Yesterday, a student asked me how I would respond to a woman who doesn’t want to put on a lot of muscle? The answer struck me as simple: “Tell her she isn’t willing to put in the work to get that big!” In the past, I have addressed the comment (every fitness professional will be told by more than one woman that she doesn’t want to get big muscles) by explaining that women generally don’t put on a lot of muscle mass unless they are genetically predisposed or take hormones, but my response appears to have matured. The reality is: male or female it takes a lot of work to pack on muscle. If a woman can easily gain muscle and doesn’t want to, lucky her! She doesn’t have to work as hard to make reasonable gains. She can focus her time in other areas.
Gaining muscle mass takes significant effort. My bodybuilding friends put in a tremendous amount of time at the gym. On top of this, they are beyond meticulous in regulating the diet—counting calories, counting macros, nutrient timing, etc. Building muscle is much more than just picking up a dumbbell. Most average lifters, being meticulous about these things, won’t gain more than 1-1.5 pounds of muscle per month. So, ladies, if you are worried about weight training building bulky muscle, don’t.
Lifting weights has benefits well beyond muscle hypertrophy. Muscle needs fuel and expends calories. Adding a little more muscle means more fat gets metabolized with less effort. Weight training, itself, may not expend as many calories as does a bout of cardio, but, because of the extended repair process post-exercise, it actually expends a greater amount of calories for, possibly, days after the exercise session. So, really, if you want to lose fat beyond dieting, weight training is a must.
Lifting weights also has health advantages. Muscle activity facilitates healthy bone. Added muscle strength increases the level of recreational activity we can enjoy. The list continues.
So, if you are willing to put in at least 10 hours a week in the gym, you might get big muscles. If not, you can still lift weights a more modest amount and improve your body composition—improve the ratio of fat-to-lean tissue—and still look great. Ladies, don’t be afraid to add weight to the machine or barbell. Chances are good that you are not going to look like She-Hulk (who, by the way, doesn’t have such an unappealing physique as compared to the Hulk). No offense, but I don’t think most of you (us) have it in us—genetically, as well as, the self-discipline and self-determination—to build really big muscles.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.