Noob - afraid of getting too big

I haven't looked at the pics.

I'm pretty sure you won't manage to get too big by accident though.

Women have the ability to become very strong without really showing it. It takes years of dedication and specific dieting for most women to become "too big."

There is no way that you will ever get "too big" eating at a deficit. It's simply not going to happen. It takes quite a bit of work eating at a surplus for a woman to become "bulky" so put this out of your mind.

First off, don't take anabolic steroids.

Then, look in the mirror once a month. If you feel you've got enough or too much 'tone', stop increasing weight.

It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to look like that accidentally. You don't just suddenly wake up and find yourself "too big" one day. You stop, or ease up, when you're happy with how you look . It will take weeks (or months) for you to start losing significant amounts of body fat, and muscle is built slowly. Nobody gets a body like that unintentionally.

What everyone else said for the most part.

I don't think it's going to become a real issue.....ever......\m/

That's like saying "I'm going to school for nursing...I only want to be a nurse though not a doctor. How do I make sure I won't accidentally become a brain surgeon."

You have nothing to worry about.

This content has been removed.

I'm a natural bodybuilder. It took me years of hard work to build the muscle (very, very, very hard work). The girls in the pictures have very low body fat PLUS they did a quick workout before the shoot to fill the muscles with blood and make them look round/big. When I'm wearing regular clothes I don't even look like I have muscle, I just look athletic. Even in a swimming suit unless I put effort into flexing I just look like a normal in shape person with slight "tone" to my body.

By the way, this image that you want to look like is Kristina Krstic. It's a relaxed picture of her.

Here are other pictures of her flexing:




This is Eileen Marcinkewicz and an example of her flexing that you don't want to look like:

Here is her in regular clothing or not flexing:

With a decade of hard work, you will not look like any of those pictures so I wouldn't sweat it too hard.

Initially you will feel and maybe see your muscles get firmer. This is because you will be burning the intramuscular fat. Think about how tender a nicely marbled steak is. Once that fat is gone the muscles will feel firmer and people with low body fat will see them better. Some women will feel "bulkier" at first, but it is often just that the firm muscle under the skin makes them feel like they are bigger. In reality measurements should stay the same and as fat is burned the measurements will go down.

Not going to happen. All of this works exactly the same for men as for women. There is no such thing as a man workout or a woman workout, that's bull**** marketing.


Diet = Lose/Maintain/Gain Weight (be it Fat or Muscle)
Cardio = Most time efficient way to burn calories, Great for cardiovascular health and conditiong, Not *required* to burn fat
Heavy Lifting = Burns lots of calories, Builds strength, Builds or Maintains Muscle

Recipe for Toned Look = Lower Bodyfat %, Increase Muscle Mass, Mix to taste

Recipe for Ripped Look = Even Lower Bodyfat %, Increase Muscle Mass, Mix to taste

You can't spot reduce fat with exercise or diet, so where/when/how the fat comes off depends on your genetics. Usually first on means last off... is what it is. Keep lowering BF% until you're happy. You do this by eating a deficit of calories. If you screw up a day or a week or whatever, don't worry, just get back on it. No shame. You'll start looking better and getting compliments well short of reaching your actual goals anyway. Big plus. How noticable it is though depends on how much you have to loose.

Your body's natural shape is also determined by genetics, and unless it's fat that's giving you size, you're going to have trouble getting rid of it. Also, you cannot influence the shape of muscle, only size.

You have to eat a surplus of calories to put on any appreciable muscle, and some of the weight gain will be fat as well. And the whole process is slow.

So... don't worry about getting bulky, whether you're a man or a woman. Getting bulky is slow for men and even more difficult for women, so you'll know well in advance when you're approaching whatever aesthetic goal you're aiming for.

My book recommendation, and *I swear on my life* it will help you and is worth your time to read, is "New Rules of Lifting" (they have one geared a bit more towards women as well, although there's 0% difference in the way this works for either sex). The program at the very end of the book is kinda "fluffy" lol, but it's perfectly fine to use if you like it. If not...

An excellent starting program is Stronglifts 5x5, doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman. Uses the five main, fundamental compound movements to build strength, and it's a simple workout that hits nearly every muscle in your body. Do that for a while to start, and then use "ICF 5x5" to up the volume a bit and keep the "5x5" compound lifts for strength (just review the programs and you'll see what I mean).

You're going to freaking love this.