I don’t want to be big & bulky
I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard my clients, mostly women, say they have a goal of being stronger, but are afraid of becoming too big or too bulky. First of all, it is not my job to define or determine goals for my clients, but it is my job to help them understand how their body works.
As a bit of a side note, I am always curious why some women have a fear of developing muscles. I think it may have a great deal to do with how women are generally portrayed in the media. We still see so many “health & fitness” , supposed experts, promoting and suggesting to women that they can develop long and lean and toned muscles. Also, for far too long, women have been seen as unattractive or less feminine if they gain muscle. Generally, a lot of messaging suggests bigger is bad, whether that be muscle or fat (that’s a blog for another day). I do believe, that the messaging is slowly beginning to change, and women are speaking up, showing up and changing the narrative around what makes women strong & beautiful.
I digress, back to the topic at hand….. Firstly, it is important to understand that muscles cannot really lengthen to any degree. So the notion that muscles can be toned & lengthened with a specific training scheme, is not quite accurate. I know I am guilty, of sometimes, taking the easy way out and just saying stretching helps lengthen your muscles. Muscles have fixed beginning and end points, so to change their actual length is really hard, but this doesn’t mean that flexibility & mobility training are not important; they are very important, especially as we age. When we stretch, muscle fibers are moving from a contracted state, to a less contracted or more extended state, but they are not growing or lengthening. So why does stretching get easier over time? Because we are slowly desensitizing our muscles to the stretch or increasing our tolerance to the stretch. We are teaching our nervous system to tolerate a greater extension or range of motion, before it fires a pain & protect message. So, if I can’t lengthen or just tone my muscles, won’t lifting weights make me gain large amount of muscle mass and get bulky?
In all honesty, it depends. There are a lot of factors that contribute to how quickly or easily women gain muscle; genetics, previous training history, nutrition, frequency & volume of training and body chemistry, including hormones. For muscle to be gained, you must consistently challenge your body with a progressive overload. Meaning, as your are able, you must lift heavier weights, or more often, or increase the number of reps. Essentially, you need to find ways to take your muscles to a fatigued state. But in my years of training women, it takes 6 - 12 months for most women to gain more than a few pounds of muscle mass. Again, it depends on the individual and many other factors listed above. However, the additional benefits of strength training (stronger bones, decreased injury risk, improved metabolism, improve heart health & better blood sugar control) can be noticed in as little as a couple of months. More often, my clients will indicate that they think they look leaner, and their clothes fit better; and guess what, they are right. Because although 1 lb of muscle= 1 lb of fat (a pound is a pound), muscle is much denser. Therefore, 1 lb of muscle takes up less space than 1 lb of fat. So by gaining muscle, you may gain a few pounds of actual weight over time, but your body is stronger and denser, making you look leaner!! This is exactly why we shouldn’t judge or assume someone’s health status by how they look. Also, why BMI, which doesn’t take into consideration lean body mass, is an outdated method of determining someone’s health status.
How people feel about how they look, is very important to them and can have a huge impact on their psychological health. As an exercise & fitness coach, I try my best to understand their perspective and not impose my goals or agenda on them, but help them understand their body physiology and the multiple health benefits of exercise & strength training.
Source: Girls Gone Strong, Molly Galbraith.
