The Fear Of Getting Bulky Is Damaging Your Health.

I often hear women say “I don’t want to lift heavy weights because I’m scared of getting bulky”.

Listen. Here’s my take.

The fear of getting bulky is nothing more than a scare tactic used to keep women from lifting heavy weights (ie. getting stronger, healthier, having more energy, developing more self-confidence etc), because patriarchy benefits from keeping women small, frail, weak, and tired.

🎤*mic drop*

Here’s why.

Women, especially, are supposed to lift heavy weights, because our health depends on it.

• Our bone density and muscle mass declines at a faster rate than men’s does.
• That means we are more at risk of developing osteoporosis and sarcopenia.
• That means as we age, we are more at risk of breaking a bone or being unable to get up out of a chair due to low strength and low muscle mass.
• That means we are more at risk of losing our independence and not being able to live life to the fullest.
• We literally *need* to lift heavy weights and grow muscle so we can live our best lives, well into old age!

But being told “You’ll get bulky if you lift heavy” (with the implication that this is bad because it’s “unattractive” … OK) scares women into not lifting weights, or only lifting very light weights, which is literally keeping us weak.

“It is preventing women from stepping into their best, strongest, healthiest, and most powerful selves.”

Look, you will grow muscle from lifting weights. That’s the point! We need muscle on our bodies. But as a woman, you’re *extremely* unlikely to leave the gym looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Because of our hormonal makeup, we have to work so much harder to grow muscle than men do (which I find highly irritating, but that’s just me).

The other thing is that to grow serious muscle, you need to be in a calorie surplus (consuming more calories than you are expending). But because of the unhealthy messaging we have in society as a result of diet culture, many women are under-fuelled and even afraid of eating more than their maintenance calories, because they don’t want to put on weight!

So, given how difficult it is for us women to grow muscle compared to men (because of our hormones), paired with how many women are walking around over-exercising and under-fuelling, the chances of a woman’s muscles blowing up to twice their size overnight are slim, even if you are lifting heavy weights.

“Important: Please eat enough to fuel your body and your workouts, and remember, as a woman you should be doing all you can to increase the muscle mass on your body.“

There are lots of other things to be said about this subject. For example, what IS “bulky”? Isn’t it subjective? You might think I am bulky. Someone else might think I am not. Who decides? In my opinion, it’s just one of those words used to scare women, but no one really knows what it means.

When it comes down to it, I think this is really about reframing what it means to grow muscle as a woman. You can either see it as something undesirable to avoid at all costs because patriarchy says so, or you can see it as a good thing because having a decent amount of muscle mass will keep you strong and independent for life. It’s all in your mindset.

So, lift that heavy shit. Aesthetics aside, you will be stronger and healthier for it. Plus … it’s a lot of fun. 🙂

If you’d like to read more about the benefits of strength training for women, particularly in relation to menopause, I recommend the book Next Level by Dr. Stacy T. Sims. 

Conni