Will A Woman Get Bulky Muscles if She Lifts Weights?

Many women worry whether or not they will get big, bulky muscles if they begin to lose weight. It is understandable that women would be worried about this. Most of them are interested in a slender feminine look and don't want to look as if they could have played the starring role in Conan the Barbarian. Let me assure you that you will not get big and bulky muscles from lifting weights if you are a woman. There are a number of factors as to why. Let's talk about a few of them.

Women do not have to worry about getting big bulky muscles because it takes the correct genetic makeup to do so. Professional bodybuilders are freaks of nature. There are three different body types that exist.

Endomorphs are people that are sort of short and sqatty for a lack of a better term.

Ectomorphs are individual who are lean and thin by nature. They are normally a little taller and have a tendency to be lean. These individuals do not easily put on fat but they also struggle to put on muscle.

Mesomorphs are people who appear to be naturally muscular. They have big shoulders, big chests and strong muscular legs. These are the individuals who become professional bodybuilders. Most women do not fall into the category of a mesomorphs. Even if they did they would not be able to add bulky muscles to their frame. Read on.

Professional bodybuilders are chemically enhanced through the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH). So if you are not desirous of bulky muscles than I am stepping out on a limb here and guessing that you are not taking steroids or HGH.

The male hormone testosterone is what is required to build a significant amount of muscle. Ninety nine percent of all woman do not contain enough testosterone to even make this possible. You could lift weights until the end of time and not get big and bulky. It is a physical impossibility. Mark Rippetoe who has some great quotes (many I can't print here) once said, “The vast majority of women cannot get large, masculine muscles from barbell training. If it were that easy, I would have them.” I could not say it any better myself.

In my estimation, every woman should be lifting weights and not the silly little 2 pound pink dumbbell variety. It will speed up your metabolism and cause you to drop weight. You will look leaner. Muscle is more compact than fat. The more muscle that a woman has the smaller she will actually look.

If you are interested in looking into this further I would recommend that you get Rachel Cosgrove's book New Rules of Lifting for Women. It will give you a good overview of the types of exercises that you should be doing. Give it a read. You will be happy you did.