Keeping it Lean

well...bulk is not something women do easily without steroids...nor at a deficet...nor without a progressive load lifting program.

no need to tweak anything as you wont turn into a female hulk...

I have been lifting heavy for 7 months and I have yet to go up in size...in anything...just down...

The weights you are lifting are not going to build strength or muscle...what you are going to get is muscle endurance.

I've recently started getting into strength training again and LOVE it! With that love comes the edge of worry that every time in the past that I have started to get serious about working out and especially with strength training, I bulk up like it's nobody's business! We're talking bulky and rippling calves and back and though I know there are others who try for that - I am not one of them. My calves will usually get so big that they are the determining factor on the size of jeans I can buy.

So my question is... how do I tweak my workouts/diet so that I don't turn into a female-Hulk? I don't do really heavy weights with smaller sets. I do just as much weight as I can handle to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps for any given exercise. I'm not a huge fan of cardio, but I do try and get in two half hour sessions in a week. Strength training I shoot for 2-3 half hour circuit training or HIIT sessions per week. Advice?

Heh well I really doubt its muscle to be honest, muscle gain is long-fought and hard to come by. You don't get it in months and you don't get it at all with high volume sets like the ones you are doing (12-15 reps). What does happen though is if you do strength training with weights is your muscle ends up swelling with retained water associated with glycogen stores and repair. They get physically bigger and feel much harder but its water, not muscle. That happens when you lift weights and there isn't really a way around it. If you make lifting a regular routinue your muscles can become more efficient and retain less water over time so that will decrease a bit.

You are not hulking-out though, actual substantial muscle gain takes years and heavy lifting.

Why do you doubt it's muscle? What else can it be?

I've recently started getting into strength training again and LOVE it! With that love comes the edge of worry that every time in the past that I have started to get serious about working out and especially with strength training, I bulk up like it's nobody's business! We're talking bulky and rippling calves and back and though I know there are others who try for that - I am not one of them. My calves will usually get so big that they are the determining factor on the size of jeans I can buy.

So my question is... how do I tweak my workouts/diet so that I don't turn into a female-Hulk? I don't do really heavy weights with smaller sets. I do just as much weight as I can handle to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps for any given exercise. I'm not a huge fan of cardio, but I do try and get in two half hour sessions in a week. Strength training I shoot for 2-3 half hour circuit training or HIIT sessions per week. Advice?

Heh well I really doubt its muscle to be honest, muscle gain is long-fought and hard to come by. You don't get it in months and you don't get it at all with high volume sets like the ones you are doing (12-15 reps). What does happen though is if you do strength training with weights is your muscle ends up swelling with retained water associated with glycogen stores and repair. They get physically bigger and feel much harder but its water, not muscle. That happens when you lift weights and there isn't really a way around it. If you make lifting a regular routinue your muscles can become more efficient and retain less water over time so that will decrease a bit.

You are not hulking-out though, actual substantial muscle gain takes years and heavy lifting.

Why do you doubt it's muscle? What else can it be?

Did you not read it?

I've recently started getting into strength training again and LOVE it! With that love comes the edge of worry that every time in the past that I have started to get serious about working out and especially with strength training, I bulk up like it's nobody's business! We're talking bulky and rippling calves and back and though I know there are others who try for that - I am not one of them. My calves will usually get so big that they are the determining factor on the size of jeans I can buy.

So my question is... how do I tweak my workouts/diet so that I don't turn into a female-Hulk? I don't do really heavy weights with smaller sets. I do just as much weight as I can handle to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps for any given exercise. I'm not a huge fan of cardio, but I do try and get in two half hour sessions in a week. Strength training I shoot for 2-3 half hour circuit training or HIIT sessions per week. Advice?

Heh well I really doubt its muscle to be honest, muscle gain is long-fought and hard to come by. You don't get it in months and you don't get it at all with high volume sets like the ones you are doing (12-15 reps). What does happen though is if you do strength training with weights is your muscle ends up swelling with retained water associated with glycogen stores and repair. They get physically bigger and feel much harder but its water, not muscle. That happens when you lift weights and there isn't really a way around it. If you make lifting a regular routinue your muscles can become more efficient and retain less water over time so that will decrease a bit.

You are not hulking-out though, actual substantial muscle gain takes years and heavy lifting.

Why do you doubt it's muscle? What else can it be?

Would suggest re-reading.

ETA: Or ACTUALLY reading in the first place

I've recently started getting into strength training again and LOVE it! With that love comes the edge of worry that every time in the past that I have started to get serious about working out and especially with strength training, I bulk up like it's nobody's business! We're talking bulky and rippling calves and back and though I know there are others who try for that - I am not one of them. My calves will usually get so big that they are the determining factor on the size of jeans I can buy.

So my question is... how do I tweak my workouts/diet so that I don't turn into a female-Hulk? I don't do really heavy weights with smaller sets. I do just as much weight as I can handle to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps for any given exercise. I'm not a huge fan of cardio, but I do try and get in two half hour sessions in a week. Strength training I shoot for 2-3 half hour circuit training or HIIT sessions per week. Advice?

Heh well I really doubt its muscle to be honest, muscle gain is long-fought and hard to come by. You don't get it in months and you don't get it at all with high volume sets like the ones you are doing (12-15 reps). What does happen though is if you do strength training with weights is your muscle ends up swelling with retained water associated with glycogen stores and repair. They get physically bigger and feel much harder but its water, not muscle. That happens when you lift weights and there isn't really a way around it. If you make lifting a regular routinue your muscles can become more efficient and retain less water over time so that will decrease a bit.

You are not hulking-out though, actual substantial muscle gain takes years and heavy lifting.

Why do you doubt it's muscle? What else can it be?

It can be water and most likely is water. The fastest you can really put on muscle is about 0.5-1 pound a month and that's if you are full on bodybuilding eating at a surplus. People don't just accidently slap on pounds of muscle especially on a diet and especially doing high volume sets.

The retention of water associated with repair and glycogen storing causes muscle to swell and become harder without actually adding muscle mass. This coupled with people dieting often losing fat covering the muscle adding to its definition they get the false impression that their muscles are bigger when they aren't at all.

Your calves might actually become physically larger, much harder and much more defined...but that doesn't mean you are adding muscle mass.

Sorry to spam you with posts but I had one more thought.

If you somehow doubt this and are convinced that no, no this is actual muscle you are gaining then you can do the following to test it.

Stop lifting weights for one week. During this time lower your carb intake and drink lots of water, I mean lots and lots of water much more than you usually would. Then after about 5 days of that cut your water back to a low level.

If you put on real muscle this will do absolutely nothing to the shape and size of your calves. If, however, as I suspect, this increase in size is just due to water retention then your calves are going to deflate like a pricked water balloon when you stop lifting (decreasing the need to store glycogen and surround the muscle with water for repair), start eating low carb (decreasing the pool of available glycogen), drink tons of water (flushing sodium from your system) and then cut back on your water (your body will flush most of the retained water at this point).

I'd bet that increase in diameter of your calves will vanish in a week.