quesion/debate about women weightlifting

It is VERY difficult to "bulk" up. Actually, you would have to be in a surplus with a combination of a lot of work. With the exceptions of newbie gains, you won't even build much muscle in a deficit, (this train I think can last about 10 months??). You will get stronger, maintain muscle mass while losing, tone and look better. Go get it!

I just started stage 2 of New Rules of Lifting for Women yesterday. I LOVED the information in the book and am enjoying the program so far. I regret not taking some pictures before starting stage 1 to compare my progress to but I do think I got some good results, especially in my arms and back. And judging by the amount of lunges in stage 2, I expect to see some results in my lower body soon!

I've been lifting since 1996. I'm not bulky.

I've been lifting consistently for 3 years....I'm also not bulky! (Actually wear a size 4 or xs)

It is incredibly hard for women to bulk up from weight lifting without all the testosterone. Lifting weights is a great way to burn calories and is more efficient than doing repetitive cardio exercises (angry response prevention disclaimer: not implying that all cardio is repetitive).

In other words, you can put forth a lot more effort in a short amount of time to get an equal or greater calorie burn than if you go on the elliptical for a longer amount of time.

Back when I had a gym membership, I tried to do a little bit of both but I found it discouraging that I could spend an hour doing ellipticals and burn like half the calories that I was burning lifting weights for a shorter time. Plus, repetitive exercises get to be really boring.

I’ve been lifting heavy for almost two years now (though I took a pretty long break from it until recently). I use the Rippetoe program, which you can find on bodybuilding dot com.

First of all, the whole women bulking up from heavy weights thing is a myth. You have to work very, very hard to look anywhere near a female bodybuilder. Besides, as I understand it, to gain serious muscle mass you need to bulk (eat at a calorie surplus while lifting) and then cut (eat at a deficit and do cardio to lose any fat gained together with the muscle).

Second of all, lifting is my absolute favourite thing. It seems to work great for my body, as I find I lose a lot more weight (or at least inches, as muscle mass is heavier than fat) when doing weight training than when I only do cardio. It also helps if you have any sort of chronic pain problems - I have back issues and core strength helps a lot.

Third, I don’t know how heavy you want to go. I don’t lift too heavy but I have progressed a bit. For instance, I squat 100 lbs (3 sets of 5 reps each), deadlift 135 lbs (1 set of 5 reps), and bench press 60 lbs (3 sets of 5 reps). As you can see, my upper body strength is rubbish, but anyway. This works great for me and I will keep upping the weights.

Lastly, regardless of what you end up doing, I highly recommend you are very careful to maintain good lifting form. With heavy weights comes big responsibility, and form is in my opinion the single most important thing in lifting.

I hope this is helpful and feel free to ask anything!

Unless you're eating a lot (A LOT) you won't put on "too much" muscle. It's not like a few cheat meals will do it either, bulking is a very conscious effort for both men and women, especially women. I lift 3-4 times a week going as heavy as I can go and I'm a size 2-4 in most things...nothing bulky here to speak of, hah.

Since you still have ~30 pounds to go you can keep eating at your deficit and add weights in just fine. As you get closer to your goal weight you might notice a stall at the gym in which case you'll probably ease up on your deficit, but for now, meh. Go ham.

Bulking is mostly about food. If you're eating a deficit you won't build significant mass (a few ounces of newbie gains maybe).

When you lose weight you lose a combination of water, fat, and muscle. Lifting weights and eating adequate protein will help you make sure you lose mostly fat and keep most of your muscle.

mollyr0425 wrote: »

I think it's pretty much agreed on now by most people who know what they're talking about that MOST women just don't have enough testosterone in their bodies to get "bulky" regardless of how heavy they lift

not to mention if you are in a deficit to lose weight you will not add muscle anyway.

HUGE Misconceptions about Women Lifting Heavy (for you) Weights

• It will make you bulky. Simply put, this is a load of crap. You can automatically assume that anyone telling you this has no clue what they're talking about. More about that later.
• You should only start lifting weights after losing all or most of the body fat you plan to lose. Wrong again. During weight loss, you're going to lose both fat and muscle. Lifting while losing weight helps minimize muscle loss. The best time to start lifting is immediately.
• Lifting weights tones your muscles. Muscles do not "tone." This "toned" look that many women want is simply the result of low body fat. Muscles get bigger, stay the same size, or get smaller. They do not "tone." The word is completely useless.

What makes muscles grow from weightlifting is a calorie surplus. Your muscles need calories to grow. As I said, lifting while losing weight isn't about muscle gain, and any muscle mass gained while eating at a deficit will be very small and probably unnoticeable; it's about muscle retention. You can certainly gain strength while eating at a deficit, but gaining muscle takes a lot of work, and eating more calories than your body is burning is how most of us accomplish that.

Regardless, women do not bulk up like men. We simply don't have the body chemistry for it. And if we are able to do it, it takes A LOT of work. Believe me, you aren't going to get muscular on accident. It takes a lot of work and dedication (and calories) to accomplish such a feat.

In short, it's safe to assume most people outside of MFP don't know much about weightlifting for women, so take all advice you get from these people with a grain of salt. Actually, just ignore it completely. Read your book, lift some heavy stuff, and get stronger, healthier,and hotter so you can go back and show the naysayers how wrong they really are.