental block.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/987513-lifting-is-the-most-horrible-thing-to-a-woman-since-twiggy?hl=twiggy

/thread

I can understand everything he's saying, but I'm still scared to lift. As a female who is 5 foot 9, the idea of doing something that might challenge my femininity is a real mental block.

I guess it depends on how you define femininity. I am not a women so I am not one to judge but I can speculate.

If you define femininity is such a way that you must be dainty then I can see how lifting might threaten that. I personally think that you could define it in such a way that you could lift and still be very feminine if not more so. If you think about it all you would be doing is strengthening the characteristics that you already possess. Since you are a women it is completely reasonable to think of yourself as becoming more feminine as you progress.

I definitely like the message behind the article but how is this different to a guy following a pro bodybuilder's routine to attempt to look like him?

You need to work with what you are given and strive for the best you that you can be. Really is no point in chasing other people's physique's IMO. Fine to have a role model or something but be yourself!

I think guys like Jason and Bret who write these articles have good intentions. I believe their point is less "You should try to look like these people" and more "See, ladies, even Hollywood types lift heavy weights, so stop making excuses about how you don't want to look like a dude." They're not always great at making the distinction because, like Jason points out in the article, women have been sold the idea that heavy weights will pack on huge muscles overnight, so these guys are trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I read an article back when the movie Sucker Punch came out about how the actresses did heavy lifting to get in shape for their roles. Vanessa Hudgens talked about deadlifting 180 lbs, and Jena Malone said she pulled 235 lbs. And nobody would ever call those girls bulky. You can tell by looking at Jessica Biel when she's in camera-ready shape that she lifts heavy weight. You do not get to be that lean and ripped with baby weights. When you are dieting to lose body fat, like these actresses do when they're getting ready for action films, it takes heavy lifting to maintain your lean mass.

It's disappointing that so many people on this site refuse to follow legitimate fitness professionals and refer, instead, to what some journalism major regurgitated in a women's fitness mag after spending half an hour on Google.

I think guys like Jason and Bret who write these articles have good intentions. I believe their point is less "You should try to look like these people" and more "See, ladies, even Hollywood types lift heavy weights, so stop making excuses about how you don't want to look like a dude." They're not always great at making the distinction because, like Jason points out in the article, women have been sold the idea that heavy weights will pack on huge muscles overnight, so these guys are trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I read an article back when the movie Sucker Punch came out about how the actresses did heavy lifting to get in shape for their roles. Vanessa Hudgens talked about deadlifting 180 lbs, and Jena Malone said she pulled 235 lbs. And nobody would ever call those girls bulky. You can tell by looking at Jessica Biel when she's in camera-ready shape that she lifts heavy weight. You do not get to be that lean and ripped with baby weights. When you are dieting to lose body fat, like these actresses do when they're getting ready for action films, it takes heavy lifting to maintain your lean mass.

It's disappointing that so many people on this site refuse to follow legitimate fitness professionals and refer, instead, to what some journalism major regurgitated in a women's fitness mag after spending half an hour on Google.

I can understand everything he's saying, but I'm still scared to lift. As a female who is 5 foot 9, the idea of doing something that might challenge my femininity is a real mental block.

What does height have to do with it?

growing up half a foot taller than all of the boys and being told by society that women are supposed to be shorter and smaller than men in order to be "cute" can make one develop a complex.

I'm 5'0" and have always tortured myself about not being model tall status. We all have our insecurities

I would challenge you to broaden your perceptions about what it means to be female and "feminine". When I started weight lifting in high school it was intimating being around all the guys on the free weight floor, but as I got more comfortable with it, I found it quite liberating. And here's the thing - I didn't get bulky. In fact, if anything, I got the muscle definition I always saw in the women's health magazines that I'd spent hours staring at (which btw, I do far less of now). I look thinner and more fit when I lift weights and not in a manly-wow-she's-doing-'roids kind of way.

To me, femininity is in how you carry yourself - how you walk into a room, how you speak, how you present yourself, not just about how you look. I challenge you to not keep yourself locked up in a perception that was formed when you were much younger. You might find it really liberating.

I read the article but honestly people say the same thing on this site everyday. I received some of the best advice from this site --

If you define femininity is such a way that you must be dainty then I can see how lifting might threaten that.

Dainty is subjective.