Will Weight Lifting Make Me Bulky and Gain Weight?

What Do I Think?

This is one of those fitness myths that won’t die. The fact is, unless you spend hours and hours in the gym lifting ridiculously heavy weights, it’s unlikely you will build the large, chunky muscles you see on bodybuilders and power lifters.

Most women don’t have enough of the male hormone, testosterone running through their veins to build huge amounts of muscle that fast.

I think some woman are afraid of bulking up because they leave too much to the imagination (which is usually from reading too much of the wrong information). They think they’re going to get bigger, so they feel bigger. Over all my years of Personal Training I have had a lot of woman say to me that their thighs, arms or butt have grown in size after only a couple of weeks of lifting moderate weights twice a week. What a load of bollocks, I say. It’s interesting, when I ask for them to show me their before and after measurements, most women hadn’t taken them. …. Hmmmmm, interesting. It is SO important to take measurements! I can’t stress that enough. Measurements are way more important than the scales. Otherwise you don’t really know whether you have gained size or not. If you don’t keep accurate measurements, you are just guessing.

Can Some Woman Put On More Muscle Than Others?

Women who have a solid build with hips and shoulders that are approximately the same width, may tend to add muscle more easily than other body types. In saying that, even that body type will probably not be able to pack on piles of muscle. However, these body types may build enough muscle to make their clothes feel slightly tighter, especially if they don’t lose fat as they gain muscle. This is where cardio is just as important as weight training.

It is important to remember that no matter what body type you are you will have to be sure to include enough cardiovascular activity in your fitness program to keep your body fat down as you add some extra, healthy muscle to your frame. This extra calorie burn will solve the issue.

Rather than escape your body shape, why not embrace it? Why not train it to be the best it can? All body types look better with regular weight training.
I am a prime example of having a bigger frame and it does my head in when woman say to me ‘I don’t want to do weights because I will end up big’. I would say 8 out of 10 clients would say that to me.

What are some of the benefits of weights training?

• Bone density (especially important for women in the fight against osteoporosis)
• Muscle endurance
• Muscle tone and firmness
• Increased work capacity (this will make sure you can walk, run, cycle etc faster )I don’t know why a few unreliable fitness guru’s tell women that healthy activities such as weights, running and stair climbing will blow their legs up to the size of a tree trunk! It’s absolutely mad. These myths wind me up. But I do love setting people straight. Weights will help you tone, look a lot healthier and building that extra muscle will help decrease body fat! You will start to look amazing. So if you are scared to pump some weights, go and book in with a local trainer and have a good talk with them. I guarantee if they have any sense they will tell you exactly the same. Go enjoy it!!!!

Cheers,

Lisa