Lifting Weights Won't Make You Bulky

I absolutely, positively can NOT stand when I hear or see things from women like, “I don’t want to lift weights because I don’t want to get big and bulky; I just want to tone the muscle I already have.”

Newsflash. You tone the muscles you already have by LIFTING WEIGHTS.

I’m sorry, was I screaming? I’m not yelling, I swear. I just really need for us to work together here to understand that women do not “bulk up” from strength training. It is a myth (read: lie). And I’m here to squash it once and for all.

I want to begin by unpacking what is even going on here. For women. The very idea that women are not “supposed” to look muscular is completely asinine. And that’s where this whole concept of “bulkiness” starts.

Disclaimer. I’m going to use the term “bulky” in this blog with the negative connotation that usually trails along behind it, meaning that women are afraid to lift weights for fear of gaining a significant amount of muscle mass.  While “bulky” is completely subjective, let’s agree to agree on this single definition for the next few minutes.

I was recently reading an article on CNET, and it referenced how when weightlifting gained popularity and edged its way into mainstream culture, “women gained a fear of turning into Arnold Schwarzenegger if they so much as touched a ten-pound dumbbell.”

Here’s where it gets good: “Marketing masterminds caught on and someone, somewhere invented the terms ‘lean muscle’ and ‘tone up’ to target women who wanted to exercise but not get ‘buff.’”

Barf.

I have a secret that is not actually a secret. ALL muscle is lean. The whole scientific makeup of muscle is that it’s leaner than the scientific makeup of fat, but there is no need to put the adjective “lean” before the word “muscle.” It’s redundant. 

An article in Self titled “The Truth About ‘Long, Lean’ Muscles” reads, “If you build muscle and lose fat, you'll probably look leaner overall, but that's not because you built a specific kind of muscle.

So I believe that the most important shift starts here, in recognizing that women have been fed a hogwash of verbiage to create the societal norm that they - or we - should not be muscular (while society applauds men for doing the exact same thing).

Alright, now that I’ve gotten that off my pectorals (see what I did there?), we can go into the actual farcity that is “bulking up.”

If you take one thing from this blog, it’s this: Being a woman who lifts heavy weights will not make you bulky.

First, scientifically speaking, testosterone production is a huge factor in one’s capacity for muscle growth, and in general, women do not produce as much testosterone as men. Period. It’s the very reason that professional male athletes began misusing anabolic steroids to enhance performance before those steroids made their way into the general - predominantly male - population as a means of enhancing appearance.

Second, if you’ve ever tried to actually gain muscle then you’ll know, it’s challenging (again, why anabolic steroids continue to grow in popularity among men). It’s a long, slow process that takes years of dedication and consistency and effort. You don’t wake up the next morning from your first swole-sesh and look in the mirror to find an entirely new physique.

It doesn’t work like that.

Third. Weightlifting shapes your body. It does not make your body bigger. Increasing your overall mass requires an extreme influx in caloric intake, something that the average person is far from achieving even with a high-calorie diet.

An article from Shape reads, “You could churn away at the elliptical, bike, or on the trail for hours, trying to burn fat. But the secret to a tighter body isn't in burning off every ounce of jiggle with cardio - it's in creating a solid, muscular base.”

This is where it gets good, number four. Because women have been told for too long to simply run their way into skinny-ness. Sure, cardio burns more calories in the moment based on the duration of dedicated time. But strength training increases one’s overall metabolism because muscles burn more calories at rest than fat, which means that strength training burns more calories throughout the course of the day than a single session of cardio.

Build muscle. Burn more calories. It’s that simple.

Fifth. There are so many health benefits to lifting weights that I hardly know where to begin. Here’s a starter list:

• Improve bone density and help prevent osteoporosis

• Reduce the risk of chronic diseases

• Improve athletic performance

• Benefit mental health

• Improve flexibility and mobility

• Reduce stress

• Increase confidence

Still don’t believe me?

Okay, let me tell you a story. I ran track in college, so when I graduated (with terrible nutrition habits), I naturally assumed that I needed to keep running in order to stay in shape. So I started running marathons, three to be exact.

Here’s the funny part: I actually hate running long distances.

I simply assumed that I needed to sweat a ton for it to be a good workout.

Wrong.

I looked at magazines and tried everything to look like the women on the covers.

More wrong.

Then I found weightlifting, and it lit a little fire in my soul. My body was home. Movement had meaning. And I let go of any voices in my head that told me I might get too muscular.

And here I am. 

The strongest and happiest and most confident version of myself (despite what the Internet sometimes likes to whisper in my ear). A little over two years ago, I developed my own fitness program, the TL Method, and I’ve never felt more fulfilled than being able to walk alongside other women on their health and wellness journeys (you can get a free week here!).

So, let’s lose the “bulk” myth once and for all and be forever grateful for our bodies that have the capacity to get stronger.