How to not bulk up...HELP!

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  • Bun_Ya
    Bun_Ya Posts: 174
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    I don't think it's been covered yet so i'll just go ahead and say that you should not take steroids.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I love when this topic comes up. Yes to all the advice above, and just remember, when you gain weight after lifting, it's either:

    1) Water weight (likely answer), or
    2) Eating too many calories.

    NOT building muscle.
  • loriq41
    loriq41 Posts: 479 Member
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    I think that some people thiink they are going to bulk up because honestly, sometimes it looks like that when you still have the fat on top of the muscle and you get a bit of water retention...but you wont bulk being a woman.
  • KetosisTina
    KetosisTina Posts: 197 Member
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    step one - avoid a sex change operation.
    step two - avoid testosterone injections
    step three- see step 1 and 2


    I have know women who WANTED to bulk up... without the drugs you can't do it. I think your safe.... LIFT away.. I plan on starting a lifting program in about a month... Looking to get tone, not at ALL worried about bulking up.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    All of the above.

    Lift heavy. Eat light(ish).

    You. Will. Not. Bulk.

    You will, however, like the way you look.

    I guarantee it.

    this.

    it's laughably hard to bulk. Women usually have to run through cycles of bulking and cutting to put on an appreciable mass.

    Secondly- be aware- you will get more DENSE muscle- so stronger and harder if you will. At a deficit you will lose fat and then the muscle become defined. This is still not bulk.

    This is definition. they are different. And it's okay.
  • countrygirl7mels
    countrygirl7mels Posts: 36
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    You are not going to bulk up lifting weights. Lifting heavy, not just doing several repetitions of light weight, is a great way to lose fat and gain lean muscle, which gives women attractive figures, not bulky figures. Women should be lifting heavy, and they should incorporate arm and leg lifting. I just started lifting weights last December, and I jumped right in! I am gradually increasing my weight. I do a combination of machines and free weights (this sometimes depends on what is available on busy days at the gym). I enjoy squats and bench press. I push myself to lift heavy (within reason; I don't want to hurt myself). I am upping my protein intake. The only thing I notice is that I am a little bigger when I flex, my stomach and tush are getting a little smaller, and I feel better. Women don't get bulky and huge from weight lifting. They get bulky and huge by making it a job to get that big. Women who body build work really hard to get in that kind of shape. It is just not possible for the average woman who is using weight training to cut fat and gain lean muscle to get that big.

    Personally, I think women with defined muscles look great, and that is how I want to look!
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
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    It is possible for a woman with a bit of extra bodyweight (in the form of bodyfat) to add some muscle while lifting and eating a deficit, but only if lifting very hard, and getting enough protein. Even then, if you do manage to build a few lbs of muscle, you will not gain bodyweight. In fact, it's impossible to gain weight on a deficit. Even if you manage to build a little muscle, you will lose weight on a deficit. And weight loss will make you smaller, period. You will get more defined though, and hopefully that's something you will embrace as it happens.

    Also: when people say to lift heavy, what they really should be saying is lift intensely. You don't have to go for heavy, almost impossible to lift weights and you don't have to lift to failure. In fact, it can be counterproductive.

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