I'm also on the 'if you're a woman then your body is feminine' team - you will always find me cheering on and defending women who embrace their powerful physiques. I'm sure just like me many of you had a conversation where you had to explain that lifting will not make you bulky by default. Spot on. This whole "bulky is a lie" thing really bothers me; for some of us, it isn't. I would suspect that she didn't even lift weights, let alone heavy ones. Today's question is “ will lifting weights make me bulky ?” To be honest, we get this question more from women than from men. As for cardio, I tend to include this towards the end of my workout as a cool down. It is recommended that adults lift weights as part of their physical activity 2-3 times a week in sets of 2-3 per muscle group. Lifting weights will NOT make you big. Simply put – the person who doesn’t want to get bulky will not get bulky. But, within the bubble of owning a gym and talking, predominantly to people who do work out in some capacity, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that their views are not the norm and that there are still a huge number of people who believe that lifting weights will make you bulky. Lifting weights will NOT make you bulky. There is so much collective body dysmorphia about the female form, it drives me crazy. I for one am sick of all this "lifting won't make you bulky" and "what women think will happen when they lift vs. what really happens" PSA bullshit. Yes, that can definitely happen and why I've pointed out on this sub a few times that the fear of getting too big is not as undeserved as many people here think it is. If you are lifting and gain weight, you are going to appear bulkier most likely. Will Lifting Heavy Weights Make Me Bulky? Will Lifting Weights Make Me Bulky? It's been done to death yet still gets a result because reddit's full of sleazy neckbeards who love to know better than women while leering at them. First of all, let’s congratulate you for thinking of lifting weights to help you move towards your goals. Lifting weights won’t make you big and bulky, unless that what you want to do. Have you ever heard someone say “I don’t want to lift weights because I don’t want big muscles”? So rather than 200-reps of large dumbbells, our workouts average closer to … One of the greatest fears women have about working out is that they're going to bulk up to Hulk-like proportions if they start lifting weights. Ain't going to get no youtube views in sweatpants, now are we? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Discussion of physical fitness/exercise goals and how they can be achieved, Press J to jump to the feed. I started lifting and it got worse. i made an account just to upvote this. Ladies, you will not get bulky from lifting weights. ... it was spread all over Facebook, as well as Reddit and questions continued to pour in. I just accept it, because I love the health and energy benefits I get from exercise. If you look at the majority of the women on this thread, they were lifting while losing weight or maintaining so getting smaller in size regardless. Fitness Myth - Will lifting Weights make me Bulky? Lifting weights will NOT make you look like a man. I embrace it now, back day for the win! When some people say they don't want to look "bulky", they probably aren't thinking of body builders----it seems to me that I have met a good number of women that have a very low tolerance for any sort of muscle definition whatsoever. I'm a girl who is quite new to lifting (6 months) and I love seeing posts like this, mostly because it gives me someone to look up to. The picture in the article is even labeled "slim girl front squat." I'm just letting you know that as the target audience, I find these posts quite helpful. I don't know I ever would've started on my own, and I love lifting now. It's understanding that everyone has a different opinion on the matter especially when it comes to their own bodies, and accepting that as it is. Dresses that fit my waist don't stand a chance of covering my shoulders and back, and forget about dresses with sleeves. Just worry about yourself and spare everyone the idiotic argument about a woman's level of bulkiness vs. hotness. Girls, don't be afraid of incorporating weight training into your exercise and fitness. Personal trainer, Fohxi Body, explores the benefits of weight training and tackles the misconception that it will make girls 'bulky'. I'm sure I lost a good amount of muscle, but now my legs have better endurance and can sustain a long amount of activity as opposed to moving a super heavy amount of weight, which I think is still worth something. To end my rant, the next time I need to explain that lifting will not make you bulky by default I will not show this article, but rather point out how yes in fact I am TRYING to get bulky and I don't care if your limited mind can't grasp that. For some bulky is a lie, while for others it totally IS NOT a lie. Now here’s the thing, chances are when you ask this question “will lifting weights make me bulky” you will not be doing nearly the amount of lifting that these athletes are. It's been done to death yet still gets a result because reddit's full of sleazy neckbeards who love to know better than women while leering at them. Definitely. A few of our coaches here at CrossFit Banshee weigh-in to provide their thoughts and experiences. Lifting with too little weight is really a waste of time because it’s not going to challenge your muscles enough to help them get healthier and stronger. The biggest issue here is that "bulky" is a nebulous term that exists on a spectrum. This is a common question for both men and women. I agree. Read More » The real answer isn’t the black or white that many fitness professionals claim. :/. But lighter weights can help you get stronger too -- it just may take you a bit longer. I've weightlifted for a decade and I have never wanted to bother with that shit either. We get this all the time. November 18, 2019. A lot of people tend to have very different perceptions of what constitutes "bulky". He thought I was afraid of looking like Arnold, when really, I was just afraid of looking less feminine. However you will decrease body fat, increase strength, imp I love lifting weights (my numbers aren't great right now because I'm coming back from a winter full of injuries and illness), and I don't feel like my progress is showing as well as it should because of all the extra padding I have. Proselytizing is obnoxious. I want to be that strong AND hot. Now I don't know what to do! The misconception that weights makes you bulky is a myth perpetuated by people who either haven’t tried lifting weights, or who lifted weights and paid no attention to what they were eating on a daily basis. Don't tell me you want to get in shape and then cite "bulkiness" if I suggest lifting. However, the majority of women want to look so very far opposite of a male bodybuilder that the comparison is completely irrelevant. I heard people say that 'lifting won't make you bulky' so often that I assumed it would just turn me into a slender IG goddess. If you really just hate having muscles, then I'll understand if your reason doesn't change---at least after I say my piece about not turning into a 2% body fat beast of a bodybuilder just by picking up something heavier than 15 lbs, I'll know that you've made an educated choice. Men seem to be wanting to get bigger muscles and women tend to shy away from that a little bit and I think that's really a reflection of our culture and what we find generall “I don’t want to get bulky” is a phrase that every personal trainer has heard before, particularly from women that fear that they will adopt a “manly” physique if they get involved with a program that bases around weight-lifting. I'll become a beautiful butterfly and flap my lats into the sunset. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Trying to convince people to do things for themselves they don't want to do is a waste of time. I'm on the 'lift as heavy as you can/want and if you personally feel too muscular you can back off' team, like the author. Edit: "your limited mind" is not aimed at OP, but to the imaginary person that is asking me to explain myself. June 22, 2018 by Michele Foley. And that’s, how do you build the “ideal” amount of muscle and avoid getting “bulky”? What I really dislike about this whole "women can't get bulky" discourse is that it's basically saying "don't worry, you won't end up looking like those women with muscles". For example, what I might consider to be an appropriate amount of muscle for myself (and I like obvious muscles and high definition), others may look and think that look is much to bulky for themselves. The short answer for women: Almost definitely not. Let’s talk … Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The most common question we get from women is “will lifting weights get me bulky?” While there are a lot of ways to answer this the short and easy answer is “no”… The longer more involved answer is “probably not”… Let’s look a little further. However to seriously “bulk” that increase would have to be . After doing strong sources curves for about 9 months, I took some time off because I was having some issues with my back. The problem is having body fat AND being muscular; you add size despite being at the same bf% as someone smaller. And I get that. Probably, because it’s a very common concern for women … I totally see where you're coming from and agree with you. Trying to convince people to do things for themselves they don't want to do is a waste of time. Here’s the deal, building muscle is A LOT harder than a lot of people make it out to be. We're here to crush that argument once and for all. Eat too much and don’t train enough = fat surplus = excess bulk! And the person who wants to can with a lot of time and effort. But even with its increasing popularity, there's still a camp of firm believers in that whole "weightlifting will make me bulky and masculine" BS. This is what I had a hard time explaining to my bf when he first tried to get me to lift. In regards to fitness, this question is one of the top most-commonly asked according to Google. 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