Can Women Get Bulky?

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  • natika33
    natika33 Posts: 154 Member

    Now I am confused - you seemed to be complaining that you did not get any advice - see bold above.

    1) laws of human biology apply to everyone. It is the interpretation of that and definitional differences that cause the confusion. Someones day to day specifics (including weight, activity, genetics, diet) will create the 'building blocks' for their physique. If someone has been eating at a surplus (and many people here were which is why they are trying to lose weight) they will have been developing a certain amount of muscle. When someone 'works' that muscle, the muscle definition shows up in 2 possible ways - new muscle and a slight increase in the size due to the hormonal response of training pre-existing muscle. The former is basically impossible for a female on a deficit (except for possible a slight 'newbie' increase) and the second does not add any significant 'bulk. There may be a slight increase in size but much of it will be water.

    2) you are jogging - which means you are using the exisiting muscle. Also, without something like a DEXA scan you cannot categorically say that you have not lost muscle mass.

    3) You can always rid yourself of muscle - just do not use it.

    4) points 1 - 3 aside, resistance training is very important for health reasons, especially for women as it helps with bone density. To be honest, I would not care about bulking up a little anyway if it meant that I do not get ostoeperosis later down the line.

    The other point to make is that BF will come off where it will (its finicky and usually comes off the place you want last) - reduce the BF = reduce the mass.

    Edited to fix typos but there will be more!

    Hi again.

    I'm very sorry if I come across as complaining. I didn't intend to sound that way and don't feel that way. I'm actually very happy with most of the responses!

    I don't think I'm looking for anything specific, or perhaps I am looking for many things. I'm not sure myself, so I think your confusion is understandable.

    Thank you for all your contributions. You have given me good food for thought!
  • natika33
    natika33 Posts: 154 Member
    I thought this was an interesting article in and of itself, but what really attracted me to it were the pictures of the varied body types of Olympic female athletes. Not all, but a lot of these women have bulky thighs, or at least bulkier than many women want. Some of them probably weight-lifted to get there, but not all of them - it would depend on the nature of their sport.

    Now, I realise that these women trained hard and long to get those physiques, but it certainly makes one wonder about all the claims that women can't bulk up. Personally, I think many women can bulk up (at least more than they'd like too) and don't even need to do heavy lifting to do it. Take a look at these pictures and see if you don't think otherwise.

    http://www.stumptuous.com/why-dont-you-look-like-a-fitness-model

    If a woman eats to excess in terms of calories and takes in enough protein she will build muscle, that goes without saying. Dieting and building up muscle is nigh on impossible.

    Thank you. I believe I understand this now (probably LOL!)

    Your first sentence is crucially important. Before, I felt like I was reading thread after thread where only the second sentence was stated and hence I wasn't making certain connections. Now I feel like I get it and, also, like I know what to say when this topic comes up again on MFP as I'm sure it will. :smile:
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    Whenever this conversation comes up, I keep thinking about this article:

    http://www.leighpeele.com/bulky-muscles-and-training-females-the-definition

    Excellent article. Thank you very much for contributing this! :smile:

    OMG, I want to be an Amazon! They are so pretty!

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