For girls who lift or men who know?

First of all, I'm sick and freaking tired of everyone demonizing bulky women. I am strong. I have endurance. I am fast. I am bulky. I don't care if someone looks long and lean in a pair of leggings. I can most likely kick their a##. I understand that this is subjective, as someone else my height and weight with similar BF might not consider themselves bulky but I do consider them so. And I think those women should be proud as heck of their mass gains!

Okay, I feel I've gotten bulkier than most without really trying. I eat at maintenance. I have almost 130 pounds of lean mass and I am only 5'5". I have been lifting for strength, not mass gains. I don't mind being bulky though. My body is naturally built for doing stuff, not having a thigh gap. I am an anomaly and there is nothing wrong with me and I refuse to let everyone keep shaming "bulky women" who are often kick-butt athletes! It's genetics!

probably the most motivating thing i'll read all day THANK YOU

DUCK, here comes a snarky comment, lol.

First of all, I'm sick and freaking tired of everyone demonizing bulky women. I am strong. I have endurance. I am fast. I am bulky. I don't care if someone looks long and lean in a pair of leggings. I can most likely kick their a##. I understand that this is subjective, as someone else my height and weight with similar BF might not consider themselves bulky but I do consider them so. And I think those women should be proud as heck of their mass gains!

Okay, I feel I've gotten bulkier than most without really trying. I eat at maintenance. I have almost 130 pounds of lean mass and I am only 5'5". I have been lifting for strength, not mass gains. I don't mind being bulky though. My body is naturally built for doing stuff, not having a thigh gap. I am an anomaly and there is nothing wrong with me and I refuse to let everyone keep shaming "bulky women" who are often kick-butt athletes! It's genetics!

I wonder if her inherent bulkiness (more than most women who lift?) comes from her slightly higher testosterone level as evidenced by her angry rant, lol.

First of all, I'm sick and freaking tired of everyone demonizing bulky women. I am strong. I have endurance. I am fast. I am bulky. I don't care if someone looks long and lean in a pair of leggings. I can most likely kick their a##. I understand that this is subjective, as someone else my height and weight with similar BF might not consider themselves bulky but I do consider them so. And I think those women should be proud as heck of their mass gains!

Okay, I feel I've gotten bulkier than most without really trying. ...

I wouldn't consider you "bulky" in the sense that OP means. You're certainly not bulky like a bodybuilder or a man.

If a man had roughly your musculature, he's be considered fairly average. (No offense meant - you look great. Just not "bulky.")

I wonder if her inherent bulkiness (more than most women who lift?) comes from her slightly higher testosterone level as evidenced by her angry rant, lol.

The "Jealousy" forum is the next one down.

You won't bulk. Women do not produce enough testosterone to get bulky. The only way it would is if you were taking a supplement or steroids that gave you more testosterone.

I have been lifting about a year now. I've always lifted to 10 reps. Did 4 sets of DL, squats, and bench. I am now considering upping the weight and doing 3 sets of all of the above but only 5 reps. I was told by a friend that this could possibly make me bulk with the increasing weight? I don't eat a massive amount so I am not sure if that plays into it as well. I already have the low body fat. I am just looking to get a six pack. I have the top two already.

Well if all you want is a six pack, then what you really need to do is cut body fat and get ripped. You have your six pack muscle there, it's the body fat that is hiding it, so the only way to get rid of body fat is to do aerobic activities - mild to moderate exercise for a long amount of time, and also try to incorporate that with HIIT. If you can try not to reduce your calories, because that's just going to lower your metabolism, and you want a fast metabolism to burn more fat.

I'm sorry I didn't look at your profile so I'm not sure if you are male or female, but the unfortunate fact is if you are female this may or may not be an acheivable goal, because women are supposed to have a natural fat layer for giving birth. If your body has a natural fat layer it may be extremely difficult to cut down to a low body fat, and you should be aware of the risk that cutting down to a low body fat will require drastic caloric reducing, in other words starvation. And I would never advise anyone to turn to starvation or anorexia to acheive any goal. I think it's sad that so many people want to be so thin, why not strive for a healthy weight? If you think that being at a healthy weight will get in the way of your sports and fitness goals, you are wrong. Unless you are just doing it for vanity reasons and want to look like a person on a fitness poster, having some body fat is only going to help you perform better at sports! Some body fat is good for you

Even some men have a very hard time getting completely ripped and are healthier at healthy weights, but what we learn in our fitness courses is that men don't have as much body fat as women in general so it's easier for them to obtain low body fat levels.

You won't just get bulky, that doesn't happen. It comes down to nutrition and hard work. Do people go to University and accidentally get degrees?

This right here. Biggest myth among women. Wish I could get my GF to listen to me about it. If men are struggling to get huge....trust me. It definitely ain't going to happen for you. You have genetics working against you in that department.

Also, when you decrease reps, the goal is usually maximizing strength for a given muscle size vs. increasing muscle mass. Powerlifters typically do sets like 5x5. It basically increases your muscle density, ATP production potential, and your brains ability to recruit muscle fibers without adding much new tissue. This is typically done so the powerlifter can stay in a lower weight class but still lift really heavy stuff. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns where to get any stronger you need to add more tissue.

To build muscle tissue, go for hypertrophy when you train, lifting a weight that you can do in sets like 3x8, 3x10, etc. and be almost unable to lift the weight on the last rep. You need not fear getting big. Keep lifting heavy at reps like this until you achieve the shape you want. It will come on slow and gradual, males can only synthesize about 0.25 lbs of muscle per week, and females only about 0.125 lbs per week.

I want to know what boys and women think on this issue.

Heh.

actually if you were in a surplus you would get more "bulking" from the 8-12 rep ranges, lower reps 1-5 are geared more for increasing strength, but less size

I like having programs that have all rep ranges involved. I'd get bored if I was always lifting heavy or light. Both will get you abs. Keep eating at a deficit, lift, and hit your macros.

I agree with this, I do both high reps and low reps. My workouts vary quite a bit, I never get bored.

Women who lift, even lift heavy, do not bulk. Bulking requires protein loading, etc. This is a REALY good article about a woman who became more cut by lifting heavier.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

all science aside, change will not happen over night, and even if it did, all you have to do is stop training like that.

if you feel you would like to train that way, go for it.

WOW....do you think giggeling and saying "duck" makes being absolutely catty OK?
You obviously have issues.....

DUCK, here comes a snarky comment, lol.

First of all, I'm sick and freaking tired of everyone demonizing bulky women. I am strong. I have endurance. I am fast. I am bulky. I don't care if someone looks long and lean in a pair of leggings. I can most likely kick their a##. I understand that this is subjective, as someone else my height and weight with similar BF might not consider themselves bulky but I do consider them so. And I think those women should be proud as heck of their mass gains!

Okay, I feel I've gotten bulkier than most without really trying. I eat at maintenance. I have almost 130 pounds of lean mass and I am only 5'5". I have been lifting for strength, not mass gains. I don't mind being bulky though. My body is naturally built for doing stuff, not having a thigh gap. I am an anomaly and there is nothing wrong with me and I refuse to let everyone keep shaming "bulky women" who are often kick-butt athletes! It's genetics!

I wonder if her inherent bulkiness (more than most women who lift?) comes from her slightly higher testosterone level as evidenced by her angry rant, lol.

I have been lifting about a year now. I've always lifted to 10 reps. Did 4 sets of DL, squats, and bench. I am now considering upping the weight and doing 3 sets of all of the above but only 5 reps. I was told by a friend that this could possibly make me bulk with the increasing weight? I don't eat a massive amount so I am not sure if that plays into it as well. I already have the low body fat. I am just looking to get a six pack. I have the top two already.

You need a real program.

You don't have male hormones so you wont get super big or bulky

Ignore this person they don't know what they are talking about.

Pretty sure the person you quoted WAS the OP, so you told her to ignore herself, fyi. Not to nit-pick or be an *kitten*. I do wish that when we quoted someone on this board their name would be attached. That's how it is on other boards I'm on and it's helpful.

Bzah10 No sorry but you got it wrong tedebear was responding to OP the person he said to ignore is the one in her post that said lifting heavier will make her bulky

Please listen to this girl she knows what she's talking about.