Weightlifting and bulking for women

[Joli]

I've been using the weight lifting equipment at the local gym since January. It didn't take me long to be able to lift significantly more than most of the other women there. Recently I've had several people tell me that if I continue increasing my weights I will start "bulking up". They have told me to use lower weights and more reps on each set (I only do 2 sets of each exercise at the highest weight I can handle, 10 or fewer reps to muscle failure).

WHO HAS TIME for 3 sets? It already takes me almost an hour and a half to do what I'm doing, and the availability of childcare there is extremely limited.

Do I really need to worry about bulking up? I've always heard that it takes testosterone or steroids to build bulk. Well I can assure you I am a girly woman, and I don't use steroids. Can someone please either set me straight on this or set me at ease?

[LisaS]

no you don't need to worry.if your muscles suddently start popping out of your clothes (in a way you don't like) you can always stop :p

you might enjoy Krista's site:
http://stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

[Mitra]

I have heard one or two women complain/comment about their muscles getting more bulky, but it doesn't usually seem to happen.

[banshee]

I did a quick Google search and found this page which I think is a great explanation of why this is a myth.

http://health.learninginfo.org/weight-lifting-program2.htm

It sounds to me like you are doing what you want/need to do and shouldn't worry about what everyone else is saying. Go by how you feel and how you look. If you notice that you are "bulking up" and you don't want to, then you can reduce your weights, but until you see results you don't like, I'd keep doing what you're doing!

Personally, I like that feeling of being "stronger than I look". :)

[LisaS]

think of athletes like gymnasts or rock climbers - they want to maximize their strength and power in the smallest possible package - they don't want to gain weight since they have to move their own bodyweight so much in their sport. They want to get stronger at their same body weight. at some point, they will be as strong as they can get at that weight - and they will either need to add more mass and then get it stronger - or level off at that strength level.

here is a very interesting article about strength training for gymnasts -
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/publications/technique/1996/8/strength-training.html

notice which program was prescribed for gaining max strength w/out size gain - and which was prescribed for increasing mass/cross-sectional area of the muscles.

[LisaS]

OK. I can hear you asking - "but what is my 1 rep max?" "I don't want to actually test up to my 1RM"
fine. pick a heavy weight you can do a few reps with. Warm up thoroughly and take that weight to full fatigue - your max reps with that weight.
Then use this chart:
http://www.strengthcats.com/TWC1RMest.PDF

or this mini-chart & calculator (in case you are not on the chart exactly)
http://www.strengthcats.com/strengthtesting.htm

[Viking Dan]

I've been using the weight lifting equipment at the local gym since January. It didn't take me long to be able to lift significantly more than most of the other women there. Recently I've had several people tell me that if I continue increasing my weights I will start "bulking up". They have told me to use lower weights and more reps on each set (I only do 2 sets of each exercise at the highest weight I can handle, 10 or fewer reps to muscle failure).

Good plan. A weight you can handle for 8-12 reps is good for upper body, 15-20 is good for lower body/back/abs. When you can go higher than that, up the weight 5% for the next workout. I hope you keep a log with reps/weights.

WHO HAS TIME for 3 sets? It already takes me almost an hour and a half to do what I'm doing, and the availability of childcare there is extremely limited.

Spoken like a true H.I.T. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Intensity_Training)-er. See if you can't make progress with just one set?

Do I really need to worry about bulking up? I've always heard that it takes testosterone or steroids to build bulk. Well I can assure you I am a girly woman, and I don't use steroids. Can someone please either set me straight on this or set me at ease?


You are much smarter than the people advising you. Tell them to power-walk east til their hats float. ;)

I have heard one or two women complain/comment about their muscles getting more bulky, but it doesn't usually seem to happen.

I dunno. It would be kind of nice to know a woman who could carry me home from the bar for a change. :p

[laughingW]

I know quite a few women who bulk up more than they would like. Not as much as guys or steroid users, but more than their personal preference. But if you're naturally strong in a small package, who cares!!

There is some cool stuff in Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" on body somatyping. One of the combination types has good muscle and very little fat - ecto-meso or something, and they don't get too big. But an endo-meso can get big and bulky both.

Take somatyping and bodybuilding with a grain of salt but every woman I know who easily puts on fat and muscle both are the same ones that complain about too much size.

Like everyone sez, you can pretty much do whatever you want if you pick the right protocol.

[LisaS]

my guess is that many women who think they are "bulking up" are still carrying excess body fat - or have a body image that imagines bulkiness where things are really just moving towards fit and healthy -
not that there might not be real cases of women putting on a lot of extra muscle unintentionally - I just doubt that in most cases it is a real result of muscle growth alone.

[Viking Dan]

...not that there might not be real cases of women putting on a lot of extra muscle unintentionally - I just doubt that in most cases it is a real result of muscle growth alone.

Courtesy of http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kelly6.htm

Even though any type of training leads to a muscle size increase the way that size comes about is not the same. The 2 most popular forms of musclar attack can be illustrated if you compare the training of a powerlifter to that of a bodybuilder.

Powerlifters like to train with heavy loads, long rest-intervals, and less volume than a bodybuilder. It is obvious that they do build a significant amount of muscle growth from this approach even though the level of hypertrophy they build may not surpass the ultimate hypertrophy of the elite bodybuilding.

But powerlifters are after strength first and size is secondary. The strength to bodyweight ratio of a powerlifter is usually very high and the type of muscle they do build tends to be functional. Basic movements like squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and rows build strong and thick muscle that sticks around around and doesn't dissipate with a 2 week lay-off from training. I'll explain why in a minute.

The classical bodybuilding approach on the other hand calls for way more sets, higher reps, less rest between sets, and more total volume overall. The strength built with this type of training does not approach that of a powerlifter, but bodybuilders are after muscle growth, not strength.


So.. if you follow your friends' advice, you are more likely to develop those *gasp* bulky muscles.

[ntonkin]

Hi Joli: I am 52, and have been weight training and enjoying it since 1991. I am not tall, and I am very slim and shapely now, with a completely feminine physique, thanks to PPLP. I have never gotten bulky, but I am very very strong. I have been very busy doing manual labor on my house, so the weight training has fallen off, and I need to get back to it. I need that arm and upper body strength. I am also a recreational runner, and I love that as well. I run 4 miles every so often, and the PPLP has made that much easier. You never truly seem to get out of shape. My 57 year old guy laid off running for 6-8 months while he built our house, and loped along for four miles with no windedness and very mild soreness the next day. He was so surprised-- this was the first time he took a break from running since we started PPLP. Our daughter was in a gym for awhile with some really muscular women members, and they were obviously using muscle enhancing chemicals. They looked like muscular guys. so to bulk like a guy, you need pharmacologicals, which carry profound health risks with them. But to be lean, shapely and very feminine, you need high protein, low carb. hope these comments from a long time lady weight trainer help set your mind at ease. keep pumping iron. robyn

[Gopherhead]

my guess is that many women who think they are "bulking up" are still carrying excess body fat - or have a body image that imagines bulkiness where things are really just moving towards fit and healthy -
not that there might not be real cases of women putting on a lot of extra muscle unintentionally - I just doubt that in most cases it is a real result of muscle growth alone.

I think you're right, Lisa. Women don't have the hormonal profile men do, we don't bulk up. But we can grow muscle before we lose the fat.

It takes hard work, lots of hard work, for men to get big and bulky. It also takes the right diet. You can't just lift weights and hope to get bigger, you need to eat to get bigger.

The women who do find it almost effortless to gain muscle tend to have hormonal problems; excess androgens / PCOS, making them more similar to men.

[gator8me]

Muscle definition is different from Muscle Bulking up. I would keep doing what you are doing and if you don't like the way you start to look then cut back on the weight a bit. Sounds like you are on the right track, I would ignore the nay sayers and keep on truckin! lol
Ally

[vernalyn]

i just do it for toning.. i myself don't want to have bulky myscles. it depends on the person.